31 Days of Creative Homeschooling: Inspiration

~ Get creative – God commands it ~
He who is Creator made us creative. That includes when we teach our children His commands!
Deuteronomy 6:5-10

Grace for today, this minute

Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight.
Exodus 33:13

It’s a Tuesday, I get up with the alarm at 6 & think about coffee but decide I’ll be too jittery so I head to the shower.
Next I wake my 12 year old, she’s tall and lanky and cute but doesn’t move very fast. Seriously.
Within the next 10 I’m dressed, have woken the other children and started the get-ready-to-go chant. Every Tuesday & Thursday the kids take an early swimming class at the Y. In the pool by 7:30 am.
Often my mood turns sour by 6:45. I’m not a morning person per se, but not a night owl either. I like to have easy mornings with coffee and books… yep, vacation mornings are my choice.
At any rate, we usually leave the house hurried and rather grouchy with each other.
The thing is, if I take a few moments, reflect on the grace that God has shown me and just ask for Him to change my attitude ~ I can generally dump the grouch and just be mom. I might not be super nurturing but I can talk without a bite in my voice or an eye roll toward the skies.
Sometimes it might require more than a few minutes, and that’s okay too. It is worth those few extra minutes to be a kind momma to my kiddos. Maybe I need to wash my face, go ahead and make the coffee, or read another verse or two…
•Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving as God in Christ forgave you.
•Proverbs 31:26 She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

The Bible is God’s living Word & each of us can be transformed in these minutes by it!

Walking in His Grace

Begin at the beginning…. who is He? God our Heavenly Father, the King of Kings, and Lord of all. He is mighty and loving and super creative. He offers a gift of grace to all who believe in His holy name. The grace he extends covers many areas but today I want to share with you His ultimate saving grace. Grace is described by the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod as:

Good will and favor shown to one who can plead no merit, particularly, the love of God in relation to the sinner as such. There may be love, but not grace, between equals or between a judge and an innocent person. Grace implies mercy or compassion for one who has by every right forfeited his claim on love.

I began to have a small understanding of grace when I was in an organization called Ongoing Ambassadors for Christ. We traveled to different Lutheran churches over weekends and held gatherings, worship and would canvass the neighborhoods. We would literally go door to door and ask whomever answered this question, “If you were to die tonight, do you believe you would go to heaven?”. I remember a few specific incidents from those times. (Which is amazing because I have a horrid memory) One woman answered the door and listened to our question and then she shared how she did believe she would go to heaven because she was a good person, did the right things when in a difficult situation, and was kind….but she didn’t mention Jesus at all. I remember witnessing to her, telling her that she could be confident in her salvation because of Jesus Christ, not because of anything she did. We shared scripture verses with her and even prayed with her. I believe that is when the truth of God’s grace began to seep into my understanding. Isn’t it amazing that I was learning about grace while He was using me to share it with others? I believe that is how God works… He equips us right where we are to do the job He needs done in that moment and all the while He is giving us understanding and knowledge new and fresh to us.

Ephesians 2:8 & 9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. ” Assurance of eternal life in heaven can only come through Jesus Christ. We are sinners from the beginning and no matter how hard we try to change, how much effort we put into clean living, we will fail and make poor choices ,and do the very things we wish we hadn’t. But because Jesus Christ came down from heaven, walked this earth and was crucified on the cross we can believe 100% in eternal life and heaven. That is grace! We can’t change ~ so He changed for us, we couldn’t have stood the suffering, so He suffered for us, we couldn’t save ourselves from our sins and damnation, so He saved us. That Is Grace ~ and it’s a grace I walk in each day.

want to know more? ~ WHO IS JESUS

3/3 Sunday edition

Blank pages to be painted, inked, taped….

New book for our couples small group. I’ve only read a tiny bit but already finding good quotes:
“…the gospel- that is, the message of Christ crucified for sinners- relates to every moment of the believer’s life.”

and (fingers crossed) some spring planting…. we’re totally wannabe gardeners!
What three things are you enjoying right now?

Retreat

Happy Easter friends! He is Risen, alleluia!
This Holy Week flew by. We cooked and cleaned and ran errands and attended services…..

The cross has been carried all through the circle, the candle a nub, the devotions to finish tonight. I’m not ready for that to end though, I have loved family devotions. We do have 10:00 stop but it’s been really nice to take a few minutes at the end of our day as well
Thursday afternoon I leave for a three day retreat where I will be a song leader. Preparing for this has been challenging for me. I love playing guitar & singing but I’m not too confident as a leader. This is our theme verse:

Interesting eh, that I feel so ill equipped, but in these words I’m promised the door will stay open for me. Love that!
I will be spending Thursday night in silence & prayer and I would like to offer to pray for anyone who would like me to. You can leave a comment here or email me at hsmom2luge at yahoo dot com
Really anytime- not just this week.
Blessings to you all this Eastertide!