It's not about you, it's not about me...

It's all about Him...

My husband preached a wonderful message on Sunday that really convicted me and got me to thinking. In his message he said that we were not put here on this earth to work a job so we could buy stuff, stuff, and more stuff ~ all in pursuit of finding happiness and a life of ease. We were put here to serve the Lord and to work for Him! I felt convicted because it's the truth, and sometimes the truth hurts. I seem to have forgotten, and I believe if others were honest with themselves they would agree too, that it's not all about us and what we want in this life. Our focus needs to be on Him and what we can do to serve Him.

I'm afraid we parents are teaching our children that happiness is found in all of the "stuff" we accumulate. I'm amazed at the gadgets people by for their kids all in an effort to "keep up with the Jones's." Why are we not teaching them to serve others first? Instead of catering to their every want we should be catering to someone else's needs. Children are absolutely spoiled- mine included. I think it's time we do something about it!

I have lots of dreams and goals for my family, and I believe those things are okay. The Lord wants to bless His children. The problem comes when I put my dreams and goals above God.

I feel ashamed and I'm humbled at the same time. God has given us all a work to do. The world is falling apart because we have lost our vision. When we begin to seek God first, then things will change.

Today I am praying that the Lord will help me to teach my children that there's a greater purpose in this life than having the "latest and greatest". I pray that He will show us what work He would have us to do for Him. It may be a hard work and our hands may get dirty, but I want to be found working for my Lord ~ "all things were created by him, and for  him" (Colossians 1:16).

--- Abby

Snickerdoodles & Tea...

photo credit

I discovered my new favorite thing yesterday....

Snickerdoodles & Tea

For awhile now I have wanted to have "tea time" with my daughter (and my son too ~ something about those fancy little cups interested him!). My mother found me a few pieces of china at a yard sale recently so we decided to put them to use.

We began by making cookies, snickerdoodles to be exact. I have found that precious memories can be made while in the kitchen with your children! Once the cookies were ready, I served them on a fancy plate and we had our "tea" time (actually the kids had lemonade instead of tea ~ but it's all about the cup!). I never realized how something so simple could mean so much to my children. I think tea time will now become a weekly (maybe daily) event at our house!

I had English Breakfast tea with a little honey, and let me just say that it goes wonderfully with snickerdoodles! And now for the snickerdoodle recipe (taken from Better Homes & Gardens cook book):

1/2 c butter

1 c sugar

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp cinnamon

   In a mixing bowl beat the butter with an electric mixer for 30 seconds. Add the 1 c sugar, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Beat till combined, scraping sides of bowl. Beat in egg and vanilla till combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in remaining flour. Cover and chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour. 

Combine the 2 Tbsp of sugar & the 1 Tbsp of cinnamon. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll balls in the sugar-cinnamon mixture to coat. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 10-11 minutes or till edges are golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Makes about 36 cookies.  

Take some time out of your day & spend it with your children in the kitchen. Make a special snack together and enjoy it with them. You will be so glad you did!

--- Abby 

Mom ~ your job matters...


As Mother's Day approaches I can't help but think about how blessed I am to be a mom. So many times I take this season of my life for granted. I tend to "sweat the small stuff" when the small stuff isn't what matters. What matters is how I am raising and teaching my children.

I want my children to love and fear the Lord with all of their hearts. I want them to faithfully serve Him all the days of their lives. I want them to trust in the Lord for everything. I want them to flee from worldliness and pursue holiness (even when it's not popular). How can this be done you ask? I have to live the words I teach them, every single day.

I just finished reading II Kings and I realized that how I live my life will not only affect myself, but it will affect my children and even their children, and so on. I don't know how many times in the book of II Kings  I read how so & so "did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father had done." How we parents live our lives matters! Our actions will affect generations to come and as moms we have a special opportunity to teach our children what is right because we spend the most time with them. 

This world is growing more wicked each day. Just turn the t.v. or radio on and you will see. I can't believe what kids are exposed to these days. We can't let our guard down. We must fight for our children!

Mom~ your job matters!

Don't ever think your job doesn't matter! Live a holy life, teach your children to live a holy life & God will bless you for it! Happy Mother's Day!

--- Abby

Goals for a new school year & our curriculum...

After my time of "reflection" on our current school year I realized where I messed up and what I want to do differently next year. I quickly jotted down my goals for our next school year and thought I would share them with you!

• I need to lower my expectations~ I can't do it all and I need to stop trying!
• Depend on the Lord (more)~ He will give me the strength and ability to accomplish all that He wants me to do. I will stop looking anywhere and everywhere for help when He has all the help I need! 
• Limit my commitments~ I will say "no" more to others & "yes" more to my kids! I've let too many things disrupt our school days over this past year. 
• Limit our distractions~ Less t.v. for the kids, less computer time for me. I feel like so much time has been wasted on things that don't even matter. 
• Redeem our time~ Time is the most precious things we have and we don't know how much of it we have left. We are going to make the most of our time and use it in a way that brings honor and glory to God!
• Learn new handicrafts~ With all of our "redeemed" time I would like for us to learn new crafts and skills.
• Organize our school area (we don't have a separate room) & establish a routine (that we can stick to).

After many, many days agonizing over the many, many curriculum choices I have finally reached a decision! Actually, I don't think it was so much all of the choices as it was the money involved. I've known for awhile what I want, but I also want to be frugal. I know there are so many free and frugal ways to homeschool but I'm not organized enough to do it on my own. The thought of coming up with my own curriculum severely stresses me out! My husband and I decided it was well worth the money to have something already planned out for us. Sally Clarkson's advice in Educating the WholeHearted Child (have I mentioned how wonderful this book is?!) also gave me some peace about the whole money situation. She says.

"Determine whatever it is you need that will help you persevere in the homeschool lifestyle, and then give yourself permission to have it, especially if it provides more rest and energy."

I would say our curriculum choices definitely fall into this category! Our choices for the 2012-13 school year are:

• My Father's World kindergarten curriculum~ for Jake
• Trail Guide to Learning: Paths of Exploration~ for Laney

I'm so excited about both of these choices! Now I just need to get them ordered!

As we wind this school year down I can look back and see that even through the mistakes and rough patches, we have had a successful year. I'm looking forward to our summer break (I see lots of gardening/preserving in our future) & I'm even looking forward to a new school year & a fresh start!

Trusting in Him,
--- Abby

Wrapping up our school year...


It's that time of year: time to begin wrapping up our first homeschool year! We still have a couple of weeks of "official" school left but I've been doing a lot of reflecting and thought I would share it with you all.

When I look back over our first year I feel happy & disappointed all at the same time. I feel like we had a wonderful year spending time together and making memories- that part makes me happy! The disappointment comes when I think about all of the times I failed. Times when I lost my patience, or the times when all I did was gripe, complain, and feel sorry for myself. Okay, maybe I'm being too hard on myself, but I definitely had moments that I'm not proud of! I've wasted a lot of time on the computer chasing after how to be the perfect homeschool mom. Do you know what I found out? She doesn't exist! I want to share something that I read in the Clarkson's book Educating the WholeHearted Child (This book has been wonderful! I only wish I had read it before we started homeschooling. If you are homeschooling or just thinking about it, you must read this book!):

"The phantom homeschool mom keeps your expectations unrealistically high- orderly home, schedule under control, children who do all their work, lots of field trips, baking bread, keeping a garden, ministry with children, and the ability to freely read all the homeschooling magazines and books on your shelves. But she doesn't exist!"

Wow, it sure is good to know that I don't have to do all of the above mentioned things in order to be a good homeschool mom! I realized I set my expectations way too high and all it caused us was stress and heartache. The good news is- the Lord forgives and He gives us strength to start over!

Even though this year has had it's stress I could never even imagine sending my kids to regular school. Homeschooling is it for us. This is the path that God has put my family on. He has given me the responsibility of teaching my children His word and His way and in return He gives me precious time with them. That's what it's all about. I'm going to mess up, they are going to mess up, the house is going to be messy, but I wouldn't trade any of it for all of the "me" time, money, and clean houses in the world!

I'm thankful for the time to reflect. It gives me a chance to pray, think, and plan how to make our next school year even better! Tomorrow I will be writing about my goals for our next school year and the curriculum I have decided to use!

~ Abby

His compassions fail not...

Sometimes I think I forget where I could be, or would be, without the Lord in my life. Actually, sometimes I think I even get the "high & mighty attitude" just because I'm trying to do all the Lord has asked me to do. Well guess what? I'm not at all "high & mighty" and I mess up- a lot! I realized yesterday, after I let my tongue have control (actually it was my fingers- on Facebook), that I am a total failure. There is nothing good in me, except the Lord. I am nothing but a sinner saved by God's marvelous grace. I'm undeserving of His goodness and mercy in my life. I feel like Paul sometimes when he said he was chief of sinners. I realized yesterday that maybe the Lord allows us to mess up and make mistakes. Maybe He allows us to be broken  so we will come down from our "high & mighty" throne and realize just what we are. I am nothing, but He is everything. I need Him everyday. When I try to take matters into my own hands, I will fall- every time. This morning as I read my Bible I was reminded of how great the Lord's mercies and compassion are. Lamentations 3:22-23 says:

"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness."

I'm thankful that even when we mess up, the Lord is there with open arms ready to forgive us and strengthen us. I love Him this morning.

--- Abby 

When is enough, enough???

As we get ready to celebrate the ressurection of our Saviour I find myself struggling with guilt. Guilt over the whole Easter- basket, bunny thing. We tell our kids that Easter is not about the bunny or hunting eggs (just like we tell them that Christmas is not about presents) and yet we fall into the holiday trap every time.

 I found myself at Wal-Mart late last night to do the "basket thing" and couldn't believe what I was seeing. People were running around like crazy filling their buggies with unecessary items, and tons of candy. I had just been to the same WM that morning when I took my Maw-Maw to buy groceries and the shelves were full, but when I returned last night the shelves were completely empty. I wandered around trying to find a few things for our kids, knowing that they don't need a single thing. We kept it simple, but what I did buy was definitely not needed. I began to feel this terrible sense of guilt because I was one of those people running around frantically, spending money that I didn't have (and silently praying that God would help us pay the bills for one more month).

I wonder how many other people were feeling the same guilt, or have they become so wrapped up in all of this worldiness that the true meaning of Easter has lost it's sense of awesomeness.

I'm not trying to be a party pooper. We enjoyed fellowship with our church yesterday where the kids hunted eggs, and we will be going to another one today. I just wonder when will enough, be enough?

Why isn't the fact that our Savior rose from the grave enough reason to celebrate? Why do we have to throw in a bunny, some eggs, and candy to make it a celebration? God help us me to turn back to you completely. Help us me not to become so consumed with all of these distractions. Help us  me to teach my children that sure it's okay to enjoy life and have fun, but it's more important to keep You -the Giver of life, the Creator of all things- first in our lives. 

May we all remember the true meaning of Easter and teach it to our children- write it on their hearts so they will not ever forget! Thank you Lord for giving your life for a poor sinner like me!

---Abby