Finally, a Noteworthy Nudge! ;)

What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. -Matthew 10:27

It's been awhile since I've felt even the slightest nudge to write a post. Well, that is, until today.

I woke up way too early this morning (5am) and struggled to get back to sleep until a decent time only to wake up again at 6:30am. And that's when I felt like God whispered something to me. "You're going to have to talk to J today."

Sigh. I'd been dreading that conversation with my children's instructional supervisor with their cyber school. You see, next year, I'll be traditionally homeschooling all three of my babies who are old enough for school and I still need to let the cyber school know.

When I heard that whisper, I argued. "I don't want to do it yet." He was silent. I pretended that I didn't know he was waiting for me to agree to do what he was asking of me. "Fine. If she calls ME, then I'll talk to her about it," I decided.

The phone rang at 10:05am and our caller ID declared that it was J. Sigh. God had her call me today. Very funny...

I answered, we chatted...have I mentioned that I absolutely ADORE our IS? She's just wonderful. She goes the extra mile for our kids. She takes care of any and all concerns quickly. She's a mom just like me and she actually gets it. She gets that I want the best for my kids.

I felt the butterflies in my stomach as the conversation continued and I knew I had to do it. I jumped in with both feet and broke the news. She was sad but completely understood that we had to do what was best for our kids. And I really believe this is it.

So why, you may be asking, would I even WANT to homeschool my kids? I want them to enjoy learning, to always be searching for new information to absorb, to understand what they're being taught and not just hang onto it for a test. When they go on "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" I want them to be able to say, "Why, yes I am!" Lol. Okay, not quite, but you get the idea.

I also want to know what they're learning and be able to choose what is being put in their heads. They're young and impressionable. There are things that the public school system seems to think is appropriate for their little minds, that I absolutely don't agree with.

And the busy work! My word! There is absolutely no reason it should take hours and hours and hours to do school every single day. Sometimes, almost all of those hours are spent on just one lesson in one subject! And it isn't that they just don't get it. It's the busy work. It's too many questions to "test" them on the same thing. Sigh.

And the final thing. They can't move at the pace that is right for them. I want them to be able to breeze past something that they totally get and to be able to linger on something that just isn't clicking. When we signed up for cyber school, this was doable. But not now that they've created a "finish line" so to speak.

So come the fall, Lord willing, we will embark on yet another new adventure around here! Homeschooling. :)

Got Faith?

"The simple truth is that if you had a mere kernel of faith, a poppy seed, say, you would tell this mountain, 'Move!' and it would move. There is nothing you wouldn't be able to tackle." -Matthew 17:20b (MSG)




If you look at this verse in The Message, it says "poppy seed" and the New Living Translation says "mustard seed." Whichever one you choose to imagine, picture just how small those seeds are! They are tiny! How much faith must be jammed into those tiny seeds to move a mountain? And yet, Jesus said it, so it's true!

Reading that verse in Matthew leads me to thinking on this verse as well:

Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. -Philippians 4:13 (MSG)

I just love that! It doesn't say anything about understanding what God is doing or seeing the end to the suffering in sight. It simply says that we'll make it through if we put our faith in Christ! Period. There's no more to it! Just trust and hand it to him. :)

At the same time, this means that we can do anything with God on our side! Homeschooling lots of kids at the same time, potty training that stubborn two year old, keeping the vegetable garden alive for once-all possible with his help. :)

Here's my challenge for you and me today: Put your faith in God and let HIM help you with whatever you're struggling with today!

Even the Little Things!

Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? -Matthew 6:26 (NLT)

I went to my Bible Study last night at church with almost no gas. Both cars were pretty low so I took the least low of the two, said a prayer, and off I went. Now, to be clear here, I didn't get more gas because Shaun wanted me to wait until the weekend for it. So being an obedient wife, I just went for a quick prayer rather than gas.

On my way to pick up a friend for bible study, I simply prayed that the gas light wouldn't come on until I was on my way home. And it didn't come on at all while I was driving to her house, or when we were driving to the church and back to her house again. It stayed off.

I hugged my friend goodbye, prayed again, and set off. But this time, while I prayed, I upped the anty. I asked God not to let my gas light come on until I got to the exit-like structure at the other end of my town. It didn't matter that I didn't know what to call it; God knew what I was talking about.

I could almost hear God whispering, "Let me take it one step further." And you know what? It didn't come on at all. I pulled into our backyard and locked the doors, no gas light!

And it occurred to me. If God is looking out for me with something so trivial and insignificant, can you imagine what he's doing in the rest of my life? In your life? With the big things? It got me thinking of prayers I've said in the past.

I grew up begging God to give me a sister. I desperately wanted one! But it didn't happen biologically in my family. No, instead, God gave me wonderful sisters in Christ! I have some of the most amazing friends that I am privileged to call sister!

I prayed for a good, Christian man back in the days of no spouse. And he "did me one better." He gave me Shaun who always puts God and his family first! There is no doubt in my mind about Shaun's feelings for us.

I prayed for "just one girl" back when we only had Lukas and Andrew. And God, true to form, "did me one better" when he gave me, not only Lily-the one girl I asked for-but also Ian, a fantastic little boy that I can't imagine life without!

Here's my challenge for you and me this weekend: Count your blessings and leave your trials to God! He's got them! He can handle them! He WANTS to handle them!

Yesterday is Over, Let's Focus on Today!

So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today. -Matthew 6:34 (NLT)

If you think about it, we can apply this same principal to dwelling on our mistakes from yesterday. It won't change anything to obsess over those mistakes. Make amends and move on.

That's what I'll be doing today! Yesterday, I discovered that my cyber schooling oldest son had some very poor grades going on in several subject areas. And while I'm not going to just pretend they don't exist because yesterday is in our past, I am going to let go of the blame I laid on myself over it and help him through it today. Today will be better. Today is a gift and we are going to treat it as such!




Here's my challenge for you and me today: Stop worrying about yesterday, don't worry about tomorrow, think only of today and how you can best serve God today.

Lean

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. -Matthew 11:28 (NLT)




This is all I have for today. Lean on the Lord with all of your burdens! He can handle it!!

Moving Forward

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. -Romans 12:2

If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it. -Matthew 10:39

I've been lying to myself for weeks now. I've been telling myself I'm okay, that I'm ready to move on, that I'd be ready if God handed us another baby right now. And I've been wrong. Shaun, God love him!, tried to point this out to me, but I didn't want to hear it. Instead, I buried my hurt and pain over the loss of Gwen and tried to barrel onward. No more! The only way through the pain is through it. I can't go over it, I can't go under it. I can't bury it and pretend it didn't happen. I can only deal with it and hand it to God to take care of.

A couple of days ago, I followed the nudge to put Gwen's things away in our attic. I cried my eyes and my heart out as I struggled to take down her crib and overfilled boxes with adorable baby girl clothes that we may or may not ever use now. I couldn't understand why God would ask me to do something so hard when I was so not ready. I didn't understand.

This morning, I've been working through my devotions on Ruth again for Bible Study tonight and man! They are convicting! We're talking about loss and mourning and releasing the past to God so you can move forward into the future HE holds for you.

I've been hanging onto Gwen for too long. I can't have her here on Earth. She belongs to God and I need to let go of her. I love the way that Kelly Minter, author of the Ruth study I'm working on, puts it: "Take off the old, put on the new; take the risk of being available."

Days later, I now realize what I did when I took that crib down. I'm telling God, now in front of anyone reading this, that I am available. I am ready to move forward! I am releasing all of the dreams I carry for my own life and am completely willing to follow through on HIS! HIS dreams for my life will be better than I could ever imagine!

Before you go on with your day today, please take a moment to listen to this Barlow Girl song, Surrender. It is so powerful and is exactly where my heavy heart is this morning: