Rest

I woke up last night feeling like I was in a fog...like a bear waking up from hibernation with that groggy feeling like I was awake and aware of things, but not fully.

What was on my heart was rest...Rest in the Lord and what that looks like.

The picture in my mind was of the "path of rest" with 2 ditches on either side. One ditch was "striving" and the other was "laziness."

And then I began to think about the pits. Striving is the one I fall into most often and am most familiar with. It has it's roots in pride! I want everything to look perfect-my house, my kids, my life. Why? So that others will admire ME.

Most recently, my striving has come at the expense of my kids. I cannot shake the thoughts of getting them prepared for college, and there is never enough that can be done to get them to that point. These thoughts are always at the forefront of my mind.

But the other pit of laziness is just as deadly. Waiting for things to "just happen" and not acting can be just as sinful. And God has strong words for the lazy. God says the sluggard is worthless and wicked in Proverbs 6.

God wants us to rest. He modeled it for us when He rested on the 7th day of Creation. He commanded the children of Israel to rest one day out the week. And He tells us that Christ is our rest and to rest in Him.

So how does that practically work out? I will be the first to say that I'm just learning and taking baby steps. But here are some ideas for me:

1. Keep my eyes focused on the Lord and His rest. Recognizing the pits is helpful, but focusing on not falling into one of them is only going to land me in the mire.

2. When I am feeling overwhelmed or anxious, I should cry out to the Lord for help. Only by His grace can I keep on the path.

3. Examine my heart and repent of sinful motives and actions--whether they be striving or slothful.

4. Continue to work as unto the Lord, but leave the results to Him--for He alone knows the path that we have before us. And also the path of our children.

So how about you? Would you like to join me on God's path of rest?

Be encouraged as God's Word reminds us in Psalm 116. "Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you."

22 years old today!

Some of you may be surprised to find that I'm 22 years old today. Some may think I'm lying. Or delusional! But I assure you--it's true!

22 years ago today-January 23-I was born again! So it's my spiritual birthday. Today, I am 22 years old in the Lord.

For those of you who do not know my story, here's the short version....

In January of 1988, I was a freshman in college. My mom called me and told me that my father was in the hospital in a coma and was going to die of cirrhosis of the liver. I had not seen him for about 10 years. But I was hoping that he would come back, be changed, and save me from the difficulties of life.

Needless to say, my dad was not going to save me from anything. But God had a different plan to reveal my True Savior.. He put me in a dorm on a floor with about 10 girls who happened to be in Campus Crusade for Christ. They had been witnessing to me and my roommate. They explained to me about my need for Christ.

I repented and put my trust in my true Savior, Jesus Christ. And life has never been the same. I have an abundant life--full of God's wonderful blessings. It's not always easy. But I know He is always with me. And I'm so thankful for the most wonderful gift I could have every received.

Time Management: What's Your P.L.A.N.?--Part 1B

Three Pitfalls than can keep us from our purpose

Last time we talked about glorifying the Lord in managing our time.

Today, we are going to uncover 3 pitfalls that can keep us from our purpose.
1. Laziness
2. Pride and
3. Legalism

Laziness
The first is laziness. There are different degrees of laziness. And in all honesty, I've never seen a mom who sits on the couch, eating bon-bons and watching soap operas all day. No doubt there probably are some out there that fit that description. But this is not what I'm addressing. The laziness that I'm describing is more subtle.

First let's take a look at the Bible as our source of truth. Proverbs 18:9 tells us that "A lazy person is as bad as someone who destroys things." This verse says to me that when I am lazy, I'm just as guilty as the one who takes a hammer and destroys things. And we can look at this very practically as well. When we don't fix broken things right away, sometimes the situation gets worse so that it truly becomes unfixable or at least harder to fix.

So what kind of laziness is it that can plague us and keep us from our ultimate purpose?

I like how Vicki Norris of restoringorder.com describes this syndrome. She names this person the "Low Effort Man." The "low effort man" doesn’t want to change toilet paper roll or empty the dishwasher. She puts the empty container back in refrigerator or pantry instead of throwing it in the trash. She delays grading papers and writing lesson plans. You get the picture. Essentially, she doesn't do things right away, but leaves them for others to do.

So how can we avoid this pitfall? It all starts in the heart. Purpose to not be the "low effort man" in your family. When you find yourself falling into this temptation, repent and ask the Lord for help. And then trust Him to help you. Also, watch for this in your children and encourage them to give 100% as they are working.

I fall into this pit (and the others I'll be describing) often. The goal is not perfection. For we will never achieve that here on earth. But we want to be getting better. And so we look to the Lord who is the author of our faith, and who is the one who will finish it. And let's purpose today, to not be the "low effort man."

Pride
Next up is pride. Oh that I could be relieved of this awful sin! And I look forward to the day when I will be. But for now, I struggle and fight with this insidious power that overtakes me all too often.

A good look at the Word may help me. Proverbs 21:4 reminds me that "A haughty look, a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked are sin." If we consider that plowing was a very mundane normal kind of job in an agrarian society, then we can compare plowing to things like washing dishes, vacuuming the carpets, cleaning the bathroom. Even when we are doing everyday tasks if our heart is proud and haughty, then we are in sin.

Matthew Henry, the famous theologian, gives this commentary, “They do all to serve their lusts, and have no regard to the glory of God in it, and therefore their plowing is sin.” Here is the attitude that I want to being organized for others to admire ME! This can be a very tiring and unfulfilling way to live. Don't ask me how I know. But let's just say that it's much easier to live for the glory of God for "his yoke is easy and his burden is light."

Legalism
And so we come to our last pitfall--legalism. Here is the person who makes a schedule and follows it to a T. Legalism is defined as a strict adherence to the plan without regard to context or the spirit of the plan. I would also add here that it is important to have time for resting relaxing. For even God rested on the 7th day as an example for us to follow. So be carefu to not overschedule or to be so devoted to your schedule that you are married to it.

Life happens and you may not be able to follow a schedule perfectly. A schedule is a tool, not a law. In fact, I prefer the term routine. A routine can be defined as a regular pattern reinforced by habit. It gives us a flow to our day, but helps us to be flexible when life happens and as opportunities and situations arise. On a given day, who knows what will happen? Perhaps a friend will call and need your help or prayers. You may have a sick child or lots of doctor appointments. A particular child may need extra help with an assignment or with their attitudes. All these "interruptions" in life are just more opportunities to glorify God in how you respond.

So let's encourage one another to avoid these pitfalls and to seek to glorify the Lord. We will all fail at various times, but the Good News is that there is "therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

Next time, we will look at Logistics. What all is there to fit into our days ? And what shortcuts can we employ to help us accomplish it all?

May the Lord be glorified in us today!

Time Management: What's Your P.L.A.N.?--Part 1A

In my last post, I left you with our road map to coming up with a P.L.A.N. for managing our time.



To recap, here's where we are going:

1. P--Purpose
2. L-Logistics
3. A--Application
4. N-Negotiate

In this post, I'd like to start with the first step. The "P" in our P.L.A.N. stands for purpose. We need to have a purpose if we are to get the most out of managing our time.

But to start out I'd like for you to pause a moment and consider what your purpose is for what you do on a daily basis.

Is it to get more done in the day? Is it to be more purposeful in the things you are doing or that you want to do? Is it to be a blessing to others? Let's dig even deeper...Why is it that you want to get more done in the day? Or to be a blessing? Is it for your children? Is it for your husband? Is it for you? While these can be noble purposes, I'd like to suggest an even nobler one. In order for our time to be truly meaningful, it must be for the sole purpose of glorifying of God.

I'm afraid that in my own life, my purpose has drifted to another god--that of self. And so in the next 2 posts, I'd like to direct our attention to what God's Word, the Bible, tells us and some common pitfalls that we can fall into.

The first scripture that comes to my mind is I Corinthians 10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. In other words even in the everyday, mundane things of life, we are to bring glory to God. This task is much more difficult than it at first seems. For me, a look into my thought life helps me to see what my true purposes are. Am I worried about my kids and how they will fare in life? Am I worried about what others think about what I am doing? Am I looking for the approval or praise of men? Am I looking to others because they seem to have it all together and so I'm trying to make their plan work for me? Far too often I find myself, looking for the approval of man or trying to glorify myself instead of bringing glory to God alone. I pray that He will help us all in our weakness.

Next, Proverbs 16:3 says "Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established. And so in this verse, we see that the Lord wants us to commit our work to him and He will establish our plans. Most homeschooling moms that I know of have plenty of work to do. Everyone that I know wishes they had just a few more hours in their day. And would like to be more purposeful so that they can squeeze in a few more things into their already busy lives.

So how can we do that? A good place to start, if we are truly wanting to work on time mangement, is with prayer. Ask the Lord to help you as you consider the plans that He has for your family. Ask Him to help you to establish the plans that He has for each of your children, for your husband, and for yourself, then expect Him to help you. And just so I don't forget to mention this, your husband should take an active role in this process. Pray together. Work together. And watch the Lord establish your plans together. I know that many times, Todd has helped me to see things that I would have missed and would have later caused me grief. I'm so grateful for the way the Lord uses Todd to compliment me. And together we are a much better team!

Finally,Ephesians 5:15-16 tells us to "Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil." Here we have a warning to be wise and make the best use of our time. So obviously, the Lord knew that sometimes we don't hit that mark, and encourages us to keep focused.

In the next post, I'll talk about some common pitfalls that cause us to lose focus from our ultimate purpose of glorifying God.

But today, I'd like to encourage you to spend some time considering what your purpose is in managing your time. If it is not for the glory of the Lord, then I urge you to repent, to seek Him and to commit your plans to the Lord.

May the Lord alone be glorified!

Time Management: What's Your P.L.A.N.?--Intro

I recently spoke to a group of homeschooling moms about time management and thought I'd share here what I shared with them. I hope this blesses and encourages you.
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Being a homeschool mom is no easy task. As a homeschool mom, you wear numerous hats and have lots to accomplish in a day. And no matter how much we wish it were different, we all have only 24 hours in our day. But we can learn to make the most of those 24 hours. And by learning how to effectively manage out time, we can bless our families and make an impact on our own lives, in our family's lives and ultimately on the world!

By way of introduction, I'm a homeschooling mom of 4 children--2 teens boys, 1 preteen boy and a toddler princess. We have always homeschooled and are active in numerous extracurricular activities. We are involved in competitive sports, competitive speech, music, and church. We have a very rigorous academic standard. We have a busy toddler. And on top of all that, I can't stand clutter. It is a huge distraction for me! And keeps me from really concentrating on the things that matter most in life.

So in order to manage all that I have to do in a day, I've had to learn over the years to have a plan. And throughout the course of these posts, I hope to share my P.L.A.N. with you.

So let's get started....

One of my favorite radio personalities is Dave Ramsey. He is a personal money management expert, who talks to literally millions of people on a daily basis about personal finances. I like how he shoots straight and tells it like it is. One of the very first things he counsels for those who want to manage money wisely is the need for setting up a budget. He says if you want to lose weight, then you need to track calories. If you want to want to manage your finances, then you need to come up with a written game plan. Likewise, I say if we want to make the most of our time we need to have a plan.

Over the next few posts, I hope to share 4 steps to developing a P.L.A.N. for managing time.

1. Purpose--What is our purpose for managing our time?
2. Logistics--What are all the things that a typical homeschool mom needs to accomplish in a day?
3. Application--How can we find a workable solution to fit everything in?
and
4. Negotiate--changing our plan as the seasons of our lives and life circumstances dictate.

That's it in a nutshell and if you stop reading I hope you'll at least consider these few points. But if you decide to stay and read a few more posts, then I'll go into a bit more detail on how to walk through each of these steps. And hopefully, we'll all be encouraged in the end.

Lessons from the Houston Warm-Up

We went to our first speech qualifier this past weekend. It was great. As always, lots of lessons learned. Here are just a few....

1. Speech is subjective. You never know what people will like or dislike. Interestingly, what I really thought may be offensive, was not. In fact the only comments about that element were very positive. OTOH, what I thought was obvious turned out to be the weakest element of the boys' DUO speech. So there you have it...don't assume anything.

2. I learned something about graciousness. In one of the limited prep events that I was judging, the timer did not give adequate hand signals. The competitor was very gracious and gently instructed the timer in front of the judges. This allowed us (the judges) to know that there was a reason why she went over time. And at the same time, she was able to instruct the timer for the next round.

3. Don't add or subtract anything from your topic without stating in your thesis why you are doing so.

4. For apologetics, we are on the right track! Just need some polishing!! Content is good, just need to relax and keep at it.

5. Finally, enjoy the process. I had a lot of fun just meeting people at this tournament and there was a lot of peace about the results. BTW, the boys (Z and J) went to semi-finals in DUO and JJ got 2nd place in his Oratory. It was fun reading the ballots! The things that need to be fixed can be fixed with a little work. We got some great feedback.

My favorite comment from Z's ballots was: "If I was not a believer, you would have given me something real strong to think about."

Favorite comment from J's ballots: "You have real public speaking talent!" --from a Professor of Speech Communication

Favorite comment from JJ's ballots: "Very interesting! I didn't know all that about the moon!"

I'm so very grateful for this opportunity to develop these skills in the boys. They are improving by leaps and bounds!!

New Year 2009

Here it is New Year's Eve. 2008 is almost over and 2009 is about to begin.

2008 was an interesting year.

Here are some highlights.

1. Todd and I celebrated 17 years of marriage. I am so very blessed to have my best friend as my husband. He is the BEST! And my love and respect for him continue to grow as the years go by. Every year I think--"How could I love him any more than I already do?" And every year, I love him all the more!

2. Z. played baseball for HSAA. He had a great season and will be playing again this coming Spring. I love baseball and can't wait for the games to begin. He has been growing in the Lord and in character. He excels in school. And is getting more and more proficient in speechifying!

3. J. turned 13. He also is doing well in his studies. He played HSAA football this past fall and had a blast. He is a natural in speech and was blessed to perform at the Lone Star Storytelling Festival. I can't wait to see how the Lord uses him for His own glory.

4. JJ is doing very well with violin. He is my sensitive and sweet child--always considering others. He still wants to be an astronaut. I'm still not sure I'm up for the adventure. But the Lord knows.

5. K. turned 2 and continues to bless us all. She brings much laughter and sweetness to our family. And she's all girl! Pink, lace and frills. She already learning how to be a hostess. At our ladies' tea I overheard her telling the guests as they were leaving, "Bye. Thank you for coming!" It was so cute!

6. We went to Disney this year with our extended family. We had fun with the family. But had some trouble with the hotel and we lost our camcorder on the trip home. So it was a hard trip. We hope to return soon to have a better experience. K. wants to see "Cinderelli."

7. I have been blessed to teach apologetics to the kids in our speech club. I have grown so much myself as I've studied. And I look forward to continued growth as I study more this year.

8. In November, we decided to look for a local home church. We were travelling too far and it was hard to maintain relationships. So we are in the process of looking for a church now. I think we have found one. But we want to go through the member's class first.

I can't wait to see what 2009 brings. I pray that we all grow closer to the Lord in 2009. May He alone be glorified in everything we think, say, do and feel!