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In Which Camp Do I Belong?
I got this article in my inbox this afternoon and thought it was excellent. Nancy has a way of putting things clearly and boldly, yet gently. Read on:
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1 Corinthians 1:2, "Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord..."
Did you know that the early Christians were referred to as those who "call upon the name of the Lord"? You can read more references in Acts 9:14, 21 and 2 Timothy 2:22.
Do you think God's people have this testimony today? Is it such a normal habit of our lives to call upon the Lord that the ungodly see this as our habitual characteristic? Do our neighbors know us as people who call upon the name of the Lord? How many times during the day do we acknowledge the Lord and call upon His name?
It started in the beginning. While the generations of Cain were going after material pursuits and worldly business another godly line was born to Adam and Eve. Genesis 4:25-26 says, "And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the Lord." History says that Enos was the first of eight preachers of righteousness, of whom Noah was the eighth.
This new generation began to call upon the name of the Lord in prayer, thanksgiving. and worship. This is when they began public worship. They became known as people who called upon the Lord.
It is this way of life that distinguishes us as the people of God from the heathen. The ungodly do not call upon the Lord. The godly do. This decides which camp we belong to.
Recently I was challenged by reading Jeremiah 10:25, "Pour thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name." This Scripture is talking about families-not churches, but families. Therefore we had better take notice because it relates to us. It is convicting to realize that families who do not gather together to call upon the name of the Lord are equated with the heathen! Ouch!
Recipes
Although I don't consider myself a good cook, I do enjoy trying out new recipes and we do need to eat! So here you'll find recipes we've made and actually liked - sometimes liked a lot! Enjoy!
Crock Pot Breakfasts
We had guests over last week for a whole week. Normally that wouldn't throw me so much but the same week was one of our busiest weeks of the year where we had to leave home before the guests were up, etc.
Enter ... the Crock Pot! I love my crock! It's great for cooking a lamb all day while we're out at church or whatever but this time it served me well as breakfast maker extraordinaire! I made three out of our 5 breakfasts in it this week. Here they are in the order that we like them:
1. Crock pot Oatmeal: Yummy. This was our favorite and it's super easy. Make sure you use the Irish or "Steel Cut" oatmeal though or it probably will turn out too dry.
Ingredients:
1 cup steel cut oats
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup chopped dates
4 cups water
also:
1/2 cup half and half
2 Tablespoons honey
Combine all ingredients except the half and half and honey in a greased crock pot (I forgot to grease ours and it worked just fine). Cook on low for 7-8 hours. Stir in half and half and honey and serve hot.
Consider Josiah
I've been listening to a sermon series on the revivals of the old testament (throughout the book of 2 Chronicles). Today I learned a bit about Josiah, a king who reigned starting as a young boy and honored God throughout his entire reign.
In the book of 1 Kings, Josiah is prophesied about 300 years before his reign - by name.
Amazing:
1 Kings 13:1-2
And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.
And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.
And 2 Chronicles 34 is where we find him reigning:
2 Chronicles 34: 1-5
Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years.
And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left.
For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.
And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them.
And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.
Josiah had a heart for God even at a young age. Despite the sinful life of both his grandfather and his father. This young man was chosen by God to bring the people of God back to the Word of God. And he wasn't shy about doing it either. He didn't worry that the masses might think him radical for following God's word. He just did it. And the Lord used him to turn an apostate nation back around.
Out of my comfort zone
Last night I spoke (I use that term lightly) for a local homeschooling support group.
I'm not a public speaker. I never wanted to be and still don't. I agreed to this because when my friend from church called to ask me if we'd come and talk at her tea, I envisioned a few ladies sitting around her dining room table and us chatting. Not so much. There were 40 or so people there. I was honored to be asked, glad to be there - except for that little speaking part.
The tea was lovely and I can't resist seeing a bunch of little girls dressed their best. My girls and I have always had a soft spot for a nice tea. My girls did a fabulous job on their short talks about how homeschooling has been a benefit to them (both were pretty nervous) and then they sang a few trios with their friend. It was beautiful and I got all emotional like I always do when my girls sing.
But then it was my turn to get up. I had notes, I sort of practiced. I made the mistake of starting ... somewhere ... in my notes which meant that all of my little note cards were spread out on the podium. So, I forgot the notes... and just kept talking. It wasn't horrible but let's just say I'm really glad it is OVER.
The one good part of the talk was that I read scripture. And the Lord does say that His Word will not return void. So I can rest in the fact that THAT was a blessing to the ladies and girls there.
I read Psalm 16 which includes my life verses:
"I have set the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I'll not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices. My body will also rest secure." Psalm 16:8-9
and
Matthew 6:33 which most people know - Seek first the kingdom of God...
So now it's over. Phew. I survived. I won't do it again. I think.
Will it ever get done?
My husband is fabulous. Not only does he work like a dog - often putting in 9 to 12 hour days at work - we'll often find him still doing things here around the house plus being active in church in the middle of his crazy schedule. Phew - I'm tired just typing it.
However, there are some things that loom on the "honey do" list. Here are 5 of them. I'm listing 5 because I'm participating in a blogging adventure for ServiceLive.com over at TwitterMoms (find out more by clicking here and here) and thought it sounded fun.
I don't type this to complain - I wouldn't be able to do half the stuff my husband does on a regular day, let alone what he can cram into a busy day. I'm thankful for what he DOES - and how willing he is to do more. Thanks sweetie!
So here they are - the 5 (not so important) things on the list that seem to never get scratched, checkmarked or just ... done:
1. The garage door code thingie fixed. We put one of those numbered pads on the garage door shortly after we moved in the house and 6 months later it pooped out. We've been here 3 years now. It's still pooped!
2. Driveway sealcoated. Part of our drive is gravel which is fine but I know hubs would like it if the whole thing was paved (it definitely would make it easier to snow blow in winter!) This just isn't a priority money or time wise right now, but it's on the list.
3. Gutters replaced and/or covered. We live with lots of trees around and consequently our gutters are full of leaves and muck. We clean them out but we need a new set of gutters. Again, money and time keep pushing this one down on the "later" list.
4. Tree mulching. Along with all those trees on our property we have lots of tree trimming and, so, a lot of branches that need to be mulched. Each year the branch stack just gets higher. So this “honey do” would require renting a bigger mulcher and spending a good few days with earplugs in chomping up branches. The side benefit is we'd have a nice pile of mulch to keep the weeds down!
"Busy Doing What?"
Wow... I stumbled on this post on busy-ness by Tracey and was bowled over.
A little excerpt:
From that moment on, every "church" activity that had filled my calendar began to be filtered through my doubts and questions. I asked God, "what are we supposed to be doing?" I read nothing but the word, for one year - it was a fast from all other literature and ideology. I continued to attend church but my activity level decreased as I found myself immersed in the story of the History of the life. I began to see the broad sweeping picture of nations rising and falling, worshiping or not worshiping God, blessings and judgments and each generation moving closer to salvation and deliverance . But I also began to question the dynamics of the families, with women, men and children. I tried in each story and event to imagine the children, the mothers, the fathers and how their life and daily worship was shaped by the moving of God in their nation.
Head on over to her blog and read the whole post ... you'll be glad you did.
Thanks to Terry over at Breathing Grace for her list of links that turned me on to this post!
Relaxed Homeschooling
Here you'll find my thoughts and articles on homeschooling. Just click on one and read away. Enjoy!
Would I do anything differently?
I'm speaking (eeek) for a mother/daughter tea for a local homeschooling support group this week and the coordinator gave me a list of questions to guide my talk. I thought I'd type out my answers both to get them down and to help me think through my talk. Enjoy!
Question: If your girls were both babies/toddlers again, what would you do differently? What would you do the same?
I think about this often, actually. …
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