Pray for Noah..

Dear Friends,

Here's another update about little Noah. Apparently his insurance has decided that he is not declining rapidly enough, and has  dropped  all his hospice benefits.  Or as his mother put it very bluntly,  Noah's insurance believes that "Noah isn't dying fast enough to get help."

Please continue to pray for him and his parents. You can read more here, or use the link on my sidebar.

Thank you.

Queen of the Home {9}

"The modern challenge to motherhood is the eternal challenge - that of being a godly woman. The very phrase sounds strange in our ears. We never hear it now.

We hear about every other type of women: beautiful women, smart women, sophisticated women,

career women, talented women, divorced women. But so seldom do we hear of a godly woman - or a godly man either, for that matter.

I believe women come nearer to to fulfilling their God given function in the home than anywhere else.

It is a much nobler thing to be a good wife than to be Miss America.

It is a greater achievement to establish a Godly home than it is to produce a second rate novel filled with filth.

It is a far, far better thing in the realms of morals to be old-fashioned, than to be ultra modern.

The world has enough women who know how to be smart. It needs women who are willing to be simple.

The world has enough women who know how to be brilliant. It needs some who will be brave.

The world has enough women who are popular. It needs more who are pure.

We need women, and men, too, who would rather be morally right than socially correct."

 - Peter Marshall,

former Chaplain to the United States Senate

Have a wonderful weekend, friends!

Wordless Wednesday (almost)

                             My son-in-law and granddaughter having Rapture practice.  :)

Have a blessed day, everyone!

Missing Out

For the past several weeks, I have been in my usual spring cleaning frenzy. While finishing up with our school year, I tried to get in a little spring cleaning each day.

Our home  became chaotic. I became grouchy. And the children became stressed.

I had finally had enough. The children? Enough! So we left all the cleaning supplies where they were, I grabbed my camera to capture the moments,  and we went outside to enjoy the day.  I would have missed out on so much if I would have sent them outside without me.

I would have missed out on my boys playing tag in the hayfield...

And a wrestling match in the front yard...

I would have missed seeing my youngest daughters dancing in the sun...

And watching them run through the hay...

I would have missed out on helping them make clover/honeysuckle "crowns"...

And ending the day on a very happy note...  :)

Young mothers, please take the time to enjoy your children. With two grown children, I am speaking from experience by saying, "The days are long, but the years are short." Once these years are gone, you will never get them back.  Soak up every moment!

I hope you have a blessing-filled day!

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Queen of the Home {8}

"Whatever happened to home being the center of the family, a haven of refreshment, a thriving metropolis of productivity?

Instead, we have elaborate McMansions that are devoid of life.

They might look pretty to the observer (thanks to hired maids and interior decorators), 

but they are usually houses, not homes.

They sit there empty and lifeless while the occupants live a hectic, frenetic, 100-mile-an-hour life in the fast lane - trying to get ahead, trying to get to the top of the corporate ladder, trying to squish in as many activities as can possibly be had outside the home.

 

We don't have to follow along in this madness. Our families deserve something better - they deserve a beautiful, welcoming home which is the heart of the family.. and center for outreach to the world.

Maybe our home isn't furnished very expensively

and maybe it isn't very big,

but we can do our best to recapture the nobility and rightful place of home in our society, beginning with our own home."

 

 ~ Chrystal Paine

National Food Holidays

 Happy National Brown-Bag-It Day, everyone!!  No, I'm not joking.

Today really is National Brown-Bag-It Day! And did you know that there's a national food holiday for almost every day of the year?

For example, January 16th is National Fig Newton Day.

March 29th is National Turkey Neck Soup Day. ( Ick.)

July 18th is National Caviar Day.  (Another ick.)

September 14th is National Cream-filled Donut Day. (Now that's more like it.)

And  November 6th is National Nachos Day,  just to name a few.

We have had so much fun with this! My children especially love knowing which food holiday their birthday is on.  :)
 
Now, we don't "observe" all these holidays, but we do as many as we can. And my children love looking at the list (which I print for the current month and post it in the school room), and seeing which food is being honored on that day.

So how did I land the info about  all these holidays? A friend of mine gave the website for it.

It's www.statesymbolsusa.org/National_Symbols/American_Hollidays.html

Once you're there, scroll down to "American Food Holidays", and there's where you'll find the list.

Happy homeschooling!










linking up at Hip Homeschool Hop

Some Thoughts on Modesty

Ahhh....spring. Flowers are blooming. Leaves on the trees are coming out. Birds are chirping. Garden work is beginning. Women are prancing around in public barely dressed.  That's not a typo, by the way.

Because it appears that the onset of warm weather seems to give people (especially women) the license to wear as little material as possible, as tight as possible, while showing as much skin as possible.  Sometimes I wish I didn't have to take my children out in public at all..to protect their eyes and innocence for as long as possible.

Maybe many of these people I see out in public aren't even  Christians, which explains their behavior. As my hubby says, "Dear, if they're not believers, then they're acting exactly like they're supposed to."

But what about Christians...women, in particular? Do we have a dress code?

And  how did this all begin in the first place?  Jeff Pollard, author of The Public Undressing of America , says that what was illegal in clothing 100 years ago, and would cause your arrest, is now popular  and accepted everywhere - even in churches. His book is excellent and I highly recommend it. He believes that the modern-day trend of immodest clothing began years ago...with swimwear.

For example, in the 1890's, swimwear was modified street clothing
                                  1910: arms were exposed
                                  1920's: legs and backs were exposed
                                  1930's: cleavage was exposed and men began to swim bare-chested
                                  1935: two-piece bathing suits appeared with a small break break between upper and lower half
                                  1940's: new fabrics appeared which hugged the body
                                  1960's: navels were exposed

Today, if you have been to your local public pool or if you've been to the beach, you will notice that anything goes.  (Which is why we, as a family, don't go to either place.)

But it apparently doesn't stop at the pool or the beach. I have been in Walmart and seen women exposing just as much cleavage as any swimsuit.  Shorts that are so short, there's very little left to the imagination. Bellies are on display.  Again, anything goes.

So back to the dress code question. Does Scripture give instructions for modest dress? Of course. We're probably all familiar with  1 Timothy 2: 9 &10 and 1 Peter 3: 3 - 6. These passages very clearly teach that Christian women should dress in a modest manner, as it says in 1 Timothy 2:10, "..which is proper for women professing godliness.... with good works." So, according to that verse, a Christian woman's heart will dictate her wardrobe and appearance. Maturity in heart = modesty in dress.

All respectable clothing is the fruit of a godly heart. But there's also a flip side to that. Proverbs 7:10 describes a woman  dressed in "the attire of a harlot".

Our clothing sends a message whether we realize it or not.   I am not suggesting that we go back to Little House on the Prairie days (although I love the way the ladies dressed back then!).

I am simply saying that as Christians, we need to be careful of how we dress - for 2 reasons:

1. As mentioned above,  Scripture commands it.

2. Also, so that we will not cause our brothers in Christ to stumble.  Men are visual. That's how God created them. Dressing to show off our bodies or to attract men's eyes is wrong, and a stumbling block to them.

The word "modest" in 1 Timothy 2 : 9 means "not attracting attention to oneself".  Do we dress to attract the eyes of others? Or do we cover our bodies properly and reserve them for the eyes of our husbands only?

I realize that each one of us has our own idea of what modesty is. And I have some guideline for  myself...

...for shirts and dresses: no see-through or skin-tight material. For all other shirts and dresses, I do the "bend over test: I put  it on and bend over in front of the mirror. If I can see down that shirt (or dress), then so can everyone else when I bend over. So I  put on a cami  underneath, or I don't wear it at all.

...for skirts and dresses (length): I put it on, sit down, and cross my legs. If I can do that without pulling and yanking to hide my thighs, then I wear it. If not, I don't. But I prefer long skirts, so I hardly ever have a problem with the length.

...no tank tops for me:  I don't like the clingy material they're made out of and I don't like having to continually hide my bra straps under the tank top. 

What about you, dear readers...what are your thoughts on modesty? Do you have guidelines for what you wear/don't wear? I'd love to hear from you. :)

Instead of dressing to attract the eyes of others, may we "consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds" (Hebrews 10:24), bringing glory and honor to our Heavenly Father.

Blessings!








2 Corinthians 6:17 :  "Therefore  'Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord.' "

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