Around the World Date Nights

I have a love for different cultures. My husband and I would both love to travel the world and since that is not happening right now, I have thought of a way to bring the adventure to us, right into our home...

I am going to create detailed, romantic date nights with my hubby. Of course I can't tell all the details =), but I thought I'd share the gist of the plan to maybe encourage you to do the same or something similar with your love.. It's going to be FUN!

My first Around the World Date Night is going to be a Parisian Party...
I will make Beef Bourguignon with homemade French Bread...
And Chocolate Mousse for dessert...
There will be plenty of special touches.. such as a dance and attire...
I think the music is so beautiful and passionate; he'll love it!
So here is my heart and one of my gifts for the man given to me by God...

This post is linked at: Women Living Well, A Holy Experience, Time~Warp Wife, Raising Mighty Arrows, Raising Homemakers, Deep Roots at Home, Hearts 4 Home

Our New School

I had no idea what homeschooling would be like, and though I'm sure it's bound to get tougher, it has been a true delight! First off, I love having my baby home with me. I say baby, but she'll be seven in March. Of course they'll always be our babies, right?! =)

I made a decision to hold off on History and Science for this year. I actually have already bought the curriculum, and they look SO good! But, I'm thinking this is still a time to grow in reading, writing, and math skills. The 3 R's. We are doing an Outdoor Nature Study, and that has been wonderful. I also bought a small book about Leonardo Da Vinci...

And Mozart...

And we're learning Latin:

I am also simultaneously teaching them spanish. My friend has asked me to pilot her project! Yippee for me! She teaches Spanish at: Diez Deditos... Which means, ten little fingers.. =)

I have introduced picture study and narration and this humble education at home is beginning to feel rich and exciting. My eldest is learning to cook spanish rice, wash dishes, and bake from scratch! We are looking into books about knitting and sewing -- she'll have her very own sewing machine this Christmas!! We'll use it to make dresses, doll clothes, and clothing for orphanages and shelters. And though she has her chores {which she has a ball doing anyway}, she mostly plays... Play is good!

We are also researching together how to start a small container garden. Something I've been wanting to do, but finding no time for. This week we will also be making some cough syrup and face scrub... I'll be posting those recipes.

So I've created another routine to add to the mix of this lively household =)... I am a firm believer that seeking order is in our best interest. I want to intentionally bless and teach my children, so here is what a typical week may look like:

Monday: Messy Monday's, They paint & do all sorts of crafts.
Tuesday: Tasty Tuesday's, She bakes -- then when it's ready we celebrate with a tea party!
Wednesday: Wordless Wednesday's, We intentionally seek out peace and stability by taking bubble baths by candle light and listen to soft worship music and classical music, which goes with our study of Mozart. Candles are lit all day. I serve comfort foods for supper.
Thursday: Touching Thursday's, We write hand written letters for friends/family. We pray for missionaries, orphans, whomever God moves our hearts toward. We seek the Lord on how and who He would like us to bless.
Friday: Fun Friday's, Game night!
Saturday: Swimming Saturday's, Dad takes girls swimming.
Sunday: Soaking Sunday's, Getting drenched in the Lord -- of course we still seek Him all week.

Everyday we do reading, writing, math, and language arts. There really are plenty of opportunities to explore History and Geography without a formal curriculum, so we are lightly touching on these subjects. Since it's already really cold out we no longer go for morning walks, we do go out on the deck or front road in the afternoons for our nature study, we also work from the book Nature Study Handbook. It has taken the place of formal science for this year, and I'm okay with that. So we exercise in the mornings now, a little bit of stretching, jumping jacks, leg lifts, fun stuff like that...

And can't forget the character training! Oh boy, we are learning together. Because of God's grace I am able to come to my children in humility and not pretend to be the perfect mom. I will never be perfect, that will never be a goal. To shine in the light of our Lord is all I seek. To show forgiveness, humility, gentleness, consistency, grace, love, direction, self~control, is my goal. So I must spend time in relationship with my Creator, there is just no other way. So privately I go to Him, and collectively we go to Him. We dance at the foot of the Cross and sing our hearts out to Him. There is no sweeter sound to my ears... This is our New School...

This Post is linked up at: Raising Homemakers, Domestically Divine Tuesday

Relevant

Five Minute Friday's with The Gypsy Mama...

What does it matter, if it brings no glory to God. All that I've been through, He's brought me through. Nothing of mine matters except that it has been touched by my Lord. Blessing it, bringing me into a new place in Him. Growing into the woman I was created to be. With a plan and a purpose. My house, my car, any and all material things matter not except for what their basic purposes are. It. Is. All. Irrelevant.

Relevant.

My brokenness has birthed tenderness.

My sin has grown me to be non~judgmental.

My pain has birthed joy.

My bitterness is long gone in the name of Jesus!

My life is a testament to God's grace.

My sensitive self quivers at a Father who loves ALL His children. Not one does He not love.

I pray today for every woman around the world. Young, old, and in between like me.

Believer, non~believer. He loves us all you see.

Relax in His care.

Revel in His Creation.

May our lives declare His glory, His manifestation.

May my daughters save themselves until their wedding day.

Realizing the truth.

The battle is relevant.

Being intentional is relevant.

Love. Is. Relevant. 

Being a Mother,

Being a Wife,

The CROSS,

The poor,

My heart,

Your life,

Giving it all back to God,

Jesus. Is. Relevant.

This post in linked up at: Five Minute Fridays

Beyond

Five Minute Fridays With The Gypsy Mama

Over the mounds of laundry
Deeper into the hearts of my children
After my husband is gone for weeks for work
Somewhere between meals
Pushing past feeling
Dreams of lingering in bed
Cleaning over and over
Insecurities
Bills
Exhaustion

Beyond the mundane
Is the precious fact
That. It. Is. All. A. Gift.

I do laundry because we have clothes.
My children's hearts are my most precious gifts.
My husband has a job.
We have food.
I rely on my faith NOT my feelings.
One day I'll have all the time in the world to rest, right now I'm making spectacular memories.
I clean because I have a house to clean.
My confidence is in Jesus.
Jesus is my Provider.
Jesus gives me rest.

Beyond my perceptions are the realities.

This post is linked~up at: Five Minute Fridays

Compassion

I'm driving in rush hour traffic. Two screaming children, and one cranky girl. Overwhelmed to say the least. I become distracted, more like disorientated as I cross into New York from New Jersey. We've been in the car for over two hours. Crossing the George Washington Bridge, I scan the signs to know whether I have to bear left or right to get onto the highway I need. I've crossed this bridge a thousand times, but today with severe PMS, a hubby who's been gone for weeks =(, and other personal family issues, I just can't think. I'm faced with a last minute decision, I signal to my right and I go. Someone is coming from the far right into my lane. I was in his way, he got pissed and gave me the finger. Gasp. Really?! I start to cry. I know, silly, silly me. I didn't feel offended, how could I, this person didn't even know me. I guess the sensitivity of my situation came to the forefront as this insensitive, frustrated person cursed me. I cried, a deep cry, I need that cry. As I'm crying I start to pray to my Love, Jesus. To fill me with His peace, His purpose, His love. Then, I start to pray for my curser. Lord, fill that person with Your love, guide and protect him. God is something else, isn't He?

So, let us have compassion for both those who offend us and those we offend.

Fighting Fire With Water

And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. ~ Ephesians 6:4


There are so many different ways to provoke our children to anger. Sadly, it's done everyday without realizing the rope strangling our babies. Choking them of youth, of freedom, of discipline. Every single day I have to have a game plan. What, how, when will I do what I need to do for my family. Outside excursions must be kept to a minimum. That is a sure way toward burn out {for us.} Six year old *watching* one year old must be kept to a minimum. How much can she play with her while I wash and fold until it becomes burdensome? Must I really use a *tone* when reprimanding? ..And in her tongue is the law of kindness. ~ Proverbs 31:26 Our command voice is very important. Like my pastor once taught: You need to be able to stop a running child just with your command voice. As in about to run into the middle of the street. He hears your voice commanding to stop and because He does not hear that voice often, he immediately stops.

I need to remain diligent in quenching the fire of exhaustion and busyness, etc., with the refreshing power of Water! Gushing rivers of water flush this house, cleansing our tongues, our body languages, our sin, our idols. It is so exquisitely beautiful when a mother has all day to be with her babies. A time in their lives when they will form opinions about themselves {self~worth} from what we teach them. And if they are not learning what the Bible says about them, then the world is surely waiting to whisper lies into their hearts. Dedication to spread the Good News in my home, not with my words, but with my service, my love, my kindness. Sometimes it is easier to treat outsiders with more kindness than our own immediate family. That should NOT be so!

When my six year old talks back in frustration, I will not fight her with fire. My pride and authority rising up within me. Raising my voice to prove my self. Gently I will recognize her feelings and reprimand her in love and consistency. When my three year old slams the door in my face with arms crossed and nose in the air I will not fight her with fire. I will delicately hold her and tell her I understand her frustration. After all, I truly do. But she must be taught how to deal with anger, and it is I who must teach her. I will hold her and teach her why it is not acceptable and what she can try instead. When I fail, I will get back up and in humility apologize to my daughters, my gifts from Heaven. I will be forgiven. The cycle will continue, but a healthier one than the one that first began somewhere deep within my past. A cycle flourishing with change, with intention, with humility and service. I am to serve. I am a daughter of God.


This post is linked at: Raising Homemakers, Women Living Well, Teach Me Tuesdays, Deep Roots at Home

Fall Farm Stand

Parenting Resource Books

I've never personally read any of these books, but they were recommended to my MOPS {Moms} group by my sweet pastor. Maybe one or more of them can be a blessing for your family...
How to Really Love Your Child ~ By Ross Campbell

How to Really Parent Your Child ~ By Ross Campbell

The Five Love Languages ~ By Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell

The Power of a Parent's Words ~ By H. Norman Wright

1~2~3 Magic for Christian Parents ~ By Thomas Phelan and Chris Webb

The Parent You Want to Be ~ Drs. Les & Leslie Parrott

How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk ~ By Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish

Stress and Your Child ~ By Archibald Hart

A Chicken's Guide to Talking Turkey With Your Kids About Sex ~ By Kevin Leman & Kathy Flores Bell

He lifts the poor from the dust-- Yes, from a pile of ashes-- And treats them as princes sitting in the seats of honor. For all the earth is the Lord's And he has set the world in order. ~ 1Samuel 2:8

If you own one running car, you are amongst the 5% of the richest people in the world. Though there are weeks that we live from check to check, and as a one person working family we have our challenges, compared to the majority of the world I am rich. That is so easy to forget because I am surrounded by countless families all with the same last name: Jones. You know them, right? The Jones'?

Being a daughter God, I hardly notice those people; the Jones', but then something worse than discontentment happens, I forget the poor.  Some days they are not even a thought. That should not be so. In an effort to hold myself accountable and to encourage you all I have comprised a small list to inspire us to help the beautiful people of God. Let us keep all judgement out of the equation. Thoughts such as, "they must be poor because they are living in sin" You know, thoughts that do not belong in the Kingdom of God. Will you join me in blessing our brothers and sisters who have so much less than us. Being cramped into a too small apartment for your family doesn't compare to sleeping on a feces polluted sidewalk, or in the middle of the woods with your nine month old baby, who you fear will be eaten by a rat while you sleep.

1. Pray. {Pray often. Miracles can happen and you know it.}
2. Surf the web for ways to help. {You can start here: http://hearus.us/compassion-epidemic.html}
3. Inquire. {There is more homelessness right in our own backyards than we realize.}
4. Pick up an extra can of food. {Buying just one extra canned fruit or vegetable for about 50 cents can make a difference. Collect a few and take them to a food pantry.}
5. Teach your children. {Our children are the future. If they are taught compassion from young, they will go forth and bless when their time comes.}
6. Tell anyone who will listen. {Most people don't realize that homelessness is even a problem in our world.}
7. Go through your clothes. {I have more clothes than I will ever wear. And guess what? I never have anything to wear. Not good. If you can spare some clothes take them to a shelter. I do this often as I have an aunt who is always sending me clothes.}
8. Give when you see a homeless. {Most people rather not give to a homeless assuming that most will by booze or drugs. I won't touch on that reasoning, but maybe a small meal. A piece of bread or fruit for under a dollar can taste like a piece of steak to a starving person.
9. Don't let food go to waste. {It happens to the best of us. Left overs rotting in the back of the fridge? Let us be conscious. If something is about to rot, let us face that fact, and take it to a food pantry.}
10. Cook a meal. {Most churches have a food pantry. You can make some soup, freeze it, and take it to church.}
11. Don't spoil your children with materialistic things. {Teach them to be content and to give to the poor.}
12. Sponsor a child. {I go through Gospel For Asia to sponsor my beautiful little girl. 100% of your donation goes straight to the field.}

But if someone who is supposed to be a Christian has money enough to live well, and sees a brother in need, and won't help him--how can God's love be within him? Little children, let us stop just saying we love people; let us really love them, and show it by our actions. Then we will know for sure, by our actions, that we are on God's side, and our consciences will be clear, even when we stand before the Lord. ~ 1John 3:17~19


This post is linked at: Far Above Rubies, Time Warp Wife

Beautiful Mommy Challenge

Melissa from Beautiful Mommy Feet has invited us to join in on her challenge. And a challenge it is! You see I have been struggling. I'm fatigued, I'm overworked, I'm lonely. My husband has been gone for three weeks, going on four (for work.) I'm in the middle of the woods with three precious children that need so much from me, sometimes seemingly more than I give. I have no family to come by and play with the children while I catch up on housework. I have nowhere to go and rest. But I have Jesus. My heart knows this, but in my exhaustion my mind scrambles that truth into a lie. That I am alone. That I must figure this out by myself. I won't believe it. I choose truth, I choose life, I choose help, the help I have in Jesus.

Melissa wrote:

I want to Love.  I want to be patient no matter what side of the bed I wake up on.  I want to speak grace towards my husband at all times, even when he's calling while the house is on fire (fig.) I want to have grace in my tone. 

I want to be grateful in plenty and in want.  I want to go out of my way to romance my husband, not settling for the convenient.  
I want to go out of my way to stop and listen to my son as he tells me how he slayed the dragon or had his monkey climb a tree for the thousandth time that day.  I want to be thankful and mindful that he really wants to talk to me and I need to have him know his words are precious to me. 

I want to speak grace with my daughter.  I want to show her how to love by loving her, how to treat others with kindness by displaying kindness towards her, at all times.  Not giving into my temper.

I want to show my children how to be patient by being patient with them. I want to teach them how to be grateful by being grateful.  I want to teach them that Joy is something you work on.  I want to teach the bible to them everyday.

What a beautiful heart my sister in Christ has! And she will achieve her hearts desire. I know this simply because she wants to. She's invited Jesus into the depths of her heart and has publicly shared her weaknesses so that she may be held accountable. It matters not that we fail. That we fall. That we lose. It's humanness. If we were to not fail, we would not need Jesus. 

I posted on her blog post my challenge:

I'm in! I desire to intentionally bless my family with a servants spirit. Nurturing them from sunrise to sunset. I desire to teach them what walking with Jesus is all about by walking with Him before their very eyes, every single day. I desire for my husband's heart to fully trust in me, even deeper than it does now. I desire for the works of my hands to spread out into my community and be an active servant for Christ, blessing the poor in anyway that I can, teaching my children what I believe to be incredibly important. I will start a prayer journal to record this very special time in my life. A time that is going by so fast and almost standing still at the same time. A time of meeting beautiful like~minded new friends. A time of intentional living and loving...

I'm challenged to my core. Not because serving my family is hard, but because I am a fallen child. Redeemed by Jesus, so in Him I'm made victorious, but outside of Him I am broken. And sometimes, life happens and I end up outside of Him. I get caught up in the busyness and the noise of the world, and I get sidetracked. I sleep, but get no rest. I eat, but of the wrong bread. All the while my Love, my Lord, my Sweet Jesus tugs on my heart and invites me into His bosom for some refreshment. I lean into Him, I bow before Him, I dance with Him, and it all starts to dissipate. The smoke clears. The truth is revealed. I have already won the battle, so has Melissa, so has every woman under the heavens. Not by anything we've done, but because we have surrendered to Him. We have acknowledged our weakness and have brought it before The Healer. No demon in hell can destroy what The Lord has begun. We are free to fail, to fall, and to lose. We are children of The Most High so we never hit the ground. We will never be broken again. By His stripes we are healed. Hallelujiah!! When we can't do what has been put into our hearts to do, we recognize that it is He who put the desire and the revelation into the human heart to begin with. He makes no mistakes, and He does not abandon those who cling to Him. To Him be the glory for His faithfulness. Feelings come and go with no assurance in them, but the Word of God is concrete.

Melissa, mere words cannot express the joy I have in my heart for having you in my cyber world. In my Jesus world. Thankfulness pours from my being for a woman like you who images my own heart. A heart after our Creator. Our Lord. Our God. Trials will come, that there is no doubt of. You have begun an incredible movement of spiritual truth in women all around the globe. You will be attacked, but rejoice for you have made a dent in the enemy's plan to destroy. You have awakened a calling to intentional living. Something I speak often of. Living out our purpose. Beginning right here in our homes. Raising God's children for His Glory. We are bound by His blood. The blood that covers you, rebuilds you, strengthens you. Picks you back up. It is good sign that you are struggling my sister, it means that you are dying to your flesh deeper and deeper. It means that you are on the right path, for the enemy doesn't bother those that don't thwart his plan. Let us die together. There is no life in this flesh. Let us feed our spirits until the glory, humility, love of Christ is forefront. Until the ends of time....

In all their suffering He also suffered, and He personally rescued them. In His love and mercy He redeemed them. He lifted them up and carried them through all the years. ~ Isaiah 63:9

Christians, Arise!

My husband and I attended a birthday party/charity event for a 70 year old woman who started the very first battered women's shelter in America. She began her mission very simply by word of mouth. Spreading the word that she would take in anyone who was being abused and who needed help. She opened up her own home, she offered a place of refuge to abused women and children. Her resume is extensive and quite impressive. She fought long and hard for children to stay with their mommies and for funding to help support theses families. You've probably already guessed that she is a feminist activist.

Upon entering the church where the event was being held, I began to weep. Non~stop. The entire five hours that we visited, I wept. At first I assumed that it was my passion for poor, abused women and children that resonated so deeply within me {I do desire to start~up a women's shelter in the future}, but throughout the night the Holy Spirit showed me bits and pieces of a complex reality. I was in the midst of witches. Before the concrete evidence reared its head, I had come to the conclusion that was the case indeed. Before I knew it they were singing and praising to their goddess Isis in their tongue and dancing to strong beats of the drum.

I'm sure it's easy to imagine me running out of there like a bat out of hell, but I didn't. In fact, there was no condemnation within me at all, because it is not my place to condemn those outside of Jesus, but the place of Jesus Himself; if He wished to rebuke them through me, I would have risen to the occassion. I later received clear revelation that my sobbing (deep, constant sobbing) was God grieving. Grieving for His lost daughters.

I will not insult nor degrade this woman. She has helped over $1,000,000 women and children during the course of her career. In a tangible, practical way. Being a follower of Jesus Christ, I obviously do not agree with her spiritual practices at all, but I am discouraged to judge her. God sees her heart and since I have met her, I will pray for her soul upon remembrance of her! I also will not delve into the immorality of it all {not because of discomfort, for I would be up for that challenge, but God is simply not leading me down that path} I am being led to focus on us Christians.

Here's what I felt during the gathering, and what is alive and burning up inside of me as I type, We, Christians MUST rise up! Not everyone is called to start~up shelters, but we are all called to feed the poor!

He who shuts his ears to the cries of the poor will be ignored in his own time of need. ~ Proverbs 21:13


If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. ~ Isaiah 58:10 


Because of His kindness, you have been through trusting Christ. And even trusting is not of yourselves; it too is a gift from God, Salvation is not a reward for the good we have done, so none of us can take any credit for it. It is God Himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago He planned that we should spend these lives in helping others. ~ Ephesians 2:8~10


He who shuts his ears to the cries of the poor will be ignored in his own time of need. ~ Proverbs 21:13

The scriptures concerning the poor and afflicted are many. There is such a rumbling going on inside of me! I believe the day has come when we must arise in the name of Jesus! If we are going to speak out against abortion, let us in that same breath be ready and willing to offer our own homes as a refuge for that scared, insecure mother! Women who have been raped, or carry a child of an abuser who WILL abuse that baby upon its birth need more from us as a community!! It's great that we pray, we all know prayer moves mountains, but we are the Lord's hands and feet on this earth. Let us make a difference people! The time has come. The time is NOW! Let us spread the Good News with deeds of LOVE throughout this collapsed world.

I sincerely do not wish to insult anyone, so please to not become offended. The time has come that we turn our televisions off. Give up Dr. Oz and Judge Judy and go forth in the name of our Good Lord who has called us to His work. As a wife and a mother of young ones, I must keep my priorities in place, but I must say broken, hurting people are my priority. I will take great pleasure in teaching my daughters the value of being a helping hand to the afflicted, alongside their lessons in homemaking. We are needed more than ever before dear fellow believers, let us be active, let us be a blessing, in wisdom and truth. LET US ARISE.

In love and peace...