Going on a trip!

We just booked a cabin for 2 nights the weekend after our anniversary (next month). We're going to Broken Bow, Oklahoma. I can't wait, it will be so much fun! Here are some pictures of the cabin ('Peace On Earth').


The best thing about the cabin: a hot tub!!! And plenty of space behind the cabin to play and ride our 3-wheeler!

Just a few more weeks and we'll be in that hot tub!!!

The Country Life with Gabriel

Here are some pictures from the past week.

Stacking trucks...

Cute tummy!

Q-tips in his ears...silly boy!
The ketchup stains on his PJs is what happens when you let Daddy watch him for 5 minutes ;-)


Chasing chickens...pay attention around 0:48 when he makes our rooster Big Red jump!

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Helping Daddy in the garden

Riding his tricycle (with a dinosaur passenger)

Helping Daddy feed the baby cows.

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He was telling the hen to say 'cheese' for the camera!

Hungry for God

This morning in church we sang 'Breathe' by Michael W. Smith. Here are some of the lyrics:

This is the air I breathe
this is the air I breathe
Your holy presence living in me

this is my daily bread
this is my daily bread
Your very word spoken to me

And I, I'm desperate for you
And I, I'm I'm lost without you

It's one of my favorite songs and I love singing it. But...it made me wonder, do I really mean the words I'm singing? Is God's holy presence like the air I breathe? Is his word my daily bread? Would I not be able to live without Him, or would I just go on with my daily life if He suddenly disappeared? Would I not really miss Him?

What about you? Would you really not be able to live without Him, would you be lost? Or would you not really miss Him and go on with life as usual? Would it make a difference? Or would you be so busy with your daily schedule of (house)work, school, family and running errands that you would not have much time to realize God wasn't there?

If you had to go a day without bread, or a day without God, which would you choose?
If you answered a day without bread, I want to challenge you to join me in a 'Hungry for God' day on April 1st. One day where we all fast together from morning until evening*. And every time we feel hungry, we will think about God and how lucky we are that we don't have to live a day without Him!

Will you join me? If so, then please leave a comment or send me an e-mail to let me know you are joining me on this day. Tell your family and friends about it. Share it on your blog. Show the world and God that you are hungry for Him!

Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. (John 6:35)

*This will be a liquids-only fast for me, since I still nurse a little one, I have to have my fluids!

Spring!

Spring is officially here! I love it! I wish it would be Spring all year long! Happy Spring everyone!

Worthless?

Have you ever felt worthless? There have been times when I did. For example, for years I was bullied in school and felt worthless or inferior most of the time. It took me years to built up some confidence. I wish now that I had been stronger in my faith. Maybe I wouldn't have measured my self-worth by what other people thought of me, or how they treated me. Instead, I should have focused on what God thought of me, and what He did for me. I wanted to share a few Bible verses to hopefully make those of you who are feeling worthless, a little better about yourself.

So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" (Hebrews 13:6)

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5: 11-12)

For the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared. (Proverbs 3:26)

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:29-31)

For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth. (Psalm 71:5)

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. (1 Peter 3:3-4)

I can do everything through Him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:13)

And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. (1 John 2:28)

If the LORD delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand. (Psalm 37:23-24)

To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 1:5b-6)

And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:10-14)

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. (Psalm 139:14)

Think about that last verse. God made you, and His works are wonderful. YOU are wonderful! Don't ever forget that!

Country Alphabet - D

I skipped a couple of Show & Tell Fridays, but I'm back today with our Country Alphabet!


D is for...Dogs

Our dog Dakota passed away in June 2007. He was 17 years old. He was part heeler and part chow. Click here for some more pictures of him.
This picture was taken in 2004.

And this one in 2005.


We now have 2 puppies, both were born in July 2008 and we got them in September 2008. They were so tiny back then!
Here is Heidi, the German Shepherd.


And here is Dixie, the Blue Heeler (Australian Cattle Dog).


Getting bigger, October 2008.

Dixie and Heidi this month. We have to keep them chained up now because they are so big and wild and will jump on Gabriel whenever they see him! And they tear everything up. But once they're trained a little better, we hope to be able to let them run around free again.

Reasons to Homeschool

(Click picture to enlarge)

I thought I'd post some of my reasons why I want to homeschool Gabriel.

1. I want Gabriel to receive an education that is founded in God, not in the world. I don't want him to learn about God in one class and have everything else be separate from that. I want God to part of everything that he learns. And I don't want him to learn things like how the world evolved millions of years ago. I want him to learn Christian morals and values. And I believe that God want us to teach our own children. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. "Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." (Deuteronomy 6:6-9)

2. Why would I send my child away to school to spend most of the day with strangers, when he can be with the people he loves most? We would miss out on precious family time. Before we know it, Gabriel will be 18 and ready to fly out! And it will be so great to actually watch him learn things.

3. I want him to have a practical education, where he learn from real life, and where he can use the things he learns from books in real life. I want to teach him things he would not learn in school, like Dutch, cooking, gardening, raising animals, helping others. And I want learning to be fun for him!

4. I don't want him to get lost in the school system. In a classroom with 25 or 30 kids it is easy for kids to get overlooked. I want him to develop to his full potential. If he struggles with things, I want to catch it early so we can spend extra time on those things. If he is especially good at things, I want him to learn as much as he can about those things.

5. I want to protect him from bad influences. Whether it's the wrong friends, drugs, sex, kids bullying him, or feeling like he has do or have certain things just to 'fit in'. I want to teach him to make the right choices, I want him to be confident by being himself.

6. A flexible schedule. Everyone has their good and bad days, and some days we will feel more like learning than other days. Also, homeschooling takes less time than regular school, so he will have more time for other things, like playing sports, playing with friends, boy scouts, fishing trips with Daddy, vacations to Holland etc.

7. Socialization. I know most people who don't know about homeschooling use this as an argument against it. But I believe that Gabriel can learn better social skills from us than from a classroom full of kids, many of which misbehave. Also, there are homeschool groups out there so we can go out and meet other homeschooled children. And then there's church, sports, boy scouts and all kinds of opportunities where he can make friends.

There are probably more reasons, but this is all I can think of right now. I just don't see how any school out there could give Gabriel what we can give him at home.

Here are a few links about reasons to homeschool:
http://www.oddparts.com/missions/homeschool.htm
http://www.homeeducator.com/FamilyTimes/articles/10-3article1.htm

http://www.homeschoolcookbook.com/article_reasons_to_homeschool.htm
http://www.heritagehomeschool.com/ten-reasons.htm
And this one is kind of funny:
http://www.justenoughblog.com/?p=95

Our Second Sponsor Child

Meet Gabriel, our new sponsor child from Peru. He just turned 4 last week. I thought it would be nice to sponsor a child closer in age to our Gabriel so they can write letters to each other when they're older (in Spanish!). I called Compassion and when they told me that they had a Gabriel who was looking for a sponsor, of course I had to say yes! Click here for more info about him.

3:16

I'm sure most of you know John 3:16: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

I was inspired this morning to look up some other 3:16s in my Bible. Here are some of my favorites from the New Testament.

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. (Matthew 3:16)

John answered them all, "I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. (Luke 3:16)

Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16)

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being. (Ephesians 3:16)

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16)

Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you. (2 Thessalonians 3:16)

Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great:
He appeared in a body,
was vindicated by the Spirit,
was seen by angels,
was preached among the nations,
was believed on in the world,
was taken up in glory.
(1 Timothy 3:16)

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. (2 Timothy 3:16)

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. (1 John 3:16)

Name for our Homeschool

Today I have been brainstorming for a name for our homeschool. Okay, I know it's a little early, Gabriel is only 2, but it never hurts to be prepared! Here are some of the ideas I came up with:

Green Pastures Christian Academy (Psalm 23: "He makes me lie down in green pastures...", plus we live out in the country and have green pastures most of the year!)

Light of the World Academy

Morning Star Christian Academy

New Creation Home School

Eagles' Wings Christian Academy

Rising Son Christian Academy

Tree of Life Christian Academy

Heart and Mind Home School

Heart of Wisdom Home School

And for preschool (before we officially start Kindergarten):

Hidden Treasures Preschool

Faith & Fun Preschool

Which ones do you like best? Are there any names you think won't work for some reason? I would really appreciate your opinion!

Vacation!

I really could use some of this right now...


And some of this...

Followed by some of this...

Anyone want to join me?

Hot or Cold?

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
(Revelation 3:15-16)

I've been thinking about this Bible verse all morning. Most of us have probably been there, or are still there. Lukewarm for God. You go to church, read your Bible and pray, but do not find real joy in it. Hearing the name of Jesus doesn't make you feel hot or cold. Being a Christian has become a routine instead of a relationship.

Here are some questions to ask yourself. Do you find the following things a JOY or an INCONVENIENCE? Do you enjoy doing it because you're doing it for God? Or would you rather do something else with your time or money or feelings? Write down the numbers 1 - 10 and behind that write a J for Joy or an I for Inconvenience.

1. Going to church.
2. Sitting down to study your Bible.
3. Praying to God - and I don't mean a 30-second prayer before your meal.
4. Helping someone out.
5. Tithing, whether you give to the church, a Christian charity or people in need.
6. Forgiving someone who has hurt you.
7. Telling someone who is not a Christian about Jesus.
8. Changing the channel because the TV-show you're watching is going against what God wants.
9. Trusting that God will take care of you instead of worrying about the future.
10. Serving God by doing something out of your comfort zone, knowing He will give you strength and courage.

Now add up all your J-s and I-s. Did you answer the majority with a J - for Jesus? Then you must be on the right track! Isn't is such a joy to serve the Lord wherever you can?
Did you answer the majority with an I - for yourself? Then maybe you should look for ways to light up that fire in your heart for the Lord. The best way to start is to spend more time with Him. Try to set a few minutes aside in the morning and evening so you can start and end your day by praying to Him. Ask God to ignite that fire in your heart. Start a daily Bible study that will teach you more about Who He is. Sing a few worship songs every day. I promise you, the more time you spend with God, the bigger that fire in your heart will become. And after a while, these things will not be inconveniences anymore, and won't require so much effort. They will become the highlight of your day.

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13)

Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. (Psalm 86:4)

Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. (Psalm 51:12)

My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you— I, whom you have redeemed. (Psalm 71:23)

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. (Mark 12:30)

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. (Romans 12:11-12)

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit's fire. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-19)

Here's a Casting Crowns song that I thought was very fitting.

Until Jesus returns, we will never be perfect Christians. We'll never be as hot as we need to be. We'll always be somewhere in the middle. But we need to try our very best for Him!

I also like this article by Edwin Crozier who has an interesting way of looking at this Bible verse. A quote: "Do you see now what Jesus was telling Laodicea. His point was not that He would rather they be His clear enemies than just so-so. He was saying He wanted them to stand out and be different from their environment. He wanted them to impact those that surrounded them. Sadly, the reverse had been true and so they were to Jesus like the tepid cup of coffee–disgusting and useless."
Jesus wants us to be different from the rest of the world. We often try to blend in and are just as up-to-date on the latest fashion, technology and tv-shows as everyone else. So how do they know we're different? We have to show them by our actions! Let them see the fire of God in you!

Meet Sruthy from India

Meet Sruthy, a 9-year old girl from India. As of today, we are sponsoring her with our Sunday school group. After getting the green light from the rest of our group, I browsed through the hundreds of profiles on Compassion.com and this little girl caught my eye. I just fell in love with her, she looks so sweet!
Please click on the picture if you want to read more about her.

If you have a Sunday school group, or Bible study group, or any other group that you belong to, why don't you ask them if they would be willing to sponsor a child? It's only $32 a month, so if your group has 10 members, that's only about $3 a month! With very little we can give a child so much!

Scary!

Last weekend we had one of the scariest nights of our lives. Saturday night after going to bed, Gabriel developed a fever. We had not noticed anything wrong with him all day, and I didn't think it was anything serious, he's had fevers before. Well this time it was different. After a couple of hours, it must have been close to 1pm, Gabriel had a seizure. Apparently it is pretty common for young children to have fever-related seizures, but when it happens to your own child, it is the scariest thing ever! The seizure lasted only a few minutes, but afterwards he was limp and did not respond to us. So we raced him to the hospital, the whole time thinking he might die or something! It was so awful! All I could do was pray over and over again, "God, please let him be alright!"

After we got to the hospital, he slowly started to come back and became more and more responsive. Of course he cried as he was poked with needles etc. As it turned out, he has an ear infection, which is what caused the sudden high fever. He has never had an ear infection before that I know of, and had shown no signs of having one. So they prescribed antibiotics and Tylenol. By the time we went back home (around 3am), Gabriel was counting the stars in the sky, almost back to his old self. We are so thankful that he is okay! He brings so much joy to our life and we love him so much!

Of course it made me think about what God must have felt like when His only Son was dying on the cross. Knowing He could have stopped it, but He chose to sacrifice His precious son Jesus so that we could live!

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

I have to say that the whole thing really shocked me, and makes me cherish every moment with Gabriel even more than usual. But it also made me worry more than usual. But then last night during our Esther Bible study, Beth Moore's message was about fear. And it made me realize that with any fear, I need to keep asking myself, if this happens, then what? And eventually the answer is always God. No matter what happens, God will always take care of us!

Here is a video of Gabriel dancing to Hee Haw on Sunday evening. As you can see, he's back to his old self!

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