Life Abundant

Today, in this moment,
Nothing seems as it was,
You've made me new,
And I don't want to remember anymore,
The pain, the darkness, all washed away
Hope, comes rushing in.
I can smile. I can breathe.
And You love me just because you do,
And I had never known it could be this way.

Excuses, coincidence, fate, destiny,
I don't believe it.
For you have shown me the truth
Of who I am in You and to You.
Once I believed, then I knew.
That's just the way it works.
Faith that builds exponentially.
And I want wisdom, but don't care for knowledge
Unless it leads me to learn more about You.

The enemy he whispers, knows the weak spots,
Convinces us to doubt, to fear, to lose ourselves in hopelessness.
The deceiver he is known to be, for he lies and gains his power through such.
But You are truth. Infallible, pure, complete truth.
Flawless, compassionate, almighty, complete.

Why oh why do we want to think we know better?
The secrets of the universe, the secrets of creation.
You must laugh at our definitions, our statements, our pompous claims of discovery.
There is nothing You do not already know for You made it all.
And yet still some, who cannot fathom even a minute fraction of Your knowledge
Would deny You altogether.
They feel this makes them more important, more significant.
Yet falling at Your feet and declaring that I know nothing, am nothing without You,
Is when I have felt most important by far.
Loved by You infinitely, despite all of my failures.
God, You are the answer to everything.
And I am so very grateful, and completely humbled, and totally, utterly in love.

Wisdom

I have a couple of homeschooling ideas that I wanted to share with you today. The first is a state quarter map. I bought these books years ago, way before the girls were old enough to do anything with them. The other day I decided to pull them out, along with a big jar of coins we've been saving. I had the girls sort the quarters first, and then divide the quarters into regular issue, and state quarters. Then they found the states in their book and placed the quarters in their spot. It was a great way for them to identify where the states are, and a few facts about them. Some books have more info in them, some less. You can get these books through Amazon like this one, and some hobby stores also carry them. 

Through our jar, they have the book about half way filled, leaving plenty for them to keep their eyes open for in the future.

The other thing is a book by Jennie Bishop called "The Princess and the Kiss". It is a delightful tale of a princess finding her true love with the underlying theme of purity. It also has an accompanying "Life Lessons" book that helps to solidify in a young girl the notion that her kiss (heart, purity) is precious and should not be given lightly and without determining whether the match be God's will.

It's a light-hearted book, and the discussions can be lighter or deeper depending on the age of the child. The Life Lessons book also has activities and craft suggestions, which my girls are always in favor of.

There is also a version for boys called "The Squire and the Scroll", which I would be really interested to read at least. And I would like to know if any of you have sons that you are doing this program with. I will be making a list of their names for later. :)

And I don't think it's ever too soon to tell my girls that to God, they are precious princesses. It may not stop them from making every mistake when they are older, but if it saves them even a little heartache, it will be well worth it.

It's Raining, It's Pouring...

Maybe it is the rain.  Maybe it's because I'm recovering from a busy weekend away. Maybe it's because one of our closest friends had to have surgery to remove a brain tumor today. Or because one of my best friends is having an extremely difficult battle with breast cancer. Or because I am dealing with chronic back pain and the awful treatments I've been having are proving unsuccessful. Maybe it's because my life feels like utter chaos.  Whatever the reason, my heart is heavy, this day is gray and all of my paths seem unclear.

So what do we do in times of stress?  When nothing is actually wrong, but the correct direction is uncertain? I am frozen in my frustration, on the verge of depressed discouragement. But I know that this is how the enemy attacks us. He tries to weaken us, stop us from being effective. He brings about confusion to deafen us to the still, small voice that whispers to our soul. So I will pray, and I will sing praises unto Him who gave me breath this day. I will be still and know that He is God. And then I will take one step forward. Any direction is fine, for I know where the Spirit dwells and I need not be afraid. And I am thankful, so very thankful, for the abundance of good in my life.