This year's election day marked a day of thanksgiving for my family.  My sister was in a terrible car accident and our God protected her.  I feel her story of this needs to be told.  Following you will read her words describing the day of the accident and what transpired throughout it all.  You will see pictures of her vehicle.  There is no other explanation for her survival but that our mighty, powerful God saved her and protected her.  Here's her testimony.......

**************************************

**The above testimony is posted with permission from my sister, who wrote it.**

"Knowing and claiming God's Word when attacked blows the head off enemy forces."

- By Beth Moore from her book Praying God's Word Day by Day pg. 307

"Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever.  Amen."
Ephesians 3:20-21 (NASB)

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank You so much for Your Word.  Thank You for sending Your Son to die for me that I may live with You forever.  Thank You for clothing me with Your Son and empowering me with Your Spirit.  Your Word tells me that You are able to do far more that I can even ask or think or even imagine according to the power that works within me.  Father, Your Word is powerful.  Help me to not only know Your Word but to use Your Word as a sword to fight the enemy.  Help me not only to boldly speak out Your Word but also to stand on it.  You have come to give me freedom.  Help me to walk in that freedom You've given me in faith and with the power of Christ who lives in me.

In Jesus' Name I give you praise and ask all these things, Amen.

In my devotional reading today in My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers said:

"The test of a man's religious life and character is not what he does in the exceptional moments of life, but what he does in the ordinary times, when there is nothing tremendous or exciting on."

When you are dealing with the day to day ordinary things, what is revealed about you?  Does your daily life exhibit your spiritual life?  Something to ponder....

Good morning to everyone!  As I was reading my Bible this morning, I read the following verse.  I wanted to share it with you.

"From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another."
John 1:16 (NIV)

God is not stingy with His blessings.  Just as parents desire to give their children good gifts and bless them, our Heavenly Father desires to give us - His children - many blessings!  Those blessings may come in many different forms but they are all truly good gifts from our Heavenly Father.  James 1: 17 tells us that "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."  (NIV)  May we all recognize and receive all the countless blessings - good gifts - our Father above bestows on us!

For more Thankful Thursday posts, visit Iris by clicking HERE.

For more Thankful Thursday posts, visit Iris by clicking HERE.

For this week's discussion, Lisa at A Second Generation of Homeschooling is our host.  Our discussion question(s) are the following:

"How can we lay a welcome mat of love for our husbands after a long day of hard work?  How can we make our homes inviting places where Daddy longs to be at the end of a long day?  How can we involve our children in this process and teach them to show reverence to their Daddy?"

I have to say that the discussion questions we've had so far have been awesome.  And this weeks is no exception!  Ah....expressing love to our husbands through our actions...that's how I see laying out a welcome mat of love for my hubby after working all day.  However, in our case, it's a little different.  My husband works third shift so he is coming home early in the morning.  Most times, I am already awake with Sugarplum (our 6 month old).  Our older daughter is usually always asleep.  I normally give him a hug and kiss.  I also usually ask him how his night at work has been.  He will usually give me a general answer.  If Sugarplum is still awake, he spends a little time with her.  Sometimes we'll talk and his answers are more detailed if he's not exhausted.  But usually he's pretty tired.  He then heads to bed.  I usually wake him up at a certain time.  When I do, we have a normal routine.  I go and wake him up and we spend a short amount of time snuggling and talking about his work.  We also talk about other things as well.  Then he gets up and ready for the day.  While he is getting ready for the day, I usually go and prepare him a breakfast drink. 

When it comes to things I can do to express my love to my husband after a long day of work, I try to think of things that he likes, things that are helpful to him, etc.  One of the biggest things I try to do is make sure that the house is straight before I go to bed at night.  My hubby likes walking in to a straight home.  I don't blame him, I'm the same way.  Another thing I tried to do when my hubby worked in the daytime was to try and make sure things were calm in our home when he walked in the door.  My older daughter always wanted to give him a hug as soon as he walked in the door.  So she would give him a hug and then we tried to give him a few minutes to get changed and wind down.  Regardless of the time that he has worked (day or night), I almost always ask him how his day or night at work was as well as give him a hug and kiss. 

I think those two things are things that we can do to make our husbands enjoy being home.  Yet, there is one more thing that I think is a crucial element to creating an atmosphere in the home so that our husbands can enjoy being home.  And that has to do with our attitudes as wives.  

Our attitudes as wives and mothers is crucial not only for ourselves but for our family!  I have to share with you that recently we've had to have some discussions with our children about not complaining and arguing.  In recent months, I feel like the thing God has been trying to help me learn is about the power of our words.  It's been a theme for awhile now.  I've really begun to see how important and powerful our words can be.  And I've been teaching our children this concept as well.  As I've been talking to my children about not complaining, I've been taking to heart my instruction to them.  As a mom, they learn from my example.  If I'm telling them not to complain and give Scripture to them about it but then turn around and do a bit of complaining myself, what is that teaching them?  Sure, we all have our moments - children and adults alike - when it comes to complaining.  Sometimes complaining words just flow right out of our mouths so easily!  BUT (you knew that was coming right?) Scripture does exhort us to do everything without complaining or arguing.  As I began to really watch my words, I would find myself start to say something negative or with a complaining edge and then stop and say, "No, I will not complain.  We are speaking positively."  And then try to find something positive.  So, when I'm tempted to complain about all the laundry that we go through and how I never seem to be able to keep an empty laundry basket....I can choose to remember that myself and my family are blessed to have clothing to wear.  I can choose to remember that doing laundry helps my family and that is one way I can serve them.  We can almost always find something positive.  Maybe we could be like Pollyanna and play the glad game.    So what's all this got to do with our husbands?  A LOT!!!  Consider this:

A joyful, happy, content wife is a blessing to her husband.  As she completes the needed tasks each day to keep the household running smoothly, she frees her husband up to do what he needs to do – indeed what he is called to do.  If the wife is running the household, the husband is freed up to help in any manner he would like out of desire to help – not absolute need to get things done.  As the wife is content in her role, she becomes a joy to her husband.  Her husband does not have to worry that he will have to deal with a negative, discontented wife when he’s at home.  This in turn makes the husband enjoy being home more because he does not have to be around a nagging, negative mentality.  In addition, a wife who is surrendered to God can more readily walk in freedom and thus be able to fulfill her role in the power of Christ.  She realizes that as a wife, her primary goal is to help her husband.  I believe this includes supporting her spouse.  A man could tell you how important it is to have a wife that lovingly supports and encourages him.  It is the wind in his sail.  If he feels supported and respected at home, he will feel he can accomplish what he needs to accomplish. 

As far as involving our children and teaching them to reverence their fathers, I think example is huge.  I first need to BE an example through what I do.  When I serve my husband and want to bless him and do things for him, my children see that.  When we're straightening up the house before we go to bed, I can explain to them that making the house nice and neat before Daddy comes home is one way we can make Daddy feel better.  Because him being able to walk into a neat home is a good feeling for him.  Conversating (is that a word????) with the children about why we do things for Daddy and about respecting his position as well as honoring him and serving him is important.  Off and on I'll have conversations with the children about how hard their Daddy works.  That's something we need to be so thankful for.  And we all need to adopt the attitude that is joyful and happy to do things for him.

I'm not perfect and goodness knows I make many mistakes.  It took me a few  years to get to where I am now as a wife.  Praise the Lord He has been continually molding me and shaping me.  I am so thankful for my husband and my children.  They are huge blessings to me.  And I want to be a blessing to them.

©2008 KRL The T.A.G. Blog  http://www.homesteadblogger.com/tagblog

For more Thankful Thursday posts, visit Iris by clicking HERE.

Conquering the Unconquerable

Text:  Deuteronomy 3:1-11

The time was drawing near for the Israelites to enter the Promised Land.  Quite a few things had taken place including a whole generation of people being denied the blessing of entering the Promised Land.  Their being denied this blessing was a result of their own actions and words.  In addition, God told Moses he would not enter the Promised Land either.  Joshua has been appointed the new leader of the Israelite people.  Before he took over, Moses took the time to address the people.  In his address, we find our text today. 

“Next we turned and went up along the road toward Bashan, and Og king of Bashan with his whole army marched out to meet us in battle at Edrei. The LORD said to me, "Do not be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to you with his whole army and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon."  So the LORD our God also gave into our hands Og king of Bashan and all his army. We struck them down, leaving no survivors. At that time we took all his cities. There was not one of the sixty cities that we did not take from them—the whole region of Argob, Og's kingdom in Bashan. All these cities were fortified with high walls and with gates and bars, and there were also a great many unwalled villages. We completely destroyed them, as we had done with Sihon king of Heshbon, destroying every city—men, women and children. But all the livestock and the plunder from their cities we carried off for ourselves.  So at that time we took from these two kings of the Amorites the territory east of the Jordan, from the Arnon Gorge as far as Mount Hermon. (Hermon is called Sirion by the Sidonians; the Amorites call it Senir.) We took all the towns on the plateau, and all Gilead, and all Bashan as far as Salecah and Edrei, towns of Og's kingdom in Bashan. (Only Og king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaites. His bed was made of iron and was more than thirteen feet long and six feet wide.  It is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)”  (Deuteronomy 3:1-11, NASB, Emphasis Mine)

I found something interesting as I read this passage.  Take a look at verse 5.  It says, “All these cities were fortified with high walls and with gates and bars, and there were also a great many unwalled villages.”  In Biblical times, the best way to protect a city was to build high walls around it.  To add to that gates and bars would have made it even that much more secure.  A city fortified with high walls, gates, and bars would have been considered almost unconquerable.  It would have taken great strategy, large numbers of soldiers, and immense strength to take down such a city.  Yet, our God is bigger than any walled city.  He can conquer the unconquerable.  And so it happened that God gave these cities over to the Israelites and they overtook what would have seemed unconquerable.

This same God who helped the Israelites conquer the unconquerable is the same God who can help you conquer the unconquerable in your life.  The huge wall of bitterness, depression, loneliness, addiction, or whatever it may be called is not too huge for our God.  Listen to Him tell you – “Do not be afraid!  I can conquer the unconquerable!  Step up and step out and have faith in My power!  You are not alone!”  Freedom is not cheap nor does it come easy.  You have to be willing to step up and surrender to God.  You have to be willing to step out and fight.  You have to have faith in God’s power – not your own.  For in your own power, you will lose.  But walking in God’s power, you are more than a conqueror.  (Romans 8:37)  Romans 8:31 says, “What, then, shall we say in response to this?  If God is for us, who can be against us?”  God is for us!  God is for you!  Are you willing to step up, step out, fight the good fight, and have faith in God’s power? 

©2008 KRL The T.A.G. Blog  http://www.homesteadblogger.com/tagblog

For this week's discussion, Natalie at I Am (not) is our host.  Our discussion question is the following:

"Do you have a vision for your family? If so, share it with us. If not, what do you think it would be?"

We actually have not had anything written down as far as a vision statement for our family.  However, because of this question being our discussion this week, we actually discussed some things we want for our family.  Really, we've had a vision just not in writing.  So, I put some things down in writing.  Here's what we have down on paper so far:

For this week's discussion, Lori at I Will Take It Lord, All You Have To Give says the following:

"As a woman at the well, you'll be meeting women who are trying to raise Godly men. These boys they are raising will grow up to marry your daughters or become leaders in your community. What advice would you give to them?

If you are raising boys, what areas concern you most?

If don't have or haven't raised boys, what is your concern for boys in today's culture?"

I can't offer advice to other women raising boys because my husband and I are currently raising a teenage son.  He's our first born, first son, first teen.  So I am hoping to gain insight and advice from other women who have been there and know what it's like to raise a teenage boy.  It seems there's this mentality at this age of independence, wanting to do things their own way, and thinking they know everything.  Of course, we parents don't know much.....haha.....The one thing we want for our children the most is that they have a deep, intimate relationship with God and Jesus.  We want them to love the Lord with all their hearts, souls, minds, and strength.  So, that desire guides our parenting.  When it comes to our teenage son....all I can say is that I surely will take any Christian advice in how to steer him in the right direction when it seems like so many times he is so bent on doing what he wants to do no matter what.  I do pray.  Sometimes I feel like that's all I can do. 

To read other's posts for At The Well, visit Lori by clicking HERE.

I just came across this wonderful gathering called "At the Well" hosted by Chelsey at http://joyfullyliving.blogspot.com/.  I am excited to participate in this.  It began this past Monday and so I am a tad bit late on my post.  Chelsey posed the following question for our first discussion:

"What does being a Titus 2 woman mean to you?"

Let me begin by sharing the passage from Titus 2:1-5.

"You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine. Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God."  Titus 2:1-5 (NIV)

Quite simply, when I consider what this passage says, I see it as the description of a Godly woman.  It provides a blueprint for us as women, wives, mothers, and mentors.  It may seem like quite a tall order.  In our own strength, it is a TALL order.  In fact, so tall we could not even begin to reach it!  However, praise be to our Lord, in God's strength, we can begin to walk out this blueprint not only once in awhile but consistently.  Notice I did not say perfectly.  I did say consistently.  Big difference.  This blueprint offers us challenge.  It challenges us to reach beyond our human nature and stretch ourselves to attain a more Godly lifestyle.  Let's face it.  Women have a tendency to struggle more with certain things.  This passage challenges us to put those things behind us and walk in the pathway of holiness. 

Fulfilled Longings

Proverbs 13:12 – “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” (NIV)

One thing that makes for an unhappy person is an unfulfilled longing.  We have desires and longings in our hearts that we yearn to have fulfilled.  What longings do you have that are not fulfilled?  Could I challenge us all to consider that God is the only One who can give us the fulfillment we really need and desire?  All those things we think we “need” to be fulfilled really aren’t the height of fulfillment at all.  Sure we may feel good for a time when a "need" seems fulfilled.  But if God is not the Source of our fulfillment, then we will continue to find ourselves striving to satisfy need after need in an effort to experience that soul-satisfying fulfillment.  Proverbs 13:12 says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.”  God’s fulfillment truly is a tree of life in our dissatisfied souls.  God loves us tremendously and gives good gifts.  He does fulfill some of our desires that He knows will be good for us.  (Psalm 37:4)  Yet, we cannot make our focus be chasing after things to satisfy longings in our hearts that need to be fulfilled by God.  Instead, we need to fix our eyes on Christ who is the “…author and perfecter of faith…” (Hebrews 12:2) and rely on God as our only Source of true fulfillment.

©2008 KRL The T.A.G. Blog  http://www.homesteadblogger.com/tagblog

Discussion on Assignment #14

We have reached the end of our study.  Can you believe it?  We've made it through to the end and are hopefully the better for it!  I know I have been challenged to consider my thinking on some issues and have also been confronted with some things that I need to work on.  In this final chapter, the author gives a review of 22 of the Truths we've covered in this book.  As we conclude our study, I'd like to share a quote from our final reading assignment.

"Because God is good and loves us perfectly, we can be confident that he longs for us to experience all the joy in life He designed us to know.  He knows we will only find this true and lasting joy and fulfillment in Him.  He loves us so much, He insists we come to Him, where alone we can be fully satisfied."  (pg. 254)

God is good no matter what we think -- no matter how we feel.  He is good - period.  He can be trusted.  And He desires us to be fulfilled and have joy.  But in order to truly be fulfilled and to have inner peace and joy, we must surrender to Him.  We must walk in His Truth.  Remember, Christ came to give us freedom.  Let's walk on in freedom, sisters, by walking in God's Truth and not giving in to the enemy's lies!

May God bless each and every one of us as we continue to strive to walk in God's Truth!

Our Memory Work

"'Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'"
                           - John 8:32 (NIV)

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free..."
                           - Galatians 5:1 (NIV)

Quotes from the book are taken from Lies Women Believe and the Truth that Sets Them free by Nancy Leigh DeMoss published by Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL  ©2001.

---------------------------

Discussion on Assignment #13

We are quickly coming to the end of our study.  We have finished all the chapters that deal with lies women believe.  Our final two chapters are a fitting closing for the book.  There are a few portions that stood out to me in our reading for this past week.

"True freedom is found in a vital, growing relationship with the Lord Jesus...If we want to know Him, if we want to know the Truth, we must devote ourselves to the reading, study, and meditation of His Word.  There is no substitute and there are no shortcuts.  The Enemy is constantly confronting us with his lies.  In order to combat his deception, our minds and hearts must be filled with the Lord Jesus and saturated with his Word.  But it is not enough to know the Truth.  We must also surrender to the Truth.  That means we must be willing to change our thinking or our lifestyle in any areas where they do not square with the Word of God."  (pgs. 250-251)

I am realizing just how important it is to saturate yourself with God's Word.  The enemy does not give up easily.  He will continue to try to keep chipping away at us with his lies in hopes that we will eventually believe his lies and give in to the deception.  Hiding God's Word in our hearts is so important.  It's one way of saturating yourself with Scripture.  And in doing so, we are putting the Truth in our hearts and minds so we will be better able to not only recognize the enemy's lies but also counter them with God's Truth.  Of course, another way is by reading the Scripture.  It's not always easy to spend a lot of time in God's Word, especially when you have young children.  I am realizing this.  Having an infant requires a lot of my time and energy.  Our little Sugarplum is indeed a blessing from God.  I spend a lot of time with her.  And I find that it's not easy to find lengthy blocks of time to sit and read the Bible.  But I think God understands that.  Right now, when Sugarplum wakes up in the morning it's usually just her and I that are up and about in the house.  So during that early morning feeding, I usually sit with my index cards and work on my Bible memorizations while I feed her.  I am able to work on hiding God's Word in my heart at the beginning of my day.  Then sometime throughout the morning time, I try to do some Bible reading at one of Sugarplum's nap times.  While I may not get a lot in during the course of the day, I am getting some.  There are different seasons in our lives and I think God understands that in some seasons we're able to spend much more time in His Word and in other seasons we may not be able to spend a lot. 

"We cannot assume a particular viewpoint is true just because everyone else thinks that way - or because it is what we have always believed, or because a well-known Christian author promotes that position, or because a well-meaning friend or counselor says it is right.  Everything we believe and everything we do must be evaluated in the light of God's Word.  That is our only absolute authority."  (pg. 251)

There are people who simply believe something because the minister preached it or a Bible teacher taught it.  They don't go back and check it themselves in God's Word.  Scripture tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 "But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil."   It is our own responsibility to take what we hear and test it to God's Word.  We can't always just assume something is right just because a well-known Bible teacher or preacher says it's right.  Humans are fallible.  We are not right all the time.  We have to read and study God's Word ourselves.

"As deception has inundated our culture, many believers have become hesitant to stand for the Truth, for fear of being labeled as intolerant or narrow-minded."  (pg. 252)

"We must learn the Truth, believe it, surrender to it, and live it out - even when it flies in the face of our culture.  Then we must proclaim the Truth with boldness, conviction, and compassion, seeking to turn sinners from the error of their way and to restore those who have wandered from the Truth."  (pg. 252)

Our Memory Work

"'Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'"
                           - John 8:32 (NIV)

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free..."
                           - Galatians 5:1 (NIV)

Assignment

Reading
Read chapter eleven - pages 253-265.

Text:  Numbers 13:1-14:45

God dislikes grumbling and complaining.  When the spies went to check out Canaan, there were ten of them that came back and gave both positive and negative reports.  True, they said the land was flowing with milk and honey.  They even showed some grapes they brought back.  But on the other hand, they talked about how big the people were in that land and were negative about the Israelites conquering the land.  They felt that they would not be able to win.  Because of this report, the people began grumbling and complaining.  The report of those spies had a very big impact on the Israelites.

Never underestimate the power of your words.  What you say can have a profound influence on those around you.  What the ten spies said about not being able to win against the inhabitants of that land influenced the Israelites greatly.  As a result of that report, the Israelites grumbled and complained.  And that very act of grumbling and complaining finally cost them their promised land.

In addition, grumbling and complaining gets you no where.  All of the Israelites that grumbled and complained that day lost the privilege of entering the promised land.  The promised land was a blessing.  And the Israelites lost that blessing.  A few words carried a high cost.  In the same way, a few simple words can carry a high cost with us as well.  Philippians 2:14 tells us to “Do everything without complaining or arguing”.  (NIV)  It is clear in both the Old and the New Testaments that God does not like complaining.  Think about your words before you speak.  Would you want something you say to cost you a blessing?  Let me say it again - our words are very powerful.  God instructs us to do everything without arguing and complaining so that we can “become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe”.  (NIV)  Could it be that the very way we speak could be one of the things that sets us apart from the world?  I believe so. Let’s endeavor to be mindful of how we speak.  Let’s try to be people who don’t complain when things don’t go as we think they should.  Instead, let’s praise the Lord and give thanks for our God is good and He knows what He is doing.

©2008 KRL The T.A.G. Blog  www.homesteadblogger.com/tagblog

Ladies, Beth Moore begins a new series today on Life Today.  I've already watched the show today and let me just say that it is good.  She talks about the importance of what we say.  On the show today, Beth says, "We are going to most believe what we most rehearse."  She explains how we can take our complaints to God.  But then we need to turn our complaints to praise.  Too many people underestimate the power of the tongue.  I encourage you to check out the link below to view her teaching session online or check your local television listings to watch it on TV.

http://www.lifetoday.org/site/PageServer?pagename=tel_home