Butter and Honey

BFS 103: It Keeps Going , , and going , , and going, , (Housework)

Memory verse: Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.  1 Timothy 4:15

Assignment: How do you keep energized so you can get it all done? bouncy music? treat it like a workout? Do you use a schedule?, a housekeeping binder system? luck of the draw system?.. or is this an area where you need encouragement? Do you need God’s help to keep order and beauty in your dwelling place? Take this week to tell us how You diligently keep going with your housekeeping chores.

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This is one area - Homekeeping - where I need divine help, and thankfully I get it time and time and time again.  I am not a very good housekeeper naturally, and if left to my own devices, things can get pretty bad.  Thankfully, and this follows along perfectly with our subject of last week - serving and obeying the voice of the Holy Spirit - greater is He that is in me (my help, my strength, my Rock, and my Savior) than he that is in the world (my selfish, ease and pleasure seeking-self).  I do have a general plan or outline for my homekeeping tasks, even if I do not always follow them.  Day to day the best thing I can do is to rise early, start the day on the right foot, and then just keep going , and going ;-)

Over the summer, I followed the prompting of the Holy Spirit and did some major cleaning (you can read it at my old blog HERE) and just as we are to spur one another on to love and good works, so my cleaning in one area spurred me on to continue and clean out other areas.   Don't get me wrong, I still have a few areas of my home that have their peculiar piles of "stuff", but they are decidedly smaller, and most particularly, out of general view.  I don't worry over them - what good will that do me? - I just do the next thing there is to do whether its laundry, ironing, kitchen, bathroom, cooking, schooling, or time together, and know that all I really need to do is be ready and available and listening for the leading of the Holy Spirit.

A quick example of how perfectly good the LORD is happened yesterday. Husband had asked me to dust in the bedroom.  (I need to add that husband does not have a regular time that he comes home every day.  It could be a little after lunch or it could be when dinner is over and cleaned up.)  The day went along with school, outside class, and little chores here and there.  I hadn't thought about dusting AT ALL!  Later in the afternoon, the very brief thought comes that I had better dust.  I grab the cloth and polish and dust.   Not two minutes went by and husband was walking in the door.  I literally cannot count how many times that same scene has happened over and over again. 

I don't know what's going to happen during the day.  All I know is that I need to be quiet within my spirit and ready for whatever the LORD calls me to do.

BFS 102: Try It - You'll Like It! (Acts of Service)

Memory Verse for this week:   Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart. Psalm 26:2

Assignment: This week I want you to do something for someone else. Do you have a neighbor that needs you? Do you know an elderly person or single mom that could use you? What about the homeless? Pack even one single sack lunch and give it to someone in need. Do you know someone in blogland that is struggling right now and could use a note from you about how much you care? Pray about this. Let God put on your heart the perfect thing for you to do for another. Now, here is the kicker…I DO NOT want you to post about what you do. Whatever you choose to do is between you and God. Our rewards are in heaven, not here on earth, Mathew 6:1. I want you to post about how doing this “act” made you feel. Was stepping out of your comfort zone in this area as hard as you thought it might be? Could you see the gratefulness in their eyes? Hear it in their voice? Tell it from their typing? Do you think you might make doing things like this a more regular part of your time?  If this is an area that you are already active in, tell us how you feel this has impacted your life.

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Essentially, this is about listening to the Holy Spirit's prompting.  For years I used my shyness as an excuse to ignore (disobey) that voice.  The last few years, however, it has become harder to disobey it and so I have found myself repeatedly stepping outside of my comfort zone.  It takes many forms: calling or sending a card to someone that is on my heart; simple assistance at the grocery store; stopping and offering help to someone along the way; an apology, words of encouragement, or a quiet good deed to a loved one in my home.

It is easy to see the bright face or hear the sing-song surprise or thankfulness in their voice and know that you've done something unexpected and made an impact.  But what is even better is the joy from within when I know that I have pleased my LORD and Creator by obedience through a small act of physical service. 

BFS 101: What a Relief! (Homeschooling Struggles)

Assignment: This would be a good week to tell about your worst struggles with a lifestyle of homeschooling.  Tell about something you’ve struggled with and how God’s mercies gave us the strength to get past it.  Also, share any curriculum/homeschool methods that have been a relief to you, i.e., a particular Teacher’s Manual or Homeschooling method that’s been easier for your family.  Talk about how you felt when the burden was lifted and Oh, What a Relief it is!

This is a fairly easy one for me because I have struggled with the same thing over and over.  It comes with a different coat every now and then, but underneath it's the same old struggle.

My biggest struggle as a homeschooling mother has nothing to do with homeschooling. per se.  It is not the schooling part that is my issue.  To be painfully honest, I am lazy and selfish and will drop something useful or that needs doing without a moments hesitation in order to fulfill a selfish pleasure.   This is all bad enough, but with homeschooling I have three pairs of eyes watching me do this. 

My most heartfelt desire has been to train these children that God had entrusted to us to seek service; to deny self in order to bring glory to the LORD; to give way to a brother and think how you may help others; to work when you don't really want to for the simple reason that it needs to be done; to work without complaining and instead be focused upon the LORD and his goodness and mercy.

(I have 15 minutes to finish this before I have to stop and wake the chidlren for the day.  Can I do it?)

The hardest part of homeschooling is that I am the living example that my children will follow, for better or for worse.  I can speak and encourage and implore and plead till I'm blue and crying, but if my words and my actions are not in agreement, then what good does it do?  Ouch!

Some days are better, some days are not so good, some days are nearly perfect.  It is all dependent upon how willing am I to lay down MY life and MY wants in order to speak the words of life AND live it as I walk through the day.

Quickly I will say that as much as I was dreading this week of schooling with outside classes starting and a schedule that has us out of the house every single day of the week by 12:00 or 12:30 p.m., the LORD was so wonderful and gently led me down a different path this weekend in order to prepare me and through me the children.  We are still out of the house everyday, but my fear and panic of undone laundry, a messy home, and abandoned school books -- has instead turned to joy and praises to the LORD for meals that are planned and ready, laundry washed and put away, a home that is in order, and school work that is finished and the books put away before we need to leave for that day's event.

 Picture ideas: That never ending, hard to keep clean closet (shelves), the children doing school work you didn’t know if they would ever get a grasp on, your schedule or organizer with plans for the day

This is my picture idea for the week.  My younger son, who just turned 13 -- I was debating whether to start him in this or not.  I even asked older son his opinion -- he knows the text, he knows the work that is required -- how do you think he will do if he starts this?  We were both of the same opinion, that he is capable of it, but it may be a bit much reading for him.  Well, I dropped it for the time being and thought maybe we'll come back to it in a few months and see at that time.  Younger son, who didn't know that any of this was going on, came to me not even 15 minutes later and asked if he could start General Science.  Can you picture the stunned look on my face?  Can you see the LORD smiling? 

Yes, dear, of course you can do General Science if you'd like to.  :-)

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My Scripture for this week is a long one - but so small compared to the abundant blessings that I have witnessed this week.

 I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.   Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.   Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.   One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.   I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.   And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness.   They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.   The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.   The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.   All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee.   They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power;   To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.   Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.   The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.   The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season.   Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.   The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.   The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.   He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.   The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.   My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.

Psalm 145

BFS 100: Oh What a Feeling!

Assignment: Take time this week to write about YOU and your feelings of trials and triumphs with homeschooling.  Touch on when you first heard about the concept of home schooling and whether you tip-toed into the idea or just jumped in and never looked back.  Share your schooling as a child and how you compare it to what your goals are for your children.

Good Morning!  I'm so glad to be starting Blogger Friend School with everyone!  And what a nice way to start - sharing about a  subject I thoroughly enjoy!

I also like that we have a memory verse each week.  Wonderful, Wonderul!

Touch on when you first heard about the concept of home schooling :   I first heard of homeschooling when an older friend and her husband decided to homeschool their daughter.  That friend soon became my sister-in-law.  I was already pretty non-mainstream in that I believed in no circumcision, breastfeeding, co-sleeping and babywearing shortly followed by very limited vaccinations.  Homeschooling just seemed to be the natural progression.  Why wouldn't we homeschool?  I also have to give the LORD a huge praise here -- throughout our marriage there have been many, many things that husband and I disagreed on but homeschooling has always been the one thing that we see eye to eye on.   That same sister-in-law paved the way for homeschooling within a lot of my husband's family.  Growing up and seeing her example, two neices and then a nephew and his wife have all homeschooled their children.

And whether you tip-toed into the idea or just jumped in and never looked back:  No tip-toeing!  There was never a thought to do anything different - this was a whole heart/all the way thing!

Share your schooling as a child and how you compare it to what your goals are for your children:  My own school experience as a child was indifferent, at best.  I remember a group of girls, me included, being chased by a group of boys on the Kindergarten playground and a fly landing in my mouth.  I remember sharing a desk with Gilbert in 2nd grade - who turned out to be a big football hero in our high school years.  I remember a fun substitute teacher in 4th grade, my sixth grade teacher reading Zane Grey novels to us on Friday afternoons, and the teasing and tormenting that went on in Jr. High.  I remember my nervousness at entering high school and the silly, useless, and a few times shameful things that I became involved in.   I remember cutting class to spend time with a drop out boyfriend who lived near the school.  I remember being thankful that I had the credits to graduate -- it wouldn't have surprised me if they had said "We're sorry, you'll have to attend a summer session and gain some credits before we can give you your diploma."

The only actual schoolwork that I remember is a Physiology class that I took as a Junior, loved it, worked hard, and actually got an A.  That and French class.  The rest of school may as well never have happened.  I graduated without a plan, without any clue what I was good at, and without any kind goal/direction/vision for what I wanted my life to be like.  But saddest of all is that I only had a 'lip-service' relationship with my Savior and no Strength or character to see me through the next few tumultuous years.

So how does this influence my schooling of my own children now?  While I realize that each one of us comes to the Father on his own, I am making sure that I do my part to give them a thorough grounding in the Word, how our enemy seeks to trap us and deceive us, and putting on the armor of God.  We take the time to learn and sing hymns of old, written by faithful Christians in centuries past who struggled with weakness and loss and yet wrote the most beautiful praises to our LORD.  We read daily together as a family, each taking a turn.  We spend time with each other in work, in school and fun.  While there are always the basics of school that need to be done - reading, math, handwriting, spelling - I do as much as possible to take their own personal interests into account when getting a new curriculum or when ordering books.  I want them to have a desire to learn and to recognize early that learning is enjoyable and profitable for life and soul.

Write about YOU and your feelings of trials and triumphs with homeschooling:  I love homeschooling.  I enjoy being with my children all day long.  There are days of frustration and shortened patience, but usually they are fleeting and we re-focus upon what is true and pure and just.   I delight in watching them learn something new.  It renews my sometimes waning spirit  to hear their words of gratitude and joy, to receive precious childhood notes of "I Love Mom," and to feel their warm arms around my neck, their soft cheeks against mine.  Those are the things that I am storing up in my heart. 

The memory verse for this week is Eph. 4:19, KJV

Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

My own verse that I am sharing is:  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.   For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.   And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.   1 John 2:15-17

Now for a picture.  There was no Box Day this year because we are simply continuing on with our currriculum that we already have.  There was no First Day -- well okay, there was, but it was over a month ago. No picture.  :-)  We don't have a Schoolroom - just our dining table.  But we DO have some nice new shelves to keep all of our school books on!

I'd be more than happy to answer any questions about what we have on our shelves -- Just Ask!

And be sure to go HERE to see more participants in Blogger Friend School!

Make A Child Smile: Blogger Friend School #19

This assignment entails visiting the Make a Child Smile Website, choosing a child or children with a  life-treatening/chronic disease, and send them a card.  Infomation about this organization below:

Founded in May of 1998, by Alexandra Bakker, the Make A Child Smile Organization, also known as MACS, has been a source of support to children with chronic or life-threatening illnesses and their families. Emotional support is provided by creating the opportunity for people to visit the MACS website and learn about the children and their illnesses. 

Each month, new children are featured. A picture and biography describing the child and information about their family is published on the website. Hundreds of 'net surfers, schools, service organizations, girls/boys scouts and church groups use the MACS website as a philanthropic project where they can send cards, letters and small gifts to the featured children and their siblings through postal mail.

In December of 2000, MACS was granted tax-exempt status so that it could expand its mission to include fund-raising efforts in order to provide financial assistance to qualifying families for help with medical, funeral expenses or other costs associated with the child's illness.

Our Mission
To provide emotional and financial support to families whose children suffer from chronic or life-threatening illnesses and also give those who visit the MACS website the opportunity to participate by sending mail to the children.

I visited the Make a Child Smile website and how can you not want to help?  The children and I are choosing some of these Urgent Children to send some mail to this week.

Will you please join us?

Youthful Dreams: Blogger Friend School #18

"I thought this week we could write something fun or just take a look back at our lives and what we wanted to do when we were so young!"

Hey, I just did this a few weeks ago at our Bible Study group.  That just makes it easy, I guess.

My earliest memory of what I wanted to do/be when I was a grown-up was when I was eight  or nine years old.  I knew that when I grew up I wanted to have three of four boys and then a little girl at the end. 

When I was a teenager, I loved my high school Physiology class and so had visions of study and research in this field.

When I was grown-up, I became a Mommy and EVERYTHING changed!

Now, I am a homeschooling mother of four -- three boys and one little girl.  I never imagined that I would homeschool -- I had never even heard of homeschooling until my sister-in-law started to homeschool my niece.   Now I cannot imagine any other way to raise children in the nurture and admonition of the LORD than to teach them at home and instruct them when they rise up, and when they lay down, and as we walk by the way. 

What a wonderful, graceful, and merciful God we have!

To see others dreams @ Blogger Friend School, click HERE. 

Shopping Spree: Blogger Friend School #16

"This week you are given $1000 PRETEND online spending money! The rules are simple for this assignment. Using ANY online store…write out a shopping list of what you would buy!  You can even post pictures of the items.  These things should be things for YOURself ONLY!"

Wow!  I started to do this assignment, really I did.  But as I was thinking of what I might buy with $1,000, the thought kept coming into my head of how much stuff we have that we need to get rid of!  Truly, I am blessed beyond measure and instead of buying new things, I need to be a good steward of what I already have; which really means that I need to quit hoarding so many things for "some day" and start cleaning out so that my home is an organized place of peace, and not taken over with clutter and junk that constantly needs servicing.  I want a home that serves me, not me serve IT!

So, no shopping spree here.  How about a selling spree?  What if I could sel all of my extra stuff and donate the money to Gospel Link for the support of National Pastors!  Now, that would be a Blessing!! 

To see what others did for their Shopping Spree @ Blogger Friend School, click HERE.

Button Tales: Blogger Friend School #15

This assignment is to tell about our buttons.  I don't have any sad or funny stories about my button collection, just the buttons and the very sweet way that I got them.

I actually have a pretty good size collection of buttons, although I collected none of them myself.  They were all a gift from two older ladies in the church. 

One of them, Miss Bea who had been a widow for many years, was cleaning out her house in order to move into a retirement center.  She was having a yard sale, "Come, come over," she said.  So we went.  As I recall my daughter got a sweet handmade cloth rabbit with an apron, I got some kitchen utensils and a purple Pyrex casserole dish, and the boys got a few games.  We stayed to chat and help, and after a bit Miss Bea asks if I sew.  Of course I do.  So she immediately gets up and heads over to a pile -- reaching out, she brought forth a large parmesan cheese container filled with buttons.  "Then would you like these?"  All shapes and sizes of buttons are in there, and the best part is that she said some of the buttons were her mothers' buttons.  Of course I gladly accepted this gift, given with graciousness and joy and received with honor and thanksgiving.   When I got home and looked through the jar, I marveled at the resourcefulness and thrift of the women who clipped buttons and snaps off of old, worn clothing while thinking ahead to the day when a few pennies would be saved by using them again.  Several of the larger buttons still had cloth attached to them and I sat and imagined the elegant or utilitarian coat that at one time held these buttons.  Did the hand that fastened this button do so getting ready for church one Sunday morning just after reaching out and fixing a stray hair or two from a child's head?   The life and stories that the buttons could tell were endless. 

The second set of buttons I received were from Miss Betty, another widow who no longer sewed, in two tins, very old, and full to the brim.

I have all of these in their original containers still, because I think that the containers add so much to their story and their charm.  One day, when I am blessed with inquisitive grandchildren, I may put them all in a large jar to be viewed and sorted and counted and enjoyed.  But I'll remember to tell about Miss Bea and Miss Betty, and their mothers and their families from which all these treasures came.

For more Button Tales at Blogger Friend School, click HERE.

Love Letters to Jesus: Blogger Friend School #14

Jesus, Lover of my soul, let me to thy bosom fly; While the nearer waters roll, while the tempest stillis high; Hide me, O my Savior hide, till the storm of life is past; Safe into the haven guide, O receive my soul at last.

Other refuge have I none, hangs my helpless soul on Thee; Leave, O leave my not alone, still support and comfort me; All my trust on Thee is stayed, all my help from Thee I bring; Cover my defensless head with the shadow of Thy wing.

Thou, O Christ, art all I want, more than all in Thee I find; Raise the fallen, cheer the faint, heal the sick, and lead the blind; Just and holy is Thy name, I am all unrighteousness; Vile and full of sin I am, Thou are full of truth and grace.

Plenteous grace with Thee is found, grace to cover all my sin; Let the healing streams abound, make and keep me pure within;  Thou of life the fountain art, freely let me take of Thee; Spring Thou up within my heart, rise to all eternity.

Jesus, Lover of My Soul, written by Charles Wesley

For more Blogger Friend School, click HERE.

My Bible: Blogger Friend School #13

This assignment is about my Bible.  Or more particularly:

1. How old is your Bible?    My current Bible is only about three years old.
2. Why did you chose this Bible?     It is a King James Version which I chose specifically after doing much reading about the different Bible versions.   I will no longer use any other kind of Bible.
3. Do you highlight/mark passages in your Bible?      Yes, I highlight and marks passages in my Bible.  I used to have a friend who said she never wrote in hers, that it was a book and she was taught to never write in books - but for me the Bible  the Word of God, living and active.  Just as the Holy Spirit continually opens my eyes to new understanding in its' pages, that discovery is recorded in those same pages.
4. If so, what is your system for marking passages?       At different times I will do word studies and so will go through and mark similar/applicable passages in the same color.  For example, every verse that mentions wisdom is underlined in blue.  A word study that I did on desire and its synonyms covet, lust, imagination, and delight, are marked with differing symbols in red and orange.
5. Do you have notebooks to record things?     No, I do not use a notebook.
6. If so, how many and what do you record?   See above.   
7. Where is your favorite spot to read your Bible?     I most like to READ it, no matter where that may be.  Probably my most cherished time is in bed at night - I meditate on the scriptures and a hymn from my hymnbook before going to sleep.  Another favorite would be in the early morning snuggled in the corner of the couch while I read and look out my window.
8. Are there any special thoughts about your Bible you want to share?   Special thoughts?  Only that I wish I read it more and listened more to the Holy Spirit's prompting in my heart to obey it.  More, I want more of it.  More of its truth, more of its peace, more of Christ.  And to impart that desire for more into my children so that they seek it as gold and find the treasure within to the saving of their souls.   

For more responses to this assignment from Blogger Friend School, visit HERE.