prayer

I was wondering if a prayer could be sent up for a cousin. His name is Tag Saunders. I tried to get a request through on our church website, but I just don't have a clue, and couldn't figure it out. He is a missionary in the Phillipines, and today Mark was told he was in the hospital with Dengi fever. he thinks that was the name of it. I've researched online, and it is recoverable, unless he developes Dengi hemorraghic fever. from what I read it is a miserable thing to go through and can last a week. The doctor's don't treat anyone unless they can pay for treatment. I keep sending up these little prayers hoping God is willing to answer them. Theresa, Tag's wife is pregnant, and they have 3 other children. There have only been a few of Mark's family who have genuinely accepted me into the family, and I believe he is one of them. his parents were 2 others, but they are now dead, and I hate the fact that I never got to tell his dad thank you and that I loved him. I got to tell his mom how grateful I was that i got to know her, but she was in and out at the end when I said my good bye to her, sometimes I wonder if my memory is correct, cuz I remember feeling her squeeze my hand as I cried hugging her. Mark's grandfather was another one, but again he is dead. Sorry to be rambling on. I am in one of my depressed moments, tired of being alone, surrounded by enemies, hoping I have enough faith to believe that God will be my protector, and that I will let him. all righty then, I'm done, the tears have dried, and I'm moving on. any prayers would be great. I think I'll go crawl into God's lap and read his word now. Good night.

Encouragement

Hey Moms:

It's Saturday evening and I just returned home from a fabulous two days at our Ladies Conference. I just thought I'd take a quick moment to encourage you all.

I was thrilled when I had looked on my calendar and saw that Bill would be off from work during this weekend. So I signed up to attend. I just knew that I was supposed to be there. Sometimes we get caught up in surviving every day being a mother, a wife, a teacher, a friend, a daughter and many other things, that we neglect the very person that we should be clinging onto for dear life. OK...if this is not you, then I guess I'm alone in all of this. But I'll be transparent enough to share that, that's where I've been. I have been longing for the intimacy of my first love. God has been reminding me of that time in my life when He was all I had and all that I wanted. I knew I yearned to be back at that place. Although my life has changed I know that He hasn't changed. One of my favorite Psalms is Psalm 63 when it says, "O God you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water..." That's where I've been. In the desert where there was no water...but this weekend I have drank from the living well!!

Ladies, if you're anything like me, I know that you know all of this. Yet, we still choose to go through life at times trying to do it on our own strength. Well He doesn't want us to!!! As our guest speaker, Catherine Hickman, said "God doesn't want for us to say here take my life...instead He wants to give US His life!!!" This weekend, God met me right where I needed him to meet me. I wept like a baby as I basked in his presence this weekend. (It felt awesome!)

Be encouraged that you are not alone.

Young Earth Theory

Hey Ladies,

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one around who is or will be teaching my children the literal sense of the bible, i.e., that Creation took 7 literal days which makes the Earth approximately 6,000 years old, NOT millions or billions years old. Are any of you on the same page as I? If you wish to email me directly, that is fine too. yeshua4@comcast.net:) I was at the Museum of Science and Discovery on a field trip (secular) and the teacher in class kept talking about how the earth was billions of years old and my 6 year old was looking at me like "what is this guy talking about?" I wanted to run out of there right at that moment. Needless to say, I should have known better since it's a secular group although I know there are many Christians who do believe the Earth is billions of years old because they take Genesis figuratively & that's okay. It's really not a big deal, having nothing to do with salvation, BUT when it comes to teaching science to our own kids, you really need to be in the know! Just curious and looking for support:)

Thanks for listening...

Suzy

Edwards Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Genelogy - Family history

My First Week...

OK, it's Friday and I've SURVIVED!!!! There has been many emotions this week but overall things have gone pretty good. Like I said prior, we started school on Monday. Now, remember that the hurricane was coming so we had some preparing to do around our home. So when Monday morning came, Bill was home so he began doing some of the preparation around the house as I stayed inside with the kids. At first I began school with Kaitlyn and Madison, but part way into it, I lost Madison. So I let her go do her thing. Bradley was all over...but thankfully Bill took him outside with him. I was feeling kind of stressed because I knew we had work to do around the house before the storm came, I still had to do groceries because there was absolutely nothing to eat, Madison and Bradley were acting up a little and Kaitlyn kept saying she wanted to play a game. Oh yes, forgot to mention I began my monthly friend too! At one point during my morning I thought to myself, "You know Mandy, it's still not to late to register Kaitlyn in school." I somehow managed to remain positive. At the end of the day, I felt as if I didn't accomplish anything. The "sequential" side of my character was going nuts!!! I like to follow the schedule box by box and keep them in order...but I keep reminding myself that I need to go with the flow. OK, Tuesday morning comes and it's pouring down rain outside and I have no desire whatsoever to do anything. My only wish was to go back to bed and sleep. But Kaitlyn kept asking, "Arent' we doing school mom???"...so the guilt becomes overwhelming. OK OK!!! We'll do something!! We managed to get some work done that day and the next day and the next. I have not done any of it in complete order. Remember I like to go in order...so last night I grabbed my instructor guide and started reviewing everything on the schedules and guess what??? I was nicely surprised to see that we actually have accomplished quite a bit. I'm learning to just go with the flow. Thankfully my eyes were opened to see all the little opportunities that I can use to fit in a quick lesson, or a read aloud story, or even math. Somehow, I'm even managing to keep Madison and Bradley in order too. And I've even had the opportunity to have Madison and Bradley join in with us. Today, I had all three kids on my kitchen island doing science experiments! It was awesome!!

SO.....even though I've had a mix of emotions. And some of those being negative emotions...I've also had some positive ones too!! Kaitlyn told me before bed time that I was the greatest Teacher!! (Yes, that was a tear jerker for me) And the best moments are when I could grab anyone of my kids and give them kisses all over. Earlier today I grabbed Kaitlyn in the middle of our lesson and gave her tons of kisses and I thought to myself, "man, if she was in school right now, I'd be missing out on this!" That is PRICELESS!

I know that even though I keep saying "somehow" things are working out, I know that the Lord has been extremely kind to me this week. It's amazing how much smoother my days are when I start them off on the right foot. God must be up there shaking his head and saying "I told you so"...I know, I know, Lord...it's just that I'm stubborn and sometimes need to learn the hard way. Thank you Lord for being so full of grace & mercy!!! And for forgiving me over and over again. YOU are awesome and I CAN NOT do this without you!!

Quick question for all...what does everyone do with the younger siblings while they are homeschooling? Just curious...

Here we go....

I'm having a bunch of emotions running through me right now. I think the best way to describe it is just nerves! In our household we begin school on Monday. The "concrete sequential" in me wanted to follow the School calendar and I opened my big mouth and told Kaitlyn. Well now that I wish I had a few more weeks to prepare, my 5 year old daughter is holding me accountable. Go figure!! I keep reminding myself that everything doesn't have to be perfect. "Just go with it, Mandy." I tell myself. So anyways...pray for me if you stop and think about it...I just needs God's peace and strength. I'm really excited to begin this year...just going through the usual emotions that I believe come with homeschooling. Let me know when all of you guys are starting so that we can all keep eachother in prayer!! We sure do need it!!