"Kids Will Be Kids" is Folly Lived Out

There is nothing in scripture that says that kids and teenagers have to behave foolishly and uncontrolled. They don't have to be irresponsible. They don't have to be mean to others. There is nothing in there that says "kids will be kids." This is an ungodly response on the part of adults often abdicating their responsibility in raising their children. It's just the opposite. "Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him." (Prov 22:15) The way children often behave and act is called foolishness but a Holy God. It's can't get much clearer than that.

I was reminded of this idea when I was talking with my almost 9 yod son the other day. We had just finished watching a video that was filmed in Haiti by a group working with "Feed My Starving Children." He was so moved to compassion for these starving children that he felt guilty that he had eaten breakfast that morning. I sat him down to talk to him. I didn't know what to say at first. But then I had the idea that there were boys in scripture that God called out early. David was called from being a lowly shepherd to fighting giants. Josiah was called to be king at a young age and he tore down the idols in the land. Even the unnamed boy with the fish and loaves was called to serve Jesus in what seemed like a small thing. But it was huge. Jesus used his contribution to bring the Father glory. These were children. I reminded my son that God calls him to the same things. Then I looked straight at him and reminded him of the last thing Underdog always says to him before he goes to bed. . .Don't Waste Your Life.

Drive your kids to excellence. Don't settle for the norm. Encourage them to not waste their lives. Draw them away from foolishness and when they express it, squelch it. Teach them compassion. Teach them about mercy. Teach them that God loves them and all people. each them to express that. Teach them to die to self that they may glory the Savior. They can do this even now. Children are capable of serving God. They are much more capable than the fluff our world offers them. Why give them Disney when we can give them the God of the universe? Why give them Santa when we can offer them a world that feeds the hungry and clothes those who are cold? Jesus said when we take care of the least of these we take care of Him. Can't chidlren do that too? Why give them empty pursuits through video games and wasted time on the internet when we can offer them adventures through books that lead to dreams of mission work overseas? Children and teens are capable of much more than this world has to offer them. Most importnat, fight for their hearts and lead them to Jesus. He is the only way to truly lead them from foolishness. Give them hope that there is more out there than the emptiness that so many seem to fall prey to. Give them Jesus.

One final thing. Children will run after what is modeled to them. Check your heart. Do you love the Lord enough not to waste your life? If He called you to Africa to serve the hungry, could you give it ALL up and go? Or are the things we've accumulated and are comfortable with more important? If there is one thing children are not fools in it's seeing and knowing hypocrisy. You simply cannot tell a child to love Jesus with all their heart sould mind and strength if you don't. This will either lead to intense confusion, complacency in their hearts, or it will simply lead them away from Jesus in the end. We must be willing to live out a live of obdience and sacrifice to the Lord if this is the direction we desire to see our children go. Don't Waste Your Life and likely your children will not waste theirs.

Don't Waste Your Life

Do Hard Things

Grocery Shopping and eating healthy

I am supposed to be working on my grocery list for Underdog. I am finding it a bit discouraging this morning. We watched "Food, Inc" last night. I am even more determined to learn to cook from scratch after watching that. I pretty much knew what the movie was about but I did see things in there that were really disturbing and I didn't now. Just the treatment of those poor animals should be enough to make Christians stop and think about what they are eating. We are called to take care of the animals. The most distressing to me was how they initially kill the pigs that are to be slaughtered. It's absolutely inhumane. Even the way they kill them makes me wander if there aren't some animals coming out unconscious and then they just begin to cut them up. In other words, they are being slaughtered while still alive. It just made me mad.

I have already begun to buy alot of my food locally. I will be working over the next year to do better. There is a local farmer in the next county over that I have grown very fond of. His children are some of the most polite children I have ever met. And their products are just wonderful. I much prefer to spend my money with them than to give it to the people who care nothing for my health and safety but only about money. I will even cut my meat consumption in order to NOT give the big giants my money. You vote with your dollars. If you want healthier foods, stop buying the junk in the grocery store. And junk covers a wide range of foods including the things you might think are healthy for you. Dig deeper. The dairy and beef that you eat really aren't so healthy. Most of them are devoid of the true nutrients God intended them to have. They are also LACED with hormones and antibiotics. Ever wander why we are coming up with diseases that are resistant to antibiotics? Consider the fact that most people are putting small amount of antibiotics in their bodies every time they eat beef, poultry, or pork. Ever wander why little girls seem to be developing at faster rates in our time (like little girls starting thier cycles 2-3 earlier than they used to)? Consider that amount of hormones they give these animals in order to grow them faster and bigger. It's insane.

Our vegetation in this country isn't any better. The way they treat farmers is enough to stop eating it and demanding they grow more ethical crops. The farmers would do it if we asked them to. The amount of corn that Americans eat is insane as well. It's in EVERYTHING!!! Just ask those who are tested for food allergies and find they are allergic to corn. Finding foods to eat that don't contain corn is like looking for a needle in a haystack. I would know. At one point I had a sensitivity to corn and couldn't find much "normal" that I could eat. Of course, I am grateful that I was found to be sensitive to it. That began to change the way I ate (among other things.) I am also grateful that God allowed my body to heal and I am not longer sensitive. I still don't eat it as much. When I do it's in the form of NON-GMO (Genetically Modifed Organism) cornmeal. I will never eat anything GMO if I can help it. When you do, you're not eating real food. You are eating a food that has chemical make-up to resist PESTICIDES!!!! That would mean that there would have to be part of the PESTICIDES worked into it's genetic make up. Umm. Would you sit down and drink on a bottle of Round Up after working in the yard. But over a lifetime that is essential what you may be doing just by eating the GMO. God is our Creator. He didn't make a mistake when He created the foods that we eat. They don't need to be improved upon. If treated and handled right, milk doesn't need to be pasturized. And it's REALLY good raw. Did you know that butter is supposed to be a deep yellow? Did you also know that most dairies add COLORING in certain seasons to make it a yellow color? Meat doesn't need to be washed in ammonia to kill bacteria. Yes, folks, that was in the movie and they showed you WHERE the ammonia washing took place in the factory. The "finished product" was dumped into a box lined with a plastic bag and then sealed for transport. YOU ARE EATING AMMONIA WHEN YOU EAT THE MEAT THAT IS PRODUCED BY THESE COMPANIES. They are doing this to kill e coli o157 h7. Science has shown that if you feed cows GRASS a large percentage of the e coli o157 h7 in their system is WASHED OUT OF THEM. Now, would you prefer a cow that has eaten grass as God designed it OR would you prefer to eat meat that's been bathed in ammonia?

I could go on and on. I'll stop and let you see it for yourself. There are so many documentaries coming out now about our food sources. There is one that covers GMOs and Monsanto's MONOPOLY in this sector AND their abuse of the farmers on this nation. It's sickening when you realize just what food has become in our nation. Ultimately, I refuse to let my family participate in the mass experiment with our food sources. I will be supporting the local farmers with my dollars and feeding my family food that will give them life.

Well Bummer!!

I got all excited because there was a comment on my blog about us being sick. Well, it seems to be a spam comment. I am bummed. It's nice to get comments. LOL!!!! I deleted it, by the way. When I check out the sending they had these stage blogs attached to her name. I didn't want to open anything, including the link left in the comment, so as not to download a virus. Last thing I need is for my computer to get swine flu.

Where Have all the LIttle, Old Ladies Gone?

The True Woman Blog is starting a new Titus 2 series this week. I thought it would be a good thing to pass along after my post a few days ago. Today's blog is called "Where Have All the Little, Old Ladies Gone? I am so excited that they are doing this series.

I am off to pray. So much on my heart I just need to talk to God about it right now.

Finding the Time

This is a double post. I also put this on my school blog.

While on bedrest I have had different opportunities to search for ideas in various areas. There is the workbox idea (which isn't going to work until there even just a little bit of money to purchase the few supplies I do need to keep it cheap.) As we are approaching the holidays I have been looking for some different ideas to do with my preschoolers and older children. The fun part is that it's led me to some really fantastic websites and blogs.

Another thing I have noticed are all the different ideas for blogs that people come up with. From Tot school or Meatless Mondays, you blog on your website and then post on another specific site to their Mr.Linky. I have been on some blogs that are specifically targeting those who homeschool their preschoolers (and I thought I was overdoing it. Apparently, better late than early is out these days). Oh my. The amount of links they have on the sides of their blogs at all the different areas where they are linked is almost insane. Who knew there were so many sites on the web for just one topic?

As I have looked through these different blogs and such I keep thinking to myself "Who has time to be ALL this stuff on this blog?" I realize that some are just a bit more computer sazzy than I am. I am still trying to learn how to make a header for my blog using my own pictures. It's not like I can't learn how to do it. It's the timing that makes a difference.

Maybe it's just that I have more children than most of these women do. They are younger. I think the largest family I have seen in all this has maybe 4 children. Maybe it's that I am unmotivated to learn on many levels. Mostly, I just really don't have much time. If I really want to do this whole family and homeschooling thing right, I actually have to put my time into it. I can't spend all my time coming up with learning activities for my preschoolers. Sure, I need ideas but really. Does a person really need 100 activities to do with their children for their workboxes? And I understand, you have to pick and choose what to use and do. You have to pick and choose what blogs to read. I have seen some sites where their lists of links was so long it took me an hour to go through some of them. Some of the Mr. Linky posts have nearly 50 links long. Who has time to go through get ideas? How do you choose?

I suspect there is a great deal of dedication to their families. But I still have to wander, what is being left out? Are their homes clean? Sure, with small children there is a level on clean that can only be maintained. What about their husbands? Are their husbands the main focus in their ventures into Titus 2? I don't know any of these women and mean no judgement on them. But all of this is making me think.

I have been blogging alot more recently simply because I am bed bound. I considered trying to really build up my blogs and make them attractive hoping to possibly attract readers. But why? First of all, when I am back on my feet, I won't have time to truly maintain them. I may be able to blog once or twice a week but not extensively. Even my weekends are taken with trying to train my girls to sew. We're also about to start doing alot of baking on Saturday so we don't have to fuss with it during the school days (we'll move our cleaning to the weekdays and spread it out more.) Sundays are rest and family days so there isn't alot of time there. My weekdays are full of life and living.

But the other why question I have had is really crux of my point. How much of all these blogs and such are simply ways for us to glorify ourselves? I would love to have readers who think that my blog is the best out there and leave lots of great comments on my blog. I would love to be known. But is that really the right aim to have? I am sure that many of the women building these fantastic blogs have great intensions for helping others do the things they are enjoying with their children. But I just wander if there are better ways to spend all that time than building blogs and maintaining them. Have I benefitted from them? Some. But to be honest, I keep thinking to myself if I didn't spend so much time looking through blogs for ideas and instead PRAYED for ideas, I might just be able to do all these "ideas" with the Lord leading me. I suppose I think that these blogs and websites are kind of crippling to us. They cause us not to be able to think for ourselves. I don't let my children play on the computer for that reason. Maybe I should apply that rule to myself.

I am just pondering this afternoon. I mean absolutely not judgement on anyone. It's possible God has led many of these women to build these sits and they are glorifying God by what they are doing. That is what we are designed to do so I have NO room to criticize. Ultimately, I am speaking to myself. I just wander what kind of wife, mom, teacher, and homekeeper I would be if I stopped looking for ways to be a better wife, mom, teacher, and homekeeper and simply acted on the leading that God gives me?

Round 2

I have a little girl with a sore throat, runny nose, cough, fever, and trouble breathing. I have two little boys competing for who can cough the hardest, loudest, and longest. I have a nearly one year going about her business but every once in a while will stop to hack up a lung again. My oldest daughter seems to be just coughing. I am feeling tight in my chest and have started coughing. To quote Underdog this morning, "We just can't seem to get a break." <>

This is the first time since my bedrest started that I have simply felt just tired of life. I was ready to embrace whatever God brought our way and allow Him to teach us and work in and through us. Now I am just weary of it all. I have been worried about us getting sick again. I suppose worry was my first sin. I wasn't even worried about anything specific, although the swine flu was at the top of my list if I was going pick anything. I am not usually one that falls for the media coverage and hype. I am not so certain this flu is really much more serious than the regular flu. The difference is that no one has immunity against it so everyone is getting it. The higher number of deaths, I think, is related to the fact that our immunity, as a whole, doesn't work. We don't fill our bodies with good, life giving food. Instead, most of our diet consists of sugar, bad carbs that have no nutrients, and proteins that are so overrun with chemicals that we can't process them out of our bodies. I have to admit, our diet right now hasn't been much better. With me being down, I can't monitor what is going on downstairs. I am trying to give them easy meals to cook but somehow the life giving food is absent. It's not because my family doesn't like veggies and fruit. Even my 2 yod will eat a salad. It's just not easy. They take the easy route and I am making it easy for them to do that.

I think my greatest frustration with this is that there is no money. Since I tend to use more natural means to ight disease, this is what I prefer to do. But there isn't any money to get the things that I need. In the past, when there wasn't money I would simply turn to my pediatrician for help and ideas. That is what happened with the pertussis when we finally went in for an antibiotic to fight the bacteria because I couldn't keep up with the natural means on bedrest. Even if I wanted to get something for all this I couldn't. We found out Monday that our doctor is out of network for the particular branch of insurance that we have. They won't pay anything for out of network doctors. So, because my pediatrician's office staff wasn't paying attention to the specifics of our insurance we now owe her money for the past several times we've gone into see her with various issues. . .only one of which was actually a sick visit. There was a well child exam in there, a broken finger follow up (twice), and then the visit for the antibiotics. This on top of money we are now having to pay out for the broken finger that ended up with the specialist. I am feeling a bit stressed and struggling to trust the Father. There is NO money coming in right now. Our savings is quickly getting lower and lower. I am not normally one to worry about money. I don't think I am. I am just wandering how long the Lord is going to make us wait.

I trust the Father. But I am weary. I keep think about the verses in Matthew 11 "Come to me all who are weary and heavyladen and I will give you rest." I am working to keep my mind set on Him for He promises "perfect peace" when I do that. I believe He will do as He promises.

Just a side note: My one daugther that indicated that she was dying this morning is not dying. LOL!!! She's had enough energy to set herself up with a nice bed on the loveseat in my room. She was able to get herself a cup of rice milk (no dairy when you sick. It just creates lots more flem than you need.) She was able to get books to read and walked downstairs to get a laundry basket so she would have a side table for her drink. I would venture to say that now that she's out of bed, there isn't much of a fever either. hehehe!!! I am glad she's not dying. Maybe there is hope that all we're dealing with is a simple virus completely unrelated to the flu going around. There is time to fight this, boost immunity in the process, and perhaps avoid a make flu outbreak in our house. If it is the flu, then I am thoroughly grateful that it's not as serious as the goverment and everyone else has made it out to be. And now we'll all build up natural immunity to it. I will have immunity to give my baby next year through my milk as well. There is always hope in every situation. The greatest hope is our risen Savior though. I keep having to remind myself that even in death and sickness, we have that hope.

BORED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, I have finally hit the "This is no longer fun" stage of bedrest. At first, I was afraid to move around for fear and bleeding to death (yes, I know, I bit overdramatic.) Then I was taking too much liberty with moving around and ended up not moving around that much. In all that, though, I was finding stuff to do with myself. Then came the "I still have to educate my children" stage. We were getting school done and I was excited to be there. This week is the "I'm BORED!!!" stage. It's bad too. I get so bored that I have found myself back on the silly message boards I used to be on early in my motherhood. I don't really like being out there but somehow I think I have fooled myself into believing that somehow I am important enough to answer questions and make intelligent comments to people whose faces I have never seen and I will never see. It's madness, I tell you. Madness.

I was talking to a particular sinful child this afternoon about a sin he seems to be struggling with right now. This sin is related to feeling like he's a big shot because he got to go help at a volunteer function yesterday. His behavior was awesome yesterday but he seemed to have come home with the big head. SOOO, I was discussing how we should be doing our work for the glory of God and not for our own glory. I talked about how seeking glory for ourself is wrong and that God will not share His glory with us. As I am talking I found myself thinking to myself, "Gee, you are the same way. What do you think you are doing on the message boards?" Ouch!!! I am out there totally seeking attention for myself. The reality is that I have absolutely nothing to offer o those type of message boards. There are times when I desperately want to share the gospel BUT the rules of bb won't allow me. What else do you say? I end up not answering those questions or comments. The rest of the time I am just looking for attention and trying to bring glory to me as if somehow I have arrived as queen of motherhood.

The message boards aren't too hard to get off. I usually go through a few days of withdrawal because they did help pass time away. I am going to have to double my efforts in other areas and use my time more wisely. That doesn't help the boredom I feel right now. I think I need to seek the Father to find ways that are better uses of my time. I can only handle so much cutting out of file folder pieces. So what do you do to pass away idle time that might come your way?

True Woman

Let me encourage you, if you have not already done so, to check out the True Woman website. This is Nancy Leigh DeMoss' vision to bring women back to living out their true womanhood before the Lord and the world. They have the '08 conference on their website for watching, listening, reading, or if you desire, purchase. You can find those here. The most compelling thing I have seen so for (and I have only just begun) is the first session given by John Piper on "The Ultimate Meaning of True Womanhood." It's not at all what you would think.

Also, if you live anywhere near Chattanooga, TN, Indianapolis, IN, or Fort Worth, TX, they are having the True Woman '10 conference in those areas. I was planning to go to the Fort Worth conference but I will have a small child that will by that time be making noise. I don't think I will be able to travel in March for the one in Chattanooga. It's too close to my due date. I am so thankful for their willingness to offer these free for all to view on their website. What a blessing.

While you are there, check out and sign the True Woman Manifesto. I am using this and the 30 day challenge to study through the aspects of being a True Woman. There are several great articles on the website as well. And their blog is great to read when they publish posts.

On My Heart

I got to go to church today. It was the first time since the last weekend in September that I gothave been. We were quarantined with the whooping cough and then my bedrest started up. It was so nice to be out singing to the Lord and being in fellowship with friends this morning.

About midway through the singing portion of worship service a precious family came to sit in front of us. This family has one little boy. They've struggled with infertility and were so blessed with miracle baby, Samuel. I just love that little boy's sweet cheeks when he smiles. :) The mom is suffering through a miscarriage this weekend. I watched her more than I sang this morning. There were times that she just cried at different words of songs. There were times that she worked to engaged Samuel in the singing. You could see the pain on her husband face as the realities began to play out this morning. Mostly, I felt like a real jerk.

I can't remember just how much I have talked about how hard this pregnancy has been to accept. The truth of the matter is that I have been pouting. . .alot. I haven't really accepted this baby and if I were to be really honest, at times, I did not want him/her. Don't get me wrong, this fact bothers me alot. But the fact that it bothered me didn't seem to effect my heart enough to change my attitude. Something is seriously wrong.

I recently read a blog article off the True Woman blog about family planning. The author talked about how she had a plan for her family but quickly found that God had another plan. She eventually learning that God was in control of the womb and that she had to release that to him. Last week, this same blog included a sweet video of a "young" mom's epiphany over a True Woman conference weekend. To sum it up, she realized over the weekend that she resented the 7 children that God had given her despite the fact that she and her husband felt led to trust God with their family size.

God used these to speak to me and this week has been a tough one for me. I have had many times where I felt so overwhelmed with guilt from my bad attitude. There were other times when other sins regarding my family were being laid bare. I asked for God to lay my sin bare so that I could deal with them. Bring them into the light, I prayed on Wednesday afternoon. Unfortunately, I realized this morning that these are deep seeded sins that are going to take some time to uproot.

Seeing this precious mom this morning crying over the loss of her baby was heartbreaking today. But it's left me asking WHY this morning? Why did God give me a health baby when I have so many children already and yet this precious mommy can't have her heart's desire? Why God? I didn't get an answer. What I got was a question back? Why am I am not loving this baby He's given me as if it were the ONLY one He's given me?

Selfish and self-centerednes would be the key words right now. I, too, have discovered that there is terrible resentment in my heart toward my children. My "ideal" family life didn't seem to happen. The further and further we got away from my ideal, the worse my heart got toward the situation. I have great kids but I was so blinded by my self-centeredness that I haven't been able to see this greatness. All I have seen is the sin in their hearts and not the evidence of God's grace working in them. And I have been so self-centered that I couldn't see this baby for what he/she really is. . . .a gift.

I have been working through this all week but seeing this mom again this morning opened the wound again. And so it should. I have been given a gift. I have never experienced a miscarriage. I think there was a time when I had a very early miscarriage. But this was so early on that it just seemed that I was getting a mystery positive on a test and then started my normal period. I conceived Pinky Poo a month later. I am closer to losing a baby with this one than I have ever been. But my stupidity hasn't allowed me to see the severity of it all the time.

My greatest prayer is that there will be true repentance as I work through this sin in my heart. I don't want it here anymore but for some reason I am comfortable with it. Why in the world do I want to hold onto this? I suppose the real issue is that this isn't just centered on the selfishness toward my family. If that were the case, then this would have all been over when I confessed this sin earlier in the week. This selfishness is centered around my heart. It is who I am. That doesn't change easily or overnight.

Using No Shampoo

I hae blogged before after my ventures into using no-poo (which is so weird to say.) After my most recent experiences I am sold for life.

Due to my recent bedrest, I am not always able to make it downstairs to make my soda water (which I'll discuss in a moment) so I decided just to go back to using regular shampoo. After months of using baking soda and lemon juice to clean my hair, the shampoo just didn't make the cut anymore. My hair got greasy after about a day. It just felt heavy on my hair. There even seemed to be a film on my hair. It takes about 3 days for my hair to feel oily with the baking soda. Even that oily is only around my hair line and my scalp. Oh, and let's not forget the itching. I remember when I first switched to baking soda that my scalp itched like crazy. After about 3 weeks my head stopped itching. But when I started using shampoo again, my head itched all day. I only used the shampoo TWICE in a week.

Here is my regimen for washing my hair:

1. First of all, I must make the soda water. Here is how I do that:

a. Boil water in the tea kettle.
b. Put 1/2-1 cup of baking soda in a 2 quart size canning jar.
c. Once the water is boiling, I slowly pour the water in the jar. (This will create
a fun chemical reaction. Pour slowly!!!)
d. Allow to cool down.
e. It's ready for use warm or cold.

2. After the soda water is made I move it to my bathroom. I pour about 1/3 of the mixture in a large cup and add warm water from my shower to the mixture. This warms it up for head if it's needed and makes for more water for my thick hair.

3. I wet my hair thoroughly. After it's wet I pout about 1/3 of the cup of water on my scalp. Then I massage the soda water into my scalp to clean it and the hair in the roots

4. After I have massaged the scalp, I pour the rest of the misture through my hair. I run my fingers through a bit to make sure it's saturated all my hair.

5. Rinse!!

That's it. Now, I have long hair and really don't like brushing my hair out with major tangles. Who does? So I started using a lemon juice rinse to help with tangles. I never needed the rinse when I was using shampoo but now I know why.

Here is how I use the lemon juice rinse:

1. Pour 1 -2 T. of lemon juice from concentrate into the large cup of water. Fill the cup up with the water from the shower.

2. I pour the lemon rinse though my hair until it's saturated.

3. Rinse!!!

You don't have to use lemon juice to make this work. I read somewhere that lemon juice is better for those with blonde hair and vinegar (apple cider) is better for darker hair. I have dark blonde hair. The lemon juice worked much better for my hair then the vinegar. The smelled bothered me as well but I have read on other blogs that the user isn't bothered by it. My girls use the lemon as well and it helps alot with geting tangles out of their hair. My mom told me earlier this summer that she used to use the lemon juice rinse on my hair when I was a little girl. I don't remember that though.

This is such a worthwhile change to investigate for yourself. If anything, it keeps you away from the harmful chemicals that is found is regular shampoo and keeps your from having to spend too much on organic shampoos that are healthier. This is a natural, inexpensive way to get get beautiful and very clean hair. It seems so weird and strange.