Encouraging Moms Who Homeschool

A.W. Tozer. Now there's a name that immediately brings to mind a spiritual giant. His words are quoted in more books, articles and devotionals than one could count. Mentored by A.B. Simpson, Tozer is nearly as well-known as Charles Haddon Spurgeon or Dwight L. Moody in Christian circles. So when I had the opportunity to read and review a book containing never before published material of his, I jumped at the chance. The book is entitled Alive in the Spirit - Experiencing the Presence and Power of God . It was compiled and edited by James L. Snyder. This book isn't a lengthy read at just 188 pages, and the chapters are short enough to read and "digest" them one at a time in a single sitting. I'm a woman who writes in my books - and the more I like a book, the more underling, highlighting and margin notes will be found. My copy of Alive in the Spirit has a fair amount of writing in it. Now that's not to say that I found this to be my favorite book by Tozer

I'm going to be doing something a little different in terms of my blog posts. Rather than my typical posts that are meant to put encourage women who homeschool, I will be blogging about the Bible. Today I would like to look at one verse in particular and share what I have learned from this verse, and maybe someone reading this will be encouraged by the Word. Better yet, maybe someone (or several someones) will decide to spend more time reading the Bible on a regular (read that daily ) basis. That would be pretty fantastic. Let's get to it:       1 Peter 1:9 - (New Living Translation) The reward for trusting Him will be the salvation of your souls.  Okay, so you already know that trusting Jesus is the only way to have eternal salvation for your soul. ( If you did not know that, let me suggest you read the book of John - right now, don't wait! - and pray and ask the Lord if He would like you to yield your life to Him and make Him your Savior and Lord over all your life.

Women who home educate have chosen, in a very loud and clear manner, to take responsibility for the education of their children. Additionally, we have chosen to guide them into adulthood with the goal of them becoming, well, adults . Not only adult as defined by age, but actual adults who no longer behave like adolescents.  Sure, there are times we struggle with letting them grow up. It's hard! For a zillion different reasons, it's hard. And sometimes we hold on too tightly. That may be due to fear on our part, or sadness that this all-defining aspect of our own lives is changing, or perhaps we don't even realize we are still holding on. It is possible to believe you have let go of something only to look down and see it still tightly grasped in your hand. But for the most part, I think homeschooling mothers are working to get their children into adulthood in the proper time frame (as in, they behave like adults when their birth certificate reveals they are legally adults

Well, it's been quite a good long while since I have posted a book review. Yup - you guessed it...I'm back at it again. A bit more selectively, albeit, but back at it nonetheless. I have been reading through a book written by Dutch Sheets entitled Intercessory Prayer. It is a book about exactly what you think it's about when you see the title; prayer, and specifically that of intercession. If you don't know what that is off the top of your head, no worries - you are certainly not alone. In a nutshell, intercessory prayer is any praying done on behalf of other people or situations that is intended to generate a specific and tangible change. An excellent example would be the time spend praying for your child in one certain way - concertedly, and until God moves and answers. This book, published by Bethany House and available for purchase at Amazon and other retailers, is one of the few books I have read on prayer that actually talks about how to pray. Not vaguely

Psalm 78:4  says this: " We will tell the next generation ..." Tell the next generation what? What are we to tell them? "... of His power, and the wonders He has done ." Do you know the absolute best way to convey to the next generation God's great power, God's great wonders? It is by being a woman who is consistently thankful. Full of thanks. Always grateful. Speaking of God's great power and astounding wonders with such a thankful heart that the two become inseparable. A thankful woman is a content woman. Is that how you see yourself? How others would describe you? Do you feel discontent? Try some gratitude. The impact will be pretty much immediate. Not to mention, your family will love the "new you". Homeschooling is very much about proclaiming the Lord's mighty deeds and declaring who He is to the next generation (at least for the Christian homeschool family). It is a big part of why we do what we do, isn't it? Do we forge

I don't know about you, but I will fall flat on my face and end in total failure and disappointment any day which I have not bathed in prayer. I just can't do this thing called life, this monumental task of home education, without the Lord's steady hand upon me. And I can only walk hand-in-hand with Him to the degree that I seek Him first in prayer. If the hand the rocks the cradle truly is the hand that rules the world, then our world is in utter danger if those cradle-rocking hands are not folded in prayer to our Lord each day. Not to put too fine a point on it, but the actual truth for all mothers everywhere is this: we shape the future by the manner in which we raise our children today. Here is a quote from E.M. Bounds on prayer and thanksgiving that inspires and challenges me:           "God does much for us in answer to prayer, but we need from Him many gifts, and for them we are to make special prayer. According to our special needs, so must our praying b

So, I have not been much about blogging lately. Correction: I have not been much about blogging annually, since I haven't posted here in over 6 months and prior to that my posts had been sporadic at best. Honestly, I pretty much reckoned my blog as "dead", for lack of a better word. I figured no one was reading it, I knew I had not been keeping up with it, and as the end of my years as a homeschooling mother are drawing to a close, I figured it may have served it's purpose. Reached it's expiration date. Surely no one even knows it exists anymore. I was, to say the least, surprised, when I checked my stats only to discover that not only is this blog not dead; rather, the stats over the last 30 days have been the highest EVER . Wait, wait? Huh? Is this for real? It seems some of my more obscure posts are being read, and not just here and there, but read a lot. So maybe the purpose of my blog has not yet been fulfilled. Maybe the time I have spent focused on fi