Finishing Well

Since our move a little over a month ago, the girls and I have struggled to fall into a school routine. For three girls who LOVE a schedule it has been hard. We have ALL had meltdowns, tears, and expressed our desire to just be done!!!

Last week, when I realized how close we were to being done for the year, the girls and I had a morning meeting. The topic? Finishing well.

It would have been easy to just say, "The year is practically over. Let's just do enough to count it as school and be done with it!" Believe me, the thought crossed my mind! However, that is not a lesson I want my children learning.

We talked about how the pouting was just making us all miserable. That our poor attitude was affecting the quality of our work, and our work? Well, that is our calling and an offering to the Lord right now. We say most every morning as we begin school, "Lord, bless the work of our hands today. We are doing this for your glory." Our poor attitudes were not bringing glory to God.

When I say "We", I mean me too. This mom is ready to be done too! My girls were following my lead. I may not have been outwardly complaining, but my actions were speaking louder than words.

I've had a big reminder lesson about how my tone, attitude, work ethic, etc. dictates the atmosphere in this house. My children will adopt my attitude. Good or bad. This week, I had to apologize last week's less than positive attitude.

Finishing well has become our goal. This week has been a totally different week.

We have accomplished WAY more in three days this week than I anticipated. The quality of their work is what I know they can do and has exceeded my expectations. Don't get me wrong, we have had our moments, but we are quickly adjusting our attitudes and doing our best to be patient with each other. :) That finish line is getting closer by the minute!

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I started this post on Wednesday before blogger went wonkity. Today, Friday afternoon we have officially finished our 180 days of school!!!!

And yes, we finished well. Hard work and perseverance paid off.

I now have an 8th grader and a 5th grader!!!

Happy Summer Vacation girls! I love you and am so proud of your hard work!!

One Thousand Gifts - 6

Our heads have been in our books, and our focus has been on finishing well. (That is a post for another day.) Because of the girls diligence we are two days away from summer vacation! THAT is a gift! :)

71. Watching Chad or my girls do something they love.

72. Nasa Tweetup (Chad attended this a couple of weeks ago and lived a dream.)

73. Watching the Royal Wedding with my girls. Complete with fine china, coffee and pancakes at 5:30 in the morning.)

74. Sunday dinner. (This summer we are bringing back the Sunday dinner with friends.)

75. Protection of our area during the recent storms.

76. Basement Rompus Room.

77. Freedom to worship Christ.

78. Giving away outgrown clothes.

79. Silly dances with the girls.

80. Squirrel that keeps visiting our back porch. He walks the banister right up to our back door and looks in.

81. Cool weather in May.

82. Open windows-Warm sun and cool breezes. Airing out the house.

83. Blue skies after so many cloudy days. Taken by the thought that the blue was always there, my view of it was just blocked by the clouds for a little while.

84. Anticipating God.

Be Careful What You Pray

"Whatever you say to me, I will do."

That is a dangerous thing to say to God. :) But I did. I even wrote it in INK in the front of my Bible study workbook in January.

It has been the hardest study I have ever done. Hard because the obedience it demanded from me was not a "feel good", "Sweet Sally Christian" thing. It cut to the marrow and hurt a little bit. Well..it hurt alot. (But, oh boy was it worth it. God really does bless obedience.)

I believe that ALL Bible study, when done with a properly positioned heart will demand obedience that will bring about change. Even when what He is asking you to do is uncomfortable, unknown and maybe even terrifying, a heart willing to spend time in the Word of God will not be the same.

What he asked me to do was trust my husband. Trust that what Chad was hearing was God's plan. I didn't want to do it. What Chad was hearing God tell our family to do, would force me to destroy an idol.

I wanted things to stay the same and fought both God and Chad in this thing.

Each and every time I opened my workbook, it sent me to the Word. It was there I was face to face with truth that I had been worshipping an idol that had to come down.

Over the last few weeks, the idol came down, and God has filled the space it took up. It has been a process. A process that has demanded perseverance.

I wish I could tell you that I was confident and happy through this whole thing, but I wasn't. It was hard work. At times, I questioned Chad, God, my faith...

But.

As I watched Chad walk in obedience, I realized something. God had answered my prayer that Chad would be confident as spiritual leader in our home. He (Chad) was confident that we were to walk a specific path and he was at peace.

Hebrews 10:35-36 says "So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised."

In the last three months, I feel like we have lived my SSMT Verse #9. Deuteronomy 6:23 "He brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land that he promised on oath to our forefathers."

One month ago today, we moved. A move that was full of emotion for me. It wasn't "my" plan, "my" idea or "my" desire. It was God's plan. God's idea and God's GIFT to us.


Tonight, I sit in the home (land) that God has brought us to and can tell you...

I wasted so much time trying to hang on to the idol I had created. My focus, my grip, my affection was clinging so tightly to that idol that I could not acknowledge just how miserable that idol made me.

Nothing compares to where He has us. Yes, this physical place is awesome, but the spiritual place is...

full of Him.

Our Night in the Storm Cellar

To say our hearts are heavy this morning is an understatement. The storms have destroyed so much. Homes are gone, towns destroyed and families are grieving the loss of their loved ones.

After the girls and I settled in for our basement slumber party last night, we talked a little about what could happen. Surprisingly, they were not afraid. We made up beds and settled in for a long night.

I asked the girls if they wanted to read a particular passage or have a favorite Bible story they wanted to hear. Emma spoke up pretty fast and said "Joseph". So we read about Joseph and his brothers. Verses like "what you meant for evil, God used for good" just about had me in tears last night.

Then we hit the Psalms. I can't even tell you which ones we read, I just kept turning pages and read/prayed them for a little while. The girls were still and quiet and I could tell they were close to sleep, so we prayed.

Chloe prayed first asking God to protect our area, spare us and to "move the storm out of our path".

Emma prayed for the people who had already lost their homes and that God would help her be brave.

We had hardly finished praying when Chad texted me. (He's at Nasa for the shuttle launch) His eyes were glued to the weather channel. His words were..

"Weather channel reporting tornado danger for metro ATL has passed-tornado activity is all but dead!"

God answered our prayers and literally moved the storm out of our path.

This was my view shortly after that text.






We are grateful.

At the same time we are just sick for Alabama, northern Georgia and Tennessee. We have friends and or family in each of these places.

Everything in us wants to get in the car and go help clean up, rock babies, hand out water. But we right now we can't do that.

So we pray.

We pray that Jesus will continue to be near to the brokenhearted.

We pray for restoration. Restoration of property, but more importantly, of hearts.

We thank Him for being greater, stronger and in control of all things.

He is faithful. He is with us on days with blue skies and He is with us on days filled with funnel clouds and hail storms. He is in control.


Our focus verse for yesterday was the last part of Luke 8:25

"He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”


While I pray we never see this type of devastation again, I am so thankful for time we had last night in the storm cellar. It will be an Ebenezer moment for each of us.
So far the Lord has helped us. (see 1 Sam. 7:12)

It was Saturday. The day before Easter Sunday. Our family of four was rejoicing that we had finally found the perfect Easter outfit for one of our daughters. (It was quite a hunt this year! But she would not give up until she found the perfect, modest ensemble. I'm proud of her.)

The mall was packed so my normal walking pace was severely hindered. To say we were strolling is an understatement, we were slow pokes and I was getting a little aggravated. About the time I was getting huffy with the group of boys in front of us, I saw her coming towards us.

Actually, I saw a police officer carrying a very nice handbag first, and THEN the lady she was walking slightly behind, and I made eye contact. I smiled. She stared coldly and looked away. As they got closer I realized she was handcuffed.

My first reaction was to use it as a teaching opportunity with my girls, and after they had walked past us I did. BUT, after we got home I could not get over how cold my heart was to this young girl. Part of me felt like "you do the crime, you do the time". (I had to ask forgiveness for that by the way.) The other part is crying, that is someones daughter, sister, maybe even mother. Does she know Jesus? Has anyone told her how much He loves her?

At barely 20 she has made choices that will affect her life for quite sometime. Choices that resulted in being handcuffed and paraded through the mall for all to see and speculate about what she had done. People were turning around to watch. I'm sure people laughed, pointed, stared. Most of us, assuming she was getting what she deserved.

The day before we celebrate Easter.

This morning during worship, I was overwhelmed with the fact that my sinless Savior was arrested, beaten, paraded through a crowd of people and then died. With my sin on Him. He was taunted, spit on, laughed at...for me.

He willingly paid the penalty of my sin.

Of your sin.

My bad choices may not have resulted in being handcuffed, but if we all received what we deserved, it would be death.


Romans 6:23 says

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Amazing love. Amazing Grace.

I love how The Message words 2 Corinthians 5:21

God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.


What a Savior we have.


Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! 2 Corinthians 9:15.

OneThousand Gifts - 5

What a busy two weeks. My heart is overflowing with thanks for so much.

61. feeling at home
62. green on the trees that fill our backyard
63. jets in my bathtub (thank you emma for reminding me how awesome they are.)
64. weekend getaways with friends
65. feeling the weight of God's glory in a worship service
66. my own closet
67. baby showers and the new life they celebrate
68. the iris and hostas Chad transplanted for me on Saturday (what a treat to pull in the driveway and see him planting my flowers.)
69. lavender scented fabric softener
70. sunrise

We are so thankful life is falling back into our normal schedule! We are counting down the days of school and dreaming about summer vacation. It is going to be good. We already see things to be grateful for there. :)

I'm off to spend some time with "Hannah's One Wish" preparing for my 8th grader girls week one of this study. And then....

I'm FINALLY hanging pictures in our bedroom. (That big room is beginning to feel like a hospital with all the white!)

Thank you for stopping by, you have been prayed for today!

Hi!

Well...it's been so long since I posted I'll be surprised if anyone is still reading! :)

We have spent the last three weeks in high gear. Emma's birthday, packing boxes, musical, packing boxes, move, unpacking boxes, speaking in TN, more unpacking, helping with a baby shower...did I mention unpacking boxes?

We are finally getting settled in and things are starting to look like home.

I know that we are exactly where God wants us to be and even with the craziness of moving, we are at complete peace.

We have tried our best to keep our minds and hearts focused on Him during this move and God has done what His words says He will do. (Keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast... Isaiah 26:3)

I'm in the midst of packing for a quick overnight trip to the lake with some of my favorite ladies. God orchestrated this getaway at just the right time. He's so good like that.

Thanks for stopping by today! You have been prayed for...

Blessings,
stephanie