Is Our House Busy?

Over the last little while people have commented on how busy our household must be. Well, when I started to think about this and really notice what is going on, I came to this conclusion......OUR HOUSEHOLD IS VERY BUSY! It just kind of grows on you. You get used to the busyness and it becomes a way of life. Quiet moments are very rare around here, unless we are praying, eating or something else that involves great concentration!! (Yes eating takes concentration around here, you have to plan every mouthful appropriately to be sure you get seconds!) But you know what, when I am up before everyone else gets up or I am in the house alone (which very rarely happens) then the house seems quiet, I enjoy it for awhile and then I welcome the hustle and bustle, music playing, people singing, laughing, playing, joking, babies cooing, toddlers learning to get out those really BIG sentences that are in their head and seem to come out of their mouth all wrong!, and all the other delightful things I hear in a day. Right now some are coloring, some are playing with toys, someone is playing piano, one is playing with baby Brooke, one is taking pictures, one is doing wash, one is working in the kitchen and as quickly as I write these things down, THEY CHANGE! Busy? Yes. People ask me if I ever just want peace and quiet? No, not really, yes I do admit there are times if I have a headache, talking on the phone or something, that I ask that the noise level be diminished a decibal or two, but usually it's something I enjoy. I love being a mom of many! Never a dull moment. "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord all the earth." Psalm 66:1

GUESS WHO?

Self-Control

For our Growing Kids God's Way friends here is a picture for you! This is how young you can teach them to get self control! Well okay....we didn't actually teach her, she just happened to do it.

Guess who's crawling!!!

I think I can!

I did it!

Are You Hungry?

Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. That's a promise from God word. (James 4:8) What an amazing promise. But take note that we make the first move. He is a gentleman. He will not push His way in where we do not want Him. What is involved in drawing near? Well this has been my experience. If I fill my life with 'good' books, 'good' videos, 'good' computer games, and the list goes on and on, I will want more of those good things. My appetite for God will not be strong. But if I feed on God's Word and spend time with Him in prayer, then I will hunger for more of Him. For those of you who are married, or engaged, do you remember the days when you had to be apart and you yearned to talk to or see your mate? Or when your spouse is gone for an extended period of time and you long to hear their voice? I remember this summer when we were helping out at CEFC, Mark and I saw each other on a come and go kind of basis. He was trying to farm and then usually came back to camp for the night. Well one night because it was getting late, I had come to the conclusion that I would not see him until the next day. So I went on with my night, and then I heard it. I heard 'his laugh'. Now I have come to love his laugh, it is such a special and important part of him. My heart literally leaped! Even though I knew it was only one night, and I knew I would have survived! I was still so happy to see him because I had so much to share with him and I love to be around him. And that's the way it should be with our relationship with God. We should always be longing for our God. Our thoughts should be centered around Him. Our hearts should leap for joy when we think of spending time with Him and actually do! So for me the struggle has always been, "How can I do that as a busy housewife and mom when there are endless things to do and you are sometimes, rephrase that, most of the time very tired." Well I have come to the realization that God just wants me to acknowledge Him all throughout the day. I can converse with Him in the middle of it all. I can memorize scripture in the middle of it all, I can be listening to His voice in the middle of it all! There is never an excuse, as much as I would often like to make one! But one thing that I do know and have experienced, if I fill my life with 'entertainment' I will not have a passionate hunger for God. My hunger will be for those things that I fill my life with.

What are you hungry for today?

For more on this topic a great resource is John Bevere's "Drawing Near to God" series.

We went to Mission Fest this past weekend and ran a booth for CEFC. Here is what others saw. We had very good response with many people saying they didn't know we existed and they were excited to find a camp like this one!

God or Medicine?

I have been very challenged lately in my faith. A few years ago I found the amazing effects of garlic and how it helps fight colds, flues ect. So it became a regular on our list and was used very frequently in our household. But as the years went by I became more and more "trusting" in garlic. You see, one of the kids would come up to me and tell me they had a sore throat, or didn't feel well and I would say "Take a garlic!" But after awhile my conscience was not letting me forget something. THAT GOD IS OUR HEALER! I realized when I was automaticallly turning to garlic, I was teaching our kid's to trust in garlic instead of the healing power of God. Now I am not saying those things are wrong, I am saying that my first reaction to go to the garlic was wrong. Over the years I had learned instead of running directly to the medicine cabinet when our kids were sick, I needed to pray for them. But somehow in my mind I "rationalized" that garlic was not a medicine, it was natural. And as true as it is, God has been making me aware that, "Some may trust in horses, some may trust in chariots, but I was trusting in garlic, instead of in the name of our God. So now our family has been going through a cold thing. And I have been realizing that many times I have been just too lazy to pray! When you have a husband and nine children that can be a lot of praying time! So I have been learning how to trust. And I have been realizing over the last few days how taking this into my own hands (instead of praying) that our kids have missed the opportunity to experience God's healing power. For example, Zachary was sick a couple nights ago. He came upstairs saying he had a sore throat, then an ear ache. So we prayed for him and he went back to bed. The next day Joshua told us that Zachary was laying in bed pleading with God, "Please heal me, please heal me, by your stripes, I am healed!" and he was healed! We have had many of these experiences in the last couple of weeks. Our younger boys have been listening to the New Testament on audio and they have been taking notice of the many times that Jesus healed. The other day when I asked Zachary to pray for me he prayed that I would be healed "like the people You healed in the Bible"! There is a reason that God says to become like a little child. Their faith is so refreshing and real! So in this I am not saying that there is never a place for medicine or doctors, but I am saying that as Christians our first response to sickness or pain should be going to our heavenly Father and asking for His healing.

"And all things, whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive."

Matt. 21:22