Set Apart - Spirit, Soul & Body

Don't Miss Precious Moments

2013-01-09T11:15:00.000-05:00

My run this morning started off strong. I was feeling good, running strong against the wind, even did a few sprints. I just knew that I was going to improve my time. Then, all of a sudden, a little over half way through, I just had this strong urge to stop running and just walk. At first, I thought it was just my body wanting to quit so I pressed on - praying for the Lord's strength to continue. But the urge got stronger so disappointed in myself, I stopped running and started walking.

Then I got the urge to switch my Pandora station from Lecrae radio to Praise and Worship radio - so I did. That's when I realized that it was the Spirit of God slowing me down because He wanted to minister to my spirit. His presence just flowed over me. I almost fell to my knees on the side of the road and wept. I just continued my slow stroll home enjoying His peace.

How many times in our busyness and rush have we ignored the Spirit's leading to slow down and spend time with Him? Do we allow the "loudness" of this world to drown out that still small voice and miss precious moments with our Father?

My prayer is that His voice will become louder in my life and the voices of this world will become quieter.

Zane Education Review

2011-10-18T08:12:00.000-04:00

As a home school Mom, I'm always looking for great online resources. There's always certain criteria that I look for when deciding to add a new site to our eclectic curriculum. Of course, price is always a factor. Then I look to see how many subjects are covered on the site and if it can be used for all grade levels since my children range in age from 16 to 6.

So you can imagine how thrilled I was when I discovered Zane Education. I was impressed with everything on the site but it was actually the Christian Learning Guide that completely sold me. It's a very in-depth timeline of Christian history geography. Although this tool alone is well worth the small investment, it's not all they offer.

Zane utilizes videos with sound and subtitles. This combination of learning is why Zane can reach many different types of learners. Special needs students, those with learning difficulties, those children with site impairments and the blind, as well as those students learning English as a second language can all benefit from this type of learning. The videos with subtitles approach also help children improve their reading skills.

Historical documents, World Fact Book and English/Language Arts pages are just a few of the other resources Zane offers. One of my personal favorite features is the quizzes that go with the videos. They are a great way to see how much of the information the children are retaining.

Zane is continually adding new resources and their site is very user-friendly and neatly organized. The founders of Zane care about the members and are very attentive to their needs and concerns.

I invite you to take a closer look at what Zane has to offer. I'm sure it would be a great addition to your home school curriculum.

For more information, membership prices and frequently asked questions, CLICK HERE.

SAT & College Preparation Course for the Christian Student - Book Review

2011-08-30T10:20:00.000-04:00

I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to using this magnificent tool by James Stobaugh. I can definitely see how his step by step guidance can and will boost the student’s confidence when it comes to taking the SAT.

James not only lays out a one, two and three year plan but he breaks it down into weekly and daily lessons as well. Some of his resources include, but are not limited to, a book list, critical thinking skills, a reproducible reading journal, examples of college admission essays and my personal favorite, a daily devotion. He also provides a free workbook for the CollegeBoard SAT I Essay which you can get by visiting the website listed in his book to help you practice your essay skills.

Another highlight that really caught my attention is his plan for the SAT Day. Yes, he even has a plan laid out for the parents and the student for the actual test day. James puts a lot of emphasis on the importance of praying our children through this time in their lives and he keeps that at the forefront of the entire process.

One last thing that deserves attention is how James addresses the issue of the secular university. This is an area that concerned me the most when I found out that our oldest son wants to attend college. I love how the author took a considerable amount of time to discuss in detail about how to thrive in Babylon without becoming Babylonian.

I would absolutely recommend this book to the Christian student in preparation for college and taking the SAT.

To order this book and find other fabulous resources, please visit The New Leaf Publishing Group website.

Guest Post: Waiving the White Flag

2011-08-22T10:01:00.001-04:00

Are you the mother of boys who often finds herself ready to waive the white flag in defeat?

Do they drain you, overwhelm you, steal your heart, break your heart and cause you more anxiety than you ever dreamed possible?

Maybe you only have one boy amongst a sea of estrogen and you just can’t figure out how to respond to him in a way that affirms all that is good about his masculinity.

You're not alone.

Last May, over 1300 women and a few dads in SEVEN different countries joined together to pray purposefully and passionately for the hearts of their sons in a challenge called 21 Days of Prayer for Sons. 21 Days is based on the best-selling eBook Warrior Prayers: Praying the Word for Boys in the Areas They Need it Most.

Even our best parenting efforts don't come with a guarantee. As much as we might wish we could change their hearts of stone to hearts of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26), we can't. But we serve a God who can. Knowing this, it becomes quite clear that there is only one thing we can do…

Plead with God.

Pray.

“The fervent prayers of a righteous man avails much.” James 5:17.

It’s our hope.

The next 21 Days of Prayer for Sons challenge starts September 6 and ends September 26, 2011. How can you participate? Easy!

Purchase your own copy of Warrior Prayers: Praying the Word for Boys in the Areas They Need it Most (just $5.97 as a PDF download or on Amazon Kindle!) You could, in theory, participate in the challenge without a personal copy, but your experience will be much deeper and richer with it.
Commit to praying for your son(s) or grandsons 10 times a day for 21 days straight. This is a huge commitment, so if you feel God leading you to participate, pray and ask Him to give you the strength and endurance you need.
Consider leading your own group on your blog or in your community!
Sign-up HERE!

Get inspired by recent participants!

“This challenge…has given me my joy back in mothering” ~LaToya

“Thank you for giving me a tangible method for transformation in my family!!” ~Anne

“Thanks, Brooke for your help. I’ve always known that God was listening; I just didn’t know what to say!” ~Laurel

“So many heart changes are going on in our home and I’m just so thankful…” ~Ashley

************************

Brooke is a mom of two young boys who leave her desperate for God’s grace. Her pursuit of being a better mom has left her at the foot of the cross, knowing that if God doesn’t show up … nothing happens. This dependence upon God to turn hearts of stone to hearts of flesh leads her to her knees in prayer. She’s the author of the best-selling eBook Warrior Prayers: Praying the Word for Boys in the Areas They Need it Most, creator of the 21 Days of Prayer for Sons challenge and co-founder of the well-loved online community for mothers of boys, the M.O.B. Society. She offers hope for change to the hearts of women at her main blog, A Life in Need of Change.

Are You Fit to Die?

2011-07-13T23:06:00.000-04:00

Watching what we eat, working out, striving to be fit for life but what about being fit to die?

This is a question that keeps being presented to me as I read through Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life by William Law. Here’s a quote from what I read tonight that prompted this blog entry:

“The measure of our love to God, seems in justice to be the measure of our love of every virtue. We are to love and practise it with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength. And when we cease to live with this regard to virtue, we live below our nature, and, instead of being able to plead our infirmities, we stand chargeable with negligence.

It is for this reason that we are exhorted to work out our salvation with fear and trembling; because unless our heart and passions are eagerly bent upon the work of our salvation; unless holy fears animate our endeavours, and keep our consciences strict and tender about every part of our duty, constantly examining how we live, and how fit we are to die; we shall in all probability fall into a state of negligence, and sit down in such a course of life, as will never carry us to the rewards of Heaven.”

I have read and re-read those two paragraphs about five times so far. However, I am sure that I will read over them many more times as I meditate on those words and pray for the grace of God to work in me an urgency and fervor to live my life in such a way that I will be fit to die.

Physical Healing

2011-07-06T10:50:00.000-04:00

Ephesians 6:12, we all know it so well and quote it all the time. However, recently I saw this scripture in a totally different perspective.

I am a big advocate of natural healing. However, whenever my friends, family or myself had a physical issue, I would immediately research nutritional options for healing. I got convicted about this because our first source for everything should be the Word of God. As I started getting my thinking back in line with what God's Word says and acknowledging once again that many of our physical conditions are just an outward manifestation of something that's going on spiritually, I started seeing healings in my body.

As I was reading a book on this very subject, I read this scripture (Eph. 6:12) and that's when I totally saw it in a whole different light. I was "wrestling", so to speak, with flesh and blood. My focus was on the physical ailments and what needed to be done naturally to fix it. When my focus switched to the spiritual and what needed to be done spiritually, the physical healing just immediately manifested.

So my plea is that we, as believers, would always be mindful to truly look first to God's Word and realize that we are spiritual beings living inside physical bodies. The spiritual realm affects the physical way more than we realize because all too often we're looking with our physical eyes instead of our spiritual.

Father's Day Contest!!

2011-05-19T11:58:00.001-04:00

La Bella Baskets Father's Day Contest!

Contest Details

Create a 30 second video (or less) and tell us why your DAD is the greatest. The video can be funny, creative or sentimental.

Two special dads will win a beautiful Father’s Day Gift Basket of their choice. The Basket will be delivered to their front door before father's day!

Share the Contest

We encourage you to pass along this contest to your friends, family members, and whomever you know that has a great dad and could win this contest!

Contest Deadline:

Contest Begins: 5/9/2011
Contest Ends: 6/1/2011

We will ANNOUNCE the winner on June 3rd. Winners video will be posted and notified by email and by a telephone call!

For More Details CLICK HERE!

Become a Mission Marketer With Beyond Organic for Free

2011-05-05T23:17:00.001-04:00

I'm sure most of you have heard of Jordin Rubin, the author of The Maker's Diet. He is now offering for people to become Mission Marketers with Beyond Organic for free.

Beyond Organic is a food and beverage company founded by best-selling health author Jordan Rubin. For years Jordan has recommended the highest quality foods available, and now he is on a mission to produce them from his very own ranches in Missouri.

Become An Insider Today

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To become an Insider today CLICK HERE

What Is a Godly Mother?

2011-03-10T14:42:00.002-05:00

I had a friend ask me today, "What exactly is a Godly Mother"? She said that she heard that term and it made her feel sad that she hasn't measured up to that lately. Sound familiar?

A Godly Mother – wow, something I’ve been striving after for years. But, like many women who strive for this goal, I always feel as though I come up short. There’s always room for improvement. The good news, though, is that the bible says “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:3). Also, “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble” (James 4:6).

These two scriptures, in my opinion, are very important to keep in mind when comparing ourselves to what the bible describes as a Godly woman because we will always (should always) see our short-comings and should know that we have not yet attained that goal. We will be learning our whole lives and as we grow in certain areas, the Lord will reveal deeper layers in our life that needs to be dealt with and conformed into the image of God.

Now, a Godly Mother, what does that look like? Very simply, she’s a woman who puts God first in every area of her life. She prays to the Lord for wisdom and guidance about everything. Any decisions that are to be made, need to line up with God’s heart and spirit in the scriptures. A great example is, of course, the Proverbs 31 woman. Please remember, though, this is not something that we can say “Okay, I’m going to be the Proverbs 31 woman” and then, poof, it happens. As we cry out to the Lord to mold us into this woman, He will begin to work in our lives to transform us. Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it (Psalm 127:1). God must do the work in us but we must yield our lives to Him and allow Him to do the work.

A short explanation of why I chose the two scriptures above to start out with: when I think about being poor in spirit, I think about what it means to be poor. Being poor means you are basically without. That to me goes hand in hand with being humble. Think about the Pharisee who prayed to God and said “I thank you that I’m not like other people”, then he lists some sinful people and goes on to list the “good” things that he does. (Luke 18:11). In his eyes, he was “rich” in spirit. Now look at the publican, “And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13). The publican was poor in spirit. He understood that within man is no good thing (Romans 7:18), that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

When we come to God with this type of heart, then He can work with us, mold us. We are presenting ourselves as soft, moldable clay but when we come with pride then we are dried up, hard, unmoldable clay and God resists us.

So, as we see the example of the Godly mother and then see our present condition, we should not get discouraged but rather take that broken and contrite spirit (Psalm 34:18, 51:17) before the Lord and yield ourselves into His hands to be molded, shaped and transformed. Before you know it, by God's grace you will have things changing in your life and your character and you won’t even realize it.

Do You Smile at the Future?

2011-02-14T09:34:00.000-05:00

As I was spending time in the Word during the wee hours of the morning (or night, depending on how you look at it), I suddenly had an urge to read Proverbs 31 again. Like many women who desire to be Godly, I've read that chapter numerous times over the years. But as I was turning to it tonight, I knew in my spirit that the Lord was leading me there to show me something.

Sure enough, as I was reading, six words stood out to me: And she smiles at the future (v. 25). I just kept reading those words over and over. It's as if I've never seen them before. As I pondered this statement I realized that I don't smile at the future. Most of the time I try not to even think about the future. Then I had to stop and ask myself - Why?

Why is it that when I think about the future I get knots in my stomach? Why is it that when I think about the future I feel this helpless despair? When I think about the future, I'm not thinking about me but rather my sons. Are they going to grow up to be mighty men of God or are they going to reject the Lord and live heathen lives?

Am I doing all that I know to do now, during the few short years that I have to train them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord?

I believe that there is definitely room for improvement and that's why the Lord has so graciously revealed this area to me. Now it is up to me to trust in the Lord and do good (Ps. 37:3). Trust that He has revealed this to me so that I can turn it over to Him. Trust Him to continue the work in me and my children and do those things which I know to do, without losing heart because in due season I will reap (Gal. 6:9).

A Mother's Prayer

2011-02-11T19:43:00.000-05:00

My mom bought this beautiful plaque for me a few years ago. I do not know who the author is but the prayer on it is absolutely beautiful:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Heavenly Father,

I pray for the wisdom and the sight

To teach my children wrong from right.

I pray for strength and time to spare

With endless love to show I care.

I pray for patience to understand

My children and their endless demands.

I pray for the knowledge to impart

Faith in Your Word from the very start.

I pray for Your guidance in my life

That my children's lives are free from strife.

I pray for Your love and charity

That they learn kindness and humility.

I pray for Your guidance from above

That my children are graced in Your love.

I pray for these things so my children know

That You are with them wherever they go.

For all of these things I humbly pray

As you guard my children along life's way.

Are You a Hidden Woman?

2011-02-05T23:32:00.001-05:00

Hidden? You ask. In a society where people strive to be "seen", strive to be number one, strive to be put in a place to receive praise and adoration from people. Who in the world wants to be hidden? Well, I do.

Women today, for the most part, have completely lost their perspective of the high calling on their lives. Of course, I'm speaking to christian women. Women have an incredible amount of power to either build up or tear down (Prov. 14:1). Unfortunately, most women in the church today are being deceived by the spirit of feminism. They desire to be lifted up in the eyes of man, attain leadership and eldership positions in the church rather than fulfil their God-given roles and be pleasing in the sight of God. It just grieves my heart to see women not able to find that place of complete contentment and peace from being who God designed them to be. There is no greater calling on a woman's life than to be a help mate to her husband, raise children to love and serve God and be a keeper of the home with a meek and quiet spirit.

You can call it old-fashioned and archaic if you want, but God's ways are not our ways. This is His design from the beginning and it's His system of government, if you will. Having an order to things doesn't make anyone less important, we are all equal in God's eyes but that doesn't mean that we can just throw away His plan for order in the home and the church.

No born-again christian should desire to be exalted and feminism is about nothing else but exalting women. Women's rights, women power, women equality, etc. Our lives should be about one thing - exalting the kingdom of God and that kingdom is completely opposite from this world's system.

This has been a subject on my heart for a long time but I wrote this particular blog entry after listening to
The Hidden Woman - a wonderful teaching by Denny Kenaston of Charity Ministries. I am not a member of Charity but I do enjoy listening to and learning from their ministry.

I realize that saying these things will probably make quite a few women angry but that's not my desire. My hope is that women will truly go to the word of God and let the Spirit teach them rather than be misled by people in error. I've heard the arguments for women "leaders" in the church and I must admit, they don't hold much weight against the scriptures.

One last comment that I would like to make; I was not always of this persuasion. Before being born-again, I very much desired to be "seen". I was all about promotions, women's lib and even made comments like, "I don't submit to any man". It is only by the grace of God that I am a changed woman and am now totally and completely content with being (or striving to be) a hidden woman.

Under Construction

2011-01-18T08:11:00.000-05:00

I'm working on changing my blog around and adding new stuff. So if you stop by and things look a bit strange, I apologize. Just bear with me and hopefully soon, there will be a whole new look and new setup.

To Live is Christ - To Die is Gain

2011-01-14T09:10:00.001-05:00

Continued from "God Speaks to Us in Our Dreams".

As I meditated on my dream throughout the day, this one scripture kept coming to mind, To Live is Christ, to die is gain (Phil. 1:21). It's such a well known passage and it's repeated over and over by so many, but do we really grasp it? Do we really, truly understand the depth of what it's saying?

I know, for me personally, I tend to look at death as a negative thing. I see it as losing something. After all, isn't that what Hollywood engrains into us? We're brainwashed into a humanistic view of death and a "survive at all cost" mentality. But the reality, really, is that death is not losing something but rather gaining everything (if we're a born-again believer living for the Lord). I was totally looking at it backwards.

I think that sometimes (if not most of the time), we become so focused on our life and family here in the present that we forget about the future. For me, as with many others, I love and enjoy being with my family so much that I don't want to ever be without them. Unfortunately, though, it causes me to have the wrong mindset. It's so easy to fall into being an earth-dweller.

This is where prayer and communion with the Lord come in. When we're spending time with Him daily, consistently, He keeps our focus straight. Furthermore, if we're not spending time with Him now, living for Him now, in this life, we're deceiving ourselves into thinking that we want to spend eternity with Him.

Lord, help me to set my mind on your interests, not man's. Help me to lose my life for your sake, that I may find true life (Matt. 16:23-25). Help me to set my affections on the things above and not the things of this earth (Col 3:2).

One last thought-provoking, soul-searching question: Are you holding on so tightly to the things of this life that it's warping your perspective of eternity?

God Speaks to Us in Our Dreams

2011-01-13T10:55:00.003-05:00

I know the title of this blog might get some mixed reactions. There have been lots of people who have had dreams that were definitely not from God but yet they believed they were and took it and ran with it. In my experience, when the Lord talks to me through my dreams, it has always been to draw me closer to Him and there is no denying in my mind that it was from God.

Last night's dream is what prompted this blog entry. Here is a description of the brief yet powerful dream:

My family and I were getting ready to encounter a potentially dangerous situation (I don't remember clearly what the situation was). I immediately started praying and asking the Lord to protect us and keep us safe. Then I prayed, "Oh Lord, please don't let any of us die". As I was praying this, I felt this "question" in my spirit, "Why don't you want to die"? I didn't give my response much thought, I just very quickly said, "Because I want to be with them". Then the Lord very clearly asked me "Don't you want to be with Me"? Then I had an extremely quick picture of me enveloped in God's spiritual arms and a split-second feeling of total love, comfort, contentment, fulfillment and an all around completeness come over me. It was as if the Lord was showing me in a small, small way what it will be like to be with Him. In my dream I just sat there and cried. My husband looked over at me and asked why I was crying but I couldn't answer him through the tears. Then I woke up.

I haven't been able to get this dream out of my head since I woke up (not that I want to get rid of it). I just keep meditating on it. In fact, I'm going to have to write this blog in two parts because as I sit here and try to type what this dream meant, I am unable to express it right now. So many thoughts are flooding my mind, and so many emotions flooding my soul. So, in an attempt to keep my entries somewhat short, I will have to end now with, To Be Continued...

Prayer Produces Great Encouragement

2011-01-05T11:53:00.001-05:00

As I continue my study of "A Call To Prayer" by J.C. Ryle, I continue to get encouraged about praying consistently.

Last night I read the following exert from chapter 4:

"There is everything on God's part to make prayer easy, if men will only attempt it. All things are ready on his side. Every objection is anticipated. Every difficulty is provided for. The crooked places are made straight and the rough places are made smooth. There is no excuse left for the prayerless man."

That brought so much peace, hope and encouragement to my soul. Truly all things are possible with God. Every area in my life that seems hopeless, too hard, unattainable, is possible to achieve if I only take it to the Lord in prayer.

God's desire is for us to not fret or worry (which is sin), but rather to bring everything to Him in prayer with a thankful heart (paraphrased from Phil. 4:6). Then He will guard our hearts and minds with His peace that passes ALL understanding (Phil 4:7).

If you're looking for peace, hope and encouragement, prayer is the place to find it.

Do You Pray?

2010-12-09T09:43:00.001-05:00

“Faith is to the soul what life is to the body. Prayer is to faith what breath is to life. How a man can live and not breathe is past my comprehension, and how a man can believe and not pray is past my comprehension too.” Quote taken from J.C. Ryle’s book, A Call to Prayer.

I started doing a study on the book mentioned above. I know that prayer is so vital to our walk with the Lord but often it is the one thing that gets so neglected. It’s so easy to get caught up in our day to day lives and justify our lack of time to pray. However, if we look at it from a little different perspective, it seems absurd not to make the time to pray. Food feeds our body and we always remember to feed our bodies. When was the last time you let three, four or seven days go by and then suddenly realize, “I’ve been so busy that I forgot to eat; I just haven’t had the time”? Well, likewise, prayer feeds our faith. When we go without prayer, our spiritual life becomes weak and suffers from malnutrition. What happens to our bodies when they become weak? Sickness and disease set in. The same with our spiritual life; sin sets in (which is sickness and disease to our soul).

We may be tempted to defend ourselves and deny that we are in sin. I know that personally, this is something that I would do. Sure, I would feel bad for not spending more time in prayer and communion with the Lord, but I didn’t see it as “that bad”, until now. While doing this study I read something that brought immediate conviction to my life. It gave me such a different perspective of prayer. A perspective that I’ve never had before.

Like many of us, I know the scriptures that talk about praying without ceasing, in all things making our request known unto God, giving thanks in everything, etc., but I have never seen it the way that I see it now. Here is what I read that changed my view completely:

“I have looked carefully over the lives of God’s saints in the Bible. I cannot find one of whose history much is told us, from Genesis to Revelation, who was not a man of prayer. I find it mentioned as a characteristic of the godly, that “they call on the Father” (1 Peter 1:17), or “the name of the Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 1:2).”

And here it is, folks:

“Recorded as a characteristic of the wicked is the fact that “they call not upon the Lord” (Ps. 14:4).”

That sentence cut through me like a knife! When I’m not calling upon the Lord for everything in my life, I have the characteristic of a wicked person!

As a woman of God, with the desire to live a holy life, I must call upon the Lord in everything. If not, I’m deceiving myself. In essence, I’m saying that I don’t need the Lord, that I can do all things through myself (which is NOT what Phil. 4:13 says). This is how the wicked person thinks and lives their life. They go about their daily schedules relying on their own wisdom and strength. How could I ever think that I’m a holy woman of God if I’m living in the same manner?

My heart is truly broken but at the same time, I’m so filled with hope and joy. I know that my Father in heaven has revealed this to me with the purpose and intent of helping me to change. He is working in me to mold me and shape me more into His image. He chastens those whom He loves. It is painful to see who I really am but so encouraging to see who I’m becoming.

It is imperative that we not only spend private time in communion with the Lord daily, but also, throughout the day, call upon the name of the Lord. When we’re making decisions, as we’re teaching and training our children, when we’re tired and run down, when we’re giving an answer to someone - in all things. All it takes is a quick acknowledgment in our heart to the Lord asking for his wisdom, guidance, strength, etc. As we practice doing this consistently, then it becomes so natural that we do it without even thinking about it. As J.C. Ryle says, “Prayer is to faith what breath is to life”. We breathe without thinking about it. Let’s get to a place where we pray without thinking about it.

Perspective Changes Everything

2010-12-07T12:04:00.000-05:00

I was inspired to write this blog after talking to a friend of mine about giving thanks in all things just like it says in 1st Thess. 5:18.

I once watched the movie “The Pursuit of Happiness”. One of the things that really stood out to me was how the dad could take a potentially horrible situation and turn it into a fun adventure for his son. I would always think to myself that I would love to be able to be like that. What a special gift that dad had.

Well, after writing to my friend about what I mentioned earlier, I started thinking back on times in my family’s life when situations were less than desirable and that’s when I realized that the Lord had helped me to go through those times joyfully, viewing them with a different perspective and making an adventure out of them. I didn’t even fully realize it until I thought back on it.

There are quite a few examples that I could write about but one particular time really stands out and I would love to share it. We were without a vehicle for quite a while. Not that that’s a big deal but to all the people that I’ve talked to, they all saw it as a somewhat negative and undesirable situation. After all, as a society, we do rely heavily on our personal transportation.

So here we are, a family of five with our children ages 13, 7 and 4 having to either walk to where we wanted to go or use the public bus system. This is where perspective changed everything. I could have complained about having to leave for work an hour early and walk 10 - 15 minutes to the closest bus stop (sometimes in the pouring down rain), or grudgingly went grocery shopping knowing that we’d have to carry all those groceries all the way back home, or gotten depressed because we were limited to where we could go. But, instead, it ended up being one of the best times we have ever had. Our children still talk about how much fun they had when we didn’t have a car and had to take the bus. Sometimes they even say that they wish we didn’t have a car now.

We walked so much during that time. We noticed things that we never noticed when flying by in a car. Our lives seemed to slow down so much and it was truly wonderful. Sometimes, on the weekend, we would each get an all day bus pass and just get on the bus and go. We didn’t really have a final destination in mind and would sometimes take several buses to go in different directions all over town. We would just spend the day on an exploring adventure. At other times we would get caught in some of Florida’s famous torrential downpours. That was the absolute best!! We would be running home from the bus stop (which was about 10 -15 minutes away), soaked to the bone, just screaming and laughing the whole way. We would see who could find the biggest puddles to jump into.

These are memories that will stay with us for the rest of our lives. I’m so thankful that they will be positive, happy memories and not negative memories full of regret. I’m even more thankful that the Lord was able to work in my life to cause me to have the right perspective!

Thankful For These Men

2010-11-08T08:29:00.017-05:00

When I was first asked to do a book review on For You They Signed, I wanted to participate because I figured it would be an interesting book. After only a few minutes of reading the book I realized that “interesting” was a huge understatement. My vocabulary quickly changed to intriguing, fascinating, and captivating. I would get so engrossed in these men’s lives that it was as if I was transported back in time and could visualize their surroundings, know their character and feel their passion for what they believed was “the best and most glorious cause”, which was what Charles Carroll called the struggle for independence.

In today’s society we enjoy freedom, we celebrate the 4th of July and we talk about how our patriotic fathers signed a document declaring the freedom of a nation. But if you randomly ask people who signed the Declaration of Independence, most will very quickly say “John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin or Thomas Jefferson”, and then they might be able to name a handful of others. I think, however, that it would be safe to say that most people don’t even know how many signers there actually were or what sacrifices they made and what they had to lose by penning their signature on a piece of paper. I certainly did not know these things and must admit that I really didn’t give it much thought, until now.

My fifteen year old son has been reading this book also and has been equally enthralled with it. At times I’ll be reading it and get so excited about a certain fact that I would go to him and start telling him something about one of the men and he would finish my sentence before I had a chance to. I’ve been amazed at how this book has held his attention and how he’s retaining the information. He has such a deeper regard for the adversity, danger and hardship that these men went through that Marilyn’s writing makes so vividly clear.

Marilyn Boyer’s book has inspired me to learn more about our country, it’s beginnings and the people that made it possible. I found a love for history that I never knew I had and a deep respect for all fifty-six signers.

The author has also included a free companion guide with the purchase of the book. It’s a one hundred eighty page activity book comprised of coloring pages, scripture verses and fun quizzes to use along with the lessons. You can find out how to get this wonderful tool at the beginning of the book on the page titled “Suggestions for Using This Book”.

I originally thought that this book would be great for homeschoolers so that they could teach their children the truth about the men who signed and the principles that founded our nation, and while I do believe that it is a superb teaching tool, I do not want to limit my recommendation to just homeschoolers. I believe that every American family should have this book. It is so rich in detail and facts and portrays such a beautiful picture of what this country was and should be all about.

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My Journey Toward Modesty

2010-10-19T22:44:00.004-04:00

In taking this journey, I'd like to start with the present, jump to the past and then end up here in the present again. After visiting many "churches", I felt the desire to write about modesty or the lack there of in modern christianity. It's so sad when I'm trying to raise boys to love God, hate the things of the world and live pure for the Lord and I take them to a place that should be a sanctuary; a place where you can escape the corruption of society and focus on God but instead they have to deal with the same lustful, sensual, tempting sights. As I look around I see women's undergarments hanging out, bare skin, very low necklines with their breasts exposed, tight fitting clothing and extremely short skirts and shorts. I even saw a woman's belly button!

What ever happened to being on holy ground? Where is the fear of God? Where is the jealousy for the house of God? It is so grievous to me. I try to give the younger women the benefit of the doubt. I know what I dressed like as a younger believer (more about that later). So then I look to the "older" women in the faith that are to be teaching the younger women and what do I see? Not much of a difference. I see fashion, makeup, fancy hairdoos, form fitting clothing. How are the younger ones ever going to learn if the older ones are ignoring this very important principle?

1 Tim. 2:9 - In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array (kjv).

In consideration of keeping each blog relatively short, I will wait until the following blog to visit the past (my past). I hope that in this introduction to my journey toward modesty I have laid a foundation as to why this particular subject is so heavy on my heart.

Soon To Come

2010-09-13T08:47:00.005-04:00

I have strongly felt the leading to blog about modesty. This is something that the Lord has worked into my character over the years. It's absolutely amazing how much the Lord has changed me and molded me into a new person.

It's taken me a while to actually begin this task of blogging about this subject because I know that it's going to be somewhat large. There's so much to say about it and so much that I've learned (and continue to learn). There's also the decisions of how much information I want to disclose. I would like to take you through a journey of where I came from in terms of my former lifestyle and into where the Lord has brought me thus far. As shameful and embarrassing as my past is, it seems as though it would be helpful to reveal it so that the transforming power of the gospel of Christ can truly be seen.

I do not in any way wish to glorify my sinful and putrid past. My hope is that in showing a glimpse of who I was and then showing who the Lord has made me will be able to help others see that with God all things are possible and He can truly make a life beautiful and meaningful out of a life of destruction and sin.

Another reason that I have been putting off this task is simply due to time. As a home schooling mom of three boys, my life is quite busy (but what mom doesn't face this problem?). So, with that said, I will be tackling this task starting now. I pray for clear direction from the Lord and an ability to organize thoughts, scriptures, quotes and relevant testimony.

May God's will be done and all honor and glory be given to Him!

Rise Up and Build

2010-07-28T08:09:00.006-04:00

I couldn't sleep last night and knew that I needed to get up and spend some time with my Lord. I feel that as a parent I'm failing miserably. I feel as if anything spiritual that we've ever built in the boys' lives has crumbled and has come to ruin. Then I face questions from family members and mockings that make me doubt, worry and move in fear. It makes me feel as though I see no fruit at all in our children. I see family and "friends" just waiting for the day that they can say "Ah ha, I knew it wouldn't work!".

I picked up my bible and began reading in Nehemiah 2. Not a place that I expected to get ministered to about raising our boys. But isn't that just how God works? In the unexpected. Of course, Nehemiah was building a literal wall to protect the people from their enemies but we are building a spiritual wall. Chapter 2 verse 17...you see the distress we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste...come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach. Verse 18...Let us rise up and build. Then they set their hands to this good work.

I know the Lord is calling us to set our hands to the work of building the walls of this house. With the Lord going before us and building, we need to raise the wall up so that the enemy can't come in and tear down and destroy. The wall needs to be high and strong so we are able to fight off the enemy, so that the life and light of God can shine forth as a beacon and our family will not be a reproach but a force going forward for the glory of God.

As soon as people (non-believers and so-called christians alike) find out that you're taking a stand against the "normal" flow of society and raising your children (the spiritual wall) for the Lord, they mock and despise you, and our answer must be the same as Nehemiah's in Ch. 2 verse 20 - The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem. Jerusalem, of course, in this context being our family.

The story goes on to tell of the labor being done and the attacks from all sides from the enemy. The people had to build with one hand and carry a weapon in the other. There will be a fight that comes along with the labor and we must be continually prepared to fight. We must stay in the Lord's presence and know how to use our sword (the word of God). I love the encouraging words in chapter 4 verse 14; Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses. We must remember what we are fighting for and know that the Lord is great and awesome! Verse 20...Our God will fight for us. Where is our trust? If it's in our own abilities, then we will surely fail but if it's in God, how could we lose? Chapter 6 verse 9...now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.

If I allow people or what I see in the natural to cause me to be afraid and act that way, then I am in sin. Chapter 6 verse 14 speaks to this. The enemy will send letters (words from others and fiery darts in our own minds) to frighten me and try to stop the work but whose report am I going to believe?

I awoke this morning with a renewed vision and excitement! I am ready for battle - I WILL RISE UP AND BUILD!

On The Move

2010-05-23T22:11:00.004-04:00

This is quite an uncomfortable place to be in the natural. The Lord is moving us again (the 6th time in the past 8 yrs.). The house we're in now, we've actually been in the longest - 2 1/2 years. Long enough to get to know a lot of people, know all the best places and accumulate a lot of junk.

We've known for a while that the Lord would be moving us soon but we weren't expecting everything to go from just kind of sailing along to pretty much having the boat capsize on us. All within a few days' time I was unemployed, we put the notice in with our Landlord that we were moving, Chris is being transferred with his job and suddenly our days are spent purging, packing and selling off whatever we can. This all happened in less than a month.

So now we're down to the last week before we move out. That's not the problem. The problem (if it can even be called that) is that we don't really know where we're going. I say it really can't be called a problem because we know that the Lord is moving us. The glory cloud is on the move and we just need to follow it in faith.

I said in the beginning of the blog that in the natural this is an uncomfortable place to be. We have a peace in our spirits about the timing of the move. We absolutely know that this is the Lord's will in our lives right now. However, we don't have a peace yet as to where the Lord is moving us. There are actually a couple of different options that we know of right now, but we just haven't gotten a confirmation about any of them yet.

Talk about taking a step - a leap of faith. We know and believe that our God is faithful and He has not called us to this place to let us die. We know that as we walk in the spirit and obey His leading, He will direct our path. As we keep our eyes on Him and not on the circumstance, we will soon see everything unfold before our eyes.

It's such a scary yet exciting time. Lord willing, I will blog along the way and testify of the wondrous things the Lord is doing in our lives.

New Blog - First Post

2010-05-21T08:57:00.001-04:00

So here it is, my debut blog. Where to begin? I guess at the beginning (of my second birth, that is). I was truly born-again in 1993. I had wanted to be close to God since I was 11 years old and had tried several times to get my life right with God. However, it wasn't until that day, August 22nd, 1993 that I fully realized and acknowledged that my sin (not any one particular sin but sin in general) was separating me from God. From that point, I was supernaturally delivered from all addictions and completely transformed into a new creation. It was absolutely amazing! I didn't try to "clean myself up" so I could be right with God. I came to Him, a helpless sinner with absolutely nothing to offer and He took me and cleaned me up. What a glorious day!!

I have learned so much over the years and would love to share many things here on my blog. Both spiritual and physical matters. I want to share on subjects about what I believe and how the Lord brought me to that particular place, journeys in my walk with the Lord past and present and health and wellness issues. I want this blog to be full spectrum - spirit, soul and body.

I hope you come along with me in this endeavor.