Saying goodbye....

It's so hard to say goodbye, isn't it?  I said goodbye to "Facebook" today, but it feels so good!  I have spent entirely too much time on there and my poor eyes have seen things that only bring me down.  I need to focus more on the good, the will of God, the do's He has in store for me.  So as I say goodbye to facebook, I am saying "Here I am Lord," "Yes, I am listening."  I hope to have more time to pray and be in God's word, more time for my husband, more time for my kids, more time to blog and sew, more time for the good things in life.  It feels so right to say no to the things in life that bring me down, why can't I say no to more things?  What about facebook was so hurtful and convicting to me?  That I can't answer, I don't know.  Something was just unsettling about it and after a year of it, it was time to cut it loose.  So today I chose to say "Yes" when the Lord called me and tomorrow I pray I do the same.  Maybe He is calling me to clean up my body and heart now that I've tried so hard to clean up my house!  LOL  Maybe after all these years there is still hope for me.  Thank you Jesus.

"And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.

Psalm 39:7

Inches are melting away........

Melting I'm telling you and NO, I am not talking about the snow we had last week!!!  I am over a month into my new lifestyle and loving it!  Today I decided that I needed to check the measurements instead of just relying on the scale, however, the scale is still going in my favor!  The inches are a real eye opener to me!  I have lost 3 1/4" in my waist, bust and hips!!!!!!!!  I lost 4 1/2" in my THIGH alone and 6.61% weight loss!!!  WOW!!!
I strongly encourage you to sit back and evaluate your eating habits, exercise habits and see if God is calling you to change.  He was calling me for a few years now, but I finally listened this time.  I am thankful for His patience with me.  I can't sit back and think about what if I had listened so long ago, I can only be grateful to hearing Him now and Him changing my heart.  Truly the power of the Holy Spirit is convicting and when we heed to Him, we will see His face!  Thank you Lord Jesus for your patience with me, for loving me unconditionally and giving me this newfound love for myself.  It is a gift that only you can give!

So??  How will you choose to live today?  Will you listen to the knocking at your heart and open the door?  I promise if you do, you will NOT regret a day!

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.  Revelation 3:20

Listen

Today was a day of concentration for the kids. They really had to work hard on their school work, as they do everyday, but today was a bit louder in the house. We had laundry beeping every 40 minutes or so, phone calls for mom, groceries to bring in and put away, along with 2 toddlers that were less than cooperative today.

Even in all the noise, they got their work done and did it well! It makes me think of all the noise that I hear during the day, and why I don't hear the Lord when He speaks to me. I don't hear Him because I am not listening for Him. How that makes my heart ache. I want to hear the Lord, I want to be obedient to His word, but time and time again I let myself get too busy in the day to day busyness that I don't listen. It is not that He doesn't hear my cry for help, but I don't wait and listen for His response. His word tells me the He hears me when I cry out....

The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. Psalm 34:17

His word also tells me that He hears....

I call on the LORD in my distress, and he answers me. Psalm 120:1

So, why, if He will do these things, do we not wait and listen for Him? We don't need more time in our day, we need to prioritize our time better.....give unto Him that has so freely given to us! The Lord delights in our time with Him and He will bless us all the more if we obey His commands. Have you listened for God today?

The Holy Spirit......

It's back to school for us next week and with the new school year comes a new schedule. For the first time ever, we will be taking classes outside of the home. I signed the oldest 3 arrows up for a Science class that meets every other Thursday....but that is not the case! The oldest is on one Thursday and the other 2 are on the opposite Thursday, so we will be going out every Thursday for class. I could be frustrated with the scheduling, but I'm not. I am so thankful that the kids can be with other home schooled children and having fun with science. Plus the curriculum is awesome! They will be using Apologia....this is the one curriculum that I have always wanted to do, but been too intimidated by it to try. This way I am not teaching it alone and they can do the experiments with peers their own age.

Not only do we have outside class this year, but we have our usual fall soccer schedule to include, practices and games. So far the middle arrow is the only one officially signed up for soccer. The oldest arrow was signed up for soccer, but it didn't work out so well. She is too old to play in the league we had originally signed with and had to pull her out, despite the reasoning of others that "everyone does it." Yes, they are referring to cheating and lying about kids ages. I was totally dumbfounded at the thought and can't believe that they would even consider it.

As homeschoolers, I realize that we all home school for different reasons, but this is my first encounter of this type. This situation goes against everything I am trying to teach my children, trying to live out in my daily life, and more importantly against God's commands. I can't and won't cheat just because everyone else is doing it! As a sinner I also realize that it's an easy trap to fall into, but for once my guard was up, my conscience alert, and I knew right away it was wrong. I could have just kept my mouth shut and not said anything, but something within me was unsettled....what you ask? I guess the Holy Spirit really is within me and I saw/felt evidence of it yesterday.

I often question whether or not God is pleased with me, does He know me? Will I be one that He never knew? But I am fully confident today, I am confident that I have Him in my heart, He lives within me, He has given me the Holy Spirit to help guide me and for once I was truly listening! I have often thought of Christ today and thought of how he was tempted by Satan, he could have chosen the "easy road", the other path, instead He did the Father's will to save us.......you and me. How I Thank Him today and everyday for going to the cross for me. May my life always shine forth the love of Christ and nothing else.