fall, where art thou fall?

  Fall is a beautiful time of the year, where the trees turn to a crisp brown, red, orange,and yellow ,and fall to the ground in a beautiful slow and gracious dance.  The air is crisp and cool, and apples are for sale everywhere.Pumpkins cover porches, and scarecrows stand guard. The corn stalks are tied, and lean against the stairs, and you walk slowly, and breathe in the fresh air, wearing your green cotton sweater, a turtle neck, a comfortable corduroy skirt, and beautiful brown boots. You feel like twirling around and around, looking to the sky of deep blue, and enjoying the masquerade of falling leaves.... but wait.. that didn't happen yet!
  Sometimes the things we deem perfect are not what God has planned. In my own "perfect" dream, I would have been married a month after I turned twenty, and had a house to care for, and perhaps by now have a baby on the way. I would be shopping for food and clothes the family needs, cleaning house, making bread and roast for my hard working husband. But God said that it was not time yet. Sometimes waiting can be hard. I love summer, it is one of my favorite three seasons (sometimes,winter is too cloudy and lasts too long !lol! But if it :) ) but the changes of the seasons, that is my favorite. I like to watch the snow melt and the birds congregate in the trees and "chat" about who is going to live where or how their trip was (perhaps they have a worship service too! lol!).  The warming of the air, the flowers and sounds of the summer, then , the colors, gentle cooling and quietness of a blue skied fall,  when the earth prepares to rest. Then of course, I like the signs of winter. the air gets colder, Christmas comes,and everyone decorates and goes shopping! (I think I will keep my decorations up all winter in my home, perhaps that would lighten the mood :) )
   This year, fall is coming slowly. The air is till pretty humid and warm, and rather cloudy. But soon, I know, fall will come. I just need to enjoy the now! :) 

  Keep on enjoying your season, because the seasons of life change, and in life, they don't go around again :)
  

trusting with an open heart.

openness with our family is an important part of practicing for our future life as a wife. trust is an important factor in our relationships. do you trust your parents? some don't, some do. the key to trusting your parents is  first step for some: tell them everything. Don't be afraid to tell them your thoughts, feelings, interests,  time you were way, when you were surfing the web. everything.
      never lie to your parents. this will start a wall of separation from your parents. never keep secrets either. eventually as you "leave out" something or "tell a little lie" , you start to make it habit to keep your life a secret.
    this is a slippery slope ladies. God gave you your parents to be protectors and guides, best friends,leaders and confidants that are with you until you marry. starting to lie or leave out information now, will likely cause you to do the same in your future marriage. this secrecy will ruin the gift of marriage, and rob you of the blessings God had for you.
     How can I begin to communicate after i already lived this way? you have a tough situation. your parents may not trust you now, but you can earn their trust. begin now. when they ask you what you did on your lap top, tell them you read this article, and what you learned from it. tell them that you are sorry for the lies.  tell them you understand that you have to earn their trust again, and that , with God's help, you will try to be more open, and not keep secrets or lies anymore. they may not believe you, depending on how serious the situation. but most parents will likely be very happy and suprised at such a change. but one thing. make sure you change. make sure you change. without change you will have little effect and rob yourself of the joy God had in store for you.

          Remember, God sees everything,and he knows your "secrets".  ^{Numbers 32:23;}"But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out."

are you ready?

  Recently we were hit by a horrible storm. we were warned it was coming, and that flooding could ensue for low lying areas. we have experiecned flooding before,and did not want to have the losses again. we prepared.  our basement was emptied, and we could relax.
     I knew some people who said it would not be anything,and nothing would happen.
   They were wrong. we fled to another state to watch the storm from a distance. when we returned, there was a lake in our back yard, and very wet basement.
    many houses in our area were destroyed and are no longer livable.  the warnings were there, and many people did not heed the warnings.
    Listen, thereis a warning now. it is in your heart. do you hear it?
     the warning says that if you don't acccept christ, you will end up in a flood of fire. Will you heed the warning? will you prepare for the future by accepting Jesus Christ as your saviour today? by living his way, and not your own?
     if you are ready to make the most important descision you will ever make?  if you are ready to accept christ, i will tell you how.
         1) realize you have sinned "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. " (Romans3:23)
        2) realize that you cannot save yourself "For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God  not by works, lest any man should boast."
(Ephesians 2:8-9)
         3) realize your descision to follow Christ means surrendering your life to Him , to serve Him and obey Him "If ye continue in My Word, then are ye My disciples indeed." (John 8:31)
        4) confess your sins to Jesus, tell Him that you dedicate your life to Him, and that you accept His gift of salvation. "that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (Romans 10:9-10)
    I will not leave you a prayer to say here, because I believe what you say should come from you,not a paper.  But do remember to close with Jesus' name. He said: "And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." (John 14:13)
    Be sure to share the gospel with others too! "and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." (Luke 24:47)
     Christ will bring you  ever lasting joy, if you would receive him today " Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light." (Matthew 29-30)

       Remember, Christ alone can save you from the flood of fire to come. Will you trust Him today?

Homeschooling Days!

Are you a home schooled? Do you home school your children? What are you most memorable days of homeschooling? I can remember two special days we had at our home school, We had around the world day, where each student learned about another country, wrote a report, cooked a food from that country, prepared an oral report, and tried to dress in some sort ot traditional clothing. We invited the grandmother's over for Around the World Day! The children really enjoyed it. They put together posters of famous land marks, traditional dress, animals of the region, etc. One daughter represented China and made Egg Drop soup, another daughter represented Ireland and made Irish soda Bread, my third daughter represented Germany and made Apple Strudel. My sons represented Great Britain and Scotland. They made Earl Grey Tea and Scottish Short bread. It was a memorable day for all. The grandmother's tasted the food and looked at their displays and listened to their reports. I assigned the report in early October and Around the World Day was in mid January. It gave them plenty of time to work on their reports and learn a whole bunch in the process. Another time we transformed our garage into a Creation Museum. They again learned about a certain subject and created a display of what they were learning about. The children learned about, the Solar System and hung paper mache planets from the ceiling. They also learned about Amphibians and insects they created posters of the life cycle of an amphibians and posters detailing the parts of an insect. They also had their pet frog on display in his habitat. My sons made posters of Whales and Dolphins, and had whale songs playing in the back ground. They also had their plastic whales and dolphins on display. My oldest daughter made posters and diagrams showing the geographical details of the Atlantic ocean, namely the continental Shelf and the mid Atlantic Ridge. We had family come and see our museum that too was allot of fun. Well those are two of my most memorable days of homeschooling. However special those days were, I can also remember the quite winter days when we studied at the kitchen table as the snow outside piled up deep. We would make hot tea and cocoa and watch the cardinals, wood peckers and chickadees at the bird feeders. I can remember making crafts with them and hanging them up all over our home. I really loved homeschooling them, because I really loved spending all that time with them. I am thankful to God for the opportunity to do so. I love you all, my children.