Freedom

I've been thinking about this poem all day:

Refugee in America
There are words like Freedom
Sweet and wonderful to say.
On my heart-strings freedom sings
All day every day.

There are words like Liberty
That almost make me cry.
If you had known what I knew
You would know why.

--Langston Hughes


Various thoughts flooded my mind as I read this.

Sad thoughts that the Freedom and Liberty he found in America often seem to be in jeopardy.

Indescribable thoughts of how this relates to my life as a follower of Christ. Even though my freedoms seem threatened at times, the freedom and liberty that are mine in Christ can never be taken away. I have a hope and a future.

Finally, as we are about to begin another year of homeschool, I can't help but relate these thoughts of freedom and liberty to the beauty found in Charlotte Mason's Methods (to learn more specifics, click here, here, or here).

I went to public school. For me, this was not such a bad experience as some have; yet, there are still things I will never forget and wish for my children to learn in a different way. Still, even in the home setting, a family could make "school" still too much like "school" with rigid structure and cold atmosphere and mind numbing books. I recently got to see in real life some of those homeschool curriculums of which I've heard stories. It made me feel stressed just looking at these huge stacks of textbooks.  I've also been making a big effort to once again purge our home of "twaddle" (Mason's word to describe books with oversimplified language which has the end result of shutting down the mind's creative thinking process).

Mason's methods and principles have brought so much life into our home. Our minds are nourished and challenged with ideas. My whole family ends up being fed a feast from which each fills his plate with the nourishment needed. It truly is a living education, and more than that, it is a way to live.  Charlotte's method may have seemed "new" in her day and often seem "new" compared to many of today's methods of education, however, the Solomon tells us that there is nothing new under the sun (Eccles. 1:9-10). And the more I think of it, many of her methods of teaching reflect the way that Jesus taught his disciples and interacted with those He met.
            
          He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).
          He came that we could enjoy abundant life (John 10:10).
          For freedom, Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1)

I'm so thankful that the Lord has led our family to this beautiful method of learning and living. Maybe you are interested in Mason's method; if so, I encourage you to dive in and research it. However, maybe you rejoice in the curriculum your family has found, if so, then I rejoice with you. I think because I've felt burdened by the yoke of slavery under the curriculums and methods that other families hold in high esteem, I understand and am extremely grateful for the fact that the Lord leads each family to what is right for them. I am so thankful for the freedom we have to choose differently! For me and my family, this method brings abundant life and joy and freedom. Why wouldn't I use it? :)  And again, Langston's words ring in my mind, "If you had known what I knew, you would know why."

The Joy of Folding Laundry

We all have our own feelings about things like dishes, vacuuming, dusting, and laundry (folding/putting away). I'm not going to get into all of that right now. I wanted to share one reason why I like to fold laundry with the hope that it would be an encouragement to you and perhaps spur you on to love and good deeds. :)

Years ago I came across this bookmark published by Navigators that shared 31 Biblical Virtues to Pray for Your Kids.  I also happened to find a blog post on praying for your children that had this prayer calendar from Inspired to Action. The calendar was adapted with permission from Bob Hostetler, the man who wrote the bookmark. So, after a while of realizing that I needed to figure out a way that I could actually USE this calendar instead of just keeping it nicely folded in my Bible, I decided to type it up large enough so that I could read it while it was hanging on the wall. I made it pretty to look at and taped it on the basement walls and washer which aren't always pretty to look at. Then as I pull clothes out of the dryer to fold I pick a prayer and begin praying it for each person (whoever "owns" the item I am folding...even myself). :) Anyway, I don't always have time to enjoy folding laundry, but making laundry folding time a time of more concentrated and intentional prayer has been no less than a delight. So click through on the links above and get your own calendars and start praying! Here are some photos to inspire you. :)

 

 

And this is who I'm praying for: 

 

 

This week, holy week, I've been trying read and meditate on scriptures that focus on Jesus's last week before his crucifixion. Today, something else caught my eye as I turned the pages of my Bible, but in every way it so perfectly relates to this week, Jesus's purpose in coming and dying, and to thoughts I've been sharing and discussing with friends lately.

Luke 14:25-33 are verses that are probably familiar to most of us. Let me try to share a bit of this, and some of Matthew Henry's commentary on these verses, along with some interesting points that Bob Burney made on these verses at a marriage conference I recently attended.

  Luke 14:26 If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father 

and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters,

 yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

 Matthew Henry states, "Christ's disciples must be willing to forsake that which was very dear, rather than forsake their interest in Christ. He is not sincere, he will not be constant and persevering unless he loves Christ better than anything in this world--even his own life.Man can look on houses and lands with contempt, but every good man loves his relatives; and yet if he becomes a disciple of Christ, he must comparatively hate them. Not that their persons must be in any degree hated, but our comfort and satisfaction in them must be lost and swallowed up in our love for Christ. When our duty to our parents comes into competition with our evident duty to Christ, we must give Christ the preference. Every man loves his own life, no man ever yet hated it; and we cannot be Christ's disciples if we do not love him better than our own lives." (than our SELF). 

Simply said: If you put anyone above me, you can not be my disciple. 

Luke 14:27 Whoever does not 

bear his own cross and come after me

cannot be my disciple.

Bob Burney commented on this and said that we as Christians often focus on this phrase "bear our cross" too much. We forget that crosses weren't meant to be carried around, they were made for crucifixion. Crosses are meant to die on, not carry around. We need to deny our selves, die to our selves daily (Luke 9:23) and follow Christ. 

Luke 14:33 So therefore, any one of you who does not 

renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. 

Bob went on to say the obvious: A crucified (dead) person has no rights. 

Why can't I remember that with every breath? Die to myself. My SELF is so strong...and so selfish...it must be denied, crucified. When, I die to myself, just as Jesus did, I give up my rights and am able to truly love others as He loved me, and serve others as he served. It kind of goes in a circle:

Die to self:  love one another as Christ loved us:  serve others  (repeat)

Well, I don't know if that makes any sense. It made sense to me this morning when I was struggling with dying to myself and giving up my rights. When we die to ourselves and give up our rights, and truly let the Lord reign on the throne of our hearts, then we will begin to bear fruit. 

John 12:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat 

falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone;

 but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

Here are some good verses to remind us about dying to ourselves. 

Here is an excellent sermon by John Piper on "As I Have Loved You, Love One Another". It fits right in with Holy Week readings too. (if you read this whole post and couldn't follow my train of thinking, then at least listen to this sermon, it will make it up to you)...really this is a good message that spurred me to dig into certain scriptures for myself as it shed light on things I had previously misunderstood. 

Resurrection Garden

Have you seen this idea for an "Easter Garden"?

Plant an Easter Garden! Using potting soil, a tiny buried flower pot for the tomb, shade grass seed, and crosses we made from twigs. Sprinkle grass seed generously on top of dirt, keep moistened using a spray water bottle. Spritz it several times a day. Set it in a warm sunny location. Sprouts in 7-10 days so plan ahead. On Good Friday, put a little lego Jesus inside and slide rock to seal tomb. On Sunday the tomb is EMPTY! He is Risen! He is Risen indeed!

I kept seeing it all over Pinterest. Then, Ann Voskamp published a post about creating a Grace Garden. I really wanted to do this, but of course I waited until almost the last minute. :)  We were sort of having a rough day and we needed something to get us back on track, so I packed the kids into the van and we ran to Wal-Mart. The Lord helped me find some very inexpensive plants, a small terra cotta pot, a bag of potting soil for $.97. I couldn't figure out what to do for the pot. They didn't seem to have the right shape basket or pot or anything for what I wanted to do AND in the price range I needed to be in. So I decided to use one of the cocoa liners and put it in one of the plastic liners that you are supposed to set your pots in to catch the water that drains out of the bottom, both of these cost under a dollar! So, I think I maybe spent a total of $12.00 on this project. When we got home, the kids gathered up some stones. We still need to find a large one to cover the opening of the "tomb".

We plan to follow the ideas that Ann outlines and on Friday we will shape a caterpillar out of clay and wrap it in cloth. Then on Sunday only the cloth will be left behind and a butterfly (new life) will be in the garden.
The kids have this all figured out: I will get the cloth, Lucy is going to make the butterfly, Jude is going to shape the caterpillar, and Mayme is going to make the puppy (out of play dough)...don't ask me how the puppy relates, she just insisted. :) Tyson said the puppy will remind us how faithful Jesus is. Also, we have a stone hidden in the garden, and on Sunday we will reveal it. Lucy wrote the word "grace" on it and we will be reminded of God's grace in giving us new life.

Once we had our garden in place on the table, there was no way we could fit our candle wreath. Instead, I took one of the add on sections that holds 8 candles. This worked perfectly to represent the days Palm Sunday to Easter. We'll light a candle each day until Friday when everything went dark at noon as Jesus died on the cross. I don't know what to do about Saturday...I guess nothing, just wait and remember. Sunday we will light them again and celebrate the resurrection and grace and new life.

I'm really excited about this. I hope it becomes a new tradition in our home. A constant visual reminder during the most important week in our Christian faith.


 

 

 

My little "helper" with a banana bread crumb face. 

Just having some fun with some new editing options on Picasa. :)

Today, I made the three crosses out of some sticks in the yard. 

for you

I've been having a little bit of fun with some new stamping/scrap booking software that Tyson got me for my birthday. I thought I would share a couple things that I've made with you...as a sort of "free printable". I think you should be able to click on the pictures (if you are visiting my blog) and print them out. Put them around your house and let the word of God work in your life.




This verse has become my mothering "motto" lately. :)
Although it is time to review it in more depth once again. 

I thought this one was a great way to start my prayer before reading my Bible! The paper and embellishments for this one were kindly offered as a  free download from Shabby Princess.

If you print one out, let me know how it works for you. Someone let me know though if it doesn't work. :)
 Maybe I need to find a different way to share the files.

God Bless You!

***Note: you may need to right click on the image and save/copy it, then paste it in Word or something to be able to resize it.***

Multitude Monday

359. Resurrection

So much can be said on this topic. The excitement of life to begin with, the nurturing of that life and enjoyment of it, and then seeing it slip from your hands. Life beginning to fade. The hopelessness and despair and finality of death. What would we do if there was NO hope? Where would we be if Christ had not risen form the dead? I don't know where I would be. I am in no way qualified to speak here in great details on the matters of life and death. What do I know; what I have I experienced in comparison to so many others? Very little, is the answer. I have but a few small treasures to hold out in my hand for you in regards to this subject. Like a little child with a small and fragile bouquet of wildflowers picked from her city backyard. Cherished treasures nonetheless.

We had a plant growing on the east side of our house when since we've moved here six years ago now. In the spring, it grows beautiful long slender green leaves. The rounded ends sprout out of the ground in a majestic show. A welcome sight in early spring. Suddenly, one day they began to wilt and die. Tyson carefully watered and cared for them, but it was all in vain. Our beautiful plant despite all our efforts wilted into a pile of brown limp leaves. Months passed and new flowers and plants sprang up. We forgot about our plant as all that remained in its place was bare ground, no signs of life whatsoever. Then, in late summer, to our utter amazement, tall slender stalks began to grow, holding at the top a crown of flower buds, a royal promise. Yes, they bloomed. Beautiful soft pink halo of flowers, delicate yet majestic, rising above all other plants around it. A sight to treasure. I don't know much about plants, but I believe that there are many plants that fit this category of "resurrection" plants. They grow and then seem to die off only to give way to beautiful flowers. They remind me of so many verses. I am so thankful for resurrection and the hope and joy that is securely held in the promise of our future resurrection in Christ.

Some scripture to meditate on:

John 11:25, 26a "Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die."


John 12:24, 25 "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life."

Romans 14:9 "For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living."


Romans 8:24-25 "For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience."


2 Corinthians 4:16-18 "So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."

2 Corinthians 5:7 "for we walk by faith, not by sight."


Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."

A poem to ponder:


Hope and Joy by Christina Rossetti
If hope grew on a bush, 
And joy grew on a tree, 
What a nosegay for the plucking
There would be!
But oh, in windy autumn
When frail flowers wither, 
What should we do for hope and joy, 
Fading together?

Perfectionism?

Are  you a perfectionist? Am I? I'm afraid to answer that question...probably because I wouldn't answer it perfectly. :)  Do I expect my kids to be perfect? I think sometimes I do. Where did I ever get the notion that I would have kids who obeyed me perfectly? Where did I ever get the idea that I would be able to train them to obey immediately and perfectly? Do I really believe that? I think that sometimes I do. Why else do I get so frustrated and upset when they don't? 

Now, obedience is important! I DO believe we need to train and teach our children. However, I know for myself, somewhere along the way, my mind, my heart, tends to lose focus of what the real goal is. Instead of training them and leading their hearts to see the Lord in everything, I slip and want them to be perfect...to make it easier for me. Instead of seeing their mistakes and sins as great teaching and learning opportunities, I sigh at the inconvenience it is going to cause me. I'm tempted to throw in some explanations and cover-ups, lest I really make myself sound THAT bad, but then I'm reminded. I am sinful. Sin is ugly. 

There are a LOT of parenting books out there. I don't want to mention any of them because I know my focus is to focus too much on this book or that book and lose the bigger picture. However, I do want to give credit to the person where the idea for this helpful chart came from. While I never read his book, our Sunday School class went through a DVD series on the book, Shepherding a Child's Heart, by Tedd Trip. (And actually you can buy DVD's of the teaching on Amazon!) Anyway, as the title suggests, a lot of the focus here is on the child's heart. So many times we try to only deal with the behavior. Ted talks about how you can't just put good fruit on a bad tree and expect that to make a difference, inside, the tree is still bad. 

So, I made this chart to hang up in our room...a nice private place where a lot of our discipline and training talks can happen without embarrassment. These are charts that Tedd used in the videos. 

At first, I mostly used this chart with Lucy and Jude, but now, it is really hitting home with Mayme. Even, if I just remind her and ask her where her heart is, is it clean or is she sinning, a light goes on in her head (sometimes). Sometimes, she even runs to the piece of paper and tells me where she is on it. 

This first part, explains that when we have sin in our heart, we will consequently behave badly. When our heart is clean, right with the Lord, free of sin, our behavior will reflect that as well. Now, notice that you can't immediately go from bad behavior to good behavior, or from good to bad. You have to go up through the heart, and even through the cross. You make a decision of what you will do with Christ. 

The bottom of the chart explains Ephesians 6:1 and Deuteronomy 5:16. When, the child is in the circle of honoring and obeying, he is safe. When he chooses to disobey and step out of that circle, he is in danger. 

Genesis 4:7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” And my role as a parent is to keep my child safe and bring them back into the circle. 

If you want further explanations of how I use these charts, you can contact me. They are pretty self-explanatory, which is the point, even our 3 year old understands them. Sometimes she even tries to tell stories about them and change their meaning. :) haha This is one thing I don't want her to confuse though, so I straighten the story out and she finishes it correctly. And of course, it is a good reminder for me as well. Where is my heart? Where is your heart? 

Proverbs 4:23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Proverbs 23:19 Hear, my son, and be wise, and direct your heart in the way.

I didn't mean to upload this picture, it just was there. :) What a good reminder. Have fun and enjoy those kids! They are just kids. It is not my job to make them perfect people,
but to help shepherd their hearts and direct them to their Shepherd.

Oh yeah, one more thing...going back to the perfectionist thing. (How's that for a summary statement? :)
God, who we all agree is the ONLY perfect parent, has children who go astray and rebel against him.

Isaiah 1:2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth;
for the LORD has spoken:
“Children^a have I reared and brought up,
but they have rebelled against me.

So why would I think I could do a better job and expect my children to behave perfectly? This is a good reminder to go back to the heart of the issue. Lord, where is my heart?

Worry vs. Faith

In a James MacDonald message that I was listening to today, he shared this illustration:
     "People don't worry about big important stuff. What we worry about are the little things and that's the problem with worry. It takes our focus off what matters most.
     If you were in a thick fog...imagine one where you can hardly see your hand...imagine it fills seven square city blocks and is 100 feet high. Do you know how much water would be in that fog? Answer: one glass full.  One glass of water properly distributed becomes a fog 7 square city blocks, and a few gallons of water can practically cripple a whole city.
     And Worry is like that. It chokes the vitality and enjoyment out of today."

Isn't that an amazing illustration! In contrast to worry, there is faith. There is so much to say about faith. I pray that it will be something that I will be growing in until the day I see Jesus. I'll never know it all. However, I am SO encouraged by this one verse from the Bible. This verse that I've been saving to wrap up my March Forth series. Speaking of Abraham, it says in Romans 4:20:
     "...he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God..."


There it is my friends, a key to growing in our faith is to give God the glory due His name. Isn't that beautiful. Praise the Lord and don't stop praising and thanking Him and ascribing to Him the glory due His name and you can't help but see your faith grow. 

March Forth!

I may not have been posting about this lately (crazy schedule!) but believe me I have been studying and clinging to these verses. And now, mid March, I need them even more! Here are a couple more verses.

Psalm 37:3
Trust in the Lord, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. 

Isaiah 7: 9b
If you are not firm in faith,
you will not be firm at all.

If you read these verses in context, you will find many other verses that you'll want to tape up around your house! Here is one:

Isaiah 7:4
Be careful, be quiet, do not fear,
and do not let your heart be faint.

That's all I'm going to say about that. :) I hope you have some time to study God's Word today. You won't be disappointed.

March Forth!

Tyson, you knew this was coming didn't you? He's been telling me for a few days that I needed to listen to track 8 of volume 1 of James MacDonald's Daily Drive CD. Well, today after a good workout, I did. Here are some highlights:
This is how to handle a hard time- trust in the Lord, do good, stay put.
Keep doing the right thing
FEED on faithfulness
Do everything you can to be faithful
Make faithfulness your goal
your pursuit
your satisfaction
if I was faithful for another day, that is good
more than your satisfaction,
make faithfulness your admiration!
I admire faithful people.

Faithfulness is hard! The Lord allowed me to exercise that muscle yesterday. I should have expected it, right!? Exercise, working out, is hard. We rarely enjoy it...until it is over...and then...it feels so good! To have done it, to  have done it faithfully. I've been trying to exercise every morning. I'm getting to the point where I don't really want to get up and do it anymore. I've had some success with it and that feels good, so I can take a little break now, right? Each new day that I get up and force myself to endure that workout, to push my weary body on for one more day, I'm met with reward, with satisfaction. Faithfulness is good and satisfying. What a great reminder MacDonald gives us to keep Marching Forth in the Lord, to be faithful. You know, maybe I'm strange, but I kind of like tests. I always have. I remember in school...didn't like the homework so much, but when the test came, I was ready to see how much I really knew. I don't want to repeat those tests now because I think I've forgotten just about everything. I still in many ways however enjoy tests. Don't get me wrong, they are HARD, they are not fun. I cry a lot. I fail many. But, in the end, it feels so good! To bear through it with the Lord, to commune with Him in the hardest and darkest times, to allow Him to prove to us His faithfulness and His goodness. He is good. Afterwards, I look back at each test, each hard and difficult time, and thank the Lord for it, for growing me, for loving me enough to not leave me where I am. He loves me just as I am, but He also loves me enough to not leave me there. Thank you Lord! Let's see how well, I can be faithful and endure another night with a fussy baby who wants to wake up and eat way too often for a tired Momma. Maybe I'll have a better attitude with this perspective.

I was going to try not to add words, to simply state the next scripture, but I see that the Lord has plans to teach me through this. What was I thinking? I'm always too excited to share what He teaches me...how can I stay quiet? Next verse:

Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.  1 Timothy 6:12

March Forth!

This picture has little to do with the subject of this post. It's just cute!

March, for me, is one of the longest months. We usually get sick and are couped up inside for weeks as we take turns being sick. Yet, the temperatures slowly warm, the snow slowly melts.  I welcome the end of the month with much joy because it means spring and the celebration of two very special people's birthdays! Still, it can be a tough month to endure. I try to mentally prepare for it each year, especially these more recent years when I have to share cabin fever right along with many little ones. So, a couple days ago, the Lord gave me the idea to focus on growing my faith day by day through this month by studying and meditating on what He says about faith. I'm really excited. I quickly began looking for verses related to "faith".

I don't know how frequently I'll share these verses, maybe one every other day or so. I also don't promise that they will all solely speak about faith...I'm sure that once I get going, it will be hard to limit it to just faith (I'll want to include hope and joy and other things). We'll see. I'm going to try to keep it brief though, focusing on the scripture alone, not a lot of explanation if any at all.  :)  Simply and encouragement to keep the Faith to the end! Also, if you have a verse that you find encouraging in regards to this subject or want me to share, let me know!

Oh, one more thing. Have you ever realized that there is one day of the year that is a command? March Fourth! :) Kind of neat huh? I read an article about that in a family magazine a few years ago. This one family celebrates that day together every year to rejoice at what milestones they reached that year and to set goals for the next year and focus on Marching forth! :) AND since this year, March 4th is on a Friday, Tyson decided that is something that our church should celebrate. So, Friday night at 7:00pm come and join us for a night of worship! This isn't a sit back and enjoy the show concert, it is a get involved, Worship the Lord, strengthen yourself in the Lord, prepare yourself in the Lord, March Forth kind of night! :) Sounds great, huh!

So, for Day 1 of March, here is my first verse:

1 John 5:4 
For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

Multitude Monday

324. Eczema, to practice learning the arts of diligence and patience.
325. Spring colors popping up all around me...at least in the stores
326. Kleenex
327. Popcorn
328. Exercise, the process of working and testing our bodies, persevering through pain, sweat, tiredness, and then reaping the many benefits
329. The way that winter lingers and spring teases, again to teach us patience, to exercise our hope and faith, to learn contentment and self-control
330. baby milestones...the joy that being able to sit up unassisted brings to a little one...a new world opened up to them
331. Watching our children learn new things, understand mysterious things like, "what is a sister-in-law"?
332. Jesus saves!
Hear the heart of heaven beating, "Jesus Saves. Jesus saves."
And the hush of mercy breathing, "Jesus Saves. Jesus saves."
Hear the host of angels sing, "Glory to the Newborn King."
And the sounding joy repeating, "Jesus saves."

See the humblest hearts adore Him. "Jesus saves. Jesus saves."
And the wisest bow before Him. "Jesus saves. Jesus saves."
See the sky alive with praise, melting darkness in its place
There is life forevermore, "Jesus saves. Jesus saves."

He will live our sorrow sharing, "Jesus saves. Jesus saves."
He will die our burden bearing, "Jesus saves. Jesus saves."
"It is done!" will shout the cross, Christ has paid redemption's cost!
While the empty tomb's declaring, "Jesus saves."

Freedom's calling, chains are falling, hope is dawning bright and true.
Day is breaking, night is quaking, God is making all things new.
"Jesus saves."

Oh to grace, how great a debtor! "Jesus saves. Jesus saves."
All the saints who shout together. "I know that Jesus saves."
Rising us so vast and strong lifting up salvation's song,
The redeemed will sing forever, the redeemed will sing forever, the redeemed will sing forever, "Jesus saves."
"Jesus saves." 


(It's the first song in this video)

Sharing a blessing...

I thought this post from Large Family Mothering was so encouraging especially with all that is going on in the world today. It blessed me today and I just wanted to share.

Did you know?

Ok, so before I begin, I want to make sure that you understand that this post is just to offer a bit of information. I am in no way trying to be critical. I am not offering my opinion on what I think you should do. If you read an opinion in the text below, it is not my opinion, it is the opinion of some professors from Trinity Theological Seminary (at least that is where I think they are from). I am just informing you of this bit of news because we ran into some confusion with it in our Life Group. This, is nothing new under the sun. It is nothing out of God's control. It is nothing that God can't use and work through. I just want to inform you so that you can avoid the confusion if you feel it is necessary. :)

So, here is the deal. The publishing company is coming out with a new version of the NIV Bible. What they are doing is combining the old TNIV (which many believed to be very faulty) and combining it with the NIV, and changing some things to make them "more accurate" based on current research. However, they are not giving it a new name; it will continue to be called NIV. Basically, within the next year or so, if you go to buy a NIV Bible from the store, it will not read the same as your 1984 version. This new version, or new NIV is not released yet, however, it is being used on Bible Gateway as the default NIV option. If you want, you can select it to specifically use the 1984 NIV. We had some confusion during our Life Group one night when Tyson was reading some verses from NIV on Bible Gateway (which we didn't realize was the new version coming out soon in print) many, many verses were worded differently. Tyson spoke with some friends and coworkers who looked into this matter by consulting some old professors. At the end, I'll post what they had to say in case you are interested in looking into this more yourself because it doesn't seem that the publisher will inform, promote, or advertise in any way that this new version, c. 2010 NIV, is actually different from the NIV that most people have (c.1984).  

Ok, enough said. I just wanted to let you know in case that will cause any issues. If you want, www.biblos.com is a good online site to use that currently still defaults to the 1984 NIV. As for me, I'm fond of ESV, but most of the verses I already have memorized are a conglomeration of KJV and NIV.  I love them all! I love God's Word!!! Hope you have a chance to bathe yourself in His Words today!

The promised added info, which is stated more clearly than what I said:
I talked to a couple of my profs at Trinity and gathered more info along with some articles they recommended.  
In short, the New Niv is going to replace the NIV and TNIV which are both slated to be phased out by 2011.  They have made some corrections to the gender neutral language but have not totally alleviated the issues.
Here are two comments that come from CBMW that summarize things well.
“there are some significant problematic passages in the new NIV(2011) that have been retained from the TNIV, not the least of which is the deliberately ambiguous rendering of authentein in 1 Timothy 2:12 <http://biblia.com/bible/esv/1%20Timothy%202.12>  as “assume authority.” The CBT says that this leaves the interpretation of the passage open, but it actually intentionally introduces a crucial ambiguity that is not found in the original NIV (which accurately translated authentein “have authority”). The new NIV(2011)’s translation ofauthentein designedly lends itself to a common current egalitarian misinterpretation of this passage (i.e., that Paul is only addressing the case of women illegitimately “assuming” authority, rather than prohibiting women from having/exercising authority as teacher/shepherds of the church).”
And
“So, though we are genuinely thankful for the many positive changes in the new NIV(2011), and though we are deeply appreciative of the very different process by which our friends at the CBT and Zondervan pursued and unveiled this new version, we still cannot commend the new NIV(2011) for most of the same reasons we could not commend the TNIV.  Our initial analysis shows that the new NIV(2011) retains many of the problems that were present in the TNIV, on which it is based, especially with regard to the over 3,600 gender-related problems we previously identified.  In spite of the many good changes made, our initial analysis reveals that a large percentage of our initial concerns still remain.  CBMW will be releasing an exact percentage after we complete our full detailed analysis.  We are also still concerned about the frequent omission of the words, “man,” “brother,” “father,” “son,” and “he.” 
 
This is the full article and is probably the best and most current info:  http://www.cbmw.org/Blog/Posts/CBMW-Responds-to-New-NIV2011
 
These are also helpful and were released in 2009 when the plans where announced.  Al Mohler has some good comments in the first one listed:
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/evangelicals.welcome.niv.revision.with.cautious.optimism/24117.htm
http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/archives/2009/09/breaking_transl.html
 

Little flowers all in bloom...

So, have you heard that Andrew Peterson is coming to Baraboo? That's right! Saturday, April 16th at 7:00pm...I just need to find a babysitter. :) I don't want to ask anyone because I want everyone to go to the concert! You can buy your tickets here. So, while we're talking about Andrew Peterson, let me share a little bit about why I enjoy his music so much. GREAT LYRICS!!! I really appreciate the way his songs bring my focus and attention to the Lord, encourage me in the Lord, and help me align my thoughts with truths from the Bible. I also really appreciate how he writes songs about his wife and kids!! I love that actually! I love it when it is just so evident that people love their spouses and children! What a blessing that he even shares his love for his family with the world through his music because we can relate to those songs with our families. So, want to know some of my favorite lyrics of his? Well, I'm going to share...here they are:
From the song "Don't Give Up on Me" from the album Resurrection Letters, vol. II

Now I wake up in a golden dream: angel voices in the rooms where the children run, all covered in light.

From the song "World Traveler" from the album Counting Stars

Tonight I saw the children in their rooms

Little flowers all in bloom

Burning suns and silver moon

And somehow in that starry sky

The image of the Maker lies

Right here beneath my roof tonight

Don't you just love that? I love keeping these lyrics in mind...it's easy when the kids are acting lovely...it's extremely helpful when they're acting not-so-lovely. It helps me remember what a gift, a blessing they really are. They are so precious. They bear the image of their Maker.

Changing subjects a bit...Recently some friends gave Jude a good size toy fire truck because they had two. He was so excited about it. It wasn't long after that he came to us and said that he wants to be a Fireman when he grows up. :)  Tonight he came and told me, "Mom, you know what I really want to do when I grow up? That God wants me to do? Be a Fireman! I prayed about it and asked God that I wanted to be that, and I heard His voice speak to me and He said yes!"  So cute!! I'm a little nervous about the reality of that right now, but if it does in fact happen, I know I can trust in God's abundant grace to get me through. Anyway, so cute. Had to share. He is having a "cute day" today. This morning (and all day) he wanted to wear his shoes in the house because that's what Daddy does. (They don't understand that we have too because our feet ache if we don't. :)   Then at lunch he said that he never wants "to shoot a Mommy or Daddy deer with his bow and arrow only things that are built." :) He doesn't want to hurt the deer. We'll see if that changes as he grows because you all know that I wouldn't mind the extra meat in the house. :) But if not, that's just fine. 

Well, I better stop. It certainly is nice to enjoy a sweet boy day though...especially after a week of grumpy sick kids (and mama). But, yeah...buy tickets to the concert and I'll see you there!

Learning lessons from little ones...

Isn't it amazing how much we can learn from children? Or from children's stories that we've heard a hundred times before? Do you know the story of the three little pigs? Remember, where they each go off on their own and build houses? If not, here is a little reminder:

Well, last week, Tyson was reading the kids this story and tucking them into bed, while I stayed downstairs trying to get Selah to sleep. I was listening to him read to them....we have a baby monitor set up so that we can hear the kids upstairs at night, in case anyone has a problem or bad dream or something...back to my story...so because I wasn't actually reading the book to the children, I had a chance to think about and reflect on the story again. I know the main point is about working hard and doing your best even if you don't really feel like it at the time because in the end it will pay off. The Holy Spirit was speaking to my quieted heart at that time though and I began to see this story in a different way. It reminded me of the parable of the wise man who built his house on the rock from Matthew 7:24-27. Perhaps you've thought the same thing before too, but I'll just keep going since this is my blog. ;)

When we build our lives, or rather hide our lives, in Christ, we need not fear the storms or the big bad wolf (Matthew 7:15). The Bible says that the Lord is like a strong tower and the righteous run to Him and are saved. Many, however, have their own ideas about how to build their homes (lives) they trust in the world or in their own vain and futile ideas. They end up with houses of straw or stick, which won't stand at all when the storms of life come or when the big bad wolf threatens.

We can all have that strong tower as our fortress? Which home are you running to? Which little pig are you? The big bad wolf may be out there trying to blow our house down, but we do not need to be afraid, the Lord can be our sure and strong foundation.

Childlike

Recently, I saw the second half of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. What a fun movie. I can't wait to read the book to the kids some day...so many good lessons to learn. Anyway, there was a line at the end of the movie that immediately caught my full attention. Charlie (the little boy- remember?) won the prize of inheriting the whole Chocolate Factory. Willy Wonka explained to him that he wasn't going to live forever and who would run the factory after he died? He couldn't get an adult to do it because they wouldn't listen to his directions. They would want to do things their own way. Of course! A child. He had to find a child to teach and train to run the factory... Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:3


To have the faith of a child
To believe and trust as a child does
To humble ourselves and follow like children do
To love without reserve or prejudice
To rejoice with great joy...even about the same little gifts given over and over again


I know there's more I could say about this verse...if time weren't an issue...if it I had no other(s) calling right now.


Lord, soften the parts of this vessel that have dried out and hardened from time, from age, make me soft and supple to your Word again.


Note: I continue to memorize Colossians! I'm already in Week 3 and am remembering why many struggle when reading Paul's letters. :) But the Words are the breathe and very Word of God, so they will come...by faith. I'm also excited to be making progress in other goals...which I'll keep private for now.  If you have a minute click on the "button" (image) below and read this great post by Ann Voskamp.  It challenged and encouraged me greatly today!

Growth

I've gone back and forth about posting this bit. At first, I was sure that I was not going to post it because I wanted this to be a private step, not something that I boasted about to everyone. Then as I thought more, I realized this would be a good time for confession, and perhaps my confession would spur others on by God's grace to draw nearer to the Lord as well. So, here it is:

After reading a couple posts from a blog by Ann Voskamp about growing closer to the Lord through scripture memorization(this and this), I was challenged to join her and others in memorizing the book of Colossians in a Year. Two verses a week. This sounds attainable, right? Yet, I'm quite scared. I know a lot of scripture, but I never fully memorize it and usually forget the reference. Which could be ok if that were all you were mentally capable of; however, I began to realize that my reason for this is my laziness. One line that she wrote caught me:

"Who memorizes God in the age of google?"

This is a good question! That was always my excuse for not hiding the scriptures in my heart more diligently. Not that I haven't memorized anything. I have and we are even working with a great scripture memory system with the kids. However, I haven't done it with all my heart ...because of my laziness. I could always look up the verse I want somewhere, or I could just call my Dad. :)

So, I'm going to do it. I'm going to attempt it. And by God's grace, I'll attain it, and ascribe to Him all the glory due His name. (That's my other focus this year.)