Truth IS stranger than fiction!

In January I started reading through the Bible beginning with Genesis.  I am currently reading the book of Ezra in the Old Testament.  Have you read the Old Testament lately?  Some of it can be a little dull, I must admit, but so many of the stories and prophesies are absolutely fascinating!  I love how I learn new things each time I read through the Bible, and how different things pop out at me.  As I explained this concept to my kids, my 3 year old was trying to understand.  He said,  "Oh, God changes the words in the Bible every time you read it!?"  Nope, the words have stayed the same.

Here is what got my attention as I was reading just now:
Ezra 1:1-2 (and then grab your Bible and keep on reading!)
In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing:  "This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah."

When I think of the time before Jesus came to earth, I always think about God communicating primarily with the Jewish people.  Silly me.  God is so much bigger than that!  Ezra is a great account of how God also interacted with those who were not Jewish.  Cyrus let over 42,000 Israelite people return to Jerusalem to rebuild God's temple.  When their work was hindered by other people, God directed king Darius to find Cyrus' decree in the archives and to write a new decree stating that the work on the temple should continue and that it would be funded by his kingdom.  God did not choose even king David to build his temple, but he chose to work through Cyrus and Darius.  This reminds me to pray for the leaders of our country and the leaders of other countries.  God can use even the most unlikely candidates to do his will.

This is just one of many amazing accounts that are recorded in the Bible.  Whether you believe that the Bible is true or not, whether you have read it a hundred times, or never, I strongly encourage you to pick up a Bible each day and read some of it.  I firmly believe that the Bible is true and accurate and I find it so interesting to ponder the world's history in relation to God's role in it.  If you are reading this and do not have a Bible, please let me know and I will be happy to send one to you.

Keeping up with the Joneses

Today I was thinking about the phrase "keeping up with the Joneses."  I am not at all interested in keeping up with the Joneses.  I don't worry about social status, material wealth, whether or not I'm wearing the right clothes or driving the right car.  These things just aren't important in life.  But today I realized that I do worry about "keeping up with the Einsteins" so to speak.  Not for myself exactly (my days of academic excellence are in the past!), but where my kids are concerned I tend to focus on their academic pursuits and successes.  Gaining knowledge, gaining skills, how they compare to others their age...

These things are important in life to some extent.  The knowledge and skills that is, not the comparisons to others!  We can use our education and skills to help make our world a better place.  But I need to be careful not to focus on the acquisition of knowledge.   My kids and I don't need to keep up with the Joneses or the Einsteins of this world.  We just need to run after Jesus and do our best to keep up with Him!

Santa?

Last year my kids asked me if Santa was real.  Wanting to always tell them the truth, I let them know that he was pretend.  They decided they want to believe in Santa anyway!  Pretty funny.

Today, my 5 1/2 year old daughter said to me, "Mommy, I don't believe in Santa anymore.  Well, actually I do.  But when I turn six, I'll stop believing in him."

Intentions

It has been a frustrating day.  Did anyone else have one of those?  It was the kind of day where I was tired and in lots of pain.  The kids were fighting and misbehaving and I wasn't as patient as I should have been.  It left me frustrated with them, but much more frustrated with myself. 

I often become focused on all the good intentions that I have or have had, and how I've failed to follow through on so many of them.  It is frustrating.  And even more so when I think how that might impact my kids.  When I establish a rule or habit for them, follow through with it for a couple weeks, and then mostly forget about it, what am I teaching them?  When I set a goal for myself and fail to reach it, fail to even keep trying, what am I teaching them?

Part of the problem lies in my desire for perfection.  I tend to set my expectations too high.  The remainder of the problem comes from giving up completely when I realize I have run out of the energy needed to live up to my own expectations.

Dear Jesus,  Please help me to seek you and your will first.  Please give me wisdom to determine what goals you want me to set, which you want me to work on now, and which ones are for later.  Please forgive me for my impatience today with my kids and with myself.  Thank you for your patience with me.  Please help me to train my children in your ways, with love and grace.  Amen.

Giving Thanks

I have so, so much to be thankful for!  When I stop and consider the blessings in my life, I am humbled and amazed.  I often pause and wonder, why me?  Why am I so immensely blessed when others are struggling through such hard things in this life?  Praying daily that I will use my blessings to bless others.

Today I am thankful for Jesus Christ (His love and grace), God's amazing creation, my husband Joel, my children, and all the rest of my wonderful family and friends.  I am thankful for freedom, for the opportunity to be a stay home mom, for a home, for our yard and garden, for food to eat, clean water that is safe to drink and easy to access, electricity, books, and so much more!

A poem by George Elliot

"If you sit down at set of sun
And count the acts that you have done,
And, counting find
One, self-denying deed,
one word
That eased the heart of him
who heard
One glance most kind
That fell like sunshine
where it went -
Then you may count that day well spent.
But if, through all the livelong day,
You've cheered no heart, by yea or nay -
If, through it all
You've nothing done that you can trace
That brought the sunshine to one's face -
No act most small
That helped some soul and nothing cost -
Then count that day as worse than lost."
 - George Elliot

Loving Homeschool!

The kids were begging for school today.  I explained that it is a Saturday and usually kids don't have school on Saturday.  They insisted they wanted school... we had a full and fun day of lessons.  Really, how can I say no to kids who are begging to learn!?  We enjoyed reading The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton, "Tabby Cat" read a story to us, we did a couple math lessons, and a science study of trees.  Fortunately I had done all my lesson plans for Monday on Friday night!  Now to make new lesson plans for Monday.