Thankful Thursday

Today, I am thankful for the ladies in my Bible study group. I am thankful that He brought us together so that we could share together in laughter, friendship and love.

 

This week as I have been writing on discouragement I have been reminded of all the times these ladies have had an on time Word to help lighten the load. As we share from our heart what God is showing us, we are building each other up in the faith. I am so thankful for these ladies and how God is working and moving in their lives.

 

One thing I love about this group is that we are all different yet we have one common link and that is we desire to know God more. We desire for Him to work through us as we train our children, as we go about our daily tasks, as we encounter others. We love Jesus and that's what counts. I can truely say that by being around these ladies, I have become a better person. I have learned so much from each of them. I cannot wait to see what God has in store for us! This group of ladies is definitely a God thing!

 

And...I wish I had a picture of these beautiful godly ladies, but I don't.

Discouraged: Part 2

Galatians 6:9 says, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for in the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

Weary means exhausted in strength, endurance, vigor, or freshness. Having one's patience, tolerance, or pleasure exhausted. Exhausted means to tire extremely or completely. Become means to come into existence.

How many of you can say that you are all of the above or have been at one time? The responsibilities that we carry from day to day can make us weary in doing good. Sometimes I wonder how many more times will I have to tell my children to pick up their toys so we do not fall on them, please wait until we say the blessing before eating, be kind to your brother/sister, please talk one at a time so I can hear you, on and on and on.

God gave us these blessings and knew that we could handle the task before us. Will it be easy? No, but we have a responsibility to train our children. I love the part that says, "in the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."  We have to persevere even in the hard times of parenting and disciplining our children. We must keep working and TRUST GOD for the results.

I have learned that it takes work to discipline my children. When I go to sit down on the couch to relax I have 2 choices when a problem arises: really deal with my children in disciplining them or just allow them to keep on because I do not feel like getting off the couch.

So today, I encourage you to not become weary, you will reap a harvest in due time!

Discouraged

2 Corinthians 12:9 says, "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ's power may rest in me."

 

A little background on this passage: Paul had a thorn in his flesh. His thorn was a messenger from Satan sent to torment him. Paul pleaded with the Lord to remove the thorn. Although God did not remove Paul's physical affliction, He promised to demonstrate His power in Paul.

 

I want to point out a few things here:

 

1. "My grace is sufficient for you."

Grace is unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification.

Sufficient means enough to meet the needs of a situation.

 

This means that God's "divine assistance" is enough to meet the needs of my situation.

 

2. "For my power is made perfect in weakness."

God's power is perfect or without defect when I am weak.

 

3. "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ's power may rest in me."

Boast means to "the act or an instance of boasting:brag." How many times do we hear people "brag" about their weakness? Not so much! Maybe it's time we start so that Christ can do His perfect work through us!

 

So many times, we get discouraged because we cannot make something happen the way we want it to happen, but Paul is saying it is a good thing to be weak. When we are weak, God's power is made perfect. We are better to be weak and relying on God and His PERFECT power than ourselves.

 

As a parent we have SO many decisions to make from what to eat for dinner to discipline that it is easy to get discouraged when we do not see immediate change. We have to rely on God and His perfect power to step in and do it's work. We cannot do this alone. If we want to see lasting change, we have to rely on God to transform our hearts and our children's hearts' from the inside-out.

 

 

 

 

 

Defiance Wrap-up

Proverbs 21:19 says, "Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and ill-tempered wife."

WOW! The Word of God says it is better to be living alone than to live with a wife that is quarrelsome and ill-tempered. That's strong and I am convicted!

Quarrelsome: apt or disposed to quarrel in an often petty manner

Ill-tempered: ill-natured, quarrelsome, have a bad disposition: cross, surly (arrogant)

WOW! How many times have I been ill-tempered and had a bad disposition because I was sooooooooo tired? Well, guess what? My husband had a long day and was tired too! Who am I to be ill-tempered toward him? When we are ill-tempered, we easily become petty and it can easily become all about "me, me, me!" When we are in this way and we become willing participates to "fight," we are acting in defiance. WOW! Before this study, I would have not considered myself very defiant...but now. WHOA!

As moms, we set the tone in our homes. If we are ill-tempered, have you noticed the rest of the family becomes that way? If you are in a cheerful mood, they become that way to? I believe that is one reason why this is directed at wives first. We do have a hard task before us, whether we stay at home or work outside the home, but we are still instructed to have the attitude of Jesus.

"Your attitude should be the same as that of Chrsit Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-even death on the cross." Philippians 2:5-8

My attitude is to be the same as Christ Jesus. He was in very nature God, but did not consider Himself equal. He made himself NOTHING and became the nature of a servant. He humbled himself and it lead to His death on the cross AND He did it all so I could have my sins wiped away and live with Him in eternity!

We serve our family everyday and it can be a very difficult task. As hard as our days may be, they will never compare to what Christ took for us on the cross. We can persevere and have the attitude of Christ because He is alive in us, working through us IF we allow Him to!

I challenge you, take time for yourself and simply sit in His presence and allow God to refresh you! This is true refreshing! Many times, when I get a break I want to run get a pedicure or do something nice for myself, after all I tell myself I deserve it. When I go and do those things, they fade away. Last time I messed one toenail up before I even got home! But when we allow God to refresh us from our core, we are getting the best rest and refreshing we can get. We are doing more for ourselves than we ever realize! AND we can do more than we ever realized because God is doing it through us! Sidenote: I still love my pedicures! :)

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for my two wonderful children. This is them on vacation last week on a nature walk at Pickney Island. It was a really fun nature walk; I guess that is obvious by the way Noah is posing and cheesing! He normally does not stand still for me to take a picture, but lately he is "posing." Not sure what's up with that or how long it will last. LOL

 

 

 

 

Anna Grace is a one fun little girl. She is a typical first born. She is always taking care of others and always making a plan. She is more serious than her brother, yet laughs easily. She loves to read and play with her babies. She is such a nurturing little girl. She love Jesus and has a huge heart for other people. Anna Grace ask Jesus into her heart when she was 4 years old. I know that is young, but she was ready. When we were praying, you could see the transformation immediately. You could just feel the weight of sin come off of her life. It was amazing! AND I had the opportunity to lead my own daughter to Jesus.

 

Noah - he is one lighthearted fun guy! He is so silly and full of energy. He love to play tricks and say, "trick you." It's funny...when it's not in the middle of the night. He is determined. He has church ALL the time. He is either preaching or leading worship. I have countless pictures and videos of this. I can't wait to show him when he gets older. He has a Bible and microphone handy most of the time. He loves to play with his cars and "ball." He is so lovable! He just won't sit still long! So, you better get it while you can.

 

I cannot wait to see how God uses these two for Kingdom impact. My desire is that they would have a heart for Jesus and purue Him passionately.

 

 

 

 

Defiance

Defiance is the act or an instance of defying: challenge. Disposition to resist: willing to contend or fight.

Defiance is the WILLINGNESS to fight. We have to being WILLING to be defiant. It is a choice we make. God does not make this choice for us, but when we turn a deaf ear to His Word, we cannot help but to be defiant in all areas of our lives. BUT when we are open to God's Word and His correction in our lives, we are open and readily recognize the people He sends into our lives to challenge us!

Proverbs 12:1 says, "Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hate correction is stupid."

Wow, I gain knowledge when I am willing to be disciplined. I do not desire to be a "stupid" person. When we want to be taught, there is no end to what we can learn. Being taught means that we are willing to accept learning things from others, whether it be books, conversations, things that challenge us. LISTENING to others and realizing that we do NOT have all the answers is being open to things that God may have for us. When we stick our heals in the mud, so to speak, and refuse to change, we will see very little difference in our lives. I desire to be open to what God has for me, but that means I have to accept His Word and the people He sends into my life to challenge me. When gaining knowledge, I may not like everything I am learning, but I have to be willing to change even when it is hard. When it's beyond me, I have no choice but to have total reliance upon the Father!

***One thing I am finding helpful to me in studying my CTB in this way, it is making it easier to use! By studying the specific Scriptures, it is just a natural part of my conversation. It is amazing how we are challenged in each of these areas each week! I am seeing great results by going directly to God's Word and I love it!

Tuesday Talk

Sorry I missed Monday! I had great intentions of posting, but did not have a chance. We went on vacation last week to Hilton Head and it was WONDERFUL! We had such a great time! Of course, when you get home; the to-do list hits you in the face and you can get behind before you even get started!

We had a fun week of family time. Monday we did not really do much of anything. I think we were SO TIRED, all we could do was hang out and I got TONS of reading done. Of course, Jason (my husband) just had to do something so he took the kids for a long bike ride. I can't believe he did it considering he had to pull 100 pounds! We spent a lot of time on bikes and outside. We barely drove our car the entire time because everything we really needed was within bike distance.

We were able to get 2 homeschool days out of it, which was great! We did not focus on any actual school work, but we really had 2 days of complete nature walks and were able to identify some cool things. I learned alot myself!
It was so refreshing to just pull away and spend time with my family and have plenty of time in God's Word with nothing else really expected of me. Hopefully, I can get back on track and post from my CTB tomorrow!

Here's a picture of my children I took on the beach. It was pretty cool outside, but we went to walk and take pictures of the kids one evening. I have lots of great ones!

Friday Post

I have been posting from my phone this week due to being out of town. I wrote them last week and posted them daily... One mishap... Today's post is under Wednesday, so scroll down under Thursday. I made corrections when I read it Wednesday night so I'm not sure if that's why it posted under Wednesday or not. Anyway, I'm kind of new to this!

Everyone have a great weekend!

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for my husband, Jason! God blessed me with this wonderful man 7 1/2 years ago. He is a wonderful husband and dad. He works very hard to provide for our family and never complains. When he gets home from a long day of work, he helps with supper and cleanup, kids baths and bedtime routine. He gives so much of himself even when tired. He makes it a point to daily spend time with the children and give them words of affirmation. He shares Jesus with them and desires they love Him! I love to hear him talking to them before bed!

He is such a blessing from God and I am so glad God chose him for me!

Final Thoughts on Complaining

Wow! God reveals so much through His Word I could never post it all here! I am amazed by His goodness, His grace, His love!

As I finish up this week, I am left with a couple of thoughts: everything I do and say reflect Christ; as I am a Christian. (Colossians 3:17)

Am representing Him appropriately?
Are people drawn to Christ through the way I live my life and the words I say?
Am I bringing glory to His name?
What changes do I need to make in my life to honor Christ?

I should do ALL things without complaining or arguing. When I do this I become blameless and pure, without fault. I will shine like the stars in this dark world. I will stand out because this is so different than the way the world does things. (Philippians 2:14-15)

Lord, I desire to reflect You at all times in my life... Even when I am tempted to complain and argue. I am blessed and I thank You for Your blessings upon my life! Lord, love through me so that I can reach this world for you!

And here's a picture of my 6 year studying with me as we study the complaining tabs: we had a very different kind of week last week due to sickness, but we were able to dig a little deeper!

 

Have a great weekend! See you Monday!

Complaining and Being Thankful

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and over-flowing with thankfulness." Colossians 2:6-7

Continue to live in Christ Jesus like you did when you first received..

Remember when you first received Christ, you were so excited and you were growing. Everything was so grand and great. Then, the new wears off and you slip back into life as usual, if you are not careful.

The Bible says we need to be "rooted and built up IN HIM," because then we will be "strenghened in the faith." We will be overflowing with thankfulness.

We live in a world of, "you can't get enough." "More is better." Just look around everything offers biggie size now...and not just food. That is such a lie of the enemy. He wants us to believe that, but when we are "OVERFLOWING with thankfulness," we tend to forget the things we do not have. We do not have room to complain. We realize we are entirely too blessed to complain.

At church on Wednesday night, we finished up a series on the ten commandments. We were talking about "Do not covet." So, to reverse coveting, the children made lists of things they were thankful for. It is amazing at the list of things once we start to thinking of all the things God has truely blessed us with. The kids were so excited and joyful. It was amazing to see them light up when they began to list what all God had blessed them with.

If you are feeling down today, I encourage you to make a list of things that you are thankful for. I promise you, you will realize how blessed you are and forget what it is you lack. God is more than enough.

The Alarm Clock

The other morning my husband got in the shower and hit the snooze button instead of turning the alarm clock off. I am not really sure how long it went off because I NEVER heard it go off the first time or him getting in the shower. As it woke me up, I began thinking about life and how we are sort of like the snooze button. Many times we have an issue that we are dealing with and we "hit the snooze button" so to speak. We do not DEAL with the real problem so it continues to creep up in our lives.

What do we need to deal with at the root? What is it that continues to creep up in my life that I need Jesus to help me overcome? Without total reliance on Him, we can do nothing.

What causes me to do some of the things I do? What is the real reason for my behavior? Why does my attitude stink? Why am I so short tempered with my family?

What is really bothering me? I must deal with the root of the problem for things to really change.

Colossians 2:7 says, "rooted and built up in him."

Our life should be rooted and built in Christ. Our life should not be rooted in anything else. Just as plants draw nourishment from the soil thought their roots, so we draw life-giving strength from Christ. The more we draw our strength from Him, the less we will be fooled by those who falsely claim they have the answers. We will also be able to overcome those "issues" that seem to creep up and keep reoccurring.

Are we all nicely put together on the outside, but fall apart with a shove or two? What is it today that I need to deal with? Am I ill with my family? Do I have a bad attitude towards people? Am a frustrated?

Before I can be loving, kind, and patient I have to receive Christ's love for me, His unconditional love. I cannot give what I do not possess. The secret to being all that He has called me to be, is to be deeply rooted in Him: "May your roots grow deep into the soil of God's marvelous love." Ephesians 3:17

When we are deeply rooted in Him, then we can begin to love others with Christ's love, "Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other." 1 John 4:11

Complaining

“For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things stored up in him.“ Matthew 12:34b-35

I love using the dictionary even on words I know the meaning to. It seems to bring such a visual for me. So, lets start with a definition.
Overflow means to fill a space to capacity and spread beyond its limits.

I was at a restaurant the other evening and as I was filling my drink, the tray began to overflow because their was a problem with the machine. But if you know me, I was making a little scene and quickly told a worker. It did catch others attention due to my excitement … I mean come on, water was flowing everywhere. Would it have gotten my attention and everyone else’s if it weren’t overflowing? No! I would have filled my drink and I wouldn’t even remember the incident.

What overflows is definitely seen, whether good or bad.

Our heart is my personality, disposition, the emotional or moral as distinguished from the intellectual nature, one’s innermost character, the central or innermost part, the center.

Disposition is our temperamental makeup, the tendency of something to act in a certain manner under given circumstances mood, prevailing tendency, or inclination.

What is my tendency? How do I normally respond to situations? At home? Is it different than when around others? Who am I when no one look? Do I desire to change the way I respond to situations?

The mouth speaks..

Whatever is in my heart, whether good or bad, will overflow in the way I live my life, the words I say. It will get the attention of others, especially my children.

Good heart = good lifestyle

Bad heart = bad lifestyle

What do I store in my heart? Do I have my heart filled with God’s Word? Do I create an atmosphere for my children to have their heart filled with God’s Word? Do I fill their heart with things of this world? Do I fill their heart with too much tv? What do I expose my children to? Their actions will overflow with what’s in their heart. What is in their heart is a combination of all the things they experience. Only God’s Word can truly transform their hearts. But we have to have renewal time in Jesus.

We can’t solve our heart issues by cleaning up our speech and actions. We must follow the Holy Spirit to lead us to new attitudes and motives. When this happens, my life is cleansed at the source.
　

　

　

Final Thoughts on Anger

It is amazing how there are so many opportunities to get angry with our children. BUT the more time I spend in God's Word, the more peace He creates within me. The more peace He creates within me, the more peace my children tend to have. So, I must be a in the Word allowing Him to work through me!

 Does that mean that I never have trouble keeping my tone lower and speaking with gentleness (Proverbs 15:1)? From being quick tempered and displaying folly (Proverbs 14:29)? No, but that just means that I have God working through me. Colossians 2:10 says that "I have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority." So Christs' power in me can help me to overcome these things that try to consume me and lead me to tear down my children and stop them from being all that God created them to be.

One final thought, "It always protects. always trust, always hopes, always perseveres." 1 Corinthians 13:7

 

Thankful Thursday

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." Colossians 2:6-7

I have been challenged in my Colossians Bible study to "overflow with thankfulness." So, I am trying a new thing on Thursdays, called Thankful Thursday! When we are thankful we seem to forget about what ails us. We begin to see things in a new light. I challenge you to be thankful all the time because God is good!


So today, I chose....my niece and nephews.

Luke - 5          Hannah - 3

This is Luke and Hannah. They are so very precious to me. Each and everytime Luke walks runs into my house, he heads straight to my refrigerator to see what I have to drink. He LOVES his own bottle of drink. His mom is usually telling him he needs to ask first, but he just seems to be so excited and focused on that drink, he forgets to ask everytime. Luke loves to play ball and his favorite song is, "Open the Eyes of My Heart Lord." Luke is passionate, loving, loud, active, and determined. AND he is my baby even if he does call me by my name and not Mandy anymore.

Hannah is one prissy little girl. I just love to watch her play. When she comes to my house she heads straight to the playroom and starts to "cook" and "take care of babies." She will be a great mommy one day. The other day when I saw her, she was teaching because she started Wee School a few weeks back. She kept telling us "everyone sit in your musical chairs." She kept telling us we had to listen while she talked. It is very evident she has been in school. AND what makes it even cuter is the way she talks at 3 years old! I LOVE to talk to her because it is so CuTe!! She is super sweet and I LOVE to watch her entire face light up as I tell her she is beautiful! She is tough (because of her big brother), sweet, lovable, determined and a girly girly!

And this is.....Jonathan Jr.

Jr. - 1 1/2

Jr. is one silly little boy. He is intense. AND he said my name for the first time a few weeks ago!! All the kids call me Mandy because that is what my brothers called me when they were really little! He loves to throw a ball, he loves to read books and LOVES to dress up for church! I think he is destined to be a preacher like his daddy! When music comes on, he is going to start dancing and as you can see through the picture, he is a silly boy! AND he has the cutest curls ever!! He is sweet, kind, lovable, snuggly and all boy! AND he will soon have a new baby sister, Abigail (in about 19 weeks)!

I love these children! I pray that God would use them for His glory! They are all different and unique. God made each one of them with a unique purpose in mind. I pray that each one fulfills that purpose!

Anger and Proverbs 25:28

"Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control." Proverbs 25:28

The purpose of a wall is:
1. protection
2. when the wall falls or has cracks, it can leave one in fear, uncertain, doubting their safety, exposed to the forces of nature
3. the wall could fall and crumble

As parents we are to provide protection for our children. We need to seek God on how to handle all situations. We need to do what is best for our child, not what is best for us at the moment. When we seek God and do what is best for our child, sometimes we have to reaarange our plans. Discipline and training our children takes time...lots of time!

But, when we "lack self-control," we can hurt our children and begin to "break down their walls." They may begin to doubt who they are in Christ, our love for them, etc. They may begin to have fear and not feel safe. Their foundation is oftentimes questioned. At this point in their life, the younger they are, the more they rely on us for that solid foundation. They cannot do it on their own. They are in training. When we "say" things in anger, we tear down our children. We allow the enemy entrance to come in and mess with their minds. Our children value highly what we think and when we say things in frustration or anger we really hurt them. AND the enemy can magnify this because he wants to tear apart and divide. BUT our God is greater, He is stonger, He is higher than any other! When we rely on Him to work through us, we can do nothing but WIN!

Reflection:

• Are my words leading my children to hurt and pain OR to the Father and full of God-confidence?
• Am I tearing down or building up my children with my words, my actions, my attitudes?
• Are my children doing things I dislike, such as showing anger, attitudes, etc? Have I looked at myself to see if I am doing that before I point the finger?
• Am I relying on the Father for self-control or trying within myself to have self-control?

www.goodmorninggirls.org

In Case You are Wondering: SOAP

When I was in college, I had a youth minister tell me about the SOAP method. I used that method to study Scripture pretty often then, but for whatever reason stopped. Since doing Bible Study with the Good Morning Girls, I have begun to use it again. I love it because it MAKES me slow down and actually read the entire verse, as I am writing it, without missing parts (as it is so easy to do). I thought I would write that here for those who do not know, since I mentioned it in my post yesterday.

S: Scripture (you write out the Scripture word for word)

O: Observation (you make one or two observations about the passage...or as many as you want)

A: Application: (make it applicable to your life, what is God revealing to you in this passage)

P: Prayer: (pray)

I am currently going through the Colossians study with the Good Morning Girls and it is amazing how I am seeing it through a different light as I SLOW down and really study and digest it. I love this method. The Good Morning Girls do several studies a year. Before this one, I did the Proverbs 31 study and it was amazing, as well. If you are interested, check them out at www.goodmorninggirls.org.

Have a blessed day! 

Anger and Door Slamming

Wow! Did I learn a lot last week when studying the Anger tabs in my Child Training Bible?!?

 I chose to study each Scripture listed under that tab using the SOAP method and the download from the CTB study provided under "files." Anger had only 8 Scriptures so that was not too bad. It was amazing at how I was able to talk and discuss these particular Scriptures with my children and they really "got it" after God dealt with me as a Mom FIRST! After just one week in the CTB on anger, we have seen a difference in our children.

Anna Grace just turned 6 on August 30th and we had begun to see things that we did not like. She would get very upset about us telling her no about something and she would stomp to her room and slam her door. On a children's website,  I get weekly updates about child development. She started this behavior out of nowhere and then I read that this was typical of her age. But I feel that even if this is so-called "normal behavior" we have to deal with it. We have to train our children through these situations. If we do not, they will continue to do this behavior. The best way to deal with situations is to take them to Scripture. Show them why their behavior needs to change and the consequences of this behavior. Now, don't get me wrong, but door slamming in itself is not the worst thing in the world, but what will it lead to if not dealt with? What will this look like 5, 10, 15 years from now if we chalk this up  as "normal behavior" for this age.

Door slamming is not the real issue, but why is she slamming the door? There is something going on INSIDE of her that we cannot see. This behavior is a symptom of something going on in her heart and mind. So, we have to see that the heart is changed and the only way to do that is through taking her to God's Word and allowing Him to transform her from the   inside - out.

So, What did we do?

1. I studied the anger Scriptures and let God make them REAL to me. I allowed God to reveal areas in my life I needed to work on FIRST before I went to my child and addressed her "issues."

2. I took her straight to Scripture and showed her what the consequences of allowing anger to get out of control were.

3. I explained how it is ok to get upset about something, even Jesus got angry.

4. BUT we have to be sure that our actions glorify Him. We have to choose to not sin in our anger.

5. We were able to help her have self-control and make better decisions WITH The help of JESUS. Only He can help us through tough times.

We have always disciplined with Scripture, but I saw a big difference this week. WHY? I believe number one, I went to God on MY behalf FIRST asking HIM to reveal to me what I needed to work on. Then, we set aside several times this week to discuss the Scriptures as the Lord lead. I did not use them in trying to correct a behavior right then (I didn't have to). I set aside time and we sat at the kitchen table and just "discussed." It was amazing! We talked about it when she had not "just" gotten angry so she was able to see it from a different perspective. She was openly talking about what she needed to work on (she also told me what I needed to work on-LOL)! AMAZING!

More this week on Anger....If you are going through the CTB study right now, I am posting a week behind so that I can reflect upon the previous week!

Homeschool Fun Day OR Week!

I was talking with a friend last week who homeschools her 3 children. We were talking about the great benifits of homeschooling and CHARACTER. As we were talking, she said that last year she took two whole weeks off of school to regroup and focus on character issues. Things had kind of spun out of control. That got me to thinking...

You see, we started on June 11th with this school year and we are just plain tired! We have finished 77 days of school so far and we have to have 180. We are almost to the halfway point. I had been wondering how in the world could we focus on some of the character issues we have been dealing with lately. It never crossed my mind to take some time off. BUT WHY NOT? Duh!

Over the weekend I was thinking about how we could really target some of the issues we were dealing with in our children. I had signed up for the CTB (Child Training Bible, link on my sidebar) facebook study that last for 21 weeks. I had not looked much into it, I just wanted to see how they were going to study the tabs, etc. So Sunday as I began to jot down a tentative plan for our school week (this is so out of character for me because I feel like I HAVE to stick to the curriculum and Lesson plan (very detailed might I add): I was once a school teacher if that explains anything! LOL) and as I did, God kind of used the CTB Bible study to give me direction. I have decided to study one tab a week as the study suggested: me first then share it with my children as the Lord leads. It is amazing at the things I am LEARNING about ME before I deal with my children. I didn't want to just STOP school and work on character as if it were isolated from our normal life. So, as I planned, I decided that we would do a review week with any trouble areas she seemed to have. We have played so many games this week. We have played store so much! I am having so much fun PLAYING! My child can combine her coins like you wouldn't believe and last week it was a struggle. Why didn't I do this last week? Not sure, but one thing I do know: more games will be a part of our homeschool day! I have officially decided that Friday is now game day. We will play games to review all that she learned during the week. I am not quite sure why I have not done this before, I did when I taught school. So glad God has revealed so much this week, in more ways than one!

Starting next week, I will be posting at least one time a week about the issue we are studying, if not more. It depends on the issue and how much God reveals to us.

One thing I want to leave you with, if we are seeing things that our children are doing that we dislike, we better look at ourself first. Disciplining our children starts with US!

Self Examination

How many of us take the time to look in the mirror and truely examine ourselves? I have been challenged in the last few weeks to really take a look at myself as a parent. We are so often "pointing the finger" at our children for their misbehavior, but rarely turn that finger on ourselves.
How is that?

It is so much easier for us to deal with the misbehavior and attitudes of our children than our own. It is important to look at ourselves through the mirror of God's Word. Our standard is Scripture, not the world or people around us. The Word of God is The Authority in our lives. Our lives need to line up with the Word of God.

None of us are perfect and we must rely on the Father to lead and guide us. We all have weaknesses and we must rely on the Father so that we can grow towards maturity as believers and parents.

 I challnege you today, look at yourself. Are you setting a good example for your children in the way you talk to them, talk to others, spend your time, deal with anger, impatience, etc. It is never to late to call on God for help.

"When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies." Psalm 119:59, ESV)

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