Ok, this is a ridiculous scenario, but I believe it is what so many do with their eternity.  I’m not asking what religion you are (Jesus had a lot of criticism for the religious leaders of his day).  I’m asking what are you doing with the person of Jesus?  People do one of several things with him.

1.  You can deny that he ever existed.  You wouldn’t be much of a historian, but you can say that he was fiction.  I don’t think too many people end up in this category, but there are some.

2.  Some believe that Jesus existed and was a good man.  He existed and did good things for this world.  The fact that he existed and did good things really doesn’t affect your world though.  (**Saying that Jesus was just a “great moral teacher” really isn’t an intellectual option).

3.  A third option is that you say you believe in Jesus and that he is God.  He died on the cross and rose again.  You “believe” in the Bible.  You think that it has the correct answers but, this person really hasn’t investigated or studied for them-self.  People in this category call themselves “Christians” but they are often times offended or in opposition to what the Bible actually says.  They have made Jesus out to be something that they like to believe he was.   This person may be quite regular at some type of church service or charitable work.

4.  The fourth category is someone who has encountered Jesus personally.  They know they need Him desperately because without Him they are caught in their own horrifying pit.  He is not a rule-maker but their Savior.  This person has a relationship with Jesus and they go to Him in all circumstances.  It’s not just a feeling though.  This relationship is based on the facts of the Bible and history.   When feelings and the Bible contradict it is the Bible that wins out.

I think this is a question that we all need to answer.  What are you doing with Jesus???  Don’t be afraid of questions or skepticism.  Ask the questions and get to their end.  If Jesus is who He said He was He is big enough to handle your questions.

**”I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic–on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg–or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”  ~ CS Lewis Mere Christianity

“God has given us these exact children in this exact birth order with these exact personalities, not merely so that we can raise them, but in order for them to be His tools in our lives to grow us up into the women He has created us to be. He gave us that strong-willed toddler, that child we just don’t ‘get,’ that one with disabilities. Every child is a gift from God and He will use each one in our lives for good if we let Him. It’s helpful to ask, God, what are you teaching me through this special child of mine? God is full of mercy and full of grace. And He is always faithful.”

I think the tricky part is the remembering to humbly ask God what He is teaching us instead of just trying to “fix” our child.  It was actually at a FamilyLife marriage weekend retreat, that Kirk and I went to before we had kids, that this same principle was really impressed upon me about our spouse as well.  God has placed our family members in our lives to help us to grow and move us along in the sanctification process.  We can either fight that or embrace it.  I like to think of my children as “Little Sanctifiers”.

If you’ve been following with the “Gentleness Challenge” over at Women Living Well you will appreciate this last one about how “Perfect women aren’t real, and real women aren’t perfect”.  Our husbands and children aren’t perfect either, but God can and will use that in our lives to grow us, if we cooperate.

Blessings to your family,

If you like Francis Chan, I would highly recommend his book Forgotten God.

Kirk has been teaching a Sunday School class at church right now with a curriculum from the movie Courageous.  (If you haven’t had a chance to see it yet, go rent or buy it soon.)  This last week in Sunday School the assignment given was to sit down and write down the things that your parents have done that you want to make sure to pass onto your kids.  (See Hun, I’m doing my homework!:))

My parents are still very much alive, and for that I am very thankful.  Their legacy started some time ago though, and it will continue well after they are gone from this earth.  I just wanted to share with you a few of the things that my parents have done really well.  Things I want Cade, Ella, Adalynne and Sawyer to gain from Kirk and me.

My Dad:

- He’s always worked really hard at whatever he is doing.  He is extremely handy and can fix just about anything.  He creates masterpieces in many forms (buildings, cars, in woodworking or sandblasting:)).

- He has taught his children to think things through and discern truth from fiction.

- Although my dad has always worked hard he also took his daughters (I’m the youngest of 4 girls) with him while he worked.  Family is a priority, and though we weren’t always thrilled to be working, we learned a lot from being with dad.  My parents have owned several rental properties through the years, and it has brought a wide range of experiences.  I have chipped cement off of bricks, painted tons, scrubbed nasty refrigerators, shoveled walks and weed-whipped lawns.  It was rare though if Dad wasn’t right there working with us.

- My Dad has never proclaimed perfection, but he has always held up God and The Bible as the standard for all of us.  That was where we were (and are) to go for answers.

My Mom:

- She is a retired Registered Nurse, and I can’t think of a better profession for her.  She is very compassionate, and I have fond memories of her tending to me when I wasn’t feeling well.  She is very giving and kind.

- I consistently remember Mom’s Bible open on the kitchen table, and that was proof that she had been there earlier that morning.

- She is extremely even keel.  We weren’t manipulated to do things based on her emotions.  Even now she is happy to have us for holidays or events, but there isn’t pressure if it doesn’t work out for us.  What a blessing to be welcomed but not connived.

- Mom worked part time, but she made it work so that she was home for us if dad wasn’t.  I remember I looked forward to having our next door neighbor lady watch me because it happened so rarely.

There are certainly many more things about my parents that I love, but here’s a snapshot.  Thanks Dad and Mom for giving of yourselves in a way that is weaving a wonderful legacy!

I love you both!

Sporting Hair Nets

A FMSC Employee Giving us Instructions

Ella Focusing on Placing the Bag Under the Funnel

Ella Scooping Powdered Chicken

Cade Weighing the Bag

You can go to FMSC.org to find out if you have a location near you to volunteer at Feed My Starving Children.  Cade was most proud of the fact that in our 2 hours of volunteer time the group that we were with packed enough food for 47 children to have 1 meal a day for 1 YEAR.  That’s pretty amazing!!

Blessings to your family,

Cade is extremely competitive.  He will compete even when it doesn’t make sense to.   Ella is 16 months younger than him and in a different math book altogether, but Cade still needs to know that he is further than her in his math book.  Why is that?  I know one reason is because Cade is a typical first-born.  I also know that God has wired him in a way that he is very concerned about details.  He is my linear/math minded child.

I also know that some of competitiveness really comes down to insecurity.  We try to affirm each child’s importance in our family and appreciate their individuality.  I certainly don’t care where he is in his math compared to Ella.

Really, I’m often no different though.  Why do I feel such a need to compare myself and then be critical towards others?  I guess it comes out of a desire to know that I’m doing a good job at being a wife and mom.  Somehow it seems that if others aren’t doing it “right” than I must be.  Out of the gate with parenting there is heated controversy ~ natural birth/meds, breastfeed/bottle feed, vaccinations or no, demand feed/schedule, homeschool/public or private.  I think there is a place for these conversations, but I’ve often found that instead of us giving grace to one another and helping to educate each other we push our agenda for what we think is “right”.  Is God just as unimpressed when I tout how much better my way is, just as I am when Cade tells Ella, “I’m on lesson 25!”?

I think God is more concerned with our attitudes towards one another than any certain philosophy on parenting.

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Matthew 22:36-38

I know that when I work to be accepted by others I am prone to a roller-coaster of emotions.  When I work to please my Lord then I only need to look to Him to empower me, and I can make decisions based on how He is leading me.  It’s a much more restful place:).

Blessings to your family,

I got to thinking about that a little more and thought how it would actually be pretty obnoxious for me to bring my own paint and “touch-up” their walls with my paint.  Have you ever touched up your walls with a color that seems to match…only to come back in the sunlight and see that it doesn’t match at all.  It’s much worse than the marks on the wall that you were trying to cover in the first place.

Then I got to thinking of all the times that I’ve brought my own “paint” (advice) into others’ situations and have tried to “touch-up” their “walls” with my color paint.  The paint maybe works in my house, but it doesn’t match their situation.  Obviously, there are Biblical absolutes that remain true in ALL situations because our Creator has put those truths in place, but in gray areas I need to remember to be careful.

Just a thought…

I’m also linking to the “Gentleness Challenge” again over at Women Living Well.  It’s really good this week!!  I find that I can really use these reminders to be gentler with my kids (and husband).  I’m really going to try to work to “praise 10 times more than correct”.  WOW!!  That will definitely be a challenge for me!

Blessings to you,

So, here’s what is working for us right now with our chores.  I wrote about how “Day Chores” were working well for us here.  Those have continued to work well for us so I have integrated that into our new chore charts.  I actually downloaded charts from this site so as to not reinvent the wheel.  They are pretty basic charts with the days of the week and then I make a list of their chores for the week that they can check off.  For example, Cade’s chores every morning before breakfast are getting dressed, making his bed, and getting 5 pieces of firewood brought into the house.  Every other day in the evenings  he has vacuuming the kitchen or helping with dishes.  Then his “Day Chores” which are once a week are vacuuming his room (I really like our stick vacuum for the kids:)), shaking rugs, taking out the garbage and dusting.

I know that there is some debate about whether to tie an allowance to chores or not.  For us this has seemed to work well.  The kids get 25 cents for every year old they are at the end of the week if they have completed all of there chores with a happy heart and have done it well.  This has also given us the ability to have the kids take responsibility for their own money.  It cuts down on begging for things in the store because they can spend their money but once it’s gone, it’s gone.  This has also made giving more meaningful to them as it is truly their money.

We also give the option of “bonus” chores from time to time.  The kids can choose to do the chore or not.  They get extra compensation if they choose to do it, but they don’t have to.  I haven’t had them turn me down yet:).  They do have to decide whether they are going to do the chore BEFORE they know what it is though .

So, that is what is working for us right now.

I have consistently struggled to remain consistent in blogging ~ at least I’m consistent at something:).

I have a hard time justifying my time blogging unless most everything else is already done.  Kirk and I joke about the mom who sits blogging while her kids are running around her screaming, the dishes are stacked in the sink and the bills sit unpaid.  Or the mom who creates scenarios to have great pictures and stories for her blog but not for the family experience itself.  It is a balance that I struggle with.  I think there may be a phenomena of really nice looking blogs out there with homes that suffer because of it.

I understand the draw of blogs, pinterest, and skype while being home day in and day out with little ones (and homeschooling).  I think it is important to connect with others.  It can be incredibly encouraging to be in touch with those in your same life stage.  I have one “Skyping friend” in particular.  We bounce ideas off each other and share our joys and struggles through out the day.  We share resources which is really helpful with homeschooling.  I also know that what can be a great thing and helpful to my family can also be a time waster and negatively impact our days.  It’s so easy to sit down to ”research” for curriculum ideas and not realize how much time has gone by.

We don’t have great TV reception and we opt not to pay for any services so internet is our means of getting news.   A while back my speakers went out on my computer and it has honestly been a time saver for me.  News videos just aren’t the same with no sound:).

I’m just hoping that my home looks better than my blog…not from a decorative standpoint but from an investment standpoint.  I hope that our family blog captures a glimpse of our family life instead of me creating a blog to make us look like a great family.  I hope that one day my kids can look at the blog and remember memories we’ve had togther instead of looking and wondering, “who is that family??”

Just a thought.

So, Ella was helping me shred some cheese the other day.  (She is the one who loves to help in the kitchen).  Addie was having some trouble in the other room, and Ella left the kitchen to go help her.  When she came back she said, “Well, Addie is more important than cheese!”

Yes, Addie is more important than cheese ~ thanks for the reminder Ella:).

Sometimes I forget that the kids are more important than whatever I am currently engaged in.  Once again, I’m linking up to the “Gentleness Challenge” over at “Women Living Well”.  This week’s focus is on anger…it’s really good!  I hope that this is as encouraging and challenging for you as it has been for me.

Enjoy!