A Closet Control Freak!

Many of you who know me know that, generally speaking, I am fairly easy-going and flexible. What you may not know is that, deep down inside, I love being completely in control.

You see, I wasn’t always very flexible, and I’m still not. I like having everything laid out in front of me, planned to the minute detail, if I can get it there. But, life happens, and it’s not always on schedule.

For example, I was planning on spending some time Saturday to plan out this week. I wanted to take a few hours to thoroughly plan out all my meals, my grocery list, my school lessons, the week’s baking, my exercise program, and even the books I would read. But did I get to have that planning session? No!! My Beloved came up and said, “How about some family time?” and so I threw the planning session to the wind and enjoyed my day.

However, that doesn’t mean that this week is a total disaster. I have had to make some adjustments, but, all in all, the week has turned out pretty well so far. That also doesn’t mean that I’m not going to try again – I will! But I must remember the importance of being flexible.

When we live in the ministry, or if we travel frequently, or even when we have children, we must remain flexable. Plan everything we can plan, and even plan to be distracted from our plans sometimes, but remember we must keep the flexability to stop and smell the roses, tickle little feet, rub a sore back, or tell a funny story.

Spontaneous fun cannot be planned!

Have a great day! And don’t forget to look up from your work long enough to tickle someone’s feet today!

HAPPY HIGHWAYS!

Keeping track of your kiddos on the trail

We were blessed to get a visit from a fellow missionary family we’ve known for a long time that has been on the field for 5 years and who is now on their first furlough. What a wonderful time we had, reminiscing on old times and catching up on news of the family. Their five children are a load of fun. My four year old decided he wanted to take on their eleven year old, and of course was “helped” by their other two boys. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and, yes, Jason did win – with help!

As they were preparing to leave, I noticed that all three of their boys wore matching red shirts. “Do your boys always match?” I asked my friend.

“Well, no, but that’s their traveling clothes,” she explained. “It helps us to keep track of them at rest areas and other places. If a kid has a red shirt, he comes with us!” she chuckled.

I thought about that for a minute, and thought it would be a good idea. When traveling with many small children, if you have them all dressed alike, especially in bright colors, it is a lot easier to keep track of them!

“The idea’s not really original,” she confided. “I got it off of someone else. But we thought it was a good idea, though.”

So did I! And you may, too.

HAPPY HIGHWAYS!

Keeping kids happy on the trail, part 2

When we take a road trip, which seems to be quite often, it is vitally important that I have some things along to keep the kiddos happy.

Right now we have just four at home, but at one time, we had all seven of the kids traveling with us, and it made life quite interesting.

Last week I wrote about how important it is to bring water along. Seeing that, if worse comes to worse, someone could always use a “roadside rest,” aka a bush along the side of the road. However, if there is no water and we are stuck somehow, you can’t throw the door open and drink water along the gutter! So it’s very important to have water along.

If you have time before you leave, it is a good idea to have the kids pack some stuff to take with them to do on the road. Each of my kids have their own backpack that they can pack as a carryon bag with whatever they want to bring, within reason, as long as it fits under the bench seat.

Remember to take along some story tapes or CD’s, too!

There are a few things we enjoy doing together as a family as we drive. The favorite, by far, is for me to read a book aloud to the family. This was somewhat difficult when we had all 7 children in a 15 passenger van, but it was wonderful nonetheless.

We also enjoy singing together as we drive.

Another activity we like to do is to have one person start a story, and the next person continue it, and so on, until the story is done, or until the main character dies, which sometimes happens! J (If the truth were known, some kids would keep the story going forever unless someone else kills off the main character!) It surely does make for some really interesting stories!

Tips for Tuesday

I am beginning a new series featuring various tips I have learned over the years, from child training, to husband-wife relationships, to the mother-daughter relationships, to cleaning, etc. It is my prayer that anyone who reads these will be able to glean a little bit of Wiser – Willingly Instructed by Someone Else’s experience!

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF CHILD TRAINING, part 1 

Are you familiar with the 10 Commandments? I’ve been thinking a lot about them, and how they relate to Child Training. These 10 Commandments applied to Child Training put forth the basic principles that should be in our lives as we seek to raise godly generations for Christ.

Let’s start with the first commandment:

“Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.”

It is of grave importance that we keep God as top priority in our lives. All our child training methods or training tips will be for naught if we do not have God first in our lives.

Also, it is important, if we want godly children, that He be first in OUR lives, so that we can be good examples. “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

We are the bridge between our children and God, but if we are closed up in ourselves, we cannot help them to God. We must have a personal, living, growing relationship with God so we can guide our children.

We cannot have any “gods” before Him. Any thing or activity that takes the place of God (perhaps something or someone we turn to in trouble, etc.) becomes our god.

I read a very interesting blog post once by a lady who was signing off of blogging. She cited, not the bad stuff on the internet, but the good stuff on the internet, which caused her to become distracted in her walk with God. She mentioned that, if she ever had a problem or a question, she could just google it, and a million posts on the subject were instantly at her fingertips. Why, Google could even answer faster than God, (so to speak) since God sometimes has us wait for our answers. And, if we don’t like the answer we get from Google, we can keep looking until we find one we like! How’s that for a god to our own liking?

I found her post to be amusing and convicting at the same time. I love writing and blogging, and finding a host of information on the internet. But it could easily become a god.

Here are some ideas for keeping God in His rightful place:

1. Read God’s Word before any other word.

I try to read my Bible before I read anything else!

2. Seek His praise above all other praise!

Listening briefly to the radio today, I heard an interesting statement: “If people applaud you and flatter you, that’s their fault. When you believe them, that’s your fault.” We should seek his approval in every area rather than the approval of others.

3. Speak 100 words to Him about a matter before you speak 10 words to another.

Many times we’d rather “give her a piece of my mind” and blow off steam, and then apologize later. How much better it would be if we were like Samuel, who prayed for the children of Israel. The Bible says, “the Lord…did let none of his words fall to the ground.” 1 Samuel 3:19 When dealing with our children, particularly as they get older, it is very important to give thoughtful, even prayerful answers to their questions. How much more effective we could be if we prayed before speaking!

Perhaps you have another suggestion, a way to help us keep God first in our lives. Please share it with us! We could use a little “iron sharpening!”

Keep your eyes pealed next time for the second commandment!

California Home Education Ruling

Heard of the recent ruling in California about home schooling? Having lived in California for several years, I can see easily that ruling was made. The impact of such a ruling, however, is incredible! By declaring home schooling illegal except in the case of certified parent-teachers, home education in California will grind to an abrupt halt!

As if has been said, “Evil prevails when good men (and women) do nothing.” Check out this link and sign the petition to let the courts know how you feel about parental rights and the right to home school.

https://www2.hslda.org/Registrations/DepublishingCaliforniaCourtDecision/Then, if you get a chance, slide on over to http://www.biblicalwomanhoodonline.com/blog.htm and see the information on home education they are collecting over there.

Happy Homeschooling!

The Follies of Feminism

Recommended by Crystal on www.Biblicalwomanhoodonline.com, I read as much of this book as I had time for today, between math, phonics, and lunch. What I read was very encouraging, enlightening, and a blessing!

Where’s Mom? The High Calling of Wives and Mothers, by Dorothy Kelly Patterson is a great book I recommend this to anyone, young or old, who is a woman who seeks to do whatever God wants them to do!

Feminism has promised us all liberty, while ensuring our slavery to the drudgery of a hard taskmaster and a 9 to 5 dreariness.

Click 

 http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=DzrrpEyCiSwC&dq=where%27s+mom&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=jrv-dcl-y1&sig=7nTOum9Uir4H_hrVJYrYtMpecpM#PPA20,M1 

for a great preview! You may want to consider buying the book, too.

 

Happy Highways!

One of the most exciting and adventurous parts of life for me is the opportunity to travel. MOST of the time, I enjoy traveling, but sometimes… well, let’s just say I would rather be at home scrubbing the bathtub!

Traveling with children has its own silver lining, as many of us know. Allowing them to experience the joys of discovering places others can only read about is balanced by the “joy” of having to make sure someone is holding the trashcan (and making sure it has a liner) for the one who tends to get motion sickness.

Here are some things that really help me keep the highways happy:

1. My main job while hubby drives is to keep folks happy!

That’s it! I don’t have to write the world’s next best-selling novel, sell ice cream to a penguin, or slave over a hot stove. I can stare out the window if I want to – and I want to. I can read a book if I want to – and I really want to. Or, I can just spend time talking with my hubby if I want to – and I really really want to. Enjoy the journey!

2. To keep folks happy, it is imperative to have a supply of water and snacks!

I always have water on board, even if it’s for a short drive to church. I don’t know about your family, but something about hearing the van door slam shut makes my children thirsty! Sometimes we haven’t even gotten out of the driveway, and they are asking for something to drink! For longer drives, say, more than 20 minutes, you should seriously consider having something to munch on with you. Children (and husbands) are much better relaxed when they know they could get something to eat if they get hungry.

3. Story tapes or CD’s are a lifesaver!

We especially enjoy as a family the Story Hour tapes with historical stories, some Odysey tapes, and our current favorite, Jonathan Park Creation Adventures. Even my four-year old is riveted by these interesting and exciting stories. Consider having a good-sized supply on hand, because you never know when a one-hour drive may turn into a big four-hour ordeal!

Whenever I think of travel, I am reminded of A. A. Milne’s poem, “Halfway Down The Stairs“:

Halfway down the stairs is a stair where I sit.
There isn’t any other stair quite like it.
I’m not at the bottom, I’m not at the top.
So this is the stair where I always stop.

Halfway up the stairs isn’t up and isn’t down.
It isn’t in the nursery, it isn’t in the town.
And all sorts of funny thoughts run round my head.
It isn’t really anywhere, it’s somewhere else instead.

Halfway down the stairs is a stair where I sit.
There isn’t any other stair quite like it.
I’m not at the bottom, I’m not at the top.
So this is the stair where I always stop.

 

When you drive, you have the responsibilities of neither here or there, so, above all, remember to Enjoy the Journey!

These ideas work well for our family. If you have any more ideas, please feel free to leave a comment!

Works for Me!

We had a great weekend, thanks to the Lord and those who prayed for us. The Lord blessed us with travel safety, although we had to take two vehicles and one time Jonathan almost ran into our van when we had to make a sudden stop! It was close, but there was no contact! Thank You, Lord!

The concert yesterday went very well! We were able to go up Saturday night and set up our sound system, tweaking it just right so it would be ready for Sunday morning. I think we sang every song we know and have known for the past 12 years, and even dragged a very old one out of the closet. We also played our horns. All told, it was about 1 hr and 15 minutes of music and testimony.

As we were preparing to leave, the pastor’s wife expressed her utter amazement that our children are singing for God, and the boys are serving the Lord because they want to, not because we make them. She looked at my husband and said, “If you ever write a book on child training, I would love to see it! It is simply amazing that your young people love God, and are serving Him!”

That got me to thinking. Is there anything we could write in a book? Is there anything we have specifically done to help our kids desire to serve the Lord? Here is one idea that came to mind:

1. Choose your mate carefully.

Your husband will be the one, outside of you, that has the most influence on your child’s life – choose well! Look for a man who is patient, and who has some wisdom about him, and common sense to know when to talk and when to listen. Young people NEED someone, particularly a father, who is interested in their lives and willing to listen to their burdens.You may look at that and say, Yeah, right, it’s a little late now. How can I change that? Well, you cannot change a man. Yes, I said that right. None of us can change anyone else. The only thing we can do is change ourselves. If the way we respond to our husbands does not make them better men, then we need to change the way we respond.

Love, respect, understanding how important the physical is to a man, are all ways we can help our husbands be the man God intended them to be. Shrill nagging never helped anyone!

2. Choose your children’s influences carefully.

TV should be kept to a strict minimum, if at all. Are we being entertained by lost people? Are we becoming calloused by those who live life without God? Are we learning that all problems are solved in 30 minutes?How about books? Are the stories they read ones where the child is befriended by an “understanding friend” who encourages the child in his own way, when the parents “just don’t understand?” Are the people in the story doing wrong to do right? A classic example of this is the child who sees a horse being abused, and goes out at night and lets the horse free. Though I certainly don’t advocate horse abuse, proper channels of authority are vastly important.

Many children’s books have things just like that all through them. We must be careful what our children read.

3. Choose your children‘s activities carefully!

Take our kids to church, have family devotions, sing together as a family, minister together as a family, tell stories of God’s goodness, and testify of God’s blessings!Teach them to work. They need to learn to enjoy work, since it is something they will do all their lives.

Teach them to be grateful! Being thankful for a meal of beans and rice is a wonderful thing, and great preparation for real life.

These are just a few items, and not an all-inclusive list. And it is not a formula, either. It is not so much what we do with our children, as what we are inside.

Please continue to pray for the guys while they are on their missions trip to Mexico! Pray that they will be safe, get lots done, and be able to reach some souls for Christ!

Prayer requested…again!

We were able to talk the guys into coming back for the weekend to help us with a concert we are doing a few hours away. We’re so thankful they are willing to come sing with us! It’s been awhile, but we’re going to dig out the sound system, practice a few numbers, and see if we can sing together again. I’m really looking forward to it!

Pray that we can be a blessing to this church, and that the Lord will give us safety as we go to three services on Sunday, one in the AM, one in the afternoon, and another in the evening. The guys will be leaving us after the afternoon service to head back to their college.

They are going on a missions trip to Mexico on Monday. Getting up at 3am, they will head out and drive about 18 hours south! It’s going to be a busy weekend for them, and then a busy week. Pray the Lord will strengthen them for His Work.