Can you "MAKE" Time?

Such a weird concept... I mean, MAKING time? There are only 24 hours in a day. Twenty-four. Can you really make more time? YES!

"Really..." you might say flippantly. "Prove it."

Okay.

Now, I'm not talking about adding more hours to your day, though you will be able to squeeze more day out of your hours if you budget your time correctly. To budget your time, keep the important things first and the most pressing things important. Remember to budget time for your family lest you lose them. They are more important than getting that newer, better job or cooking that special gourmet meal that takes four hours just so you can look perfect in front of your in-laws. But, I'm not talking about any of that either. 

Today, rather than speaking about making your days longer, I'm talking about making longer your days.

"HUH?!!"

Did I lose you? Let me explain. Actually, let's go to Scripture and let it explain. I Kings 3:14 says, "And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments... then I will lengthen thy days." Proverbs 3:1-2 basically tells us the same thing when it commands us. "My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee."

So, can you "MAKE" time? YES! And, God gives us the recipe! We are not only to keep His commandments, but (according to the second verse) also keep them with our heart rather than just to obey them.

Can you name the commandments? Many can at least name a few. Even if you can't, there are two commandments upon which all the other commandments hang. If you know those two, if you follow those two, you can lengthen your days.

"What are they? Spit it out already!"

Matthew 22:35-40 tells us, "Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, 'Master, which is the great commandment in the law?' Jesus said unto him, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." 

God also tells us that He looks on our hearts (I Samuel 16:7) and that's it's our motives that matter (Proverbs 21:2). He said that He purifies our hearts if we let Him and that He will change us to be more like Him if we will allow Him to. So, not only will He give us long life in exchange for loving others and for loving Him, but He'll make that love possible!

So do you want that Fountain of Youth, those long days upon the earth? Do you want to "make" more time? Love the Lord God with everything inside you, and love those around you--enemy or friend.

Lastly, the whole reason we are taught things in our lives, the whole reason we learn things at all (at least it's true for me) is to pass it on to our children. Teach your children the way of God. Teach them these two most important two commandments, on which hang all the laws and the prophets. Teach them how to hide those words in their hearts. Teach them how to "make" time themselves. Not only will it be a blessing to them, but it will bless you as well. 

God Bless!

Nishoni Harvey

P.S. Make sure to make time for your children and make time for God! Also be careful to make time for your spouse so your relationship might flourish! These should be the highest of your priorities when you budget your time to squeeze more time from the 24-hours God has given you every day. Time with your family should also fill plenty of the life God has given you, plenty of the long days He will bless you with upon the earth. You can MAKE time. Make the most of what He gives you.

Do We Care?

Jesus and His disciples crossed the Sea of Tiberius after healing the man at the Pool of Bethesda. There, Christ had proved His authority as God—the authority of the Son, and the multitudes followed Him. The sad thing is, they had not followed Him to learn more about Him or to gain that spiritual bread but because they’d seen His miracles! They saw how He could heal the diseased and give the blind their sight.

Jesus said, “Well, here they come. I guess we should feed them.”

“But, Jesus,” Philip stuttered, “Even if we did have enough money to feed them all, there’s not enough bread around to be bought to feed them all!”

We’re going to look at a few wee-little people who said, “We care.”

THE WEE-LITTLE LAD

LET’S READ:

“Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?”  (John 6:7-9)

This little boy, this young teen, this lad had brought his food with him. Now, do you really think that out of that whole multitude that there was absolutely no other person that thought to bring food? What about Mommas—snacks for their toddlers? Don’t you think there were families within an hour or two’s walk or less from home? Why did no else offer to supply for even one family? For one adult? For one child? I always had twice, sometimes three times more than what I needed! They could have offered their food to Jesus, but they didn’t. Why? They didn’t care! When it comes your turn to be called upon, will people see you as one who just doesn’t care? Or can you say, like this little boy, “I care!”

This one lad’s lunch fed 5,000! Wouldn’t you love to be known as someone whose little gift fed so many? We have so many hurting people around us today! Be one of those that say, “We care!”

THE WEE-LITTLE MAIDEN

LET’S READ:

“Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper. And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife. And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.  (2 Kings 5:1-3)

This little girl shared her knowledge. She knew there was a man who could heal her master. She shared. She cared.

Now, think about this. This little life had been changed because of this man. His army had come into her city and devastated it. His army had destroyed her home. His army had most likely killed her father and older brothers. She had been ripped from her mother’s protective arms, where they were clinging one to another, and taken captive. She was no longer free.

This little maid, this little girl, could no longer play at will, tease her brothers, take rides on their backs, or chase butterflies. She couldn’t learn to “cook” with her mother, kneading the dough or washing the leaks. In fact, she may never see her mother again. She would never jump on her father’s back as he knelt to tend the field or startle him as he came around the corner ever again. She may have even seen her father and brothers die. She would never again see her family.                                                                                                                                                                                                    At the time she was stolen from her family and from her homeland, it was devastating to her. It must have seemed inexplicable. Why would her God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, allow her to be taken her from her family, her home, and everything she knew? It must have seemed like no help, no relief, would ever come, yet he cared about the man that made it happen, the man she may have thought was to blame.

She cared through it all! (I tell you what, her mother must have taught her right! I hope I can be even half the mother she was! A mother like this little maid’s.) I don’t know how long after all of the devastation that she reached out to her mistress, but she was still a little maid at the time of this story, and she was old enough to know of and remember about Elisha when she was ripped from her mother’s grasp!

Do you care? Do you care enough to tell others? Do you care enough to share your knowledge? What knowledge do we have?

·      1.   Everyone’s a sinner.—Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

We all know about the Ten Commandments. Many of us probably have them memorized or at least know them well enough to name a few. Hmmm… Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart. Thou shalt not lie. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. That only names a few, and, no, I don’t think they’re in order. 😊

Let’s look at a few:

         Everyone has told a lie. Even a little white lie will take you to Hell!—Revelation 21:8, “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

How many people do you have to kill to be a murderer? One. How many lies do you have to tell to be a liar? Think about it…

That verse talks about murderers. Did you know that if you’ve hated someone, you’ve murdered them in your heart.—I John 3:15, “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” Is murdering a sin? Yes! Have you ever hated someone in your heart? Even for a second? Are you a murderer?

Idolatry is coveting what someone else has.—Colossians 3:5, “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:” “Covetous,” according to the “Oxford Dictionary,” is “having or showing a great desire to possess something belonging to someone else.” The Bible says again in Ephesians 5:5, that “For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.”  Are you an idolator?

So according to this list, you’re a lying, idol worshiping, murderer at heart! Is that enough to get you labeled a sinner?

·     2.  There’s a price for sin.—Romans 6:23a, “For the wages of sin is death;” That’s eternal death. The rest of the verse continues with a BUT and tells us that God’s gift is eternal life. Remember Revelation 21:8? “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” The good news is, we don’t HAVE to go to Hell! But how? Why?

·   

 3.  Jesus paid that price.—Romans 6:23b, “but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” And Roman 5:8, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Jesus came to this earth, was implanted in a virgin’s womb, and was born on Christmas day. He did nothing wrong, living a sinless life, healed the sick, raised the dead, and gave the blind their sight. Yet, one day, He was taken by soldiers, buffeted, had a crown of thorns beaten into His brow, was stricken repeatedly with a rod and then with a whip of nine tails, having broken glass, rock, and chunks of sharp bone woven into its chords. Then he was led through the streets, barely looking like a man, to the place of his death, nailed to a cross. It was dropped into a deep enough hole to hold it upright—probably at least four feet deep, pounding into the ground when it hit the bottom. It yanked his open flesh against that rough wood and those large, sharp splinters that jutted out from the surface. His bones were violently jarred out of joint. The weight of his body, pulled down at such force, ripped at his hands and his feet. Blood rained down his face, poured down his body, slowly emptying the ground. The soldiers gambled for His clothing beneath Him. He felt an unbearable weight upon His shoulders that only the Son of God could bear as God placed the sin of the whole world upon Him. God the Father turned His back on Jesus, as He cannot look upon sin. A thick darkness fell. Jesus cried out, “My God, My God! Why hast Thou forsaken Me?” already knowing the answer—God had too. Finally, He died.

Three days later, something glorious happened! He arose from the dead! He went to Heaven, came before His Father, placed His blood, the final payment for sin, on the mercy seat, and returned to Earth to heal and teach once more. Forty days later, He returned to Heaven to sit on His throne at His Father’s right hand.

·   3.  What are you going to do about it?—Romans 10:9-10, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Do you believe you’re a sinner? Do you believe that your sin will send you to Hell? Do you believe Jesus paid that price? All you have to do is confess that! Tell Jesus what you feel, what you believe. You talk to Him just like to talk to anyone else.

“Well, He’s not in the room,” you might say. That’s fine. Talk to Him like you’re on speakerphone with a new friend. Besides, He is in the room. He says, “Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.”  (Jeremiah 23:23-24)

THE WEE-LITTLE ME

You might be thinking, “I can’t help, I have a bum leg,” or “I can’t do much, I have so much to do,” or “I can’t do Soul Patrol, I work on Saturdays,” or “What can I do, I’m pretty much housebound,” or “I don’t have a car,” or “I’m stuck on this walker,” or… Whatever your case may be, God has SOMETHING you can do!

You can witness where you are, telling others of Christ. You might say, “I can’t do that. I’m scared.” You can hand out tracts where you go, which is, in fact, telling others of Jesus! You can be a witness, doing those things which are right before your neighbors. You can keep your testimony. God wants you to do all of these—telling of Jesus, being a witness, and keeping your testimony.

When I was in college, I didn’t have a car. I could only go within walking distance of the college. Sure, I went out on Saturday mornings a few short hours with my route to visit my bus kids and knock new doors, but that just wasn’t enough for me. I wanted more, so I took out the phone book, sat at the phone—the real, wall-bound kind, dialed numbers, and witnessed to people at the other end of the line. And, guess what! Yes, I had people hang up on me. I had people thinking I was a telemarketer and tell me, “I’m not interested,” right away. I even had someone threaten to call the police once because they were on a no-call list and I was disturbing their privacy and violating the law by contacting them! But… I also had those precious few who trusted Christ as their Savior.

You can pray! I know you hear this all the time, but there are so many that don’t pray today. Maybe they “forget,” getting into the rush of the day and just… forget. (Just setting apart a time and making a point to pray, by the way, will get it done. I do my devotions at 5AM every morning and 6AM on Sundays).

Some people don’t know how to pray—in Jesus’ name, in His will. Instead, they pray for what they want. They forget to pray for others’ or just skip it in their rush, praying only for their own selfish desires. You know, it’s not bad to pray for those things you want. It is not good, though, to pray for things you know God doesn’t want you to have, like the neighbor’s car. 😊 You know it’s not God’s will for you to have the newest pistol if you’ve been convicted, incarcerated, and served for murder. He’ll let you know, if not through His Word or through the law, then through His Spirit. His Spirit communes with ours and shares things with us as His children.

Also, there are those who don’t know Who to pray too. These would be the unsaved or the saved, praying to their own god’s. Sometime, these could be Buddha or some other idol, but at other times it’s things like the god of convenience. “Oh, God, let me get to my appointment on time (which would be fine)” as they speed through a 45mph zone (which makes it NOT fine). “Oh, Dear Jesus, let me get this college paper in on time (which, again, would be fine)” as they copy and paste, plagiarizing, from the internet.

There are many other things you can do, but I want to give you one more idea: you can send out cards. There was a lady in our church in Michigan that sent out birthday cards, anniversary cards, and get-well cards to every member every year. Her name was Miss Nancy. It was such an encouragement. Wait! Isn’t that something we’re supposed to do—edify, encourage, the brethren?! She put a tract inside every card, too, that corresponded with the card: birthday tracts with birthdays, etc. just in case… Just an idea. 😊

Another card you might think of is sympathy cards. In the church we went to in Christina, I used to find people in the obituary section, locate their families in the white pages online, and send them a sympathy card with a tract in it. We had a few people call and thank us, and we had a few people shew up at the church. What a blessing!

If these Wee-little people in our lesson can do something for God. If even children can do something for Christ. If even the rocks can call out praises to God. If even creation can witness of Him. YOU CAN DO SOMETHING FOR HIM!

Remember Philippians 4:13? “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

Get on your knees. Seek His face. Ask Him what that something is that you can do, and JUST DO IT!

Let’s list some other ideas of things we can do as ministries to others. What are some other ideas to reach souls? What are some other ways to edify others? What are some things you can do? Let’s share our ideas so we can help others! COMMENT BELOW!

My Life's Pact

My Life's Pact

We spend our years

As a tale that is told--

As have all the men

And women of old.

As a woman of faith,

I choose to walk;

As one of uprightness,

I choose to talk.

I choose for my story

To be clearly for God,

To lift Him up

And of Him laud;

For if my tale

Of Satan doth tell,

It may lead

Countless others to Hell!

--Nishoni L. Harvey

10/26/2018

06:36 AM

Picture Credits to Markus Spiske Temporausch

Careful! Too Good to be True!

The Fanatics

I'm an author, and I freelance as well. I love to write, and I do everything "writing" I can. I get a lot of my work from a site called Upwork, a great site by the way! I highly recommend it! 

Ten days or so ago, I applied for an hourly writing job for a company called Pharma Waldhof. Seven days ago, they contacted me, telling me they'd like an interview on Google Hangouts. I called Upwork to make sure that was kosher. It was within policy and pretty standard. I agreed to the interview. They set the interview and briefing (should the interview proceed well) for 9-3 the next day.

I was going to have a steady, real, stay-at-home writing job?! It all seemed too good to be true! No more freelancing and piecing jobs together? This was going to be great! But, what if it was too good to be true? Be careful of things that sound too good to be true, ladies and gents!! Sometimes they are!

In the meantime, I researched the company. They appeared to be an outstanding company! I called the US government to see how I would work taxes since they were based out of Germany and found the IRS had a contract with them, so all was well at that end. I studied up on the company's policies and their self-proclaimed strengths, expertise, and ambitions so I'd be able to wow them with my knowledge--the first rule of a good interview ;).

Stay at Home?! :)

The interview went very well. The briefing was quick. They told me they offered benefits (Dental, Medical, 401K, and more)! ...Then they told me I'd be self-employed. My husband and I didn't think much about it except that it was odd that they would be able to offer those benefits without my being an employee. But then we thought maybe it was a business thing we just didn't know about. I'd be getting $20 an hour during the week of training on their programs and $30 an hour when I started working. I'd be setting my own hours. 

They said they'd be buying me a business computer (sounds reasonable) and a business phone. They'd be paying the bill (also sounds reasonable since I'd be calling Germany). Then they said I'd need the receipt in order to claim the laptop and cell phone when they were shipped to me, so they'd send me a cashier's check. I'd use that money to purchase the computer and phone from their vendor and, therefore, have the receipt. --Okay...

My Bank wouldn't wire the money.

I deposited the cashier's check, waited for it to completely clear into my account and let them know I was ready for the ordering information. Instead of a website, they gave me the information to wire money to the vendor. I asked if I could pay it via credit card or electronic check. They told me, "no," that they needed me to start immediately and that wiring the money was the only way we could get the money to the vendor in time to get the computer out by the next day so I could start work. They said I could only work on that computer because it would have the programs I needed. --Sounded reasonable.

I called my bank and asked them to wire the money. Our bank, which is an online bank, only wires money to title companies, not to people--THANK GOD! Unfortunately, the "company" came up with a different way for me to get the money to them--Amazon cards. I went to the store and bought $2,400 in Amazon cards, scratched the backs off, took pictures of them and of their receipts and emailed the photos to the provided website. NEVER DO THAT!

Amazon Cards--The New Scam!

The next day, they sent me a second cashier's check. They said this was the last of the money the vendor needed and that they needed to be sure they could trust me with the first half before they gave me the rest to send to the vendor. They had told me the day before that the computer would arrive that day before 1 pm, which was when my first day of training was supposed to take place. The vendor, however, needed the payment before the computer would be delivered or it couldn't be delivered.

Since I needed it by 1 pm and didn't know what time it was scheduled to arrive, I woke the kids at 7 am, ordered an Uber (taxi) and went to Walmart for Amazon cards. Would you believe the Walmart here doesn't carry Amazon cards?! We went to the store we got the cards the day prior; they didn't open until 8 am, and I hadn't wanted to wait that late. The store wouldn't sell me any more since I'd bought so many the day before. They said they'd have to fill out money laundering paperwork.

We spent $75 on Uber!! :O

To make a long story short, we were out until lunch, visiting several stores, calling several banks, and visiting one bank to see if they would be a middleman for a wire transfer. I couldn't find anyone. The last bank I went to said that they thought I was being scammed. Little did I know they were right! God had kept me so safe that day! We went back home. I had already spent $75 in Uber just in that one day alone, and the kids were spent.

When we got home, I called my bank and asked to talk to the security department. Sure enough, the cashier's checks were fake. We were taken for $2,400, but it would have been $6,000 if I had found someone to wire the money for me or to sell me the Amazon cards! God sure is great, isn't He!

My husband and I let the real Pharma Waldhof know someone is impersonating them and stealing people's money. We alerted the police and gave them the packet of information I had obtained--I keep records of everything. The police said this will be a long, drawn-out process. Our bank security is conducting their own research. The thieves will probably never be caught, and we'll most likely never get our money back, but it's an excellent opportunity for others to learn from! That's why I shared our story with you. Please don't make the same mistake we did! If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

Call upon the name of the Lord,

and Thou shalt be saved!

There's only one thing I know of that really is true even though it sounds so good! That's the story of Christ. He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died a horrible, undeserving death just. for. you, and rose again three days later! 

John 3:16,  "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Romans 10:9,  "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."

Carry Your Own Weight!

Are you skinny as a rail, yet your legs give out before they have a chance to carry you? Are you stuck in a wheelchair day-in and day-out? Have you always been wheelchairbound, or is it a fairly new thing? My mother just found out she has Parkinson's Disease a year or so ago. She has her good days, but she has days that she has to stay in her wheelchair because her legs just won't carry her.

There are other people that are so heavy that they just can't carry their own weight. I was told that walking around downtown becomes difficult when you exceed 250 pounds. You get to start driving one of those carts around Wal*Mart at 400 pounds--It's not as fun, kiddos, when you HAVE to do it for health reasons. When 455 pounds rolls around, many women have a difficult time standing up straight due to their bust and belly weight! Even sitting, their legs and feet retain fluid, making it hard to walk. At 500 pounds, most people can't walk much anymore, and, at 700, they can't carry their own weight at all. Imagine an around-the-clock in-home care, a bedpan, and sponge baths given by the old woman next door... Ewww!

Do you carry your own weight around the house, women? Are you doing your best to keep the house clean, your family fed, the laundry done up, and the domestic chores completed? Are you following God's commands, yes, commands, to submit to your husband and train up your children in the way they should go? If it helps, remember that your husband is supposed to submit to you too. :)

What about you. men? MMHMM... Touchy spot. Sure, you work all day, but so do your wives. Some at a job outside the home, others as a stay-at-home mom or housewife. Hey! That's a full-time job too! Their job does not end with the workday, and neither does yours! Not only do you have chores to do at home, but, guys, help your wives out around the house. Remember, too, that you do have kids. Put those phones away. Stay off that computer or tv for until after their bedtime. Put the book down. Spend time with your children. They need you. Carry your own weight!

Lastly, are you carrying your weight with God? Are you talking to Him daily? There's so very much to pray about! Are you letting Him speak to you through reading His Word? Are you attending church? Are you serving? Are you witnessing? God commands us all to "Go ye into all the world". Are you going? Are you carrying your own weight?

I guess that's about all for tonight. Honestly, though, people. how many of us truly carry our own weight at home? At work? At church? All the time? It can be hard! We get tired. Forget tired, we get emotional and physically drained to the point of exhaustion. We do need to try our hardest, though. Not only do we need to try our hardest, but we should be spurring others on to try their hardest too, after all, that's what friends are for, right? See you next time! Until then, carry your own weight!

DON'T Fold MY Laundry!!

Children!! I hear them in the other room, "I don't WANT help! Leave me alone!"

Sierra and Hannah hate getting help from their sister. I guess they think they'll owe them or something? I don't know... I guess I've never really sat them down and asked them. Maybe I should? Older ladies, now's the time to chime in :).

Sierra doesn't like anyone else to fold her clothes... except Mommy, of course. In fact, she kind of expects Mommy to fold her clothes, so she leaves them until I get sick of them and either do them for her or sit on top of her until they're done (a recent development--are you proud of me?). I believe she just likes them folded a particular way and hates to have anyone else fold them.

I don't blame her, though. I don't like anyone to fold my laundry either. If anyone does, I unfold it in secret and fold it back my way before I put it away. Horrible, right? I am getting better with it, though. I will sometimes allow Matt to fold his own clothes now, although I do sometimes sneak in and refold his shirts while he's at work (shhh!!). My excuse? They just fit in the drawer so much better when they're folded right!

Do you have areas you don't want help in? Maybe you feel self-conscious... or like you'll owe the person afterward? Maybe you feel like you should be helping them instead. Maybe they feel the same way. Maybe you are breaking their heart or their spirit, or maybe you are stealing their joy by not allowing them the privilege to serve another.

Do you still live at home? Are you out of the home, but unmarried still? Have you married already? Are you old enough to have grown children? It doesn't matter what stage you're in. You are still commanded to honor your parents. What's the best way to do this--by accepting their help should it be offered. By turning down their help, you are stealing their blessing. It is such a blessing to your parents to be able to help and provide for you!

Do you allow your husband to help? That is what he is there for! It brings him pride to provide for you, and this includes providing you the help you need. If you turn down his help, you are breaking his pride, and he will soon give up on trying to help at all.

What about that help from God? Do you push Him away? Do you accept help from Him? Do you ask? God says He wants you to even ask for that help! "ASK and it shall be given unto you..."!

God wants to help you, whether you want the help or not. He knows your needs before you do. He knows what you WANT before you do. He knows the deepest desires of your heart before they are even revealed to you! Are you going to let Him help you in the good times and in the bad? So many times we ask for help only in the bad times and forget about Him completely in the good times, but He wants to help you then too. He wants to help you stay on the straight and narrow, help you keep in those good times, and help you prepare for the bad times ahead.

Then there are those of us who get mad at God and do not even want His help in the bad times. We get bitter and carry that bitterness with us as it carries us to the deepest and darkest places. If we reach this sort of bitterness, it grows in us like a cancer, and even in the good times, the bitterness continues to grow. The only way out is to ask God for help out of this hole of no hope. Ask for His help, accept His help, and don't push him away!

Bunk Beds and Bald Heads

Yesterday, while cutting my husband's hair, I noticed the hair on the back of his head is starting rub a little thin. It's always been so thick that it bogs down the clippers when I cut it.


"Matt!" I gasped in surprise, "You're getting a bald spot!" I tried to reassure him it looked sophisticated and manly after I realized it was bothering him so badly.


After Matt's hair was finished, it was my 5-year-old's turn. "Do I have a spot in the middle of my head too, Mommy?" he earnestly asked, hoping against hope.


"No," I replied. "Why? Do you want one?"


"Yes." came his simple reply.


"You want to be just like Daddy, don't you," I asked with a smile.


He nodded his head. "Give me a spot Mommy." It was more of a question that a demand.


"No, I can't do that," I said to his dismay. I sort of felt bad when he started to look so downcast.


He asked made his demands about three more times before his hair was done.

How much do your children want to be like you? How much do they look up to you? How much do they watch you? What are they learning from you with every passing day?


I remember when my 6-year-old was around 3 years old that she wanted a bunk bed just like her big sisters. She was always asking for one and tried crawling in the bottom bunk with Hannah almost every night.

No matter what you do, no matter how you act, no matter if you think you're worthy or not, there are little eyes on you! Watching. Waiting. Learning. And they want to be just. like. you.


What pattern are you setting forth? They say "more is caught than taught". What is your life teaching your children? They want to be just like you, you know.

You must be careful. You wonder why your 4-year-old has such an attitude? What's your's like? Is your daughter a soul-winner? Now, why do you think that is? YOU are the guidebook they read every day. Are you a good text?

You don't teach morals and ethics and empathy

and kindness in the schools

You teach that at home,

and children learn by example.

--Judy Sheindlin

Calling In Sick

I am so sick today! I have the stomach bug my 9-year-old had. Stupid sickness. Stupid me! Why wasn't I more understanding of her when she had this? She wasn't really complaining all that much, probably because of the way her Autism affects her. She didn't have a fever. I didn't know it was so bad!

I'm wishing now I hadn't made her do school work. I'm wishing now I didn't have to work. Most people just call into work. Most people have that privilege ability, but not me. No, I have to work regardless.

I still have to wash dishes. I still have to fold laundry. I still have to cook and clean. I still have to kiss imaginary boo-boos (which is a great privilege by the way). I still have to work. Why? Because I'm Mom. Moms don't have the privilege, um, ability to call in sick. No, we have to stick it out and be Mom. Dad gets to be sick. Why can't we?

The blessing of being Mom comes with many privileges... and many not so privileges. Do we find ourselves complaining about our blessings to be Mom instead of just thanking God for the opportunity we have to touch the lives of our lovely children? Be thankful regardless. Thank God you have the chance to be a mom. Thank God for that responsibility. Thank God you don't have that ability to call in sick. After all, if you did, it may mean you wouldn't be a mom today!

"In everything give thanks;

for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus

concerning you."

I Thessalonians 5:18

Ground Beef and Humble Pie

Sometimes it's hard to fit those bulky packages of ground beef in your freezer. Then they want to roll out at every opportunity, finding it's target every time it falls out of the freezer. Of course, that would be that one little pinky toe that you stubbed 4 times today. It's so frustrating! Shouldn't there be a better way?

There is!

I've found that if I put my two pounds of ground beef in a gallon-size Ziploc bag (Yes, we use two pounds at a time around here) and smoosh it down real good, flattening it out to almost fill the bag, it works a lot better for me. Not only does it make it easy to squeeze out all the air, but it's stackable. It doesn't take as much space up in your freezer and doesn't roll out (BONUS!!!) when you're looking for those last minute frozen veggies that you forgot to microwave while the food was cooking... Ahem... Not that I would do such a thing... Bigger bonus yet, it thaws much quicker!

We are much like that ground beef! We roll around where we ought not, rebelliously falling out of God's will. We puff ourselves up so much with pride that God finds it hard to fit us where we belong.

There is a better way!

If we let God smoosh us and squeeze the air out of our pesky little heads, we'll thrive where He places us. If we stick close to Him, we won't find ourselves rolling out of God's will... or at least not as much. 😊 Best yet, if we allow God to press us down and mold us as He wants, we'll be more pliable, useful, and useable. Time to deflate that little head and find some humility. Let God do as He wishes, and just stay out of His way.

PROBLEMS FACING THE CHRISITAN HOME

No matter how hard you try to protect your family by building a Christian home, there will still be major problems that affect it. The world’s philosophy will still seep in; the psychology of friends and family will continue to be heard—and sometimes heeded; the civil government will always interfere; the “civilization” will forever try to “help”; and the satisfaction of the flesh will still be a temptation to one and all. These many problems of our society, like it or not, do—and will continue to—affect the Christian homes we try so hard to build!

Before we ever begin our families, we are taught the philosophies of this world. Spock’s teachings are prominent in this generation, and they are engrained into the very thought process of any person raised in the public—and most private—schools. They are also confirmed to us through television, magazines, the newspapers, and much more. This is a big factor in many homes today.



After our children are born, our friends and family “throw” their psychology at us constantly. When your child is still a baby, as they lie sleeping in the crib or snuggled in your arms, you are told, “Oh, she’s so cute, but just you wait…!” In addition, your parents and friends have thei

r own ideas of how your children should be raised, and they do not mind “educating” you in that area.



The civil government seems to enjoy interfering with the Biblical family’s progress too. They set forth laws to prohibit the proper discipline of your child, naming it physical abuse, thus instilling beliefs into every citizen that contradict the proper upbringing of family and the Biblical family values. The civil government is one of the problems facing our homes today.



Another is mere civilization. Those things that seem to add to society—seem to make it a better place—literally tear apart the Christian home. The television, which you allow your children to watch, contains some of the vilest things imaginable, and, even the most innocent appearing productions, teach evolution, rebellion, violence, and other anti-Biblical principles. The Internet, when placed in your home, provides an open door to many uncanny and evil things. Time spent on these objects (television, computer, etc.) is stolen from the precious little time available to the proper “rearing” of your children; thus, they are raised by the world instead of “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord”!



The desire to satisfy the flesh is the last problem that shall be mentioned. There are many ways to accomplish the fulfillment of this desire, and most of them are readily available to us and our children. These traps, baited with the false promise of success and happiness, are easy to fall into and almost impossible to break free of. This is probably the most prominent and easily attained road to the destruction of the Christian home. Remember, you must lead by example; help your children to overcome in this world by standing against the odds and raising a Christian family through the defeat of these problems that plague the Christian home.