Trusting in Horses

I sat in the middle of stacks of workbooks - some never opened. Boxes and tubs overflowed with math manipulatives and games - most very well used. 

The tools of my trade and twenty years of homeschooling had been pulled out of the cabinets and off the shelves. It was time to let go and move on to the next chapter in life. My kids were grown. 

But twenty years of homeschooling offer perspective and perspective is a powerful teacher with those who have ears to learn. 


Everywhere I looked around me I saw - not just stuff - but memories. The first picture book my daughter read, the first chapter book my son read. 

The read alouds recalled hours with a little one in my lap, two more children on each side, and another draped across the top of the couch, pressing in to hear my words. Sweet memories!

There were reminders of the moments when my youngest students "got" phonics when they sounded out their first words or worked their first addition problems with counting beads. All by themselves!

AAHH!  The dissection kit for the biology labs. Who knew that my son would think it was gross but my delicate daughter would love it and go into nursing!

But those were the good days. Homeschooling offered many challenges. You never choose it as the "easy road."

Why did I have three different spelling programs and scads of writing and grammar workbook series? Two of my children never seemed to "get" Language Arts. I kept thinking:  If I can just pick the right program, it will all click and they will become brilliant students! Voila!!

I had to laugh over the workbook series on settling arguments between siblings and creating tranquility in the home. Other families always seemed to have it together and looked more loving and peaceful. Perhaps the workbook series would be the missing key to a harmonious home life.

Some trust in chariots

and some in horses,

but we trust in

the name of the LORD our God.

Psalm 20:7

Perspective has taught me a humble truth. I had a missing homeschool ingredient. Tearful talks with other moms over coffee and play-dates were only momentary bandaids. 

I trusted in EVERYTHING but the name of the LORD my God. I checked the boxes on the lesson plans and added the credits on the transcripts but it wasn't until I came to the end of my own inventions that I desperately cried out to the the LORD.

Bottom line: Do the best you know when it comes to choosing curriculum and teaching your children Biblically. Stay in touch with a mom support group. But, first trust in the LORD and pray over everything each day. 

Those children who just couldn't write - are writers now. Those siblings who fought earlier are now very close and God used even the discord to bring them closer to Him and each other. 

Nothing is wasted in God's economy. He delights when we bring him our biggest - and smallest - problems. The variety of ways He can show Himself to be mighty in our lives are innumerable if we trust Him first in everything. 

No Worries

I love New York City. My son and I are here for his work for several weeks this summer. At first, our favorite saying was, "We aren't in Kansas anymore." Everywhere we turned we saw something we've never seen in our small town in East Texas. 


Today as we walked from the subway to the theater, I saw a sign in the middle of the sidewalk reading: 

CAUTION

MEN WORKING

OVERHEAD

I looked up—nothing. Well, something could fall on my head but I'd be oblivious just like the millions of other NYC pedestrians milling around. 


I started smiling as I walked and thought What if we put this sign up?

NO WORRIES

GOD WORKING

OVERHEAD AND

ON EARTH

Everyone keeps asking how I'm doing this—living and working in the city, riding subways, losing my son in the crowds, finding an apartment to rent. 

I saw something the first time we stepped into Times Square. You won't find it in the guide books—I tried to find it and it wasn't there. 

It's a statue—a large one—right in the middle of the lights that never go dim or the plaza that never empties. It's a cross on a war memorial. 

At first I thought, how odd! Now I see it and just remember that in the city that never sleeps there is a God who never slumbers as well. 

Indeed, he who watches over Israel

never slumbers or sleeps.

Psalm 121:4

 No worries, God is on His throne and I don't need to worry. 

Legacy

Knight's Helmet

Wandering around the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City has been exhilarating and thought provoking. Everywhere are fabulous ancient artifacts—decorated weapons, funeral pieces and musical instruments. 


I'm with my teenage son so viewing it through his eyes is interesting. We had a funny chat over a lunch about all of the intricately decorated weapons from hundreds of years ago. We tried to picture our present-day GI's with decorated weapons.....didn't work very well. 

Highly detailed armory

Items left from various ancient civilizations are odd—combs, dishes, weapons, jewelry, doors. Some of the pieces are common and every day; others are elaborate and only used on ceremony days. 


Legacy. What will last from our civilization in 100's of years? What will last from my family in 100's of years or.......for eternity?


Much of the carved art—small and detailed or massive—had to do with funeral ceremonies. The more elaborate it could be made, the better the afterlife of the deceased or the longer they would be remembered. 


Remembering and celebrating the ancestors was important. Without massive or memorable landmarks, the person's life fades into oblivion. Becomes meaningless. 

Funeral Art to Memorialize the Dead
from Oceania 

So what is meaningful in my life? What do I want to last? How would I want to be remembered?


...as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
2 Corinthinians 4:18


The only thing worth remembering about me or passing on to my children are only the unseen, eternal elements. Nothing else really matters. 

Waiting

Waiting is not something I do easily. When I believe God has directed me down a path but I can't see the end, delays are wearying and faith-stretching.


Right now I'm in God's waiting room with three of my kids. All of us are anticipating futures to unfold and goals to be realized.


Patience is a quality God requires over and over in the Bible. God always has his own timeline and he is always on time. God's people have to continue on a course that he provides without knowing the destination schedule. 

Chuck Colson Tribute

As parents of a young family, we feared raising children in such a crazy upside down world. We wondered how we would ever maneuver through the minefields of moral corruption. How could we raise good kids in the midst of so many bad influences?

We sought advice from those wiser and our reading lead us to a book by Chuck Colson, Against the Night, Living in the New Dark Ages. Where we saw a blurry dangerous world outside our front door, entering daily through our television screen, Colson saw clearly. Colson armed us with understanding of the ongoing moral slide in most areas of society—political, educational, financial even in the church. Understanding gave us courage and determination to say, ENOUGH, when it came to our children.

We realized that the goals that government schools had for our children were not our goals—not the goals that we felt God had for the children He had given us. We chose to stand up and counter that tide. We chose a different path for our family. We never looked back although it is harder to swim upstream at times. 


My kids have almost all emptied the nest after 27 years of parenting. They turned out as moral, independent thinkers who do not buy the world's moral "anything goes" attitude which grows each year. They understand that this world is God's creation and they were created by Him for a purpose. 

Thank you, Chuck Colson, for giving us wisdom and courage through your words. This is one family that was drastically changed through your writing and we've never regretted it. 



Blessings,
Rhodema

Deity in the Ditch

America's oldest building date back just 250 years. As my husband and I travelled across England this summer, the ancient sites were the most impressive. It was common to see structures from the 1400's. 

Bath, England provided a look at the oldest building, a Roman bathhouse from A.D. 70. At the same time the Christian church was in its beginning stages in the middle east, the goddess Sulis Minerva was worshipped as the source of the healing thermal waters in Bath. 

The engineering feats of hot and cold running water, steam baths and heated flooring were marvels for A.D. 70. Interwoven in the daily bathing rituals was the worship of the source of the waters—the goddess Minerva. Her face, masterfully cast in gold could be seen in a nearby temple. 

No explanation was given for the sudden exodus from the town. The rich temple and bathing facilities were abandoned, possibly when the Romans left England for good. 

The building was left to ruin and the massive goddess disappeared—until only recently. Sewer workers found the golden goddess face down in one of the underground sewers. 

How glad I am to serve an eternal God. He isn't thought up by man or crafted by an artist's hands. Worship of the one true God doesn't fall in and out of fashion. 

But the LORD is the true God; 
he is the living God, the eternal King.
Jeremiah 10:10

What Not to Wear

I'm a What Not to Wear fan. My daughter and I love to grab a cup of tea and savor the latest recorded episode together

The show takes place in NYC. The hosts, Stacy London and Clinton Kelly, "kidnap" the worst dressed women in America and work with them for a week to transform their appearance—and usually their opinions about themselves. 

The women are nominated by well-meaning friends and family. The candidates have to take all of their clothes to the studio in NYC and agree to throw out whatever the hosts say goes. But, they get $5,000 to buy a new wardrobe with Stacy and Clinton's rules.

Before their clothes are tossed the women on the show are asked to select three of their favorite outfits and step into the 360 mirror to take a good look at themselves. Their faces usually show the dawning realization of the truth of their  whacky clothing. 

From here they get lessons on how to choose clothes that fit and flatter. The women shop with the guidance of Clinton and Stacy. To finish the new look, the women have a makeover with a hair designer and makeup artist. 

What do I like about it? I think it's the total transformation that takes place within women. They go from grungy, frumpy, or just plain outlandish to polished and sophisticated. 

The women on the show are all shapes, sized and ages. They don't all have perfect bodies. Yet, on the show they learn so much about how to dress themselves, fix their hair and put on makeup. 

The outcomes are miraculous—not only on the outside appearance but usually within. The women's attitudes towards themselves are part of the transformation as well. 

Redemption and transformation! I don't mean to over-spiritualize but the show reminds me of what Christ does in my life. 

At times he takes me to the 360 mirror and peels my hands from my eyes to see the real me. I see my attitudes and actions that at times are down right ugly. 


I see a different style to put on when I read His Word and learn the right attitudes. He models the righteous life that I need to follow. 

After a season of learning to throw off the old and put on the new man in Christ, He spins me around in the style chair and I see the new creature in Christ that I've become.

Happy New Year!

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

Called-- into Question

God's calling doesn't promise a smooth road. Sometimes we can be smack in the middle of God's will and it leads us into criticism from those closest to us—even from those we respect and admire. 

I am thinking about Mary and Joseph's calling. God had a plan to deliver a savior into the world. It required Mary to lay down her reputation and risk losing her betrothed, Joseph. 

A woman found pregnant out of wedlock in those days could be stoned or turned out by her family and left to starve along with her child. 

Joseph faced two choices when he learned of Mary's pregnancy before they had come together as one. Divorcing Mary was the upright path—the expected decision for one of Joseph's standing in the synagogue. This would prove to the Jewish community that he was not the father of her child. His reputation would remain intact. Proceeding to marry his betrothed was a confession of guilt.

Reputation was everything among the Jews. 

God knew Mary and Joseph's hearts. He asked them to lay down their reputations and life plans for His greater purpose. He knew they would say, "Yes!" 

I am challenged this season to examine my heart. Will I say "Yes," when He asks me to do hard things? I'm praying that like Mary I will say...

May it be done to me 

according to your will.

Luke 1:38

Christmas Craft Ideas for Kids

Crafts with children during the Christmas season are some of our family's favorite memories. 

Found this link with some great ideas: Real Simple Holiday Decorations.

Let us know how they worked out. Do you have a cyber link to other crafts or ideas you've used. 

Merry Happy Joyful ??????mas

I purchased the colorful bag on a whim. Out Christmas shopping I thought I'd found the perfect bag to cart all of my packages home to family. 


I got it home and suddenly I realized how funny the bag was:

It totally left out the source of the Joy, Peace and Holiday Cheer--

The true light that gives light to everyone

was coming into the world.

He was in the world,

and though the world was made through him, 

the world did not recognize him.

He came to that which was his own,

but his own did not receive him.

Yet to all who did receive him,

to those who believed in his name,

he gave the right to become children of God—

John 1:9-12

Merry CHRISTmas!

Operation World

Bringing the world home to my children is a priority. One interactive website that I love is Operation World.

Loaded with pictures, facts and videos it inspires us to pray for others around the world. Information is listed by region and country. You can teach your children to pray specifically as they understand the spiritual climate of each country in the world. 

You have the opportunity to pray with others using the prayer calendar which highlights a different prayer focus each day. 

The effective prayer of a righteous man (or child)

can accomplish much.

James 5:16 NASB

A Place to Lay Your Head

I love laying my head on my pillow every night. Work is done, my kids are all asleep and there are no more phone calls.

I like my stuff, my house, my space. I like my creature comforts. 

Ever thought about Jesus and stuff? 

Ever seen a picture of Jesus pulling a rolling suitcase or carrying a backpack? He was a homeless man without a grocery cart. He moved around throughout Israel and depended on the hospitality of others. 

He travelled with just the robe on his back and the sandals on his feet. He walked—okay once he rode on a donkey, but that was a special event. 

Jesus challenged would-be followers by telling them, "The foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."

His lack of a physical place to call his own never slowed him or hampered his ministry. It freed him. He didn't need to have a place to feel secure. His security came from the relationship he had with his father.

I am challenged by Jesus' words. I am trying to unload stuff. When an opportunity for a mission trip to an uncomfortable location arises, I want to say, YES and not think about the stuff I can't bring with me. I want to teach my kids about the pitfalls of materialism. 

I want to be free like Jesus who did his father's will without pre-conditions. 

Every night when I lay my head on my pillow I think about what it would be like to have nowhere to lay my head. I thank Jesus for the sacrifice he made while on earth and embrace the challenge such a lifestyle offers me. 

Moms of Missionaries

Granddaughter waves to her aunt in SK

Hooray for skype! What did missionary families do to keep up with each other before internet?

This past weekend we had a daughter and her family visit and we held a skype reunion with another daughter who is teaching in Seoul, SK. 

The visiting daughter brought her baby who is our first grandchild. The whole family likes to keep up with each new grandbaby skill. Aunt Kimela in SK is no exception so she spent time talking to her 8-month-old niece. 

The baby was fascinated with the screen. She practiced her new waving skill. She kept trying to touch her aunt's face on the computer screen. Aunt Kimela sang "Jesus Loves Me" for her and that made me cry. Precious to watch. 

I'm honored to have kids who are so enthusiastic about missions and international issues but it is tough on my heart. I miss them and know that even more of my kids plan to live overseas in the years to come. 

I spend a lot of time praying for my children. When I wake sometimes in the middle of the night, my first thought is, "What time is it where my child on the mission field is living? What do I need to pray for?" I assume I've been awakened to pray. 

So today I am thankful for the gifts of prayer and skype.

Behind, Before and Over Me

I was just starting dinner when the phone rang.

"Stop what you are doing and come see this!" 

My friend lives outside of town in the country. Vergie is the fun mom with the cool house that my kids always want to visit. She has wild peacocks, a garden, and a chicken coop. 

"The chicks are hatching. You've got to come watch."

I did drop everything. I moved my dinner to the back burners and packed up the kids and drove out to her house. 

Vergie ushered us over to the chicken coop and told us to listen. The baby chick and the mother were talking to each other. You could hear chirping coming from the egg and then the mother hen would answer. The more the mother hen clucked back, the more the baby pecked it's way out of the egg. Truly a marvel to witness!

This wasn't the first chick to hatch. My friend stirred the mother hen and she began flapping, revealing several recent hatchlings attached under her wings. They were literally encased in the downy feathers under the mother hen's wings as they grasped tightly with their claws. 


The soft warm feather's provided the perfect temperature for the new hatchlings and protected them from intruders like snakes or coyotes. I couldn't help but remember one of my favorite verses. 

He will cover you with His pinions,

and under His wings you will find refuge;

His faithfulness is a shield and buckler. 

Psalm 91:4 ESV

My children still remember this day. It forever etched in their minds the truth of this verse and what God means when He says He hides us under His wings. 

As we drove home I told them another story that I'd heard about a barn fire. The farmer walked through the charred ground afterwards surveying the damage. He came upon a mother hen that had died in the blaze. He wondered why the chicken hadn't escaped ahead of the flames. As he pushed it over, he heard chirping and several small hatchlings scattered.

The hen had stayed and given her life to protect the chicks that she had covered with her wings. What a picture of what Jesus did for us—He could not save us without dying for us on the cross. 

You hem me in, behind and before,

and lay your hand upon me. 

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

it is high, I cannot attain it. 

Psalm 139: 5,6 ESV

May you know His love and protection that is behind, before and over you. 

Stumbled Upon a Verse

When your words came, I ate them; 

they were my joy and my heart’s delight, 

for I bear your name, LORD God Almighty.

Jeremiah 15:15-17 

This verse reminds me of how far I've come. As a young mom I was a hand-wringer. I encountered temper tantrums—sometimes my own and not my toddler's. I would hope the money held out until the next paycheck. I had conflicts with girlfriends. 

I rarely ran to God's Word. I certainly didn't read it everyday or even every week. I preferred to stew about my problems. 


The years, the messes I've had to clean up, the crying at night—mine and not only my children's—have taught me something. Run—don't walk—to God's Word. It has become my delight. 


I have learned that nothing truly satisfies my worries like a time reading my Bible. I struggle just like everyone else with busyness—how to fit it in. 


I use a read through the Bible in a year. So far it has been 21 months but I have 20 days left and I'm still reading. When I finish my one year Bible in 21 months I will start all over—even though it will probably be October and not January. Who said we have to wait until January? 

I have the dramatized version of the gospels recorded on my ipod. I often listen to it as I get dressed in the morning. That's truly putting on the full armor of God along with the mascara!


The dramatized Old Testament stories are great in the car with the kids. Just one more way to stay in the Word during a busy season of life. 

God's Word has become my delight and I can't seem to get enough now. This is one lesson I wish I'd learned much earlier in my MommyLife!

Cry Baby!

How is your prayer life going?


I have to admit, I struggle to fit it in at times.

I know God is always near. He delights to hear me turn to Him. I get a little used to the fact that He is always there I can enter His presence boldly at anytime.

My reading in the book of Hosea this morning struck me:

They do not cry out to me

from their hearts...

Hosea 7:14a

The people Hosea spoke to may have looked good on the surface with their offerings at the temple but they kept God at arms length in their hearts and their emotions. I do that way too often. 

I had a front row view this weekend watching my seven-month-old granddaughter. There were lots of smiles and lots of tears. She seemed to go between one to the other at the slightest provocation. She connected from the heart and we all knew what she was feeling at any given moment.

When God talks about the kind of prayer life He wants us to have with Him, He beckons us to cry out to Him from our hearts.

I wonder how often my routine "bless me" prayers connect from the depths of my emotions?

I'm determining this week to cry out to God from my heart. It takes time. It takes focus. I'm endeavoring to be a bit of a cry baby before my heavenly Daddy. 

Guest Author Post: Praying Through Your Adoption by Michele Scott

We are blessed to have Michele Scott share her heart on the role of prayer in adoption and how her book, Praying Through Your Adoption came to be. This book is a treasure for those seeking to adopt and those encouraging others going through adoption. I have a copy of the book to give away. Post a comment and I'll select a recipient to receive the book in the mail. It will be a blessing. 

Michele, what can you tell us about yourself, your childhood, and the present?

I grew up as an only child in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Faith was a vital part of our family life, so I believed in God from an early age. About mid-way through college, after heartaches and some poor decisions, I decided to trust Jesus and the plans He has for my life. I graduated, moved to the suburbs, and married my husband, Eric. I worked in the corporate world and Christian ministry before becoming a work-at-home mom through adoption. 


When did you first realize you wanted to become a writer? 

I started writing poems and stories for fun as a child. I even had a poem published in Highlights for Children. Through high school and college I enjoyed researching and writing papers, but I never considered becoming a professional writer until I wrote Praying Through Your Adoption. 

What inspired you to write Praying Through Your Adoption?

Author: Michele C. Scott

I've been talking to God in prayer for as long as I can remember. I turned to prayer during our infertility, and I had planned to pray through a pregnancy if that had been God's plan. While adopting our 

son from Russia, we experienced painful delays and obstacles, such as increased fees and additional paperwork. At a particularly low point in the adoption process, I participated in an online prayer vigil that directed me to pray for very specific aspects of adoption – from government officials to waiting children. I realized the power of prayer specifically in adoption and saw the need to help other families pray through their adoptions as well. 

Unraveled

Do you have that favorite something that you collect? I rifle through the back rooms of resale and antique shops for needlepoint pillows. Don't ask me why I'm drawn to rugs and pictures and pillows created stitch by time-consuming stitch.

I don't know. I've collected many beautiful treasures over the years. I trade them out with the seasons around my house. I have these works of art with angels, bunnies, collies and flowers on them. 

Sometimes I sit and ponder all of the time that went into them. I wonder what the woman's life was like as she sat and created the beauty I now enjoy. 

I know the time it took. I used to spend hours making birth announcements or anniversary stitchings to give away. I don't seem to find the time anymore. 

Whenever I gave stitched items away I hoped nobody would look at the backside. Have you even looked at the back of a needlepoint canvas? 

It's hard to believe that mess can be so beautiful on the front. My stitchery usually had bumpy knots, unraveling frayed ends and single threads reaching inches across the backside to make just those last few stitches in the same color. I wanted the front to look just right and "together". 

Looks kinda like my life feels sometimes—unraveled. 

I dash about driving my kids, throwing dinner on the table, rewashing the mildewed laundry that I forgot in the washer. Will that plant I neglected revive when I remember to water it?

I sit in my chair, the favorite one. I grab up my One Year Bible that I'm having so much fun reading and marking—only it is taking a year, seven months and counting. The Word washes over me and I am still.  
My life seems unraveled at times but as I sit silently in His presence I know His heart toward me. I am fully accepted by Him when I come and offer up my mess. I don't have to pretend and hope He doesn't look at the underside with all of the frazzled ends. 

Thank you, Father, that I don't have to pretend or hide from You. Nothing can separate me from your love...not messiness, not burned meals, not mildewed laundry, extra pounds or wilted plants. I love you, Lord. 





THE WEAVER

My life is but a weaving between my Lord and me,
I cannot choose the colors He worketh steadily.

Oft times He weaveth sorrow, and I in foolish pride
forget He sees the upper but I the under side.

Not till the loom is silent and the shuttles cease to fly,
shall God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why.

The dark threads are as needed in the Weaver's skillful hand,
as threads of gold and silver in the pattern life has planned.

Benjamin Malachi Franklin (1882-1965)