Christian Revolution

See the kids above? Those are my kids. Those are the kids that are going to grow up in this world. It's up to my husband and I to teach them the Word. To teach them to serve God and love Him with all their heart, soul, mind, and body.

The other day DH and I were talking about what our forefathers would have done if they were alive today. Dh summed it up in one word. He said they would start a Revolution. These men knew what it was to be persecuted for their beliefs. To be willing to put their lives on the line for future generations.

True heroes. What are we willing to fight for? What are we willing to take on the powers of darkness for? It's not about an election. It's not about economy. It's about hitting the streets to tell others about Jesus. It's about raising up children who know the TRUTH. It's about saying, "No!" to apathy and compromise of our beliefs.

Some fear the persecution Christians might face under Obama.

Romans 5:3-5, "And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."

Would persecution not get the fat, lazy, apathetic Christians up and moving?

Before someone shows up at my door thinking I want to overthrow the government let me clarify. I believe we as Christians need to hit our knees and pray. If Tuesday night I find out Barak Obama is my President I will pray for him every night. I will respect him. I might not agree with him, but you won't (I pray) hear me badmouthing him.

I also believe we need to take responsibility for raising our kids. If you must send them to public school and you think youth group is great, fine. Please just make sure you spend as much time at home teaching them the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Teach them about true heroes, of the faith and our country. Don't just assume they are getting all of their education at these other places.
Husbands and wives come together and unite. Stand up for families and marriage by being the example.

Wives, allow your husband to lead your family. When you give up control it's such a refreshing change. It's still SO hard some days, but in the end it all works out. :)

Teach your children to be respectful, obedient and strong.

Know the Bible. Read the Bible. Soak in it. If you have small children, place your open Bible somewhere you spend a lot of time. The kitchen, the bathroom, the schoolroom... catch glimpses of the Word throughout the day. Write scriptures on index cards and carry them around. Soaking up God's word and memorizing.

Read the Bible with and to your children. Memorize scriptures together.

Let's revolt against this world. Let's say "No!" to anything that goes against God's Word. Let's be different.

Selective compassion

I was thinking today about the election. This led to other issues.
I realized I have selective compassion. I don't expect unbelievers to act like believers. That's asking far too much of them. I need to be compassionate towards those who do not know the grace and mercy for Jesus. How can they understand the evil around them if they don't understand the love of God?
I do tend to get passionately dissatisfied with believers who act like unbelievers. I am a sinner. I still sin. But I don't stick my head in the sand and pretend that alls good with the world. That grandpa God thinks we are all cute and funny. When I find believers who say that abortion is ok in some instances, that submission is antiquated, that brag about the number of children they did not allow God to bless them with, that children have to go to school to be salt and light.... the list goes on. I don't have a whole lot of tolerance for that.
(My friends that send their children to school, please hear I am not judging you. Each family has to make that decision for themselves, but to tell me that I am wrong in "sheltering" my children instead of allowing them to be witnesses at school makes me gag!)
When I look around the church and I see little difference between people there and people in my own neighborhood I get depressed. When a believer tells me that they just don't have time to read their Bible it makes me sad. When 8 and 9 year old children tell me about books, video games, and movies that are part of their lives that I could not even stomach I get annoyed.
"Well, we have to be like the people we are trying to reach!" Is the battle cry from some camps.
So, because Jesus was reaching out to sinners, He should have become a sinner? Um... not buying that so much!

I have a whole other post ready to go on the Christian Revolution. I typed it here but it was really long. Right now I am off to hang out with my kids. I will put that post up a little later......

Children helping

I have tried many, many, many different ways of getting my kids to do chores and help around the house. All have failed miserably and left me angry and frustrated and my kids crying and frustrated.

As I was reading Raising Godly Tomatoes I realized what was wrong. I would assign jobs and then go off to do something else while they worked. Two to a room. Well this did not work because they were left to their own ways. My oldest especially does not do well without supervision.

So last week I decided to switch things up a bit. I pulled out different colors of construction paper one for each room of the house. I pulled out baggies for each color. I wrote down what needed to be done in each room for the day and the week. On the back I wrote whether it needed to be done daily or weekly. Now we go one room at a time and everyone picks a job from the bag. If it can't be done right then, like mopping needs to be done last, they put it back and pick a different job.

We do our weekly jobs on Monday. It takes a really long time right now. :)

The kids love it. They keep telling me how happy they are to be all working together. I am there with them most of the time able to laugh and direct as needed.

I also came up with table chores to do after every meal. They draw for these jobs as well. Clean off the table, clean off the highchair, rinse off the dishes, put away the food, sweep and spot clean. While they do this I get everything ready for our family time.

This is our second week of doing this system. So far it's a real keeper!

Ch-ch-changes....

Roy and I spent a lot...A LOT, of time this past weekend just discussing where we are going. We have plan A and plan B. I love both plans! Both involve getting this house on the market sometime next year. During the next few months we will be painting, laying floors, fixing little bits and pieces of house that need fixing, cleaning really, really well, and decluttering to the max. All while building up a savings account and paying off as much debt as possible. Oh yeah, it's N0vember and December. HA!

Plan A is where Roy gets the career change he has been waiting for and we stay here. We find as much land as possible and start our little hobby farm. It won't be the land we want because that's just not available here. Dh will work this job while we save up and prepare for THE MOVE. I don't know how that will work out because DH is not a spring chicken anymore and trying to transfer this job would be really hard. We will still hold out though. :)

Plan B involves some cheap land. We were looking at Timber land and hunting tracts in other states. Those seem to be some of the more affordable options for the 20-40 acres we would really love to have. What in the world would we do with that much land?

Well first will be our little farm. Some cows, chickens, and MAYBE goats. We will also be growing a lot of our own food. I am reading books about how to be between 75% and 95% self sufficient. I also want to make sure we have enough to share with others.No I don't plan to accomplish all that in the first year, but we will plan to build up to it. I even had some ideas of the boys raising bees and the girls raising rabbits, but that's a long way off. :)

We also plan to build our dream home eventually. Big enough for entertaining and more children.

In the back we will have three cottages. One for my mom, one for Roy's parents, and one for people who need help. Maybe missionaries home on furlough, a traveling preacher, a family out of work though trying.. the list goes on. I want to be able to entertain the angels while making sure my family stays safe. We also would like enough land that our kids can have some land when they get married if they so choose. It will be completely optional.

These are just rough drafts of plans we have been working on for four years. Plan B is my favorite, but if God opens the rest of the doors and DH gets the new job then I will adjust. One thing is for sure. We are getting out of this two by four land in this subdivision. That's definitely something to rejoice over!

A cry for help....

As I read through this website today I was touched by this young man. I pray that there are those out there willing to help this family adopt him.

Please got to Help Misha to find out how!

The Simple Life: Yogurt

I have only made my own yogurt a few times, but man was it easy! It taste different than store bought but is that really a bad thing?
Here is a whole discussion on how to make yogurt.

This is how I made mine the few times I made it.
1. heat milk to 160 or so.
2. put 3 T. starter in qt. jars
3. let milk cool to 110
4. use funnel to pour milk into jars with the yogurt starter (2 c. per 3 T. of starter)
5. put jars in oven with light on.
6. leave 12-14 hours and remove. do NOT stir, put lids on and refrigerate.

I used raw milk and Dannon full fat plain yogurt. According to the discussion above you can use non-homogenized milk or organic whole milk as well. I have never done either one. I just used a candy thermometer to check the temps.
Next time I make it I will take pictures. If we ever get a battery for my camera. :)

Here is another neat way to make yogurt. I think I will try this soon.
Make yogurt in your crockpot.

If you don't want to make your own yogurt it's probably not that big a deal. Honestly, I usually just buy the Dannon full fat plain yogurt and use it for all my yogurt needs. Its really not that expensive and I love plain yogurt.
I can substitute it for sour cream, I can put it in smoothies, I can add fruit and honey and have a great snack, I can use it to bake with... so many uses.
Making my own yogurt just makes me feel good. Maybe I'm just weird. LOL

Be Blessed!

This week at home...

Monday: We have finished all of our chores. The kids are sitting down for lunch. We will read some books and then they will lay down. Adrian has a t-ball game tonight so we will head to that when daddy gets home. We are having chicken enchiladas tonight. When we come home we will read the Bible and the kids will go to bed.

Tuesday: No Bible study today. I don't think we are going to take daddy to work either. If he can get home in time for the girls to go to dance I won't take the car. Saves gas. :) If we stay home we will do some schooling, reading aloud, bread making, coloring, all the good stuff. For dinner we will have chili. The girls have dance practice tonight and we won't all be home until 8pm. We will probably read some about Martin Luther before bed.

Wednesday: Homeschool co-op. When we are done with that we will have lunch, do some cleaning, read some books aloud, color/craft and then rest. We will pick daddy up from work. We might go to the fair, but that's still undecided. If not we will come home have chicken and rice for dinner, do some history, read Dangerous Journey, do our family Bible study, pray and bed.

Thursday: Home sweet home! We will go for a walk. I am going to start on some sewing projects I have lined up. We will clean, homeschool, read, color, and rest. I need to get some bins of STUFF cleaned out so I will do that today. I also need to clean the fans around the house. We will have beans and rice for dinner. Tonight we will work on history, read Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends, do our family Bible study, and pray together.

Friday: Home again. More of what we did on Friday. I would like to get into my closet and do some cleaning though. For dinner we will have tomato soup and grilled cheese. Roy's parents and some of their friends are coming up at some point today. We will go trick or treating and my children will never want to go to bed. LOL

Saturday: We will take Roy's parents out to a beach with a great park near us. We will probably pack a picnic lunch to take. His mom especially will enjoy it. She loves the beach. There is a bench right on the board walk just for her. We will probably go pick up some paint for our house as well. We are going for a more neutral color since we are hoping to put it on the market next year.

Sunday: We are going to my mom's church. They are having something called Round Up Sunday. The preacher brings his horses, they have food and fun and games. The kids love it. I imagine we will spend the day doing that. Then of course family time. Probably end with some history, Martin Luther, Bible study, and prayer!

What's your week look like?

Be Blessed!