Sunday, April 29, 2012

I am breathing big deep breathes. Encouraging fresh air. Straight from GOD. What a weekend. With fragrance of His glory. More insights, more promises. The storm has passed and it is spring. There is fresh greenery. And beauty emerging....
We went to get resources for the lives of our children. To teach and encourage them in the way they should go. We received encouragement about the way the LORD is leading us. I am overwhelmed still of His goodness. Seeing more of the picture, more of the story.
My prayer now is for authority through Him. To not let the weary bring us down, but to let GOD bind them up and draw them into this sweet place. I can't wait to watch. So wait I shall.... Amen.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

a full heart

I need to gush in this moment. As I am going through my homeschool prep and finding my estreams fit; that being my teaching style, my child's learning style, and my curriculum choices, I am overwhelmed to tears. As I read each concept and explore each path that I could potentially take I see, in full, answered prayers of my heart. I see words that I have expressed in prayer to my God, taking shape in reality. This is the character of my God. To know and hear and have a plan unfolding beyond my understanding. A way to change things without being able to see the way in my own will. Then realizing that God is forming it ongoing, retrospectively, and in expectation of finality.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Of Kings

I am reading through the books of Kings in my bible right now. I am loving the history lessons. I am awed at Solomon's life and the fruit of his father's love for God, God's faithfulness and unfailing love, and the affect that our lives have, continuing on after we are gone.

David's promise from God:
1Kings 2:1-4~ When the time drew near for David to die, he gave charge to Solomon his son.
"I am about to go the way of all the earth," he said. "So, be strong, show yourself a man, and observe what the LORD your God requires: Walk in his ways, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go, and that the LORD may keep his promise to me: 'If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.'

God blesses beyond what we can imagine if our hearts are right (Solomon's prayer):
1Kings 3:6-15~ Solomon answered, "You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day."
"Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number.So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?"
The LORD was please that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, "Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discerning in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for- both riches and honor- so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life." Then Solomon awoke- and he realized it had been a dream.
He returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the LORD's covenant and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowships offerings. Then he gave a feast for all his court.

This blows me away. Not in surprise; I know my God. It blows me away in the fact that God pours on the blessings when we trust him. When we seek his will first, before our own benefits. He heard Solomon's heart cry, which probably came from a place of feeling inadequate for the job. And it gets better....

The fruit of that prayer:
1Kings 4:29-34~ God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. Solomon's wisdom was greater than than the wisdom of all the men of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than any other man, including Ethan the Ezrahite- wiser than Heman, Calcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five. He described plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the Hyssop that grow out of walls. He also taught about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. Men of all nations came to listen to Solomon's wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.

Solomon chose to rebuild God's temple before his own place and in beautiful detail as instructed by the LORD. You should read and imagine in 1Kings 6&7. (I now want carved cherubim and lions in my house. HaHA.) He was greatly rich as well. Unfortunately he let in the customs of his foreign wives and built altars for their gods. But, even then, God kept his promise to David, his father.

Consequence and extended blessings:
1Kings 11:11-13~ So the LORD said to Solomon, "Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. Yet I will not tear out the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen."

God is just. He is unfailing in love. I just finished reading 1Kings this morning, and story after story God is fair. He also is merciful at this turning point for the kings who humble themselves and ask for mercy with repentant hearts. And for those people (kings, prophets, and others), who choose to not bow their hearts, he just uses someone else to fulfill His purposes. Such promises. Why would it matter in our death what happens? What did it matter when David was already gone? But God is beyond death, and God keeps his word. He teaches us, blesses beyond our understanding, and then adds onto that for the generations after us. This reaffirms what my eyes have been opened to more and more. Awesome, in the entirety of this overused word.  I want to have a humble heart that seeks God's truth and wisdom, and I hope the blessings to be an afterthought, straight from the heart of a loving God.

Matthew 6:28-33~ "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after these things and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all theses things will be given to you as well."

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Homeschool. A general thought.

I choose to homeschool because:

~ I love my kids and want the best for them. I find it exciting, and encouraging to them, to be a part of their learning.
~ I have found that the standard of education has declined and for an example; I had taught my oldest son to read with a preschool phonetic program  (not finishing the last twenty lessons), and he is at about a grade two reading level while still in Kindergarten.
~ The reaction to bullying has caused an attitude of punishment rather than teaching manners and respect, and has taken away some natural "boys being boys" play. I am against any bullying still, just so no one freaks out, and I am not meaning to take away the seriousness of that.
~ To go along with the last point, I want to teach my kids to love and cherish each other and family. I want to instill in them my values and beliefs. Things such as love, patience, charity, respect of self and others.... and the list goes on. I want to give them a firm foundation to become confident, generous, loving, unselfish, down-to-earth people.
~ I don't want my children to be "sheltered" in the sense of how I, and I am sure many other people, view homeschoolers. I do however want to guard their little hearts and minds from issues that are detrimental to their well being at this young age. I have already encountered numerous issues that are not age-appropriate in my mind; such as discussions surrounding the normality of sexual experimentation. Again.... AGE FIVE.

So, there you go... some general reasons why we are going to take a new path for our family. There are also many in depth reasons after researching and studying what it means to train-up kids, and what homeschool looks like for this generation. I am not going it alone either- there are five families following the same path. We have a learning mentor/teacher who will make sure we are on track and meeting BC requirements. I am excited and am preparing for the next months before we begin in September.

An oak.

Train. Teach. Nurture. Admonish. Encourage.
To not just do, but show.
To not just say, but example.
To not just love, but to choose the best.
To not just tell, but search out the truth.
To not just thank, but praise.

I write this post in change. Over days of contemplation. My eyesight is shifted to a wiser view. Of kings who knew God and still failed. Of children who never knew God because they were not taught. Of people who followed him and then were blessed- His promises carried on to the next generations, even after they were gone. This is my declaration. Of God's grace. Of God's promises. This is my prayer- to let God grow it in His way....

PSALM 103~
Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits- who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel: The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed out transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness to his children's children- with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts. The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all. Praise the LORD you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will. Praise the LORD, all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the LORD, O my soul.

As for me, I will continually seek God through searching out his word, waiting in prayer, and declaring in worship. To instill this in my children. For God to be of utmost importance and priority. To not forget what He brought me through and to tell of what He has done. To be a witness of and with grace. To be a show of his unfailing love. We choose you back Jesus, redeemer. Let me be your oak.