Life Purpose?

One time I was asked "What do you want your children to accomplish in their life, higher eduction, a great job, money...?" My response was not any of the listed ideas, instead I responded with, "That my children know God and serve him!" To a non-christian or even a non-homeschooler that sounds like a sad and pitiful answer because our culture teaches us that fame, fortune and friends make us happy and successful in this life. But my purpose is not for what I (or my children) can achieve in this life, it's what comes after that I am more interested in. If I give my children the best clothes, house, toys, gadgets, elite education (by society's standards) in this life but they do not know Jesus Christ and serve him, they may have temporary happiness on this earth, but will spend eternity in Hell. To me, it is too high a price to pay! Hell is real and I am not going to waste these precious few years I have training and teaching my children on material things. I do not know when they will leave this earth so I have to make the most of every minute I have with them preparing them for eternity, not this temporary life on earth.

So how does this work as far as academics in our family? While I do believe that education is necessary in this life, I feel that it comes second to nurturing an intimate relationship with the Lord. Most of our education system from private or public school to higher education is a product of our culture. It is man's desire to climb up the ladder of education the way we do today, not God's. Does that mean it's bad or wrong, no. I do believe that God gives man knowledge and wisdom to pass on to others. However, when your child's life only becomes about doing well in school so he can go on to a university which in turn helps him to get a job that pays lots of money...then your focus is not in the right place. That is a worldly view based on what our culture and society have deemed important and successful in this life. The bible does not tell us that we have to receive an education to get to heaven. Our education system including college is man-made. The bible does tell parents that they are to "train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it(Proverbs 22:6)" and to teach his commands, decrees and statutes to our children. Train a child in the way he should go means training them to serve the Lord and live a productive life on this earth for His glory, not ours. This is what the Lord has for our family, it may not be the same for yours and that's ok!

In our home, we have what I like to call "Life School" every minute of every day. They begin their schooling from the moment they are born. Now i don't mean they know how to read and write from an early age or do algebra equations at 8, but they are educated through every day life happenings. Cooking or baking provides lots of math and reading practice and making homemade laundry soap is a great science experiment. Letter recognition and counting can be done in the car or bath tub and learning colors is fun while doing the laundry. Just try finding a caterpillar and letting it spin a cocoon, then watching it emerge as a new creation, a butterfly. That is the most amazing science lesson and I don't even have to "teach" it to them. God provides everything we need! If we take advantage of every day teachable moments, our children are receiving the best education we can offer them, although maybe not according to our cultures standard.

I ran across this passage while reading Educating the Whole-Hearted Child by Clay and Sally Clarkson. It sums it all up!

"Christian home education is the shaping of a life, not just the preparation for a living. Your child needs to see that home education is preparing them for a higher purpose in life, and that their real hope is heaven, not the riches of this world. They need to know that their purpose in life is to serve God, not to make money and buy things. If you set their hearts and minds on things above, not on earthly things, then they will find fulfillment in whatever they do in this life because it is a means of serving God."

I pray that we all will not bow down at the altar of this material world, but place our eyes upon the Heavens and find purpose in this life!

Time With The Lord

Motherhood doesn't allow for us to always do what we want, when we want when it comes to a daily devotion time; someone gets hurt, we have to change a poopy diaper, "i'm hungry", the phone rings, and on and on. I don't always have to the chance to sit for an extended time and just read my bible like i'd like to. I've struggled off and on with the guilt of not having a "daily devotion" early in the morning like many people say I should be doing. But i know that we are not all robots that perform and do things the exact same way, at the same time every day. God created us to be different. What works for one, doesn't always work for another.

Should we all be spending time with the Lord each day, reading his word and praying, yes! But it's not something that we should do because we have to so we can check it off our list. God wants our whole heart, not just a check mark on our daily list.

What i have come to know is that motherhood is about sacrifice. We give ourselves over to the care, nuture, and soul-shaping of the precious lives that have been lent to us. We sacrifice that savored one-on-one time we used to be able to spend with the Lord as long as we needed. For around 18-30 years (depending on how many children you have) a mother's life is not her own.

If 18-30 years sounds like a lot to you, it's really not in the span of a 100 year life, or even a 75 year life. It's really only like a couple of hours in the span of a day. That's scary to me and kind of sad. We really only have such a short time to teach and train our children before they are off on their own way. Yet, it is so important! Their future heavily depends on this time spent at home with you. Mothers give so much time in pouring out love, effort, emotion, and thought into our children's life so that they can one day, very soon, stand on their own. As a mother of young children, it can seem as if they are never going to grow up. You get caught up in the day-to-day of life that you forget how short a time you will have them, and before you know it, they are grown and starting their own family. Savor all that you can, it will soon pass!

All that being said, I know that God understands mothers, he came up with this job! He knows we are up many times during the night consoling a scared child, dealing with an ear infection, or nursing a baby (many times!). He knows that we are constantly pulled from one need to the next with hardly time to breath sometimes. He knows that we move at super-speed as we try to accomplish all of the day-to-day tasks it takes to run a household which are too many to name here. But, motherhood is only for a brief time and He knows that too! One day we will have the opportunity to sit for hours pouring over scripture and studying every word. One day we will be able to go to bible studies whenever we want.

For most mothers with children in the home, that is not today.

We have to soak up what He puts before us as we go through our day. It may be the question a child asks that causes you to pull out a bible and try to answer it, or maybe it's the devotion you do with them for school, or maybe it's something someone says that catches your attention, or maybe it's through the words of a song. It can be the words of encouragement from a friend or even a blog you read that day. Or maybe it's the way your husband reads a bible story to your children and it really blesses your heart. Whatever it may be for you, accept what the Lord gives you and apply it to your life. Don't live in guilt over not keeping up with someone else's standards.

Most of the time, for me, it's music. Everyday, the Lord teaches me something through the christian cd's that are constantly playing in my home. I can be at my wits end with crying or arguing children when a song will be playing that the Lord uses to calm my heart. Or maybe I am in a bad mood when i turn on a cd and everyone livens up as we sing and dance around the kitchen. Lots of times i am brought to tears through a song that brings me to repentance over my sins or they are tears of joy and thanksgiving when i am reminded of the blessing in my life. I know that God uses songs as a tool to bring me closer to him.

There are other times too. Like mowing the lawn. I love the quiet time i have as i sit and mow, even in the midst of at least one child on my lap. The loud sound of the mower drowns everything else out and i have time to think. Or, lots of times, it's when i am nursing a baby in my rocking chair. God has helped me sort out questions in my mind and shown me what i needed to see, all while rocking and nursing my baby. Lately, its been through the conversations i have with my 7 year old as i point out how we should treat others, from those suffering in other countries or just across town. I also pray all through the day as the need or chance arises.

My point is, that God can speak to us in many ways. For some, that may be a daily scheduled devotion time. For others, it's not. At this stage in my life, He touches and teaches me in the moment, not at a scheduled time. One day, it may be different.

But that's me. How does God reach you?

Don't live in bondage to someones else's idea or even mine of how you should be spending time with the Lord. Listen to him all through out your day. He is speaking, have ready ears to hear Him!

May you be blessed as you seek the Lord in your life!

This is Our Road

As I was washing dishes in the kitchen yesterday and listening to a cd, a song came on that I've heard many times. I love how the Lord does this; I can hear a song 50 times and each time he reveals something new to me. It's always something i need to hear just at that moment, but that same thing didn't mean anything two days before when i heard it.

Well yesterday it was this..."This is Our Road" (from a cd by Serene and Pearl from Above Rubies, titled the same, about marriage. They have several wonderful cd's for mothers and a new one for fathers). A light bulb went off in my mind! The past 6 months have been a time of soul searching, stretching, humbling, and growing for me. Who am I..as a wife, mother, friend, child of God, stranger in public? Am I being who God made me to be or trying to be like someone else? Most of it has not been fun, pleasant, or pretty for myself or others close to me. But, I now feel that i am on the other side and the words, "this is our road" sums it all up. Our road is different from yours and that's ok!

I will explain all that, but just so you know, this is a very humbling thing for me. To share something so personal and even ugly in my personality I wouldn't have even dreamed about a year ago. Pride wouldn't let me. But i am not the same person, thankfully, and the Lord is using even this to help me change. I want to be real to all who read this and know me. I would never want anyone to look at me and my family and think that we have got it all together because we don't! No one does! We fail, sin, and mess up all of the time just like everyone else. Thankfully we have a God that forgives and moves us forward on our road!

Back to my story-

Back in the Fall, while we were at my in-laws, there happened to be a Duggar Family marathon, you know the family with 18 children in Arkansas, on cable (we don't have cable so this was fun for me!). Now large families are not new to me, although 18 is way past what I know, but i am used to the idea of a large family. Even they way they do things is not new, like how they organize their home, feed everyone, do laundry, drive a big van (bus), even they way they dress. Light Bulb!(in my mind), the way they dress. The long skirts, long hair, simple shirts, very modest. I totally can see myself and my daughters looking like them. But then i noticed the dad and boys. They dressed in nice khakies or pants with polo or button down shirts, always tucked in with a belt, lace up shoes, etc. That is not at all who my husband is or will ever be like! So this was the beginning of what the Lord had to teach me. Our conversation went something like this in my mind:

"Are you trying to be like someone else?"

"Whoa Lord, I thought you wanted me to be this way, dress how all these other women dress, act the way they act, train my children their way..."

"Who are you?"

"I am 'trying' to be a godly christian woman like many other godly christian women I know."

"Who did I make you to be?

"A wife and mother."

"To whom?"

"Kenneth and my children."

"I gave you a husband to be the head of your family. I choose him just for you and your children. Follow him! Don't look to other women, men, or even families. I have a plan for them and a different plan for you. Don't try to be something I didn't ever intend for you to be."

"Lord, show me who you made me and my family to be!"

The next 6 months were just that! He has shown and is still showing me who I am supposed to be. I have really learned to let go of comparing myself and my family to others. Not that that is always bad. I do think we need to have good examples to strive for, but when you are trying and trying to make something out of nothing and make it look like so and so, all you wind up with is frustration! Be real, be who God made you to be!

What i realized is that I was trying to make our family look a certain way and that's not really who we are. I really don't like wearing floor length skirts but i did it because that's what I thought godly christian women should do. But my husband never said he wanted me to or that he even liked or didn't like them. I just did it. When I finally asked him, he did have an opinion. He likes a more fitted style, not loose on my hips and shorter. I do still like and wear skirts but i love the mid calf length and more of a bohemian style. I also wear capri pants and jeans from time to time. It's all ok!

I really think I was wanting our family to appear to be the ipitomy of a christian, homeschool family. But we are not! I have tried my hardest to make us appear quiet, well behaved, and respectable looking family, but we are not always. That's not how God wired us. We are a loud family, my children don't always behave, they fight and bicker and sometimes it drives me crazy, sometimes i lose my temper and yell at them, sometimes we eat horrible, non organic food and like it! (yikes), a lot of times i make decisions for our family and never give my husband a chance to be the spiritual leader. The list goes on and on...but i know now not to be ashamed or embarrased of who we are because we are different and that's ok! Of course there are some things that we need to change, but right now, this is our road!

You may dress one way and me another, that's ok. You may discipline your children one way and me another, that's ok. You may bottle feed your baby and me breastfeed, that's ok! You may send your children to public school and me homeschool, that's ok too! As long as we are both seeking the Lord and listening to the guidance of our own husband, it does not matter how we do things, only that we are obeying the Lord!

But on the other hand, for example, if you or I dress one way, but our husband doesn't like it, that's not ok. If you or I are disciplining our children one way, but it's not Biblical, it's not ok! If you or I are reading books or watching programs that make us covet the way other families look, it's not ok! One thing i've learned, is to ask my husband. If there is something I am struggling with in my heart or mind, if i just present it to my hubbie, the problem is solved. He usually has an opinion about it and if not, he gives me his blessing to seek out someone elses opinion. But when I read something and decide that I am just going to change how we do things, it doesn't go over as well.

Another thing the Lord has changed, or is still changing in me, is pride. Now i don't think of myself as a prideful person but what i discovered is that appearing to not need any one else or their help, is a form of pride. I have never asked people for help. When they do offer it, i turn it down because i have never wanted to inconvienience them. I have never felt worthy of needing others help; i should be able to do it all on my own. Right? Wrong as the Lord has shown me. My whole life I have put up a very thick wall around my heart and emotions, very rarely letting anyone penetrate it. Only those who beat down that wall have found a place in my heart. I push everyone else away so they can't hurt me. But what the Lord has shown me is that people can't truly help me if they don't know me and how to help me. If i never share my heartaches, frustrations, and concerns, then i can't expect them to be there for me when i really need them. My sensitivities and hurt feeling always get in the way of true friendships. I have had to learn to let go of those and let my guard down and assume that people are real in their affections towards me, most of the time.

Through all of this life changing experience, I have also just come out of a dry season with the Lord. A time of complacency and ignorance as far as my relationship with God. I got busy with life and just kind of forgot to kindle our relationship. I always hate when this happens but know it's all my fault. I think i can get through life with out him and just slide from one day to the next without much thought or care. Forget to pray continuously, forget to speak tenderly to my children, forget to love the way Jesus loves, forget to read my Bible...and end up lost and lonely!

I love the Ross King song that says something like this, "break up your unplowed grounds, have you so soon forgotten me, lay all your idols down, and return to me." He talks about Hosea and Isaiah and how they also went through these times and what the Lord told them using the analogy of unplowed ground that needs tending to. Look those up sometime. I love the Lord! I don't want to forget him, even for a time. It's not a good place to be. The ground of my heart (and yours) has to always be plowed and planted and tended to if I want anything to grow. Complacency is where satan wants us to be, then he doesn't have to work so hard. I prefer to keep him running!

(If you've never heard of Ross King, he's local, I can't tell you how amazing his music is. The Lord uses most of his songs to teach me lots of things. You will not be disappointed with his cd's. Some are praise and worship and others about life. I have all of them and play them regularly in our home and car. http://www.rosskingmusic.com/ Click on the letters with boxes : )

I have come to be happy with "our road", the one the Lord has us on. It's actually very freeing to not be under the bondage of fitting into a certain mold, whether it be a homeschool mom, soccer mom, christian mom, or Oprah mom, etc. I actually find myself breathing a sigh of relief when i remember that i don't have to perform anymore or ask my children or husband to either! Be who God made you to be and your marriage/family to be. Don't try to be someone else; BE REAL!

So everytime I catch myself thinking, "why don't my children act like them," "why doesn't he do this like him," "why can't i keep it all together like her" the Lord gently reminds me that we are not them! We are unique in our makeup as a family, the way God made us.

Thank you Lord for grace!

Birth Control and Natural Family Spacing

This may not be of interest to everyone out there but I ran across this post i wrote on another blog several years ago. This is kind of our "how we do things" story.

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"Children are a gift from the Lord. They are his reward... Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them." Psalm 127 3, 5a
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Here is my story of letting go of control in family size and spacing babies.




For most women out there the thought of not knowing when and how many children they will have is scary, or worse, having too many and too close together, is worse! We want to be "ready" and not surprised by His little blessings.





I have always said, since i was young, that i wanted 6 children and of course every one laughed, but i see now that the Lord was preparing me for what He had in store. After our 2nd child was born, I read "A Full Quiver" by Rick & Jan Hess and "Be Fruitful and Multiply" by Nancy Campbell (both of which i recommend and have to lend out if anyone is interested). These books lay out a Biblical approach to family size and spacing. I also read a secular book called "Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing" by Sheila Kippley and learned mainly what not to do, like use pacifiers and let your baby sleep through the night too early (by letting your baby be nourished and comforted through nursing on demand). The Lord really tugged at my heart to let go of trying to control when and how many children we would have. So, we decided to let go and just see what happened only using demand breastfeeding as a natural birth control.





Ok, so i thought, "here we go, I am going to have one baby right after another because everyone says breastfeeding does not work to space babies." I had given God control, but in my mind, doubted Him by assuming i would turn up pregnant any day. I went through countless pregnancy tests because i was just sure i was pregnant every few weeks.


FYI-I started my cycles back at 6 months of age after our 1st baby, but he used a pacifier, was on a schedule, and started solid foods at 4 months, which i know now, contributed to ovulating earlier. When he was 12 months, "we" decided we were ready to have another baby, which made them 21 months apart. Not that i would trade anything or that it won't happen again, but i had a really hard time adjusting to 2 babies that close together.


So back to my original story, months kept going by and i wasn't pregnant. I couldn't believe it! I thought God gave every woman who "let go" lots of babies one after the next. How foolish i was to assume God didn't know what was best for our family! He knows how much space needs to be in between each child and He won't give us more that we can handle or afford, because they are all his anyway. It's when we "control" things on our own, that we may make things harder for ourselves. My 2nd son was 19 months old when i finally had a cycle (by demand nursing this long most women will have 1-3 infertile cycles). The next cycle was fertile, and we got pregnant. So the spacing was 2 years and 4.5 months, far better than i could have "planned" to space them. And i have to say that adjusting to 3 children was by far easier, than having just one and then two.


God truly showed me how loving and caring He is about little old me and my family. He knows best! Only God knows how many more children we will have, but i hope it's lots. I can not imagine being "done" and never feeling a baby move inside me again or kissing and smelling a beautiful baby head, but whatever the Lord has in store, He will prepare us and provide. Children are truly a gift from God and will one day grow up to serve Him. How exciting to be part of that! How can I deny God my womb, when it isn't mine to begin with.





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Addition- After our 3rd child was born, our story was a little different. I began my cycles when she was around 13 months but did not conceive again until she was 19 months. How ever the Lord chooses to space our babies is His own will. In this case, i went a couple of months, got pregnant, then miscarried, went a few more months, then got pregnant again. The spacing was again around 2.5 years-perfect!

We have been blessed again, 1 year ago, with another baby girl. We now have 2 boys and 2 girls. Everyone tells us if they could choose what pattern to have their children in, this is how they would want it. Funny thing is, this was God's plan, not our own. We could never plan as well as He can!~

We still don't know when or how many children we will have. We just take life day-to-day and wait for the Lord.

CHRISTmas!

This Christmas REMEMBER:



Jesus is Better than Santa!

Santa lives at the North Pole.
JESUS is everywhere.

Santa rides in a sleigh.
JESUS rides on the wind and walks on the water.

Santa comes but once a year.
JESUS is an ever present help.

Santa fills your stockings with goodies.
JESUS supplies all your needs.

Santa comes down your chimney uninvited.
JESUS stands at your door and knocks...and then enters your heart.

You have to stand in line to see Santa.
JESUS is as close as the mention of His name.

Santa lets you sit on his lap.
JESUS lets you rest in His arms.

Santa doesn't know your name, all he can say is
"Hi little boy or girl, What's your name?"
JESUS knew our name before we did. Not only does He know our name, He knows our address too. He knows our history and our future.
He even knows how many hairs are on our heads.

Santa has a belly like a bowl full of jelly.
JESUS has a heart full of love.

All Santa can offer is HO HO HO!
JESUS offers health, help and hope.

Santa says "You better not cry!"
JESUS says "Cast all your cares on me, for I care for you.

Santa's little helpers make toys.
JESUS makes new life, mends wounded hearts,
repairs broken homes and builds mansions.

Santa may make you chuckle, but
JESUS gives you joy that is your strength.

While Santa puts gifts under your tree,
JESUS became our gift and died on the tree.

It's obvious there is really no comparison.
We need to remember WHO Christmas is all about.

We need to put Christ back in Christmas.
Jesus is still the reason for the season.

May the Lord Bless and Watch over you
and your loved ones this Christmas 2008.

And may He prosper and bless
the work of your hands in the New Year!
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Although I did not write the above words (this is an email floating around), they represent what our family believes. We do not celebrate Santa at Christmas at our house, we celebrate Jesus! We teach our children that Christ was a gift to us from God and then he gave his life for us on a cross, so during the holidays we can give to others as a way to give back to God. It's not about what we want but about how we can bless others!

May you truely know the real reason for CHRISTmas!

Why we don't celebrate Halloween

This is what I posted last year about halloween but it still pertains this year. I wrote below to do some research yourself on the origins of halloween and here is a link to my friends blog who has done some research already for you.

My aim is never to offend anyone, we all have to do what we feel is right for our own family and what the Lord is leading us to do. I do pray that if the Lord wants to use what I right on this blog to spur another person on, that the person be willing to receive it. You may take what I write and throw it out the window and may even think I am nutty or you may earnestly pray and see what the Lord would have you do. Either way, please know that my heart is pure in my desire to see others brought closer to the Lord and I love sharing what the Lord is doing in our lives. I also want a written account of my life to share with my children when they are older and they are wanting to remember what their mother and family was like.

Blessings to you all!






(Sorry this is sideways. It would take another 15 minutes to try to figure out how to turn it, so this is how it will stay!)

I get asked this often around this time of year, so here are my thoughts.
I believe that we, as Christians, are to be innocent of all evil and are called to be set apart from the world. We have to stand out in some bold way! Yes, it's fun to dress up in costumes and get candy, but if my children look and act exactly like every other child, then we are not shining our light for an ungodly world. If you leave it at costumes and candy, then there's really not an arguement. But, if you research the history behind Halloween (i recommend it) and it's roots in devil worship, how can a Christian even consider giving Satan glory by particapating in this "holiday?"


My children are not deprived by missing out on this event. They dress up in costumes on a regular basis and eat candy way too often. At this young age, their hearts are so tender and moldable that I can not subject them to so many images of death, evil, witchcraft, sorcery and not expect them to remember it and be affected by it. An image can never be erased once it is in your mind. As parents, we are responsible for what they see, learn, and hear. I take my job as a mother very seriously and don't want to look back with regret that I didn't do all i was able to protect them. To keep them innocent of all evil, i have to shield them from evil, including the movies they watch, the people they are around, the toys they play with, and who is allowed to influence their thinking.


This is where the Lord has us right now and it's not the same for every family. If the opportunity arises, when my children are older, to help at a festival to lead others the Christ, then we will participate. This year we celebrated October 31st just as any other beautiful day the Lord had made by roasting hotdogs and smores over a fire pit with our friends.


When ever i start to doubt they way the Lord has us doing things, i remind myself, "Our purpose is to please God, not people." 1 Thessalonians 2:4

Children are a Gift from the Lord!

Wow- I am again so blessed by what Nancy Campbell has to say. Even though we only have 4 children I get the many of the questions she lists below all the time. My favorite response to "You have your hands full" is "I'd rather have them full than empty!" This usually catches most people off guard and they respond "I guess you're right."

It's always my goal to have strangers look at us and ask themselves "what is different about them?" Oh, they may think we look different, dress different, act different....but hopefully what lingers in their mind is that something is different, and that is my point! We are called to be different from our culture. Romans 12:2 says, "Do not copy the behaviors and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think." We are to purposely be different. When we dress like everyone one else, how can they see Christ in our lives. Unfortunately today, the way women dress is very unmodest and masculine. We have to look different from them. For me, that means wearing a longer skirt and not too tight shirt. It may be something else for you, but either way, we must not copy the worldly way of dressing. 1 Timothy 2:9-10 says this about the way women dress, "I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes. For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do."
There are many more areas that we can purposely look different from this world. Ask the Lord to show you the areas you may need to change and he will!

I love this quote from Evangeline Howard, who just happens to be one of Mrs. Campbells daughters.
"Freedom mothering...it's not about getting out of it, it's about getting into it! Taking the world for Christ one birth at a time!"

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DISARMING THE GAINSAYERS

Zechariah 8:12 (NLT), "I believe, therefore have I spoken."


"Who am I? Have you sighed these words on your difficult mothering days?

It's a good question, for if you don't know who you are, you will flounder in life. Fortunately, it's not a hard question to answer. God created you uniquely, like nobody else on earth, with special gifts that no one else has. But, transcendentally, you are a mother. You have an inborn urge to nurture. If you don't want to mother children, you will find yourself mothering something else, maybe your pet dog or cat. It is distinctive to us as females.

God created you with a womb and with breasts to nurture and nourish life. Why not embrace who you are? Be the best at who God created you to be instead of running from it. Start enjoying it. Disarm the feminists! Disown the lies! Destroy the deceptions and delight in motherhood.

How? By exploding with joy. You have the privilege of bringing children into the world for God's purposes, children who will live forever. By telling the world you are proud to be a mother. Away with inferiority that's a lie! Away with feeling insignificant; that's not true! Away with the thoughts that you were called to do something more important; that's a humanistic lie!

Next time someone asks you what you do in life, beam with joy and shout, "I am a mother! I have the most blessed career in the world."

The next time someone sees you with all your children in tow and asks, "Are all these yours?" put on a bigger smile, from ear to ear, and shout, "Yes, I am so blessed." Or, "Yes, we love children so much we are hoping for more." Or, "Yes, we're just getting started!"

Or you could even say, "Yes, they are. But where are your children?"

"Oh, they're' at school. We could only afford to have two."

"How very sad," you reply. "You must often feel bored and lonely. We live such a full and exciting life." Give another beaming smile and leave them speechless, ready to disarm the next person who makes a negative comment.

Going out with all your children will become such fun. It will be even more exciting as you train your children for adverse comments about family. When you have answered your critic, the children can also put on their beaming smiles and all say in unison, "God bless you, Madam."

What if someone says, "DON'T YOU KNOW HOW TO STOP HAVING CHILDREN?" Or "Are you planning to have any more?"
\
With a smile and twinkle in your eyes, you could answer, "It's conceivable."

What if some dear soul comments, "You have your hands full."

"We're working on it," you reply. "We are blessed with five; only five more to go!"

Put your shoulders back. Lift up your head. Put a big smile on your face and disarm the anti-child advocates. You'll begin to change the world around you! You'll be speaking on the behalf of God who loves life and loves children. You'll be destroying the deceptions of Satan who hates life and seeks to destroy it.

What a mission. Have fun.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

"I thank you, Lord, that you created me to be a mother. Help me to shine with your glory and lift up your truth wherever I go."

The Sounds of Life

This is such a beautiful picture of the home I pray for daily. The one I hope my children can look back on their childhood and remember. This is what I want my earthly family life to look like. I love this part the most, "fathers eating the fruit of their labors, of moms who radiate the glory of being fruitful vines, and of brothers and sisters who gather around the family table like precious olive plants (Psalm 128)." I encourage you to read Psalm 127 and 128. They are the perfect picture of what a biblical christian family should look like. These verses encompass all of who I am and daily strive to be.

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By Douglas W. Phillips:

Fatherhood and the Sounds of Life

Every day there are thousands of sounds competing for the attention of fathers.
There is the sound of the television set. This is the intoxicating call of the ancient siren, lulling men to slumber, urging them to check their brains at the door of their homes and float into a sea of passivity until they crash upon the rocks of life. There is the sound of the city and the business world. These sounds sometimes give men the false assurance that corporate success is the true test of manhood.

Then there are the diverse sounds of the world in general — a never-ending barrage of sound coming from the hum of machines, the chatter of people, and the background music that follows modern man from elevators to his car to the local coffee shop. These sounds remind us that we are not alone. But they also train us to be incapable of sitting in silence and communing with our God. Like a drug that takes away the pain of life at the expense of the clarity of the mind, these sounds often fill our heads with unnecessary distraction, such that it is a struggle to focus on the most important things.

We live in a world of sound pollution — too much sound, all the time. We spend so much time listening to indiscriminate sounds that we often fail to hear the music of life. We need to reduce the pollution and start listening to the most important music — the sounds that make a Christian household a Christian household.

There is music in the sound of a family worshipping the Lord together. There is music in the sound of babies laughing, of children studying at the family table, of sisters preparing meals for their family, and of moms reading bedtime stories to little ones. When these sounds truly reflect hearts that long to please their Heavenly Father, they make up the aroma of a life well-lived before the Lord.

Of course, the most beautiful music to a father’s ear are any sounds which allow him to experience the blessing of watching his children walking in truth. On this point, Jesus Christ, the author of Holy Scripture, wrote, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth” (3 John 1:4).

I am persuaded that the sounds of a household are a window into the soul of the family.
For most American families today, the sounds being projected are filled with the noise pollution of the television or even with the discordant shouts of family turmoil. In other cases, the modern household is an empty tomb — a shadow of what family life was meant to be. In these households, there is little sound because there are no children. Or perhaps the silence stems from years of family fragmentation in which mother, father, and children each have their own individualized lives largely lived out far from home.

The Christian household is meant to be different. It is a place of love and living
And that means noise. It means houses filled with the glorious echoes of babies crying, of children playing, of mothers teaching, of fathers training, and even a few animals chirping, meowing, or woofing. It means life — with all of its glory, sadness, and joy. It means happy homes of highly eccentric families, each with their own unique vision, style, personality traits, and expressions.

These homes are not museums. That means they are rarely immaculate. Gloriously organized chaos is sometimes a more apt description. They are homes made up of grateful and forgiven sinners who recognize that there is no greater joy than to daily experience the nobility of the commonplace, from the simple disciplines of Christian life — prayer, studies, work — to the thrill of watching fathers eating the fruit of their labors, of moms who radiate the glory of being fruitful vines, and of brothers and sisters who gather around the family table like precious olive plants (Psalm 128).

Look for these households. For their number is growing. They are part of a great spiritual work where the hearts of parents are turning to their children and children to their parents (Malachi 4:6). And when you find them, listen.

Excerpted from the chapter “The Art of Home School Opera: The Blessing of Family Eccentricities,” from The Little Boy Down the Road: Short Stories and Essays on the Beauty of Family Life, by Douglas W. Phillips, to be released from Vision Forum, October, 2008.

The Battle is ON!

I read somewhere that if we as parents, who love and care the most about our children, don't pray for them, then who will?

Well, maybe grandparents or really good friends on occassion, but ultimately it is our job as their parents.

Recently, the Lord has been teaching me what it means to be a prayer warrior on my family's behalf. As i have been pondering this and learning about this, i've noticed the spiritual warfare beginning. Satan likes it when we are complacent and mainstream, that's where he wants us, not making any waves. Only when we choose to go against that, does the battle begin. And it is so real!

To fill you in a little, ever since Owen was born, i have felt strongly that the Lord is going to use him for His glory in some way. Of course, i have no idea how that will look, but my friend Kim told me that we, as his parents, have an even greater responsiblity to train and guide him in his early years. This way when the Lord calls him, he will be ready to answer (as it should be with any of our children).

So recently, it was like a light bulb went off when the Lord showed me why Owen has been our most challenging child. It's not because he just likes irritating us or making things difficult, but because Satan wants him and is willing to do all he can to divert him, and us, from training and disciplining him the way God wants us to.

Owen wants so much to do good and be "good" but he will honestly look at me and say from his heart, "Mommy, I just don't know how to do it" or "why can't I just be good?" It almost breaks my heart to hear this, but I now realize that the turmoil in his heart is a raging battle between good and evil, even at his young age. He really can't do it himself. It is only going to happen when he surrenders his life to Christ and lately, he has been asking lots of questions about that. However, I know that I am to gently and lovingly and constantly redirect him to the Lord every single time he does something wrong. Even when its the 20th time that day, i am to faithfully train or discipline him again and again.

Those who know Owen, know he has a wonderful, funny, sweet side to him also, which thankfully is what most people see, but for some reason, he is the one we struggle with most. When he is happy, he is such a joy to be around, but when he gets upset, hold on tight because it's going to be a bumpy ride!

(The pictures above were taken and compiled by Amber Butler Photography. She tries to catch children in their own and of course, Owen showed his own to her. I will always love these pictures! She has lots of pictures on her website of our children at http://www.giggleboxphotography.com/ that are great!)

Back to my original story.

I have heard it said, that dreams involving snakes, can represent a struggle with satan. Every time i have a dream with a snake (which thankfully isn't often), it is chasing me and i can't get away. I wake up feeling as if the dream was so real that i have a strong hatred towards snakes. I can't even look at pictures of snakes and am constantly on the look out for them since we live in the country. (I will spare you and myself from a snake picture here!)

So, as i have been praying consistently for my family, another snake dream came recently. I share this not because i want you all to think i have really fallen off the deep end, but to show you how amazing God is and that He can speak to us even through a dream.

Here's my dream:

My children and i were all together somewhere, i don't know where, but it was a room. A snake aggressivly began chasing and striking at my children. I was running after it, not afraid of it, but so determined to protect my babies. However, it struck at Cody and got him on the leg, but he was ok. I reached down and grabbed it by the back of the head and began trying to squeeze it in my hand. When i realized i couldn't kill it that way, i pushed it down on the ground with my hand and then took my heel and crushed it to death.

For the first time, I beat the snake in my dream! I didn't wake up scared and exhausted from running from it, but i woke up feeling victorious!

That i could win the spiritual battle for my children's souls through prayer and sound, biblical parenting!

That they belong to Jesus Christ and are His only, bought with a price, His chosen people!

That Satan can't have my children's minds, thoughts, dreams, or actions anymore!

They belong to God!

I also was immediately reminded after waking up of how similar my dream was to the excerpt in Genesis where God cursed Satan after tempting Eve:

"From now on, you and the woman will be enemies, and your offspring and her offspring will be enemies. He will crush your head and you will strike his heel." Genesis 3:15

The footnote in my NLT bible says this:

"Satan is our enemy. He will do anything he can to get us to follow his evil, deadly path. The phrase 'you will strike his heel' refers to Satan's repeated attempts to defeat Christ during his life on earth. 'He will crush your head' foreshadows Satan's defeat when Christ rose from the dead. A strike on the heel is not deadly, but a crushing blow to the head is. Already God was revealing his plan to defeat Satan and offer salvation to the world through his Son, Jesus Christ."

I don't know for sure what it all means, but I do know that God will be victorious! It doesn't mean that there won't be struggles or trials or even temptations, but in the end, He will win!

So all you parents out there, PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!

It's is so important!

Your children's eternity depends on it!

It's not hard to do, just commit to doing it everyday. Right now for me, I pray specifically for this every night when i sit down in the rocking chair to nurse Kate before bed. It can be when you're driving, or taking a shower, or making dinner. It doesn't matter when, just faithfully commit to a time and do it!

The Cost of Motherhood

I remember when I was 13 years old, all the girls were standing around in the locker room stating what they wanted to be when they "grew up." In all honesty, I was able to say that all I wanted to be was a wife and mother. Only one other girl agreed, the rest had more worldly ambitions. I now know that the Lord was calling me to this role at a young age. I am so thankful that He guided and directed me to be exactly where I am at this very moment today. I would never want to be anywhere else than in the heart of my home loving and serving my husband and children.

The following is an excerpt from an email written by Doug Phillips of Vision Forum titled, "The Rise and Fall and Rise of Motherhood". I can forward you the entire letter if you email me. I encourage you to visit their website (http://www.visionforum.com/) to learn more about the "The Rise of the Biblical Family." Hopefully this will help you understand why I am the way I am.

The Question:

Teacher: Susie what do you want to be when you grow up?
Susie: I want to be a doctor.
Teacher: How wonderful! And what about you Julie?
Julie: I want to be a soldier.
Teacher: How commendable! And what about you Hannah?
Hannah: When I grow up I want to be a wife and mother!
Teacher: [dead silence]...

After years of society belittling the calling of motherhood, something wonderful is happening — something wonderfully counter-cultural! In the midst of the anti-life, anti-motherhood philosophies which pervade the culture, there is a new generation of young ladies emerging whose priorities are not determined by the world’s expectations of them. They have grown up in homes where fathers shepherd them, where children are not merely welcome, but where they are deeply loved. Some of these women have been home educated, which means that many of them have grown up around babies and their mothers. They have learned to see motherhood as a joy and a high calling, because their parents see it that way.
And when asked about their future, these girls know their own minds. These are the future mothers of the Church. Young women who are not afraid to say that the goal of all of their education and training is to equip them to pursue the highest calling of womanhood, the office of wife and mother.

The Cost of Motherhood

Once a lady went to visit her friend. During the visit the children of the friend entered the room and began to play with each other. As the lady and her friend visited, the lady turned to her friend and said eagerly and yet with evidently no thought of the meaning of her words: “Oh, I’d give my life to have such children.” The mother replied with a subdued earnestness whose quiet told of the depth of experience out of which her words came: “That’s exactly what it costs.”
There is a cost of motherhood. And the price is no small sum. And if you are not willing to pay this price, no amount of encouragement about the joys of motherhood will satisfy.
But the price of motherhood is not fundamentally different from the price of being a disciple of Jesus Christ. In fact, Christian mothers see their duty as mothers flowing from their calling to Jesus Christ. And what is this cost?
Christian motherhood means dedicating your entire life in service of others. It means standing beside your husband, following him, and investing in the lives of children whom you hope will both survive you and surpass you. It means forgoing present satisfaction for eternal rewards. It means investing in the lives of others who may never fully appreciate your sacrifice or comprehend the depth of your love. And it means doing all these things, not because you will receive the praise of man — for you will not — but because God made you to be a woman and a mother, and there is great contentment in that biblical calling.
In other words, Motherhood requires vision. It requires living by faith and not by sight.
These are some of the reasons why Motherhood is both the most biblically noble and the most socially unappreciated role to which a young woman can aspire. There are many people who ask the question: Does my life matter? But a mother that fears the Lord need never ask such a question. Upon her faithful obedience hinges the future of the church and the hope of the nation.
In 1950, the great Scottish American preacher Peter Marshall stood before the United States Senate and he explained it this way:
The modern challenge to motherhood is the eternal challenge — that of being a godly woman. The very phrase sounds strange in our ears. We never hear it now. We hear about every other kind of women — beautiful women, smart women, sophisticated women, career woman, talented women, divorced women, but so seldom do we hear of a godly woman — or of a godly man either, for that matter.
I believe women come nearer fulfilling their God-given function in the home than anywhere else. It is a much nobler thing to be a good wife than to be Miss America. It is a greater achievement to establish a Christian home than it is to produce a second-rate novel filled with filth. It is a far, far better thing in the realm of morals to be old-fashioned than to be ultramodern. The world has enough women who know how to hold their cocktails, who have lost all their illusions and their faith. The world has enough women who know how to be smart.
It needs women who are willing to be simple. The world has enough women who know how to be brilliant. It needs some who will be brave. The world has enough women who are popular. It needs more who are pure. We need women, and men, too, who would rather be morally right that socially correct
As we approach America’s national Mother’s Day celebration, lets remember that we are fighting for the Lord, and it is He who prioritizes motherhood and home as the highest calling and domain of womanhood “that the word of God be not blasphemed.” Titus 2:5.
May the Lord fill our churches with faithful mothers.

Persevero,


Doug PhillipsPresident, The Vision Forum, Inc.

[i]In his 2002 book Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News Bernard Goldberg wrote: They don’t report the really big story — arguably one of the biggest stories of our time — that is absence of mothers from American homes is without any historical precedent, and that millions upon millions of American children have been left, as Eberstadt puts it, “to fed for themselves — with dire consequences.” Pg. 166


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