I started reading a book called A Woman After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George. I picked up three books by this author, actually. Now I typically don't pick up books like this. I'm more of a non-fiction resource kinda gal with the occassional Christian fiction thrown in and some classics now and then. So this was a new genre for me. I have the desire to go through this book with you and I will be utilizing what the author has said, but I won't copy. I promise.
As I started to read, I wasn't sure I was going to get into what the author was trying to say. Was I going to turn into this super woman of God by reading this book? Was this going to make me feel guilty if I don't have my schedule filled to overflowing with "good works"? Not sure yet, so I kept reading.
The first four chapters are talking about what our hearts should be devoted to. God, His Word, obedience and prayer. I agree. I want more. I've been in the desert for a small bit lately, so I'm kinda parched for His Word and better/more prayer time with Him. Chapter One simply states that if you are a woman of God's, you are to love Him fervently with a whole heart and that it's our sole desire. wow. Examples are the Mary and Martha story. Mary discerned the one thing needed and then she chose it. It's not that she was lazy and didn't want to help her sister, but at that moment, the Lord was in her home and she chose to sit at His feet and listen to what He had to say. It's not like it was a daily thing that he entered their home. Good choice on Mary's part. So how do we become a woman of God? Start first by choosing God's ways at every opportunity. This includes your decisions, words, thoughts and responses. We should want to reflect that God is our ultimate priority. This is in Proverbs 3:6. We need to recommit ourselves to Him each new day. Then we need to check the temperature of our heart. Are you hot or cold. Please don't say lukewarm! (Revelation 3:15-16) God wants our hearts to be on fire!!
Chapter 2 describes the Word as being like a vine. Abide in the Word and you will be fed. A broken branch can't get nourishment from the vine. Also roots are unseen, they are for taking in nourishment and they are for storage. The roots are developed by being in the Word and gaining strength from it. What people see in you on the outside will reflect what you have stored up for yourself on the inside by spending time with the Lord in prayer and study. If our roots are collecting the life giving water, we will not be afraid and we will bear fruit faithfully. Our roots are also for support. We need strong roots to stand solid for the Lord!
Chapter 3 tells us how to have a heart for prayer. These are listed as blessings. Blessing #1 is a depper relationship with God. We get that through prayer. Prayer increases our faith by us seeing prayers being answered. It gives us a time to unload our burdens on Him and lets us know He is near. Prayer teaches us not to panic for God is in control of all things and we should not faint under troubles. Finally, prayer changes lives. Not just other people's lives, but yours. Blessing #2 tells us about prayer giving us great purity. This is when we repent of our sins to Him who forgives and loves us anyway. His grace is poured out on us when we repent. Blessing #3 prayer gives us confidence in making decisions. Go to the Lord in prayer for all decisions. He will not steer you wrong. Take the time to listen for His voice. Blessing #4 Prayer improves relationships. This was a short piece but very effective. So how does prayer improve our relationships? You cannot think about others and yourself at the same time. You can't hate the person you are praying for and you can't neglect the person you are praying for. All these ideas of the author's were wonderful. I never thought of it like this before. And what's more, it's true! Blessing #5 is contentment. Give it all to God and be happy with what He gives you. Blessing #6 God-confidence. You get God-confidence as the Holy Spirit works inside of you. When we pray and honor God the Holy Spirit fills us to the brim and gives us the power to ministry. And finally, Blessing #7 The ministry of prayer. Intersession prayer is powerful. don't overlook its power to change lives.
Chapter 4 describes a heart that obeys. There are two kinds of hearts that obey. The first is a heart like Saul. He thought only of himself. He thought he was good to go for doing what was prescribed by God for worship. Something was missing. He didn't have a heart for God and God dealt with him. Next up is David. Now David was a sinner, but the difference was he saw his sin and repented his whole heart back to God. He was a man after God's own heart. I want to be like that. I want my heart wholly for God. So how do we do this? Start by concentrating on what is right and cease doing what is wrong. Confess your wrongs in prayer and clear things up with other people. Confession cleans the soul. Finally, continue on as soon as possible. Satan loves when we stumble and then wallow in our mistakes. We need to repent, pray adn get back on our feet and continue on in God's ways.
This is my summary of the first four chapters of this book. I hope you enjoyed it for I will return to continue on in the book. It gets better. Stay tuned.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Ringing in a New Year
I'm so glad Christmas and all the holidays are over and done. Nothing like getting back to a normal schedule and the activities that go with it. Keeping this family on somewhat of a schedule is comforting for all and there's always plenty to do. There's always plenty to do anyway, but when we are 'on break', it seems like all falls apart and everyone forgets how to amuse themselves in a productive way, myself included. So tomorrow we get back on that proverbial horse and start riding. I'm looking forward to the new year.
We will be starting chapter 7 of Volume 3 of Weaver. This will be a fun chapter (aren't they all?). We'll be diving into a part of history I'm totally unfamiliar with (again, aren't they all, what did I do when I was in school anyway?) learning about the presidency of George Washington and the setting up of the nation according to the Constitution. How about that. We'll also be looking at the other presidents that follow him and how things will change as time marches on till we get to Abraham Lincoln and here we will change gears again. Included in this study will be the Louisiana Purchase, Oregon Trail, Santa Fe Trail, Daniel Boone and everything in between. There will be lots of books that will get read and I can't wait! I foresee a beautiful timeline being produced from this. So much happens in this time frame of our history that I'm hoping we get the most of it all.
We will also be starting the Learning to Love Literature book in a couple of weeks after we get some other work out of the way. I think this will be a great warm-up to future literature study. I will be so glad to have the Constitution class out of the way. I really disliked that whole program. Great information, poor program and how it worked. It was improving as we went, but it still was a cumbersome class to use and maneuver. One son has this week to finish it and we should be good to go. I'll just have to print off some papers for their binders and print off a grade report and call it good. I think out of all the lessons we've done since we began to homeschool, I think they learned the least with that class. It was set up like a typical classroom style way of learning, you know, just git er done and get it over with. I had no hand in presenting the information and I didn't like that either. Plus, I couldn't learn anything that way! I wish I had done this information a different way and there's nothing saying we won't go over it again. I pray it will be to every one's liking.
Farm News:
Nothing really to report much. I've made two batches of soap and I have to admit, they are pretty terrific. I used goat milk and rolled oats for these batches. The next batch will be more of an herbal creation. I enjoy making them. Why is it that all the home craft things to do require special equipment? It's so frustrating sometimes. If we want nice soap, you need to buy the nice ingredients. Then there's the molds and cutting tools needed. My hubby made me this very nice mold which is great. Now I need a miter box for cutting nice looking bars. I have a pattern for that, but no knife long enough to get across it.
I had to quit making goat cheese since I let my goat dry up for her pregnancy. In the spring we should be loaded down with kids and lots of goat milk! I love milking my goats. I have experimented with making soft cheeses with cows milk and they have been inconsistent, but I'm still trying. We have LOTS of milk to play with. The best part is that we now have fresh organic, grass-fed butter for our use. The last two batches of yogurt have turned out also. Yum. My next project is to make kefir, which I've never even tried before. We'll see how that one goes. Again, another home craft that requires additional equipment to make different kinds of cheeses. The list can be endless.
The seed catalogs are starting to roll in. One of my favorite times of the year, dreaming about next seasons garden. Of course my dreams are never reality, but I strive each year for a better garden. This year will bring for the first time a large herb garden. I've started using herbs for medicinal purposes in teas and I would also like to make salves and more tinctures. So part of the dream is to create raised long beds through the garden just for the herbs. I also want to get elderberries started. I will be transplanting raspberry bushes into the vegetable garden since where I was trying to grow them was not working out. I think my garden will be a better place. Safer anyway. Here at least the chickens and turkeys can't eat all the berries. I'm giving up on most squash and melon vines. The squash bugs and beetles are too much to deal with. I've found certain squash are ok and can tolerate those nasty little critters. I also can't wait to see how my garlic turns out. I planted a large patch for the first time this fall and I've got it all protected for the winter so I hope I have a nice crop this summer. I use LOTS of garlic and this would be such a blessing.
The orchard seems to be doing well this winter. I will have to go out and do my winter pruning soon. Those blasted rabbits have been gnawing on my grape vines again, but at least they grew enough this past season to grow up the fence, so those vines for now are safe. It was the stragglers that have been chewed off. Hmmm, I wonder what rabbit tastes like?
The cattle seem happy that all the snow has melted for now. Today I saw them out and about chewing on who knows what, but at least they seemed happy to be doing it. I feel sorry for them in the winter not having nice green grass and eating hay instead. At least we get the funny show of them kicking up their heels in the spring when the weather breaks. Our dairy cow, Blossom, has been keeping us well supplied with milk. The funny thing is that it's not enough really to sell, but too much for our family. If I had just one or two customers a week that came and bought two gallons, that would be ideal. I'll keep praying for that to happen.
We had a great 2010 year. I'm praying God is as gracious to us this coming year and to you, too.
We will be starting chapter 7 of Volume 3 of Weaver. This will be a fun chapter (aren't they all?). We'll be diving into a part of history I'm totally unfamiliar with (again, aren't they all, what did I do when I was in school anyway?) learning about the presidency of George Washington and the setting up of the nation according to the Constitution. How about that. We'll also be looking at the other presidents that follow him and how things will change as time marches on till we get to Abraham Lincoln and here we will change gears again. Included in this study will be the Louisiana Purchase, Oregon Trail, Santa Fe Trail, Daniel Boone and everything in between. There will be lots of books that will get read and I can't wait! I foresee a beautiful timeline being produced from this. So much happens in this time frame of our history that I'm hoping we get the most of it all.
We will also be starting the Learning to Love Literature book in a couple of weeks after we get some other work out of the way. I think this will be a great warm-up to future literature study. I will be so glad to have the Constitution class out of the way. I really disliked that whole program. Great information, poor program and how it worked. It was improving as we went, but it still was a cumbersome class to use and maneuver. One son has this week to finish it and we should be good to go. I'll just have to print off some papers for their binders and print off a grade report and call it good. I think out of all the lessons we've done since we began to homeschool, I think they learned the least with that class. It was set up like a typical classroom style way of learning, you know, just git er done and get it over with. I had no hand in presenting the information and I didn't like that either. Plus, I couldn't learn anything that way! I wish I had done this information a different way and there's nothing saying we won't go over it again. I pray it will be to every one's liking.
Farm News:
Nothing really to report much. I've made two batches of soap and I have to admit, they are pretty terrific. I used goat milk and rolled oats for these batches. The next batch will be more of an herbal creation. I enjoy making them. Why is it that all the home craft things to do require special equipment? It's so frustrating sometimes. If we want nice soap, you need to buy the nice ingredients. Then there's the molds and cutting tools needed. My hubby made me this very nice mold which is great. Now I need a miter box for cutting nice looking bars. I have a pattern for that, but no knife long enough to get across it.
I had to quit making goat cheese since I let my goat dry up for her pregnancy. In the spring we should be loaded down with kids and lots of goat milk! I love milking my goats. I have experimented with making soft cheeses with cows milk and they have been inconsistent, but I'm still trying. We have LOTS of milk to play with. The best part is that we now have fresh organic, grass-fed butter for our use. The last two batches of yogurt have turned out also. Yum. My next project is to make kefir, which I've never even tried before. We'll see how that one goes. Again, another home craft that requires additional equipment to make different kinds of cheeses. The list can be endless.
The seed catalogs are starting to roll in. One of my favorite times of the year, dreaming about next seasons garden. Of course my dreams are never reality, but I strive each year for a better garden. This year will bring for the first time a large herb garden. I've started using herbs for medicinal purposes in teas and I would also like to make salves and more tinctures. So part of the dream is to create raised long beds through the garden just for the herbs. I also want to get elderberries started. I will be transplanting raspberry bushes into the vegetable garden since where I was trying to grow them was not working out. I think my garden will be a better place. Safer anyway. Here at least the chickens and turkeys can't eat all the berries. I'm giving up on most squash and melon vines. The squash bugs and beetles are too much to deal with. I've found certain squash are ok and can tolerate those nasty little critters. I also can't wait to see how my garlic turns out. I planted a large patch for the first time this fall and I've got it all protected for the winter so I hope I have a nice crop this summer. I use LOTS of garlic and this would be such a blessing.
The orchard seems to be doing well this winter. I will have to go out and do my winter pruning soon. Those blasted rabbits have been gnawing on my grape vines again, but at least they grew enough this past season to grow up the fence, so those vines for now are safe. It was the stragglers that have been chewed off. Hmmm, I wonder what rabbit tastes like?
The cattle seem happy that all the snow has melted for now. Today I saw them out and about chewing on who knows what, but at least they seemed happy to be doing it. I feel sorry for them in the winter not having nice green grass and eating hay instead. At least we get the funny show of them kicking up their heels in the spring when the weather breaks. Our dairy cow, Blossom, has been keeping us well supplied with milk. The funny thing is that it's not enough really to sell, but too much for our family. If I had just one or two customers a week that came and bought two gallons, that would be ideal. I'll keep praying for that to happen.
We had a great 2010 year. I'm praying God is as gracious to us this coming year and to you, too.
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