Family Discipleship

These are strange times we are living in to say the least. Most of us are home 24/7 minus essential workers and important errands. Most (if not all) of us can't go to work, school, or church (at least not in person). Families are spending way more time together (which in my opinion is a major blessing).

For years, God has worked in my heart regarding family discipleship, starting in my own family, and then putting it on my heart to do some sort of vocational family discipleship ministry. I have been praying for years about how to do that while doing my most important ministry, my own family.

I am not sure if this is the divine time, but I do believe God has called me for such a time as this to encourage parents in discipling their children. This is something we should always be doing, but even more so than ever since so many kids are missing out on Sunday School and children's ministries.

In my early days as a Christian in my 20s, God put this Scripture in front of me, which stirred my heart to what true family discipleship looks like:

Deuteronomy 6:6-9(NKJV)

4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
  with all your soul,
  and with all your strength.6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children,
  and shall talk of them when you sit in your house,
  when you walk by the way,
  when you lie down,
  and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand,
  and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

This passage of Scripture is The Shema, which is recited 4 times a day by devout Jews.
As Christians, it has no less meaning, power, or importance.

1) We must remember that the Lord our God is the one true God.
2) We are to love Him with everything that we have and everything that we are.
3) We are to keep God's Word in our own hearts.
4) We are to teach them diligently to our children.
5) We are to talk of them 24/7 with our children.
6) We are to keep them in front of us at all times.
7) We are to write them on our homes.

Many parents read this and feel guilty that they aren't "doing it right".
Well, let me just encourage you that:
1) guilt doesn't come from God - that comes straight from the devil and
2) no one is a perfect parent that always gets it right.

Here are some practical tips to help you:
1 & 2) Make sure your relationship with God is "right" first.
           Make sure you are putting Him first in your life
           (yes, before your significant other, your kids, your job, your home, your church).
           If He isn't first in your life, it is impossible to do the rest.
3) Make sure you are keeping God's Word in your own heart.
    Read, study, memorize, and speak the Scriptures.
    This doesn't mean you have to be a walking Bible or theologian,
    but if you are in the Word of God everyday, it will be evident in your life.
4) Teach your children God's Word.
     Now you might be thinking, "I am not a teacher."
     The great news is that you don't have to be.
     Who knows your children better than you do? NO ONE.
     Who loves your children more than you do? NO ONE.
     (I'LL BE POSTING TONS OF STUFF ABOUT THIS IN THE FUTURE)
5) Talk about God and His ways and His Word 24/7.
     Now you might be thinking, "WHAT?!"
     As you are going through your day and talking with your kids,
     talk with them about God, His ways, and His Word.
     (Example: If they are having trouble with a friend,
     remind them "A friend loves at all times (Proverbs 17:17)."
6) Keep God's Word in front of you at all times.
     Now you might be thinking, "WHAT?!"
     This doesn't mean you physically have to carry your Bible 24/7.
     What it means is that God's Word is at the forefront of your life.
7) Write God's Word on your house.
     A very practical one for this is to have Scripture around your home.
     This could be "religious art" or just notecards with God's Word on them.

I know I have put a lot here, but I promise, we will break this down a little at a time.

The Importance of a Daily Quiet Time with God

As a Christian, I need my daily quiet time with God like I need water and food to eat. I once heard the analogy of only eating a feast on Sunday afternoon and pizza on Wednesday nights as attending church services Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings. That wouldn't satisfy our physical hunger and doesn't satisfy our spiritual hunger. We need our own personal quiet time with God each day. I know when I miss my time with God, I am not the Christian woman, wife, mom, homemaker, homeschooler, and person I want to be. I am quicker to lose my temper, think ungodly thoughts, and have actions that don't line up with how a Christian ought to act. Can I get an amen?

That being said, there are a few myths about quiet time that I would like to dispel.

#1 - In order for a quiet time to be effective, you must do it in the morning.
While there are many times in Scripture that we see people having prayer time in the morning, even Jesus Christ Himself (Mark 1:35), there is no Scriptural mandate that quiet time with God must be in the morning. The most effective quiet time is the time that works for you. Over the years my quiet time has been at different times in my day. I have been disciplined for a short season to get up at 6ish to have my quiet time before my husband and kids were awake and the chaos of the day ensued. I have also had times when I did afternoon nap/room time as my quiet time. I have also had times when I did my quiet time before bed. I am currently in a season with a newborn where I am having my quiet time whenever I can get it. LOL! The key is to find a time that works best for you and remember that meeting with God is the important part, not when you meet.

#2 - In order for a quiet time to be effective, it must be quiet.
While it is great to sit in complete silence, I will be honest and say that my mind wanders more in silence. LOL! I personally like to put on some classical hymns on my Pandora station. There are no words, but instrumental hymns that just relax me, tune me into the Holy Spirit, and allow for me to still hear from God as I pray and read the Word. The key is to be in a position to hear from God (this is more about your heart than your ears anyways).

#3 - In order for a quiet time to be effective, you must have a specific spot.
While it is nice to have a special place to go meet with God, you can meet with God anywhere, anytime. Over the years, my spot has changed. Some days it changes from the day before. LOL! I have used a glider as my quiet time spot. I have used my desk in my office as my quiet time spot. I have used my bed as my quiet time spot. Today I used the school table as my quiet time spot. Find a spot that works for you and remember that meeting with God is the important part, not where you meet.

#4 - In order for a quiet time to be effective, you must spend a certain amount of time.
There are many amazing believers that have shared that they have quiet times for 1-2 hours each day. God bless those folks! I would love to be able to do that, but there are certain seasons when you can and cannot do certain things. I am currently in a season where I can only get 15-30 minutes at best at one time. But that time is just as meaningful in my life as hours to someone else. I have time to read a devotional, read a few verses, and pray. While I wish I could read and study Scripture and pray for hours, I must remember that it is the quality of the time more than the quantity of the time.

#5 - In order for a quiet time to be effective, you must do it a certain way.
There are so many amazing resources available to us today (books, devotionals, online sermons, worship music) to use in our quiet time, but there is not set way to have a quiet time. I would say that each day you should read some Scripture and pray, but you don't have to read an entire book or even chapter of Scripture. God may use one verse to speak to you in your quiet time. Write it down, stick it in your pocket, meditate on it throughout the day. That can be more effective than trying to read a huge portion of Scripture. Spend some time in prayer. Pour your heart out to God. Ask Him to be with you through the day. Remember that the Word says to "pray without ceasing." You can and should pray all throughout the day as something comes up. Quiet time gets us close to God so that we are close to Him throughout the day.

I hope these tips have helped. I will be posting some of my favorite quiet time resources later on. :)

Ordering Groceries

Even though I enjoy grocery shopping (without my kids of course LOL), I enjoy even more the ability to shop for my groceries online and pick them up. I started doing this at Harris Teeter when I was pregnant this last time and it was a lifesaver. For $5 I could order as many groceries as I wanted and someone else would shop, bag, and load my car. Ummmm...yes please. Recently, Walmart has begun doing this and the best part is it is completely free. Yes, free! I order my groceries online, am able to favorite things, am able to price compare very quickly, and then I pull up and someone loads them in my van. What could be better? :)

How to Start Freezer Prepping/Cooking

Starting to freezer prep/cook can seem like an overwhelming task, so here are some tips for getting started without going insane.

#1 - Buy chicken/pork chops in bulk/on sale, cut off the fat, and portion it into freezer bags. Then you can just pull out the amount you need for a recipe instead of a whole pack of frozen chicken.

#2 - Buy ground beef in bulk/on sale and portion into freezer bags and flatten. Then you can just pull out the amount you need for a recipe instead of a whole pack of beef. Plus the thinner the bag, the quicker they thaw out.

#3 - Cook a bunch of chicken in the crockpot, cool, shred, and portion into freezer bags. Then you can just pull out the amount you need for a recipe and quickly assemble. I like to use this in casseroles, chicken pastry, chicken salad, chicken tacos, soups, etc. My way of doing it is for each pound of chicken, I put in salt, pepper, a bouillon cube, and a cup of water. I cook on high 4 hours or low 8 hours.

#4 - Cook a bunch of homemade spaghetti sauce, cool, and portion into freezer bags. I flatten them out so they thaw quickly. Then you just pull out what you want, cook up some pasta, and you have a yummy homemade dinner. You can do spaghetti, baked ziti, lasagna, etc with the sauce. I like to make my sauce with olive oil, garlic, ground beef, onions, bell peppers, carrots, zucchini, spinach, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and tomato sauce. Then you have a very nutritious, filling, homemade sauce that only required thawing and heating.

#5 - Prep meatloaves, burgers, Salisbury steak, etc before you freeze into freezer bags (again, very thin). Then you just have to thaw, cook, and eat. No prep mess. :) And you have all the heavy lifting done. Just make some sides and you are good to go.

#6 - Marinate meats and freeze. Then you just have to thaw and cook. It gets double marinated in the freezing and thawing process as well. 

#7 - Throw all of the ingredients for a crockpot recipe into a freezer bag. Then you just thaw and put in the crockpot and you have dinner with no prep and one pot to clean up.

#8 - When you are making a recipe that can easily freeze, make a couple of extras and freeze for later. One mess to clean up.

I hope these tips have been helpful to you. :) Happy freezer prepping/cooking! :)

Freezer Prepping/Cooking for 7 Weeks

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love freezer prepping/cooking. For years I struggled to get dinner on the table each night in an effective, efficient, economical way. When I came across the concept of freezer prepping/cooking I was intrigued because I thought, "Wow! Do a majority of prepping and cooking in a short period of time and then just throw a few things together each night? Sounds great!"

So, I began freezer prepping/cooking. When I was pregnant, I did a 6 month prep so I would get through the last trimester and first few months without having to do much each night for dinner. I have also done one month at a time.

This year, I am doing something different to match our school calendar. I am planning to do 6 weeks of school and 1 week breaks throughout the year (more at Christmas/Easter/summer). During that week off, we will take some little trips and have time to prep for the next round of school. That being said, I will do my freezer prep during that week and prep enough for 7 weeks to get us to the next break. I plan to cook 4 meals a week, have one leftovers night, eat at church on Wednesdays, and have one dinner out each week. Thus, I am making 28 meals.

Here is the list:

Chicken Pot Pie
Chicken Stuffing Pie
Chicken Pastry
Chicken Noodle Delight
Chicken Noodle Soup
Chicken Barley
Chicken Potato Stew
Chinese Brown Chicken
Sweet and Sour Chicken
Catalina Cranberry Chicken
Maple Glazed Chicken
Buffalo Chicken Tenders
BBQ Chicken Pizza
Chicken with Skillet Gravy
Spaghetti
Spaghetti and Meatballs
Meatball Subs
Baked Ziti
Goulash
Chicken Parmesan
Lasagna
Meatloaf
Salisbury Steak
Steaks
Pot Roast
Burgers
Sloppy Joes
Pork Chops

2016-2017 Homeschool Room and Curriculum Choices

It's hard to believe that we are entering another year of homeschool at Faith Christian Academy.

Here are some pictures of our homeschool room and curriculum choices.

This is where we keep all of our school stuff for each day. I just got this new 8 cubbie shelf. Love it!

This is Luke's rolling cart. It has 10 drawers - 1 for each subject. We love these. 

The kids work their way through the drawers each day and when they get to the end they are done with their work.

This is Luke's basket. It will have his weekly checkoff sheet (this is his summer school sheet),

supply box, Tangle (love those!!!), Bible, and anything else that is his for school.

This is Luke's AWANA drawer. We love AWANA (perhaps another post to come)!!!

Luke is currently in his last year of T&T and AWANA at our church.
We plan to continue with AWANA Homeschool through middle and high school.

It has his T&T Challenge 2 book.

This is Luke's Bible drawer. It has his Bob Jones Bible worksheets.

It also has his Our 24 Family Ways devotional journal.

This is Luke's spelling drawer. It has his Sequential Spelling DVD, word book, and workbook.

This is Luke's grammar drawer. It has his IEW Fix It! Grammar workbook and journal.

This is Luke's writing drawer. It has his IEW workbook and cards.

This is Luke's handwriting drawer. It has his A Reason for Handwriting lessons and sheets.

This is Luke's math drawer. It has his weekly Teaching Textbooks lessons and worksheets.

This is Luke's science drawer. It has his Apologia Land Animals journal.

This is Luke's history drawer. It has his Mystery of History worksheets and president cards.

This is Luke's geography drawer. It has his Road Trip: USA worksheets and cards.

This is Nathan's rolling cart. It has 10 drawers - 1 for each subject. We love these. 

The kids work their way through the drawers each day and when they get to the end they are done with their work.

This is Nathan's basket. It will have his weekly checkoff sheet (this is his summer school sheet),

supply box, Tangle (love those!!!), Bible, and anything else that is his for school.

This is Nathan's AWANA drawer. It has his Cubbies verses from the past 2 years.

Eventually, it will have his Sparks books.

This is Nathan's Bible drawer. It will have his weekly Bob Jones Bible worksheets.

It also has his Our 24 Family Ways devotional journal.

This is Nathan's reading drawer. It has his IEW reading games.

It will also have All About Reading worksheets.

Letters of the day worksheets for reviewing phonics sounds.

Letters of the day worksheets for reviewing phonics sounds.

This is Nathan's handwriting drawer. It has his A Reason for Handwriting lessons and sheets.

This is Nathan's math drawer. It has his weekly Singapore Math lessons and worksheets.

This is Nathan's science drawer.

He will do Apologia Land Animals with us, but will have coloring sheets.

This is Nathan's history drawer.

He will do Mystery of History with us, but will have coloring sheets.

This is Nathan's geography drawer. It has his Road Trip: USA worksheets.

This is our busy box setup for Nathan.

While Luke is doing independent work and I am busy with baby Benjamin,

Nathan will work through these daily baskets.

He has three baskets for each day Monday through Thursday

(we are doing a 4 day school week with a free day for field trips, etc).

Monday Basket #1 - Lacing cards, memory game, same or different cards

Monday Basket #2 - Upper/lowercase matching game, dot dot alphabet sheets, alphabet game

Monday Basket #3 - Math dominos game

Tuesday Basket #1 - Pattern blocks, memory game, opposite cards

Tuesday Basket #2 - Upper/lowercase matching game, build the alphabet pieces, letter tiles

Tuesday Basket #3 - Numbers matching game, numbers puzzle, counting cookies game

Wednesday Basket #1 - Lacing cards, memory game, find the hidden object game

Wednesday Basket #2 - Upper/lowercase matching game, alphabet chalkboard, letter tiles

Wednesday Basket #3 - Sum-It game

Thursday Basket #1 - Lacing cards, memory game, rhyming cards

Thursday Basket #2 - Upper/lowercase matching game, phonics game, playdoh for building letters

Thursday Basket #3 - Numbers cards, addition cards, subtraction cards

Our family devotional - Our 24 Family Ways by the Clarksons

Our science curriculum - Apologia Land Animals

Our history curriculum - Mystery of History - the 1900s/2000s

This is the desk area and whiteboard. This is mainly my area, but the boys use it for school work -

Luke - spelling, vocabulary, math, writing, and keyboarding and

Nathan - learning games.

This is my teachers box. It has our group books for devotionals, science, history, and geography.

This is Nathan's drawer and school binder.

This is Luke's drawer and school binder.

This is all of the homeschooling documents since we started homeschooling.

This is our shelf of arts and craft supplies, school supplies, and puzzles.

This is our phonics books and literature shelf.

This is our literature shelf.

This is a painting that will be going up in the school room. Love it!

This is our new trash can. Love it!

This is our smaller white board. 

This is Nathan's All About Reading/Spelling board.

This is our table and chairs. I sit on the bench so I can scooch back and forth to work with each boy.

This year we have added a baby seat for baby Benjamin to sit in and "do school."

I hope you have enjoyed the tour of our school room and curriculum choices.

Who Am I?

A little bit about me.

I am a Christian. 

When I was 20 years old, I heard the life-saving message of the gospel and became a Christian. Not only did I become a Christian, I became an entirely new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), a daughter of the King (Psalm 45:13), a child of God (John 1:12) , a joint-heir with Christ (Romans 8:17), a friend of God (John 15:15), adopted (Ephesians 1:5), accepted (Romans 15:7), redeemed (Ephesians 1:7), forgiven (1st John 1:9), blessed (Ephesians 1:3), chosen (John 15:16), justified (Romans 5:1), and complete (Colossians 2:10). I know without a shadow of a doubt that not only do I have the promise of Heaven when I leave this earth, but I have the promises of God's Word everyday until I get there as well. It is my desire to live a life worthy of the calling of Jesus Christ.

I am a Wife.

When I was 18 years old, I met the second most important man in my life, my husband. We dated for 3 years, and got married when I was 21, 1 year shy of graduating college. Most people thought we were crazy to get married so young, but I will tell you, it was the 2nd best decision of my life. We have grown up, graduated college, moved, bought a house, had four children, and done so much life together in the past 12 years that we have been married. He is my best friend and I love him so much. I am blessed to be his wife. It is my desire to have a marriage that glorifies God, exhibits the gospel, and is full of fun, friendship, laughter, and memories. 

I am a Mom.

Less that one year after I got married and the week I was graduating college, I found out I was pregnant with my first child, our first son. My husband and I decided that I would be a stay-at-home mom as that was my heart's desire. Having my first son was/is the most growing experience in my life. He made me grow up, gave me a purpose, and has shaped my character more than any person. Almost five years later, we added another son, who is a twin to our only daughter, who was stillborn. Almost six years later, we added our third and final son, who is our rainbow baby and such a blessing. It is my desire to raise my children to know, love, serve, trust, obey, and live for the Lord and to have fun while doing it.

I am a Homemaker.

Part of being a stay-at-home mom also entails being a full-time homemaker. Boy did I have a lot of learning and growing to do when I started taking care of our home. I didn't know how to cook and was so-so at laundry. I started reading books and blogs and watching other ladies to see how they managed their homes well. I desired to be a Proverbs 31, Titus 2 woman and needed all the help I could get. Through God's grace and a lot of trial-and-error, I have grown into my role and ministry of a homemaker. It is my desire to have a home that is clean and organized, but most importantly a haven for my family and full of hospitality for all who enter.

I am a Homeschooler.

When I became a Christian, then a wife, and quickly a mother, God pressed it on my heart to homeschool. I started doing preschool work with my oldest and haven't stopped (he is starting 5th grade this year). I absolutely love homeschooling my children, being able to be with them during the days, the relationship building between siblings, the flexibility, awesome field trips and vacations anytime we want, and being able to choose the curriculum to meet our beliefs and the learning needs of my children. It isn't for everyone, but it is definitely for us. It is my desire that while I am teaching my children each day, that they are really being taught by the Lord (Isaiah 54:13).

In addition to the main callings that I have shared, I also am blessed to be able to serve in my church in the children's ministry and lead a women's Bible study in my home. I enjoy spending time with my family and friends. I also love to cook, bake, eat, organize, scrapbook, and read.

It is my desire that through this blog, God will use me to point people to Christ as I share organizational, homemaking, and homeschooling tips. I hope you enjoy reading and following my blog.