Preschool Christmas Program

Hannah (5) , Jael (23 months), and Naomi (3)

Time again for the famous Preschool Christmas program at church. This year we had two participate. Hannah, our angel, was cast appropriately. Perhaps our little Nay-Nay was too! She was a darling sheep who began losing her "wool" as the stage heated up. Good thing the zipper was in the back! Jael was very excited to watch and anxious to be a part of things next year. What joy to hear praises from little voices.

Christmas Cross

This is a small view of Jon's ornament. . .unfortunately the camera was left outside. . .
another reminder that it's "just stuff", right?

Perspective. . .

Christmas . . . I admit, I love this time of year. I love the traditions and everything that precedes the celebration of our Lord's birth. Somehow I always envision our family gathered around the Christmas tree, hanging ornaments gaily, sipping eggnog, the cozy fire in the background. Sounds like a magazine cover - just not my house! Oh, if was fun. And there were tears. Usually mine, as one of the ornaments shatters. With fourteen little hands, it's inevitable that something will happen. As I watched the crushed face of one of my girls, God reminded me again that it's not the ornaments that are precious. . .

However, there is one ornament that is given a place of honor on our tree. Front and center. Most would not think it worthy of such a spot. It's a plain, leather cross with minimal decor. 1992 is stamped at the bottom. It was one of the first ornaments Paul and I were given that first Christmas together. Made by the hands of my older brother, a testimony of God's amazing love and grace in the life of one undeserving. A reminder to me of His power and faithfulness. A "stone" that we set out in order to proclaim to the next generation that God is good and He does good. Jon and Linda survived a near fatal car accident that previous June and the cross was made in rehab. It is a reminder, as well, that same God who saved them physically and spiritually, is continuing to keep them and complete them. And me.

I love traditions, but only has they point to Christ.

Jonathan's Birthday

So much for using the blog as a scrapbook! As behind as ever! Too much to capture, yet wanting to become more disciplined in keeping up with our family life. My time in SC at the end of August was good. Really good. I even remembered the camera. Oh yeah. I forgot the battery. Fortunately Papa is getting into on-line scrapbooks. So, I'll have to figure out if those can be loaded here.

That wrapped up August. September has been a blur. The first Sunday in September, Lolo had a stroke and was in the hospital that week. Came home and fell that weekend, only to be rehospitalized and given a pacemaker on Sunday of week two. After coming home from the hospital later that week, Lola became ill. Went into emergency and ended up with her own pacemaker on the 3rd Sunday of September. Wow. We are in an interesting season of life. We are thankful they are both feeling and doing better.

Jonathan then celebrated his 9th birthday on September 21! I can't believe this little guy isn't so little. He brings so much enthusiasm and laughter to our home. What a thoughtful young man, especially in regard to his Mama. He almost has something wrapped in a piece of napkin, shoved in the depths of his pockets that is pulled out for me - "something I saved for you, Mama." How can I resist?

Here's a few picture of his special day:

Buttercup's Burial

It was with much sadness that our beloved dwarf hamster, Princess Buttercup, was found still in her cage last week. She out-lived her 3-4 year expectation and was our fond pet for 5 years.

If you look closely, Buttercup is the small brown object in the bottom right corner of the cage!Another pet buried in the yard. . . . no, we didn't feed her to the snake! Plans on replacements on being discussed.

Favorites. . .

Since I've had a few requests for my book list recently, here are a few of my favorites. Although we are always adding! I recommend checking out Paul's list as well, it's on the scroll bar.

Favorite authors:

John Piper all

John MacArthur all

CJ Mahaney all

Voddie Baucham Family Driven Faith & What He must Be

AW Pink all

Martin Lloyd-Jones all

AW Tozer all Knowledge of the Holy/Pursuit of God

Jerry Bridges all

Elizabeth Elliot all

Nancy Leigh DeMoss all Lies Women Believe

McDonald & Chancey Desperate Housewives Passionate for God

Nancy Wilson The Fruit of Her Hands

Carolyn Mahaney Girl Talk & Feminine Appeal

Martha Peace The Excellent Wife & Attitudes of A Transformed Heart

Jay Adams From Forgiven to Forgiving

Lou Priolo The Heart of Anger

Edward Welch all When People are Big and God is Small

Dave Harvey When Sinners Say “I do”

Tedd Tripp Shepherding a Child’s Heart & Instructing a Child’s Heart

John Younts Everyday Talk

Paul David Tripp Age of Opportunity

Ginger Plowman Don’t Make Me Count to Three

David Gutterman A Child’s Profession of Faith

Ray Comfort all Leading Your Child To Christ . . .

RC Sproul, Jr When You Rise Up

I also recommend reading Christian biographies/autobiographies and early church fathers: Augustine, Hudson Taylor, George Mueller, Elizabeth Elliot, Amy Carmicheal, Corrie Ten Boom, “The Heavenly Man”, Jonathan & Sarah Edwards, Martin & Katie Luther, etc.

Christian Books/Authors for Children:

Bruce Ware

Joel Beeke

CS Lewis

John MacArthur’s series “A Faith to Grow On”

The Children’s Story Bible by Catherine Vos

Susan Hunt

Kenneth Taylor

Wendy Lawton

David and Karen Mains (Tales of the Kingdom series)

Doorposts.com (Instruction for Righteousness)

Patricia St. John

The Dangerous Journey/Pilgrim’s Progress

Operation World

Global Prayer Digest

RC Sproul’s children’s books

Louise A. Vernon’s books

The Millers Series (Rod and Staff)

A Hive of Busy Bees (readers from Rod and Staff)

Maxwell Family books (Titus2.com)

24 Family Ways by Whole Heart Ministries

Shorter Catechism

Hymns for a Kid’s Heart

Sovereign Grace Music

Steve Green “Hide them in your heart” series

Trailblazer Books

Reading Lists from Ambleside Online and Veritas Press

Soli Deo Gloria Books

Grace and Truth books

Lamplighter series

Elsie Dinsmore series

Voice of the Martyrs puts out Kids of Courage (a free magazine)

Helpful website for preschoolers: www.preschoolersandpeace.com

Hannah's Birthday. . .

Here is the precious video mentioned of Hannah opening her gift. . . hope it works! Listen for Sarah's comment!

Sorry, it's not working. . .will keep trying. . .

Five Years of Blessing

Hannah turned five years old this August. She is a blessing to our family. Her quiet spirit and gentle ways bring much calmness to our home. Thoughtful, helpful, caring, fragile, tender are just a few words that come to mind when I think of Hannah.

The gang gathers to honor Sister. Hannah takes it all in. . .
Hannah loves animals, especially horses. Because she is so calm and quiet, animals love Hannah, too. Even Frijilito ( Cousin Emily's dog) sat on Hannah's lap. She named this beautiful horse "Sugary Rose."Daddy and Hannah head off for their birthday date to Red Robin and Chuckie Cheese! Always a special night for the birthday kid.

This is just a precious video. . .

God the All

O GOD WHOSE WILL CONQUERS ALL,

There is no comfort in anything apart from enjoying Thee and being engaged in Thy service,
Thou art All in all, and all enjoyments are what to me Thou makest them, and no more.
I am well pleased with Thy will, whatever it is, or should be in all respects,
And if Thou bidst me decide for myself in any affair, I would choose to refer all to Thee,
for Thou art infinitely wise and cannot do amiss, as I am in danger of doing.
I rejoice to think that all things are at Thy disposal, and it delights me to leave them there.
Then prayer turns wholly into praise, and all I can do is to adore and bless Thee.
What shall I give Thee for all Thy benefits?
I am in a strait betwixt two, knowing not what to do;
I long to make some return, but have nothing to offer, and can only rejoice that Thou doest all,
that none in Heaven or on earth shares Thy honour; I can of myself do nothing to glorify Thy blessed name, but I can through grace cheerfully surrender soul and body to Thee,
I know that Thou art the author and finisher of faith, that the whole work of redemption is Thine alone, that every good work or thought found in me is the effect of Thy power and grace, that Thy sole motive in working in me to will and to do is for Thy good pleasure.
O God, it is amazing that men can talk so much about man's creaturely power and goodness, when, if Thou didst not hold us back every moment, we should be devils incarnate.
This, by bitter experience, Thou hast taught me concerning myself.

The Valley of Vision

Family- Driven Faith

The following is a conversation that took place a few moments ago between Hannah (4) and Naomi (3). I was choosing a video for them to watch.

Hannah: I wonder which one Mom will pick?
Naomi: I don't know, but God knows.
Hannah: Naomi, He knew you were going to say that before you said that!
Naomi: Yeah.
Interlude of silence
Naomi: I hope it's Little Mermaid. I like Little Mermaid.
Hannah: But you wouldn't want to be her.
Naomi: No! She's immodest and disobeys her daddy.

Mom: No, we aren't watching Little Mermaid. . . . how about Little Einsteins?

Interestingly, as I was listening to the girls my thoughts immediately concluded with "out of the mouths of babes". . .and I stopped up short. While this might be true, these girls didn't have this conversation randomly as if they came to these conclusions on their own. No, this precious interchange is the result of a family-driven faith. A faith that is, by God's grace, lived out and spoken throughout our days together. A Gospel-centered home doesn't just happen. Hungry for more on the subject? Read Family-Driven Faith by Voddie Baucham. He helps unpack the biblical truths on why parents are the primary cultivators of their childrens' souls. Happy sowing!

Forgotten. . .

Looking over an old post, I realized I forgot to post our locks-of-love shot. Hannah, Bekah, Sarah and I were planning on donating our hair (prompted by Sarah last year). Mine is obviously the shortest, but I was also the least patient once triple digits arrived!
All the girls! That's a lot of hair! Hannah and Sarah decided they weren't ready yet. . .but Bekah and enjoyed the chop! Here's Bek with her new summer doo, which works great in and out of the pool and heat.

God is the Gospel. . .

I've been enjoying this short read by Desiring God on the Gospel and children. Here is an excerpt I have appreciated:

"Imagine a family going for a boat ride on a beautiful summer day on Lake Superior. Being the careful parents that they are, each child is wearing a new life jacket, the best that money can buy. The kids love the jackets because they have neat child-friendly designs and colors. The children are now safe in the unlikely event that the boat should sink or be overwhelmed by waves. But there is something that the parents and children have not taken into account. Lake Superior is very cold. Even in the summer, the water temperature hovers around 55 F. So as wonderful as those life jackets may seem, and as much as the parents and children feel safe in the event of the boat being overwhelmed, the real danger remains unforeseen and unplanned for - hypothermia. In the event that the family is tossed into the water and is left to float, eventually the frigid temperature of the water will kill them.

Unfortunately, the "gospel" that we often present to children is like those life jackets. It is a gospel that we think will protect and save our children, but it is not the safety assurance that we envision it to be. And it may be that while our children think they are safely bound for eternal life in heaven, in reality they continue their slow but dangerous "float" in the deadly waters of hell. Why is this so? Because it is not the Gospel of Scripture.

How have we changed the true life-saving Gospel into child-friendly and colorful but ineffective life jacket? Here are a few characteristics of this changed gospel and why it is so deadly: This changed gospel puts man at the center instead of God. It presents a plan instead of a Person. It seeks to comfort but not convict. It is a message that calls for acceptance of Christ but not repentance. It simply encourages acknowledging true facts rather than embracing and submitting to the One who is both Savior and Lord. It enslaves men to works instead of freeing them to do good works.

But that's not all this "gospel" states. It claims to save by man's decisive choice instead of God's sovereign grace. It promises affirmation instead of radical transformation. It exalts man and the desire to be loved instead of exalting God's love displayed in the person and work of Jesus Christ, who alone brings us near to God so that we might experience the immeasurable joy of making much of Him."

To make much of Him! God must be the Gospel!

Birthday Girl, Bekah!

June has been a blur of activities, starting with precious Bek's birthday! She enjoyed many special days and special dates with special people. This was her year to pick a party! We enjoyed a fun and loud evening at Chuckie Cheese with four special friends! Turning seven is just special.

Unfortunately, mom can't find the photos. . so pictures pending!

I'm no Kate. . .

It's been an eventful month with birthdays, ministry and vacation. I have lots to "catch-up" on and look forward to getting it all recorded here on the Blog.

But, a friend passed on this article to me today and I said a loud "Amen!" There is a rarely a day where some well-meaning person doesn't comment about our family and make reference to "Jon and Kate plus Eight." Maybe it's the Filipino husband or the seven little ones in tow. . . . but we are no "Jon and Kate."

I could say a lot more, but I appreciated Elizabeth's words on the subject as well. Having only watched one episode it was all I could handle. I feel such pity for a mom who has sold her soul (and worse, her children and marriage) for wealth, fame, comforts, accolades and man's empty praise. I love my kids. I adore my husband. I am no Kate.

http://catholicherald.com/opinions/detail.html?sub_id=10320

A "Memorable" Birthday!

Sarah enjoyed having her birthday fall on Memorial Weekend, as it allowed a Sunday night sleep-over! We postponed our birthday tradition until Tuesday morning. . . but was no less special.
Annalise and Sarah have been friends from birth. What a sweet friendship they have. We are thankful for friendships like these. They planned on getting their hair cut together for Locks of Love, but decided to wait (maybe after seeing how short mine and Bekah's turned out!! Future blog on that!). They enjoyed a cool night out on the trampoline.
After an early morning breakfast at IHOP with Dad, I enjoyed a morning with the girls at a book store and Color-Me-Mine, where the girls were able to paint a ceramic item.
The Buletti family joined us for dinner and my kindred-spirit, Melinda, made her delicious cheesecake! What a friend!
Sarah enjoyed gifts and cards, but especially the stack of books!

Homeschool?

At times we are asked why we decided to home school (pulling Sarah and Josh from public) and my number one response continues to be "because we enjoy them!" Yes, there are a lot of other reasons but enjoying them continues to be the biggest. Sadly, this is not true of many mothers I encounter. Of course they love their children, but enjoy them?! Are you supposed to? It seems the current cultural trend is "get these kids out of here so I can get on with my life!"

The Word of God seems to teach they are your life. . .

We were tickled to see a second garden - God grew corn and squash from last year's garden.
Getting the garden going and growing. . .
Another wonderful reason to homeschool is to have lunch with your kids! Paul makes an effort to join us at lunch several times a week and we try to make sure one time is at a park.
Sarah displays our silkworms. . .it is doubtful we will harvest much silk but it has been a great learning experience. Not just about silkworms and silk - but trees! Since the silkworm will only eat Mulberry leaves we learned a lot about trees in our neighborhood. . .no mulberries there!
Jael likes them too!
Sarah, Josh, and Jon get ready for take-off!
The three oldest had a neat opportunity to learn about and enjoy some flying!

What to do with the toddler while homeschooling? Well, I recommend a playpen. But, Jael loves her "cheerio" shelf.
When not into "O's", Jael loves the "cup drawer." She is a pro at taking the cups out and unstacking them . . . we are working on the reverse!
Getting starter plants ready. . .
Helping one another and working together . . . yet another reason I love homeschooling.
Never too young to learn, but sometimes too tired! Yes, we do sit and work at the table, as well!
These preschoolers entertain themselves wonderfully with picnics, playing house, and dress-up time.
Affectionately referred to as "Special Ed and Special Fred" they keep us in good humor with their interpretation of historical events.
Four-square in the cul-de-sac makes for a good recess.
Room time allows quiet, creative, inventive play. And rest for Mom!
Homeschool has also allowed each child to pursue individual interests.
Hmm. . .a good case for "wierd homeschoolers." Of course, there are wierd children (and wierd parents) everywhere. We have a house full of them!
Reading time. . .pairing off helps older children with the reading fluency and younger ones enjoy the story time.
I don't want to romantize homeschooling. We have our tough days and rough moments. Just today I spilled the coffee all over myself and the books. It's not easy and it's very sanctifying. But always well worth it!

Mother's Day

Blessed. . .

Happy Mother's Day!

A few quotes jumped out at me yesterday. . .in light of Mother's Day and all the hard-working, God-fearing women I know. . .

Sandy Parker had this one in our church newsletter, "The duties of the mother begin in the morning; they end not with the day; they incessantly call upon her till she reaches the grave. Others may have a respite; others may for a time throw off care, and anxiety, and responsibility. But the mother can never do so. She must be unwearied and faithful when no eye sees her to applaud; must sow her seed when she sees no immediate prospect of a harvest; must expect no return and no reward for her labours for years, and it may be, for life. She can adopt no theory which is not to be reduced to immediate and constant practice. How can she have this faith, and this perseverance, unless she be in the habit of communion with God? The Bible and prayer must be her strength and her weapons. With these, she can carry her babes through the deserts where fiery serpents beset her path, and they shall not be bitten. Without these, she has all the sorrows and anxieties God bestows in answer to prayer. Do you wish a wisdom that profitable to direct - a patience that never forsakes you - a firmness that never leaves you - a faith that always bears you upwards and onward, looking for your rewards hereafter - you must seek these by prayer. Without this, you can neither govern yourself, no your child, nor persevere. How can a mother train up her child for God? She must be a woman of prayer - of daily, fervent, habitual prayer - because: she needs wisdom, self-discipline, must be decided and she must persevere. May we not fear that there are too many who profess to be Christians, who, day by day, go no further in their views than merely to train up their children for the earth? Here, then, I take my stand: and here I feel the real dignity of the mother to begin - for God hath committed to her hands the keeping and the molding of a spirit which may for ever rise up in glory and light. The great object before the mother, then, is to train up her child for eternity - the service and presence of God to everlasting ages." (1800's, Truth Made Simple by John Todd)

Here's a quote taken from Nancy Leigh De Moss (take the 31 day Challenge at www.truewoman.com): "Let me read to you a quote from a book that I’ve just discovered written in 1882 called Home-making. It’s by a man named J. R. Miller. I want to read to you a rather lengthy excerpt here that I think makes this point so well about the woman working out of her home.

He says,

It should be understood that for every wife the first duty is the making and keeping of her own home. Her first and best work should be done there, and till it is well done she has no right to go outside to take up other duties. She is to be a ‘worker at home.’ She must look upon her home as the one spot on earth for which she alone is responsible, and which she must cultivate well for God if she never does anything outside.

Now, here’s where you’ll hear that this came from the 1800s. This writer says,

For the Father’s business [that’s capital “F”—Father, God—His business] is not attending Dorcas societies and missionary meetings, and mothers’ meetings, and temperance conventions, or even teaching a Sunday school class, until she has made her own home all that her wisest thought and best skill can make it.

There have been wives who in their zeal for Christ’s work outside have neglected Christ’s work inside their own doors. They have had eyes and hearts for human need and human sorrow in the broad fields lying far out, but neither eye nor heart for the work of love about their own feet.

The result has been that while they were doing angelic work in the lanes and streets, the angels were mourning over their neglected duties within the hallowed walls of their own homes. While they were winning a place in the hearts of the poor or the sick or the orphan, they were losing their rightful place in the hearts of their own household.

Let it be remembered that Christ’s work in the home is the first that he gives to every wife, and that no amount of consecrated activities in other spheres will atone in this world or the next for neglect or failure there (pp. 67-68)."

Such encouraging words and such hope in my God who saves, sanctifies, and perseveres that which He has done!

Two women we rise up and called "Blessed " each day. . .

DOLORES MICU: mother of 7, grandmother of 28

RONDA SENN: mother of 3, grandmother of 14