This smoothie is so yummy, it makes you want to sing!
Put into blender and blend:
1/2 cup limeade
1 banana
6-10 frozen strawberries
2 big spoons of vanilla yogurt
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp sugar
enough ice to get desired thickness (note: don't put too much ice or you'll water down the flavor!)
I will sing praises to God my Father forever and ever! My mind and heart will choose to be consumed with living a pleasing life to His glory! He has done everything for me, a disgraceful human. How can i not praise Him and live every moment for Him? Shout out the praises with me! Join me in this wonderful calling. Like the birds singing to Him in the morning, we will lift up a joyful life that we might bring Him pleasure.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
the STRENGTH of a woman
Women, we do NOT have strength and power within ourselves sufficient enough to do the tasks set before us. Our duties as mothers and wives are too hard for us. That is why we need to get our stregth from the Lord Almighty! How many of us crumble under the pressure of cooking, cleaning, serving, helping others, tending to the needs of our children, trying to please our husbands, etc. It's true that some days we do a good job on our own, but it's equally true that most days, many of us are lagging and falling behind in so many areas of our lives. Many of us are getting fat, becoming grouchy, depressed, fighting with our husbands, and all the things that we never thought would happen to us are happening. Why? Because we have no joy.
The Bible says, as you may well know, "The joy of the Lord is my strength." There is NO OTHER source for this kind of strength in life. It is only the joy of the Lord that renews us day by day and gives us what we need to be good mothers and wives. We must turn our thoughts toward Him every morning if we are to succeed! Anyone can have babies, but not everyone can be a good mother and wife. It is HARD. Before becoming a mother, i used to paint for 8-9 hours in the HOT oklahoma heat to earn my living. That was hard. I used to not have air conditioning in my car. That was hard too. But nothing prepared me for the hard work i do now! Being a mother and maintaining a good relationship with my husband has taken far more effort and strength than any physical suffering i have endured.
We can not tell each other enough, that we need the help of our Father if our children are to grow up well and if our relationships with our husbands are to continue to bloom. Dwelling on His goodness gives us joy. Your thoughts are so very important. Think on good things. When you are away from your husband, even if he is just in the other room, force yourself to think well of him. He may not deserve it, but remember that you can be nasty sometimes too. Give him grace. Think the best of him. This kind of sacrifice is pleasing to the Lord, and that's what matters most. Don't buy into the modern lie that it's 50/50. A relationship may work best if it's all give and take, but if you're living in reality, usually one partner is slacking. Be the partner that chooses to give 100% no matter what your spouse is giving back. Even if he is giving 0%, you can choose to give to him because you love God. Your work is for God, not for your husband. You love your husband because God loved you. You serve your husband because God served you.
To give in this way, your strength will fail fast, i mean fast. That is why you need so much the Living Waters that come from His Throne! Turn your eyes upon Jesus, ask God to renew you because of your sacrifice. God will not ignore such prayers. I am a living letter that proves this to be true. I fail quickly in my own strength, but the joy of the Lord gives me new strength every morning.
My sisters, please don't believe this other lie that says you MUST have ME TIME. Yes, it is great to spend time alone, but it is not an absolute necessity, and you don't need it every day. If you can get it easily, then fine. Praise the Lord! I love it when i get those moments too! But if you have to twist your husband's arm or make him feel bad for not letting you loose and watching the children for you, then realize that you can still be a good mother and wife if you don't get the ME TIME. Choose to be a good mother and wife without that luxury.
Recently, my friends and i were talking about how we have to often mow the lawn or take out the trash, even though we'd really prefer our husbands to do this. It's great if he will, but what if he won't? Should you scorn him for it? I have had to deal with this issue, and it really is an issue of the heart. If he won't do it, rather than you making the situation worse by beating his ego down and making him feel like a horrible husband, why don't you try taking the trash out with a smile? Try taking the trash out and forcing your mind to think well of him. Even if he is watching sports on T.V. while you do it, you CAN think well of him. If i can do it, so can you. I am tempted to say, "suck it up!" but that is rather harsh. Instead, i will say, "The joy of the Lord is my strength."
I have just finished mowing the lawn for an hour in the heat. While i mowed, i could thank God that i have working legs. I could thank God for such green grass and such a large lawn to play on. I could thank Him that my husband is working today and not being lazy. Even if he were being lazy and sleeping while i mowed, i could thank God i have a husband who loves me. Oh, girls, stop being so ugly and whiny! I know, i can be that way too. Let's instead encourage one another to aim higher. I love this kind of challenge, don't you? You will be so amazed how quickly your husband starts giving once he sees a good example of a godly wife who serves with a smile, no matter what. Remember, the source of her strength is not within herself. It is within the God of Heaven!
The Bible says, as you may well know, "The joy of the Lord is my strength." There is NO OTHER source for this kind of strength in life. It is only the joy of the Lord that renews us day by day and gives us what we need to be good mothers and wives. We must turn our thoughts toward Him every morning if we are to succeed! Anyone can have babies, but not everyone can be a good mother and wife. It is HARD. Before becoming a mother, i used to paint for 8-9 hours in the HOT oklahoma heat to earn my living. That was hard. I used to not have air conditioning in my car. That was hard too. But nothing prepared me for the hard work i do now! Being a mother and maintaining a good relationship with my husband has taken far more effort and strength than any physical suffering i have endured.
We can not tell each other enough, that we need the help of our Father if our children are to grow up well and if our relationships with our husbands are to continue to bloom. Dwelling on His goodness gives us joy. Your thoughts are so very important. Think on good things. When you are away from your husband, even if he is just in the other room, force yourself to think well of him. He may not deserve it, but remember that you can be nasty sometimes too. Give him grace. Think the best of him. This kind of sacrifice is pleasing to the Lord, and that's what matters most. Don't buy into the modern lie that it's 50/50. A relationship may work best if it's all give and take, but if you're living in reality, usually one partner is slacking. Be the partner that chooses to give 100% no matter what your spouse is giving back. Even if he is giving 0%, you can choose to give to him because you love God. Your work is for God, not for your husband. You love your husband because God loved you. You serve your husband because God served you.
To give in this way, your strength will fail fast, i mean fast. That is why you need so much the Living Waters that come from His Throne! Turn your eyes upon Jesus, ask God to renew you because of your sacrifice. God will not ignore such prayers. I am a living letter that proves this to be true. I fail quickly in my own strength, but the joy of the Lord gives me new strength every morning.
My sisters, please don't believe this other lie that says you MUST have ME TIME. Yes, it is great to spend time alone, but it is not an absolute necessity, and you don't need it every day. If you can get it easily, then fine. Praise the Lord! I love it when i get those moments too! But if you have to twist your husband's arm or make him feel bad for not letting you loose and watching the children for you, then realize that you can still be a good mother and wife if you don't get the ME TIME. Choose to be a good mother and wife without that luxury.
Recently, my friends and i were talking about how we have to often mow the lawn or take out the trash, even though we'd really prefer our husbands to do this. It's great if he will, but what if he won't? Should you scorn him for it? I have had to deal with this issue, and it really is an issue of the heart. If he won't do it, rather than you making the situation worse by beating his ego down and making him feel like a horrible husband, why don't you try taking the trash out with a smile? Try taking the trash out and forcing your mind to think well of him. Even if he is watching sports on T.V. while you do it, you CAN think well of him. If i can do it, so can you. I am tempted to say, "suck it up!" but that is rather harsh. Instead, i will say, "The joy of the Lord is my strength."
I have just finished mowing the lawn for an hour in the heat. While i mowed, i could thank God that i have working legs. I could thank God for such green grass and such a large lawn to play on. I could thank Him that my husband is working today and not being lazy. Even if he were being lazy and sleeping while i mowed, i could thank God i have a husband who loves me. Oh, girls, stop being so ugly and whiny! I know, i can be that way too. Let's instead encourage one another to aim higher. I love this kind of challenge, don't you? You will be so amazed how quickly your husband starts giving once he sees a good example of a godly wife who serves with a smile, no matter what. Remember, the source of her strength is not within herself. It is within the God of Heaven!
Labels:
christian motherhood,
godly wife,
homemaking,
woman's role
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
homeschool ideas
There are SOOO many ways to do homeschooling, and it's always fun to share ideas. Your experience will be unique because we are all very different with different strengths and weaknesses. The main thing is to keep a positive attitude, one that says, "I CAN DO THIS!"
It is hard to be with your children every day because each day is filled with the trials that come from their humanity and your own! They fight, you get irritable. So first, in our home, the most important thing is to work on character building. If i am the one who is irritable, i need to deal with that issue before going any further. This might mean you have to cancel your plans for the day, and that's okay. If your children are the ones who need work on certain character issues, such as having a happy attitude or sharing or playing nice, work on that first. Character is so important in every area of life.
Then there is the learning aspect of life. My philosophy for young children especially is that learning should always be fun. I never liked school because to me, they took all the fun out of learning. The classes i liked most were the ones that involved learning about what i was interested in. If you are interested in a subject, then it can never be difficult for you to excel in that subject. So i look at my children to see what interests them. For my oldest, as many of you know, it's math. He excels in math because he loves it. He also enjoys reading. My next to oldest really loves reading as well. He can't read yet, but he loves it when we read to him. You can never read to your children too much! To me, "reading is the magic key to take you where you want to be." It's so important to read to them every day if you can. He also loves to create, so he draws pictures, plays play-dough, builds things out of pillows, animals, sticks, whatever he can find. You may think, "That is what you call homeschooling?" Yes, it sure is! These may seem like child's play, but i believe that a creative mind is not something to stunt. You must feed a creative mind, and it will develop into great things in the future!
Caleb recently fell in love with soccer and kept up with all the games in the World Cup. This caused him to want to know where all the countries were located. He has a huge map of the world on his wall, so every night, my husband would show him different countries. He now knows the majority of them! It is amazing how fast they learn when they're interested. Maybe for your child, it's dinosaurs--teach them all about fossils and take them to a museum that has that stuff. Maybe it's robots--let them take apart a radio and use the inside pieces to creat a robot, even if it looks nothing like a robot! Maybe it's food--let them cook in your kitchen and help you every chance you get. The possibilities are ENDLESS. In my mind, who needs a curriculum? (But i know many of you don't feel that way and need something more structured, and that is just fine. Only don't lose the fun in doing it that way! And please share with me your ideas, even if they come from curriculum. Sometimes i really benefit from hearing what others are doing, even if the philosophy is totally different from mine.)
So i suggest to find out what your child really loves, and feed that love with whatever you can.
More practical ideas for all children would include a family story time (the Bible is a perfect resource for this), whether they show interest or not. If you make it fun, they will not want to miss it. For math, for all children, counting is fun. Count pieces of candy as they eat them, count out loud for hide and seek with them. Sing songs that count. When they want you to draw with them at the table, secretly introduce numbers by drawing several animals and counting them on paper. There are so many ways to teach them counting. I love to use flash cards. My 3-yr-old resisted this at first, but i made him follow through with it, and i made sure it was fun, then he actually wanted to do it after he got the hang of it. My oldest always loved flash cards because of the fun pictures. For us, counting and learning what the numbers look like is the first step for math. I don't usually have to force learning things because they think we are just playing a game. That's the secret to my homeschool recipes.
The other important aspect of homeschooling for us is work ethic. Of course, my children don't know about this, but i am again secretly teaching them by making it fun. The boys aren't much for sweeping the floor, as many little girls love to do, but when i pull out the vacuum, they get so excited to do it, especially if there are big crumbs! It is NOT important for them to do a good job when they are small, but it IS important for them to think they have done a good job and for you to praise them all the way. So if they get two crumbs out of thirty, woo-hoo! My boys also started to love doing laundry when they discovered they could get into the washing machine:) One of them gets in the washing machine and throws the clothes at the other one, and it is soooo funny. We all crack up. Then that one throws them into the dryer, closes the door, and turns it on. They love to control the switches. Ours is very simple, and i dry everything, so this isn't a problem for us. They also love to squirt things, so i give them a squirt bottle and fill it with water, give them a rag and off they go! They usually need monitored on this one:) Again, who cares if they don't get all the dirt off the windows? That skill will come one day down the road. Just be sure you are telling them, Great Job!! Tell them what good helpers they are, and then go do it the right way some other time.
In all that we do every day, the Name of the Lord is to be praised, so He is included in every subject. We don't necessarily have an organized time of learning Bible lessons, but they come up because we love to talk about the Bible and what God wants from us as His creation. Don't miss out on this. Don't allow your child to see God as something reserved only for Sundays. Don't make it boring for them. You will know if you're doing it wrong because your child will clam up and not want to hear about it whenever you bring up the subject. You will know you're doing it right if your child is asking you questions and speaking about it at the dinner table occasionally. If you discover you are doing it wrong, don't lose heart; pray, seek for the answers and you will find. Don't give up hope. There are some VERY exciting stories in the Bible. Josiah loves stories about dragons, so i read to him this morning from Revelation, about the "enormous red dragon" in the sky, you know, when Satan fell from heaven after making war with the angels...you might not like to read to your 3-yr-old about dragons, but i believe if it makes him interested in the Bible, then it's a good thing.
Happy learning/teaching to all you mamas out there! May your little ones know that they are making your life richer and happier--you must show them that every day, even when they are not "being good."
It is hard to be with your children every day because each day is filled with the trials that come from their humanity and your own! They fight, you get irritable. So first, in our home, the most important thing is to work on character building. If i am the one who is irritable, i need to deal with that issue before going any further. This might mean you have to cancel your plans for the day, and that's okay. If your children are the ones who need work on certain character issues, such as having a happy attitude or sharing or playing nice, work on that first. Character is so important in every area of life.
Then there is the learning aspect of life. My philosophy for young children especially is that learning should always be fun. I never liked school because to me, they took all the fun out of learning. The classes i liked most were the ones that involved learning about what i was interested in. If you are interested in a subject, then it can never be difficult for you to excel in that subject. So i look at my children to see what interests them. For my oldest, as many of you know, it's math. He excels in math because he loves it. He also enjoys reading. My next to oldest really loves reading as well. He can't read yet, but he loves it when we read to him. You can never read to your children too much! To me, "reading is the magic key to take you where you want to be." It's so important to read to them every day if you can. He also loves to create, so he draws pictures, plays play-dough, builds things out of pillows, animals, sticks, whatever he can find. You may think, "That is what you call homeschooling?" Yes, it sure is! These may seem like child's play, but i believe that a creative mind is not something to stunt. You must feed a creative mind, and it will develop into great things in the future!
Caleb recently fell in love with soccer and kept up with all the games in the World Cup. This caused him to want to know where all the countries were located. He has a huge map of the world on his wall, so every night, my husband would show him different countries. He now knows the majority of them! It is amazing how fast they learn when they're interested. Maybe for your child, it's dinosaurs--teach them all about fossils and take them to a museum that has that stuff. Maybe it's robots--let them take apart a radio and use the inside pieces to creat a robot, even if it looks nothing like a robot! Maybe it's food--let them cook in your kitchen and help you every chance you get. The possibilities are ENDLESS. In my mind, who needs a curriculum? (But i know many of you don't feel that way and need something more structured, and that is just fine. Only don't lose the fun in doing it that way! And please share with me your ideas, even if they come from curriculum. Sometimes i really benefit from hearing what others are doing, even if the philosophy is totally different from mine.)
So i suggest to find out what your child really loves, and feed that love with whatever you can.
More practical ideas for all children would include a family story time (the Bible is a perfect resource for this), whether they show interest or not. If you make it fun, they will not want to miss it. For math, for all children, counting is fun. Count pieces of candy as they eat them, count out loud for hide and seek with them. Sing songs that count. When they want you to draw with them at the table, secretly introduce numbers by drawing several animals and counting them on paper. There are so many ways to teach them counting. I love to use flash cards. My 3-yr-old resisted this at first, but i made him follow through with it, and i made sure it was fun, then he actually wanted to do it after he got the hang of it. My oldest always loved flash cards because of the fun pictures. For us, counting and learning what the numbers look like is the first step for math. I don't usually have to force learning things because they think we are just playing a game. That's the secret to my homeschool recipes.
The other important aspect of homeschooling for us is work ethic. Of course, my children don't know about this, but i am again secretly teaching them by making it fun. The boys aren't much for sweeping the floor, as many little girls love to do, but when i pull out the vacuum, they get so excited to do it, especially if there are big crumbs! It is NOT important for them to do a good job when they are small, but it IS important for them to think they have done a good job and for you to praise them all the way. So if they get two crumbs out of thirty, woo-hoo! My boys also started to love doing laundry when they discovered they could get into the washing machine:) One of them gets in the washing machine and throws the clothes at the other one, and it is soooo funny. We all crack up. Then that one throws them into the dryer, closes the door, and turns it on. They love to control the switches. Ours is very simple, and i dry everything, so this isn't a problem for us. They also love to squirt things, so i give them a squirt bottle and fill it with water, give them a rag and off they go! They usually need monitored on this one:) Again, who cares if they don't get all the dirt off the windows? That skill will come one day down the road. Just be sure you are telling them, Great Job!! Tell them what good helpers they are, and then go do it the right way some other time.
In all that we do every day, the Name of the Lord is to be praised, so He is included in every subject. We don't necessarily have an organized time of learning Bible lessons, but they come up because we love to talk about the Bible and what God wants from us as His creation. Don't miss out on this. Don't allow your child to see God as something reserved only for Sundays. Don't make it boring for them. You will know if you're doing it wrong because your child will clam up and not want to hear about it whenever you bring up the subject. You will know you're doing it right if your child is asking you questions and speaking about it at the dinner table occasionally. If you discover you are doing it wrong, don't lose heart; pray, seek for the answers and you will find. Don't give up hope. There are some VERY exciting stories in the Bible. Josiah loves stories about dragons, so i read to him this morning from Revelation, about the "enormous red dragon" in the sky, you know, when Satan fell from heaven after making war with the angels...you might not like to read to your 3-yr-old about dragons, but i believe if it makes him interested in the Bible, then it's a good thing.
Happy learning/teaching to all you mamas out there! May your little ones know that they are making your life richer and happier--you must show them that every day, even when they are not "being good."
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Division in the Body of Christ
My husband and i were once part of a Christian community, for three years. It was very sad to watch how easily people could offend each other and divide over so many various issues. Some of them were: speaking in tongues, women preachers, divorce and remarriage, a pre-tribulation rapture or post-tribulation rapture, and i could go on. As important as these issues and others may be, and knowing that you should know what you believe about them and why, can we not just love each other through these differences? Can we realize they are important, but that loving each other and remaining bonded in Christ is even far more important? Love is long-suffering, which means that you as the Christian who believe you are in the right, should suffer a long time with those who do not agree with you. Maybe one day, they will agree with you.
How many of us at one time believed a thing very strongly that we no longer believe? I once believed that married Christian women should wear coverings over their heads, based on the Scripture that most of you may know about. I no longer believe that (what i believe now may be even more radical! haha--which is why i won't tell!) I have since found a different interpretation, and that is what i adhere to. So do i have a lot of patience with mennonites who wear head coverings? Oh, yes, you bet i do. It really helps to have once believed something and realized you were a little too hasty, because that should give you more grace for other Christians. You see, we are all on the road following the same Shepherd, but His voice may sound very clear to some sheep and very distant to others. We will all get to where He leads, so long as we continue in Him, but we will get there at differing speeds. So please, please, be patient with one another and treat all of those who claim to love the Lord as though they were you. Love them as you love yourself. If you were in error, even serious error, would you not want to be treated with love and patience? The Lord is strong enough to handle our errors and to open our eyes. Let us desire good things for one another.
Too many times, i have heard dear brothers and sisters speak badly about one group or another, treating them as though they were just so stupid to believe certain things. Why not just be silent? If the issue is big enough to cause division, you will know. There will be blatant sin coming out, sin that you cannot ignore. But in our day, it seems we know too much for our own good. We have so much time on our hands and such an easy life that we enjoy sitting around belittling those who love the Lord and picking others' theologies to pieces. The Lord Himself, who loves every sheep, even the sometimes wandering sheep, will judge us for our words. "Let every word you speak be as the very words of God" and "You will be judged for every idle word" are Scriptures we need to keep at the front of our minds.
I am not saying we should believe like the New Age religion teaches, where all spiritual roads lead to the same God. No, no, no. But if a person really does love the God of Israel, and they happen to be in a denomination that has horrible heresies within, then do not automatically assume that person is a goat, doomed to hell. See them as a sheep who may not have reached the maturity to see the heresy yet. But pray and hope and expect that they will if they keep after Him. That is why i can love Christians in all walks of life. One brother who grew up in an Assemblies of God church cannot imagine how some Christians do not speak in tongues, and he may see them as ineffective until they do. Let him believe it! Love him through it! You may be the one who wears the head covering and long dresses. So when you see Christian women dressed in tight shirts and pants, love them! They either know not what they do, or they do not see their clothes as immodest the way you do. They may think they are dressed modestly because they aren't showing their bare thighs and breasts.
Hopefully, you get what i'm saying. "They will know we are Christians by our love for one another." How i long for that day when we will all be together worshipping God in the Kingdom, and we will FINALLY realize that some things didn't matter so much to our Shepherd as they mattered to us.
How many of us at one time believed a thing very strongly that we no longer believe? I once believed that married Christian women should wear coverings over their heads, based on the Scripture that most of you may know about. I no longer believe that (what i believe now may be even more radical! haha--which is why i won't tell!) I have since found a different interpretation, and that is what i adhere to. So do i have a lot of patience with mennonites who wear head coverings? Oh, yes, you bet i do. It really helps to have once believed something and realized you were a little too hasty, because that should give you more grace for other Christians. You see, we are all on the road following the same Shepherd, but His voice may sound very clear to some sheep and very distant to others. We will all get to where He leads, so long as we continue in Him, but we will get there at differing speeds. So please, please, be patient with one another and treat all of those who claim to love the Lord as though they were you. Love them as you love yourself. If you were in error, even serious error, would you not want to be treated with love and patience? The Lord is strong enough to handle our errors and to open our eyes. Let us desire good things for one another.
Too many times, i have heard dear brothers and sisters speak badly about one group or another, treating them as though they were just so stupid to believe certain things. Why not just be silent? If the issue is big enough to cause division, you will know. There will be blatant sin coming out, sin that you cannot ignore. But in our day, it seems we know too much for our own good. We have so much time on our hands and such an easy life that we enjoy sitting around belittling those who love the Lord and picking others' theologies to pieces. The Lord Himself, who loves every sheep, even the sometimes wandering sheep, will judge us for our words. "Let every word you speak be as the very words of God" and "You will be judged for every idle word" are Scriptures we need to keep at the front of our minds.
I am not saying we should believe like the New Age religion teaches, where all spiritual roads lead to the same God. No, no, no. But if a person really does love the God of Israel, and they happen to be in a denomination that has horrible heresies within, then do not automatically assume that person is a goat, doomed to hell. See them as a sheep who may not have reached the maturity to see the heresy yet. But pray and hope and expect that they will if they keep after Him. That is why i can love Christians in all walks of life. One brother who grew up in an Assemblies of God church cannot imagine how some Christians do not speak in tongues, and he may see them as ineffective until they do. Let him believe it! Love him through it! You may be the one who wears the head covering and long dresses. So when you see Christian women dressed in tight shirts and pants, love them! They either know not what they do, or they do not see their clothes as immodest the way you do. They may think they are dressed modestly because they aren't showing their bare thighs and breasts.
Hopefully, you get what i'm saying. "They will know we are Christians by our love for one another." How i long for that day when we will all be together worshipping God in the Kingdom, and we will FINALLY realize that some things didn't matter so much to our Shepherd as they mattered to us.
Labels:
body of christ,
brotherhood,
division in church,
unity
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