Disclaimer:  I have been homeschooling our 13-year old son for exactly 5 days.  I am not trying to pass myself off as some sort of expert, in fact, not even as a novice! I do however, believe that I have some things that God has laid on my heart to share. 

If you would like to read how our family came to begin homeschooling, you can read Homeschooling 101 - Part 1 of this topic. 

Here is what I see to be my biggest challenge in homeschooling...

What I am used to:  "Now class, for homework tonight, do math pages 101-102, numbers 1-30.  Show all your work and make sure you label your answers as appropriate."
What my son wants:  To always speak of math in the past tense.  As in, "We have talked enough about math.  Lets put that away and talk about building tree forts."
My goal:  Something in between that will prepare him for the "real" world without shutting off his creativity and at the same time instilling in him a desire to be more like Christ.

One of my greatest worries, especially now that we are out of the elementary school years, is my ability to teach the higher level subjects.  It has been a LONG time since I was in school myself.  While I was generally a good student, I will confess, that there are many things that I learned just long enough to pass the test and move on!  This point was driven home to me just yesterday during his grammar lesson.

We were studying conjunctions.  I felt pretty good about this topic.  I even searched out the old Schoolhouse Rock "Conjunction, Junction" video on the internet for us to watch.  (He only rolled his eyes a little bit.)  When we got back to the actual curriculum, I was good with the first part:  Coordinating Conjunctions - and, but, or, nor, for, yet.  I may not have remembered the "coordinating" part, but I was very comfortable with the rest.  Then we got to Correlative and Subordinating Conjunctions.  Good grief!  Shouldn't those terms at least have been familiar to me?!  My poor son.  We got through it, but it wasn't all that pretty.  Then I had him do some sentences for me orally.  As I already suspected, he knew this stuff intuitively, he did inventive (and funny!) sentences that were exactly what we had just learned.  The problem was that when we started labeling it and boxing it in, it stressed him out and caused him to tune out.

Therein lies the beauty and the challenge of homeschooling.  Here is the one thing that I can tell you, from my own "expert" point of view, it's not deep and scholarly, and it's something that you probably already know:  You know your kid.  (Side note:  Every English teacher that I ever had would have some sort of medical event whenever someone said "kid" when referring to human children.  We would immediately be subjected to an annoying discourse about goat babies and human babies, but there it is.  I said it. I get to be the teacher now, and I'm not taking it back!)  The beauty: You know their strengths and weaknesses. The challenge:  To maximize their strengths and overcome their weaknesses. 

Whatever our issues may be with the public school system, I am sure that there are teachers in every school that truly care about their students and desire to encourage them to succeed.  I also know that no matter how much they desire to successfully educate each child, their time and resources are limited, and they can only do so much.  What is most important is for us to remember that God gave our children to US, and in Proverbs 22:6 He tells US to "Train up a child in the way he should go..." and when we do this He goes on to promise US "...and when he is old, he will not depart from it." 

In the past, I have mostly looked at this verse from the point of view of teaching them Biblical truth.  I believe that we have been striving for that, though we often fall short.  After much prayer, and Scripture searching, I am more and more convinced that this is referring to every aspect of life, including their practical schooling.  I know that is probably a no-brainer for many of you, but I think I might be a slow learner! 

Using Christian-based curriculum is a wonderful way of reinforcing Biblical truths while teaching practical lessons that they will use in their day-to-day life.  For a variety of reasons, we are currently homeschooling only our son for the rest of this school year.  Next year we plan to homeschool our our daughter also.  I have to say, I can't wait to begin homeschooling her as well!  What a wonderful and exciting mission God has given to us!

Introduction:  This is not the blog post that I sat down to write.  When I got started, however, I realized that I had some history to share before I could get to what was really on my heart.  So this is the history part.  If you want to skip over this, you can jump right to Homeschooling 101 - Part 2.

When we ended the 2011-2012 school year, my husband and I both worked outside of the home.  I had a good-paying job, and he had a good job that gave him a lot of flexibility with our children's school schedules.  However, by the time we started the 2012-2013 school year, I had been permanently laid-off from my job and our lives became very different.  Very different indeed, but 99% better all the way around!  We have not solved the obvious financial impact of me losing my job, but I will say that God has blessed us more abundantly than we could ever have imagined!

Now back to the education portion of this blog.  When we started the 2012-2013 school year we were happy with our small school system, and our children's experience had been overall pretty positive.  Both our 13-year old son, and our 11-year old daughter were in middle school, enjoying decent grades and were moderately active in sports.  Because of our income situation, we have looked at many different options, one of which included moving further south.  The idea of finding employment, affordable housing and a nice school system all in one central location was more than we hoped to consider, so we talked to our children about the possibility of homeschooling.  They did not hate the idea, which was a surprise and a relief.  At this time, we do not feel that God has given us a push in the direction of moving, so for now, we are letting that idea rest.

Recently, we learned of an opportunity to send our children to our church's Christian school, and my husband and I were pretty excited about that prospect.  While we have been over-all content with our public school experience, we are well aware that public schooling seeks to raise good citizens, not good Christians.  We questioned if this was really where are children should be getting their education.  When we talked to our children about this opportunity, we were shocked at their response.  They know many of the children at the Christian school, and they like them.  But their preference?  Homeschooling.

So after much prayer, and a variety of things-we-should-have-expected-but-didn't-like middle school experiences, we made the jump into the homeschool world.  We clearly see this is something that we should have done a long time ago.  We are trying to move forward without regretting our choices in the past and make the best of the remaining school time that we have with our children!

To say that we have a few things going on in our lives right now would be quite an understatement!  Ever since I lost my job when the company that I worked for closed last August, things have been, shall we say, interesting!

You might think that I have a lot of time on my hands while I am searching for a new job, but that just isn't how it's worked out!  We repainted most of the interior of our house, I started back to college (as did my husband), and we are going to begin homeschooling at the beginning of April (which is a story all it's own!). The job search has been pretty dismal, and with the current economy, I don't see any changes on the horizon! 

We have been a two-income family since we got married almost 15-years ago, with the exception of a couple of maternity leaves.  When I was laid-off last year, we really didn't know how things were going to work.  If you had asked me then, if I would expect to be where we are today, I would have had to stop laughing to answer your question!

Let me just say that it is not possible for us to be financially where we are today.  If you looked at the budget, and our reduced income, you would have clearly seen that we were going to be in BIG trouble!  Yet here we are!  Between several unexpected blessings, my unemployment benefits and  a little known housing grant from our state, we are doing ok.  Of course, "Ok" doesn't seem like it can last forever.  Grants don't last forever.  Unemployment benefits don't last forever.  I should be getting nervous, but I'm not!  Why?  God has already blessed us more abundantly than I could ever have imagined!

As I write this, with so many projects and opportunities looming in our near future, I am not fearful, only excited!  We have a few big decisions that we are praying about right now.  Do we continue to live where we do? Do I do some work from home to bring in extra income?  Does my husband look for a second, or a different, job?  All big things, and they are all on our minds as one big question mark! 

But God is good, and He has given us many promises that we can count on, but here are two that God has placed before me:

"Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not." ~ Jeremiah 33:3

"Now unto him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us." ~ Ephesions 3:20

So right now, I am calling on God to show me things that I can't even imagine!  I am excited to see what He can do that is above all that I can ask or think!  I don't know what our future holds, but I know Who holds our future!

I started the New Year in a quiet house (the kids stayed at Grandma and Grandpa's last night, and the husband was not yet stirring).  I sat down to my simple breakfast and started to say grace.  What started off as a simple prayer of thanks for my food turned into a conversation with God.  I thanked Him for my amazing husband and wonderful children.  I thanked Him for all of the blessings that He has given to me, knowing that I don’t deserve any of it. He reminded me of where I once was, and I reflected on how I got where I am today.

I asked for forgiveness, yet again (though once was enough for God), for the time that I wasted in my early twenties.  By the world’s standards I was doing okay, but by God’s standards, I was a mess.  Even though I was saved, I was not going to church very often, not cracking open my Bible, and not really giving any thought to what God thought about my life. 

During all this time though, God was still thinking of me.  Waiting for me.  Lovingly.  Patiently.  Longingly.  He was whispering to me words that I don’t think I consciously heard at first.  I started reading my Bible again. I got back into church again.  I quietly began serving Him.  I started putting my focus back on things above.  Not long after that, I met my husband-to-be.  Three years later, we were married.  A year after that, our son was born.  Not quite two years after that, our daughter was born. 

Yes, there have been trials, tribulations and difficulties.  But wound through it all…oh, the blessings!  During my prayer, I thanked God for all of these blessings.  For all of the things that I do not deserve.  For Jesus dying on the cross to take the punishment for my sins, so that I could accept Him as my Savior and join Him in Heaven one day.  For loving me when I wasn’t even thinking about Him.

After my prayer, I opened my devotional book and then read the verses that went along with today’s devotion.  As always, God’s timing is perfect.  These are the verses I needed today:

 “Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins.  So foolish was I, and ignorant:  I was as a beast before Thee.  Nevertheless I am continually with Thee: Thou hast holden me by my right hand.  Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.  Whom have I in Heaven but Thee?  And there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee.  My flesh and my heart faileth:  but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.” ~ Psalm 73:21-26

No matter where you are in your life, God is thinking about you.  Waiting for you.  If you are not saved, He is waiting for you to take that step.  If you are saved, He is there, lifting you up.  If you are not living for Him, He is waiting for you to seek Him out.  No matter how close your relationship is with God, there is always one step closer that you can take.  He is there.  Loving you.

Ok, show of hands...how many of you feel you are truly carrying out the directions in this verse?  Anybody? Anybody? Bueller?  Well, I don't know about you, but I know I feel like I fail miserably in this area!  There is such power in prayer, how can we NOT use it?  Why do we often pray as a last resort, rather than our first line of defense?  With Bible wisdom like that found in John 14:13-14 to show us we need to pray, we can't go wrong!  Jesus is speaking here:

"And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it."

That is a pretty amazing promise!  I definitely want to be on board with THAT!  I love my husband, son and daughter dearly, wouldn't you think it would be easy for me to remember to pray regularly for each of them?  Alas, I am terribly lax in this area!  For awhile, I used the calendar on my phone to remind me to pray for specific people.  This worked well for awhile, but I found myself praying the same redundant prayers each time.  I'm pretty sure that is not what Jesus was talking about in those verses!

I kind of hit on a new plan a couple of weeks ago while I was folding laundry.  I was home alone, and as I started folding pieces of laundry for each family member, my thoughts started turning to each one individually.  Gradually, my thoughts started transforming more into prayers.  I paused for a moment, relishing this new idea that was forming.  Why not make a habit of praying for each family member (including myself!) as I folded the laundry each week?  So this is my new prayer plan, and so far, I'm finding that I like it a lot.

I will admit, that towards the end of the laundry loads, I start to struggle with fresh prayers for each one.  Sometimes specific articles will bring to mind specific prayers for certain things.  Here are a couple of examples:

Socks = Prayers that we will not be led astray and that we will stay away from places that are not pleasing to God.
Undergarments=Prayers for purity as our children grow and mature, for their future spouses and for purity in our own marriage.

I pray for health, wisdom, discretion, and boldness to witness.  I also pray for specific needs or struggles that each of us is burdened with.  Another idea that I have considered, but haven't applied yet, is praying by color.  Each color could represent a specific type of prayer:  White for purity prayers, red for prayers regarding salvation/witnessing, etc.  I think the opportunities are endless!

How we remember to pray, or what method we use to bring those prayers to mind isn't nearly as important as it is that we just get to praying!  We need to pray BEFORE there is a problem! We need to pray to glorify God!  We need to pray without ceasing!  If any of you has any other unusual ideas that get you praying, I would LOVE it if you would share your thoughts, leave me a comment!

For those of you who are married ladies, I have something on my heart that I would like to share with you! It's about, well.....sex.  Ahem.  Yes, there it is, I'm going to share some thoughts about sex.  Now, for those of you who know me personally, you might feel the urge to stop reading right now, but I promise I am not going to get graphic, share any dark secrets or reveal any intimate couple details!  I promise! 

But I do have some thoughts that I just really want to share based on a discussion that we had recently at our Ladies' Bible study.  The Bible study is called "Woman to Woman, Life Principles from Titus 2".  I am enjoying the Bible study, which you can find in my Amazon Store.  I have to say I don't always agree with the author's perspective, but she reveals some great Bible truths in this study. 

The discussion that started me thinking was on Chapter 5, 'Loving Husbands'.  As we reviewed the Bible verses, someone asked the question, "But what if sometimes you don't "want" to be intimate with your husband?  What if you don't feel like it?"  Here are the verses in question:

"Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency." ~ 1 Corinthians 7:3-5

Well.  Yikes.  Obviously, we aren't supposed to deny ourselves from our husbands (nor he us).  In fact, these verses warn us that you could be creating a situation encouraging temptation if you do!  So, what DO you do if you just aren't "in the mood"? After some discussion, the final consensus was that it is all in how you handle it. 

One suggestion was that we should tell him the truth (always!).  Maybe it's been a terrible day, and you don't feel up to it tonight, but suggest tomorrow night instead.  Since your husband loves and respects you, he will likely be understanding and enjoy the idea of planning something in advance.  Make sure you don't keep putting him off!  See the aforementioned warning!

Another lady mentioned that sometimes as busy wives, mothers, and whatever-else-we-have-on-our-plates, we might need to spend some time in mental preparation.  Besides thinking about the obvious (which shall go unmentioned here!), think about your husband's attributes, what draws you to him?  What do you love about him?  What about him makes you all squishy inside?  Think on these things!

I thought these were great ideas, and loving ways to handle such a delicate situation. Certainly much better than a stiff, "Not on your life!" or "Are you kidding me? Do you know what kind of day I've had!?" or the old "I've got a headache." standby.  (Sidenote:  Research has shown that sex may actually RELIEVE some headaches.  Endorphines and all.  Just sayin'.)



So here is my take on the situation.  I needed to think about this in terms that I could relate to.  Interestingly, food was the first thing that came to mind.  So here goes:  Cooking.  Sometimes I get excited about what I have chosen to cook for dinner.  Especially if it is a new recipe.  I like the anticipation of seeing how it turns out and my husband's reaction to it.  Sometimes it doesn't go like I planned,  but sometimes it turns out fabulous!

Often though, I cook because I need to, because we need to eat.  I may make something that I've made many times before, but it's still good.  It still nourishes us, and I still enjoy my husband's reaction to it.  He likes food, and he's really very easy to please, and he always appreciates whatever I cook. Once it's all said and done, I enjoy the meal as well, even if it might be routine.

Now, sometimes, well, sometimes I don't feel like cooking at all.  In fact, sometimes, I just flat out don't want to, but I do. I may make something quick.  It might even just be sandwiches.  I'm not actually all that crazy about sandwiches (I always prefer a nice hot meal); but my husband doesn't mind them.  He likes them even.  Once I have made the sandwich, I appreciate how simple it was to prepare.  It even usually turns out tastier than I anticipated. But in the end, the best part is that that even though it was a simple meal, my husband still enjoys it and appreciates it. 

Well now, there you go.  Take this as you will, but it helped to put things into perspective for me! 



I would love it if you would leave a comment!  If you do, though, please be kind, this is a little out of my normal bloggy comfort zone!

I'm not sure where to start this, so I'm going to start with an excerpt from a blog that I wrote back in June of 2011:

I feel like I'm at a bit of a crossroads with work, and I've really been struggling with my role there.  I've also been struggling with my time with my family.  Trying to balance the two, while keeping the focus on my family has been a challenge. So, if you wouldn't mind, I would greatly appreciate some prayer about all of this.

Interestingly enough, I got laid off about six weeks ago.  When I tell people this they are very sympathetic, which I greatly appreciate.  But I feel bad that they feel bad, because I'm not sure that I feel bad!  Well, the money part is definitely a concern, but I have to say, I LOVE the extra time that I have for my family. 

Let me tell you though, I had this little picture in my head of how things were going to be.  I imagined my day would look something like this:  Send the husband off to work, take the kids to school, go for a walk, do some laundry, do a little baking, go visit some friends and/or shut-ins, make dinner, have the house all sparkly clean and greet my little family with a big cheery smile when they got home!  Oh, and I was going to write tons of quality blog and recipe posts!



I'm not sure that I can explain how my days REALLY went, but they didn't look a bit like that.  I managed to accomplish things like laundry, helped a couple of friends and did some part-time work.  Somehow everything happened all at once, and I wash rushing here and there, dropping the husband and kids off and picking them up.  One day I had to leave the house seven times, five of which were all within a three-hour period!  I could not get a grip on the present, let alone make plans for the future! 

If you can imagine the scene in "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" where the Grinch is complaining about the Whos and their cheerful Christmas celebrations, he says, "There's one thing I hate, all the noise, noise, noise, noise!"  That's how my life felt those first few weeks of unemployment, it was full of noise, noise, noise, NOISE!  I had tons of paperwork to fill out, jobs to apply for, decisions to make, and praying to do, but I couldn't even hear myself think.  My husband and I were discussing options and praying for God's direction, but if God spoke to us during those weeks, there is no way we could have heard Him! 

So, back to that left-the-house-seven-times-in-one-day day, it happened to be the same day that I had lunch with a lovely lady from church, and I also attended a ladies' Bible study in the evening.  Those two events had a huge impact on me and my noisy world.  My lunch discussion, and the Bible study reminded me of a very powerful weapon that we all have access to in order to do battle in these times.  The Bible.  The Sword of the Spirit.  You see, Satan does not want us to succeed.  He will use everything he has to prevent us from hearing God's voice, and he will be certain to make things as noisy as possible to keep us from knowing God's will for our lives. But he is not invincible!

Jesus used this weapon during His temptation in the wilderness, and we should use it anytime that we know that Satan is fighting against us. 

"Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." ~ Matthew 4:10

I can tell you that I first realized the power of this weapon when my children were about five and three years old.  Our family had been attending church regularly, but not Sunday School.  My husband and I both felt that we should be going to Sunday School, but we found ourselves in the midst of a huge battle.  Every Sunday morning there was wailing and gnashing of teeth.  The kids fought us and dawdled every step of the way! Oh we got to Sunday School all right, but I'm not sure how much we got out of it at that point!  One morning, and I can remember this as clear as if it was yesterday, I was standing in the hallway, already exhausted from fighting to get the kids ready for Sunday School.  I suddenly realized what we were really up against and said (Probably only in my head, but that doesn't matter), "Satan, we ARE going to Sunday School, and you just need to GET AWAY and let us do it!"  I know it may sound crazy, but things changed from that point on! 

A couple of weeks ago, when I remembered that Bible verse, that's exactly what I did.  I can tell you our life is much quieter now.  I can see a path, though it's not quite clear yet.  We are still discussing our options and praying for God's will and direction for our family; but I can hear an answer now, "Wait."  I believe that God is telling us it's not quite time to jump forward into the next thing.  "Wait."  If we had started making decisions based on how we felt, or what seemed to make sense at the moment, it's possible that it would have been disastrous for our family, and hampered our service for the Lord.  "Wait."  I truly am enjoying this extra time that I can spend on my family.  I love that I can do more for them, and not in such a rushed manner.  I can't wait to find out what God has planned for us down the road! 

I am not really very politically minded.  That's not to say that I don't care about politics and the impact that they have on our country, state and municipalities; but the whole political arena is so murky and difficult to navigate, that I would rather just avoid it altogether.  Though I don't think that is how we, as Christians, should deal with politics.

This year's upcoming presidential election seems to be so very pivotal for the United States that I will admit that it is heavy on my mind.  I am very concerned about the current state of our great country, and I have to wonder if God's hand of mercy is slowly being pulled back from our land.  If this is the case, we are in for some very bad times indeed. 

How can we get back God's blessing?  I think the Bible is very clear on this:

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." ~ II Chronicles 7:14

We need to humble ourselves before God, turn away from our sins, pray and seek Him.  Our glorious country needs Divine intervention, but we are drawing farther and farther away from God.  Each of us needs to take a close look at ourselves and realize that we are all guilty. There are no big sins or little sins, only sin. (James 2:10). We need to dive into God's Word to know Him better, to draw closer to Him, and to know His will for our lives. How can we know God's will for us?  It's actually pretty simple when you read the following verse:

"He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" ~ Micah 6:8

Have you every asked the question, "What does God want me to do?!?!"?  I know I have many times!  Take another look at Micah 6:8, I don't think it could be more clear!  God has showed us what is good and right. He requires us to be fair, to be merciful and to walk humbly with Him.  How do we walk with Him?  Through Bible study, prayer, and service!  That seems like a pretty simple recipe to follow, doesn't it? Yet we still struggle!  We need to focus on a closer walk with Him so that we can help to bring God's blessing back to our country.

Of course, regardless of the outcome of the presidential election, or any other election, for that matter, there is one more thing that we need to do.  We need to pray for our leaders, for all those who are in authority in every branch of government.  We need to pray first and foremost for their salvation.  We also need to pray for God to lead, guide and direct them.  In addition, we need to pray that they strive to do God's will and to do what is best for their country, state or municipality; rather than what is best for them. 

"I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty." ~ II Timothy 2:1-2

We need to start praying now!  Will you join me?

I recently read an article about a mom potentially losing custody of her young daughter after dressing her like Dolly Parton for a child beauty pageant that aired on TLC's "Toddlers & Tiaras".  I think I have more questions than answers after reading that article.  I do not understand this whole culture, and I do not understand how mothers can subject their daughters to such an atmosphere.

I was not really aware of these child pageants until the news of Jonbenet Ramsey's murder in 1996.  The idea that mothers would dress and make up their daughters as if they were adults and enter them into pageants was appalling to me.  The news of this young child's death was so disturbing that I thought that in the wake of the negative publicity these types of contests might become less popular.  I don't know if they have become less popular, but they certainly still exist. In fact, since TLC is airing "Toddlers & Tiaras", it seems they are still a part of our mainstream culture.

As parents, it is our responsibility to encourage our children to grow and act in ways that please the Lord.  We need to be very careful not to encourage (whether by a chuckle, or by overtly participating in) behavior that does not glorify our Father in Heaven.  As mothers, it is so very important that we not only model behavior that pleases God, but also to be careful that we are thoughtfully teaching our daughters what is right and modest. 

Our culture is teaching our girls to flaunt their bodes, and to compete with other girls for, what should be, unwanted attention. When this starts at such a young age, and when the mother is encouraging, or even driving, the behavior; what must this do to a young girl as she becomes a young woman?  How will she know to spend time contemplating the woman that God wants her to be if she is too busy worrying about what outfit or immodest behavior will attract the most young men?  How will she know which young man God has prepared for her if she only spends time with those that are not the one God has intended for her?  How will she feel about herself if she makes bad decisions based on actions that are "popular" in her age group?  Will she feel unworthy of love that cherishes her for her beautiful spirit rather than her beautiful appearance?  You see?  So many questions!

Shortly after reading the article about the child pageant, I read a very thoughtful article on femininity and modesty.  This blog post is the polar opposite of the pageant article.  I wanted to share it with you because I believe this post reflects what we should strive for as women, and as mothers raising daughters.  It shows that we should seek to please God, and our husbands.  It shows that we should seek to be modest and feminine.  Ultimately, it shows how we should be as mothers, and that we should pass that on to our daughters.  I am so sad for the both the mother and daughter participants in these child pageants.  For the mothers because they may never feel the joy of seeing her daughter grow into a beautiful woman of God.  For the daughters because they may not ever know how to be loved and cherished by a wonderful man of God.  I pray that these beauty contests will soon fall by the wayside!

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." ~ Proverbs 22:6

"Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price." ~ 1 Peter 3:3-4

This happened today.  Sigh.  My son asked why things like this were happening to us.  Why God is in control, but still lets bad things happen.  I think we all ask this question at some point, and it's not easy to answer.  This though?  This one is easy.

I tried to remind him that this was just an inconvenience.  In fact, since he is currently in the basement, playing video games with a friend, I don't think HE'S all that inconvenienced! 

Here are just a few of the things that I thought about that actually make this a BLESSING for us!

• I wasn't 10 miles from home with three kids in the van (2 of my own, one loaner) and stuck on the road
  
• It didn't cost a fortune to fix
• It was fixed the same day
• I didn't leave my kids stranded at a park for a cross country practice because I couldn't get back there
• I wasn't stuck on a major highway
  
• It wasn't at night
• It was in our driveway
• We are close enough to my husband's work that he could ride his bike there instead of having to find a ride
  
• There is an awesome auto shop nearby run by a Christian family who picked up the van AND gave me a ride to the shop when it was finished!

In fact, if you have to have a flat tire, this is the way to do it!  Yes, it was inconvenient.  Yes, it cost a little money.  But we are all safe.  We were not out of a vehicle (we only have one!) when we really needed it, AND I got the topic for another blog that I can share with my children as another example of how good God is to us!  God is so good, all of the time!

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose." ~ Romans 8:28

"I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.  My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.  He will not suffer thy foot to be moved; He that keepeth thee will not slumber.  Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.  The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.  The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.  The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: He shall preserve thy soul.  The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore." ~ Psalm 121:1-8

Thanks to my sister for reminding me about this passage today!  It was exactly what I needed!