Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY... Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Outside my window... a sunny, hot day waking up.

I am thinking...that time always gets away from me in that little time of quiet before getting the day going. :)

I am thankful for...the freedoms that God's given us in this country.

I am wearing... capri pants and a t-shirt.

I am remembering (and praying for)... Muslims (that they will come to know Christ).

I am going...(Lord willing) to be home all day until I take the girls to play practice tonight.

I am currently reading... Screwtape Letters and Sense and Senseability. (How's that for variety?) ;)

I am hoping... that my honey has a great day at work today.

On my mind... getting back into our regular homeschooling routine.

Noticing that...3 of the 4 girls haven't yet gotten up. (I gave the wake up call before I began this post.)

Pondering these words..."By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going."

Hebrews 11:8 (How often I want a road map before I step out in "faith" - that's not faith. I'm to follow God trusting He who leads me - not want to know the end before the stepping out.)

From the kitchen... smoothies and toast for bfast, chicken quessadillas for supper, (leftovers or chicken nuggets for lunch), and need to bake some bread today.

Around the house...need to get the girls up and going so we can get started on our learning (schoolday).

One of my favorite things~ laughing with my family and friends.

From my picture journal...

You can enjoy more daybooks at Simple Woman's Daybook.Have a great week.

Summer Recap

Since today is our first declared "school day" of the year, I thought I'd take a chance to really quickly share with you a recap of our summer. It was great. I can't believe it's flown by so quickly! (I must admit that a couple of my girls told me that they're looking forward to the break the school year will give them compared to this summer.) :)

One of the events that kicked off our summer was attending a Tim Hawkins concert. (If you're not familiar with him, I'd recommend looking him up. He's got a lot of material on YouTube. He's a Christian comedian and I've never known anyone to hear him without bursting up laughing.) What a great way to begin the summer!



Our summer began with the closing out of a number of last years activities: ballet, Awana, & a piano recital.

We were blessed to attend a family reunion with my grandma, aunt, uncle, & cousin that I hadn't seen in far too long.

I also had the treat of a visit from a dear friend of mind who moved away (as in across the country) a few years ago. What a sweet time of fellowship we shared.

L & K had a great summer serving with Child Evangelism Fellowship. They were privileged to present the gospel all summer long, were able to discuss their faith with a number of children, and had the opportunity to lead a number of children to Christ.

We had fun celebrating Father's Day.

Ra & J enjoyed ballet lessons over the summer:

We enjoyed our annual Chickfila Day (also known as "dress like a cow and eat for free - gotta love it" day). :) My sweet sister-in-law and nephews and niece faithfully come visit, dress up, and go out to eat with the girls and me. (My brother comes too and, while we enjoy his company, we just never seem to be able to get him or R to don any type of cow attire. Is it a man thing?) :) We had a great visit with their family and enjoyed playing a Minute to Win It afterward.

We were blessed to enjoy a wonderful family vacation this summer. We attended the Answers in Genesis Family Apologetics Conference. (It was wonderful! I highly recommend it.) The speakers were incredible and we enjoyed the Gatlinburg area while we were there. We then went to the Creation Museum and had a great time there also.

We had lots of fun at Dollywood and Splash Country.

The Smokies were beautiful! We loved getting to see a lot of wildlife, esp. 3 black bears (from the safety of our air conditioned car)! :)

We had a great time at the Creation Museum. Highly recommend it!

A highlight for K, she got to see a close friend of hers who moved away last summer. We really enjoyed visiting with her family.

As we were leaving the museum, R happend to see Ken Ham, so we got to visit with him, tell him how much we enjoyed the conference and the museum. (By the way, L is holding our friend's baby. She and the baby bonded and she loved getting to hold her so much.) :)

That's about it on a recap for our summer. God has blessed us so much!

Guess I need to go wake up my kiddos for bfast and to get started once again with a normal routine (that includes "school"). :)

Have a great week!

Same enemy - Same tactics

One thing that God kept impressing on me while I heard different speakers at the Answers in Genesis Apologetics Conference was that Satan is still using the same line of attack that he used against Eve in the garden - "Did God really say....?"

Today we may not hear "Did God really say that you can't eat the fruit?"

However we will hear it dealing with the issues of our day, those we're familiar with:
Did God really say Jesus is the ONLY way to heaven (as opposed to one of the paths)?
Did God really say that He is the creator (as opposed to evolution - did He really speak things into existence, is carbon dating wrong, what about all those "experts")?
Did God really say wives to submit to their husbands (as opposed to "I am woman, hear me roar!")?
Did God really say homosexuality is a sin (as opposed to a predisposed genetic disposition that should be protected as a civil right)?
Did God really say children are a blessing and a reward (as opposed to a drain on our bank and patience accounts)?

Yes, our enemy still uses that question, "Did God really say?" as a line of attack.
We must be grounded on the authority of His Word. Yes, He really did say. (That's one reason we must study and know God's Word - so that we'll recognize when something is in line with it and when something isn't. When we have a question, God's Word should be the place we go for Truth.)

The underlying issue we often deal with is whose authority do we trust - God's or man's? Whose wisdom will we rely on and base our decisions and our life on - God's or man's? (This mentioned often at the conference and at the Creation Museum; it is so true. It's a foundational issue affecting how we view everything. Who's the most important authority? God or man?)

God's Word is infallible. (Man's is quite fallible.) God is trustworthy. (Man is not.) God is the King of kings (1 Tim. 6:15), the great I Am (Exodus 3:14), the author of life (Acts 3:15), the Alpha and Omega (Rev. 1:8), the beginning and end. He's everything - and so far beyond our comprehension.

When things don't make sense to our finite minds, we must trust Him. He is Wisdom. We must choose to trust Him and live our lives according to His Word. We really do have to train ourselves to recognize it when we're facing a "Did God really say?" attack. He did say and He is our fortress that we can run to during attack.

"He who fears the Lord has a secure fortress,
and for his children it will be a refuge."
Proverbs 14:26

"But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him."
Jeremiah 17:7

Still Here

Believe it or not, we're still here!!!! (Meaning, althought I haven't posted in 2 months, we're still here and God's blessed us with a wonderful summer.)

A week ago we got back from vacation - what a wonderful time. We were blessed to be able to attend the Answers in Genesis Family Apologetics Conference in Seveirville, TN and then go to the Creation Museum up in north Kentucky/near Cincinnati, OH. What a wonderful week! The speakers were TERRIFIC (lots to digest and share from them). We had lots of great family time: Dollywood, Splash Country, driving up into the Smokeys to the TN/NC line, drove into Cades Cover where we were treated to the sight of 2 black bears (and a 3rd on the way back into town), 8 deer, 2 wild turkeys, and 28 butterflies. :) We also enjoyed tubing down a creek. Lots of fun! We were blessed to connect with some wonderful people in TN, esp. one family that we made friends with and got to visit some more with in KY. We also had fun reconnecting with a sweet family that used to live here and now lives a little north of Cincinnati. I plan to update you all a bit more often, filling you in on the great things we heard, etc. But, we have one computer for all 6 of us and I have more in line behind me asking how long I'll be typing. :)

So, guess I'll go Wii bowling with my family and try to update you soon.

Here's one quote that I heard from a preview for Answers in Genesis' Demolishing Strongholds program: Charles Ware "God doesn't have fans, just players. GET IN THE GAME!!!!"