Wednesday 29 August 2012

Stepping out over the line

I was very blessed and encouraged to be at a Holiday Bible Conference last week.  Often, on a Sunday, I don't get to fully listen to sermons, but last week, I was able to hear lots!!!

One sermon in particular, grabbed my attention, and really got me thinking.  It was Pastor James Zenker who was preaching.  He was preaching from a passage that I am sure I have read before, but had no memory of doing so.  And, as preaching is, even if I had, he brought out some wonderful gems from it.

He drew our thoughts to the incident where Jonathan goes virtually single-handed to fight the enemy, whilst Saul sits, doing nothing, under a pomegranate tree. His theme was more to do with the Lord's work, and evangelism.  The theme was that God delights in doing great things in dark days.  Jonathan says...



"And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few."
I Samuel 14:6



The enemy was there.

Saul had decided that there were too many of them to try and even attempt a battle.

But Jonathan knew they had God on their side, and He was able to give the victory to just TWO of them.

Not only that, but they had to go through some pretty treacherous terrain to reach the enemy.  Talk about a rock and a hard place....that was it.  It was no easy task, and the odds were stacked against them.  The historians estimate that there were over 130,000 in the Philistine camp.  And, just Jonathan and his armour-bearer.

God did an amazing thing for them.

First of all, after receiving a sign from the Lord, the brave pair defeated 20 men on their own.  Then, God sent an EARTHQUAKE to defeat the rest and send them running!!!

All because Jonathan had faith, and trusted God to give them victory.  He stepped over that line and went forward, despite the enemy that he faced.

First of all, I took encouragement from an evangelistic view point.  Our Church is small, but if we put our trust in God's strength, and step out in faith, He will give the victory!  James pointed out that time after time in the scriptures, we see that God delights to do great things in dark days.  We ARE in dark days, spiritually speaking.  God CAN work again, because He is still the same God as He was in the days of Jonathan.  he hasn't changed!

He also pointed out that our goal should always be God's glory. God deserves more than our comfort.  We can't sit, like Saul, giving up and sitting in comfort, rather than doing what we should be doing for God's glory. God deserves more than a comfortable Christian life!

Jonathan didn't look at the enemy, and the enormity of the task ahead.  He looked to God.  James pointed out something which I knew, but had never thought of in a spiritual sense.  You know that we have focal vision and peripheral vision, right?  We can see things around us, but the only thing that is in focus, is WHAT WE ARE LOOKING AT.  If we are looking at the enemy around us, then we have TAKEN OUR FOCUS FROM GOD.  Our eyes are not looking directly at Him, is we are focusing on the enemy around us. We need to keep our perspective in the right place.

He quoted that great statement of William Carey.

"Attempt great things for God - expect great things FROM God."

Obviously, this applies to evangelism, but I couldn't help but think it applies to ANYTHING in our lives that we should be doing for God.

Has God showed you that you should be a Mum who should be at home with her children?  That your calling as a wife and mother is more important than anything else?  Do you have days when you doubt, or that you have so many struggles and trials that you just want to turn around and run away?  Are you having discouragements from those around you, who tell you that it would be better to do something easier?

Maybe you are a homeschooling parent.  BOY are there those around who would like to tell you that you are not doing the right thing.  But YOU know God's heart for your family.  You know that this is the right path for you, but there are enemies, discouragements and struggles on every side.

Ladies,  step over that line, by faith, and do what God wants you to do. Keep your eyes on the LORD!!  Keep your focus upon Him, and keep your eyes off the enemy.  Do you see a big task ahead of you, that seems to be a huge hurdle to overcome with the difficult days outweighing the dreamy ones? Don't take your eyes off the One who is able to give you the victory!

The other thing that struck me was the support that Jonathan had from his armour-bearer.  If our husband is the head of our home, then we could look at ourselves as the armour-bearer.  Do we stand right behind our husband in the choices that he makes, and follow along with faith and a willing heart?  Are we supportive of his Biblical choices?  I'm talking about the ideal here, I know.  I know that there are women out there who don't live in the ideal Biblical marriage.  But, for those who are - if your husband makes a choice that is not leading you into sin, it is your responsibility to submit, and follow.  Give him all the love and support that you can, and show him that you are right there with him as his right-hand battle-fighter!

We are also fighting a spiritual battle as parents, as we seek to train up our children in accordance with the scriptures.  Satan doesn't like that, and he will throw discouragements in your path, left, right and centre! Without a doubt, it's one of the areas in which we face the biggest battle, with the most struggles surrounding us.  KEEP LOOKING TO THE LORD!!! Keep your focus upon Him.  Seek His Word, and come to Him in prayer.  Ask Him to give you the victory as you battle for your children's hearts.

It also applies to any area that we struggle with, regarding sin in our lives.  We all have sin that tries to take a grip, and we do battle with day by day.  Sometimes it's little things that just try to creep in and overtake us in a subtle way.  Sometimes it is something big and ugly.  KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE LORD.  He IS able to give you the victory!!!

There are just so many ways this can apply in our lives, that I simply couldn't begin to think of them all.  We all know our own enemies.  What matters most is how we deal with them.  Do we look at the enemy around us, or do we look to the Lord, who is able to give us the victory?





  "But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 
  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." 
1Co 15:57&58




Whatever area in your life that you are doing battle, your labour is not in vain and God WILL give you the victory!  Keep "abounding", or excelling, in what God has called you to do.  Don't be  moved by the enemies around you.  Keep firm, focussed and moving forward in the way that God has led you.  You WILL have the victory!




And, do you want to know something amazing?  During WWI, General Allenby remembered the story of Jonathan and his armour-bearer, whilst they were fighting the Ottomans at the VERY SAME PLACE.  they got their Bibles out, remembered the details, and won the battle using the same tactics!!! Due to this victory, they were able to defend Jerusalem!!! Read more details here, and be amazed!!! 

Sunday 19 August 2012

Is it the weekend yet?!!?

Phew.

It's Saturday night, isn't it?

That means it's Sunday tomorrow.

God's specially designed Day of Rest.

And, this week, I am SO glad of it.

It's been a busy, hard week.

I had big plans for this week, and on the whole I have accomplished them.

I wanted to make Susie a dress.  I got the idea here.  I picked up the skirt in a charity shop last week, and I already had the t-shirt.  Here is the final product.


It's SO far from being perfect, but I MADE IT!!!

I was rescued from the disaster of a sewing machine that wasn't working, by my new friend Lindsay.  I had only ever "met" her online, but had come into contact through Sally Clarkson's Facebook page.  We realised that we lived only about 20 minutes away from each other, but had never got round to meeting. So, when I gave a cry for help on Facebook, with my sewing machine dilemma, she offered to come over and help.  It was SO lovely to meet her, but we didn't get the sewing machine sorted.  Being the kind-hearted lady that she is, she offered the use of her sewing machine, so off I toddled on Thursday evening.  It was SUCH a joy to go and see her lovely home and garden.  We chatted for ages, and eventually realised, at gone 10pm, that maybe we should get the dress made!! *grin*  It was lovely to have an unexpected time of blessing and encouragement, all because my sewing machine is cranky!!! God is good!!


 Let me just show you it from the back, too.




And, a close up.  Not TOO close up, or you will see the imperfections!!


I AM rather pleased, and once I get my machine working (sighs, and rolls eyes), I want to make other things!


My other crafty project of the week, was crocheting flowers.  When my sister-in-law, Jo, was here a couple of weeks ago, we set ourselves the challenge to make a crochet flower by next week.  For Jo, who is an excellent and expert crochet-er, that would be no problem.  But, I rose to the challenge, and had mine done the evening she left!!! What's more, I have done more since.  And, tried some other patterns.


This was the first one.  I plan to make these, along with more in different colours and sizes, into a scarf.  Not a "keep-yourself-warm" scarf - a "look-pretty" scarf!! 


This is a "rose".  


These are cute and very easy to make.  I got the pattern from Attic 24.  I plan to make LOTS of things from that website.  I LOVE it. 


Actually, Lindsay had lots of things that she had crocheted, using patterns from that website.  They were things of beauty!!!

And, I have just gone and got completely distracted from writing this post, gazing at her tutorials and creations!!! *doh*

Anyway, so where was I?  

Yes, that's right.  Making things.

So, to completely throw a spanner in the works of my creative and productive week, I got a horrid cold/throat/miserable thingy.  I still feel pretty rotten, but better than yesterday.  With my sewing machine fiasco, in which I spent a lot of time fiddling about trying to get it to work, and not doing other things I needed to do, I ended up having to do school planning whilst at the peak of my "un-wellness" yesterday.  But, plan I did!!! It probably took me about a gazillion times longer than it should have done, but it was yesterday or not at all.  

I sat, with the fan blowing my papers about, trying to make me feel better! It's also been VERY hot and humid here.  Well, hot for England.  Over 30C, which is upper 80'sF.   Did I ever mention I don't "do" hot and humid.  Blah.

I was rather excited about doing my planning, though.  It was music, and writing. More about the music in another blog post.  I am starting to use the Writeshop curriculum, for writing.  I bought book B, in a wave of enthusiasm, after hearing Kim Kautzer speak about it at an online conference.  However, I wasn't in the right place, from an organisation point of  view, to implement it.  I was still swimming about in the sea of home-schooling multiple children, and couldn't get my head around using it.  I realised this year that I needed something new for them all, to guide their writing.  So, I got Book D for the older ones as well.  Especially great, is that it is downloadable.  Did I mention that I like downloads?! 

Yes?

Moving on.....



So, I have it printed off, and the first 3 weeks of lessons all planned out!! I am so excited to get started, and just hope that the children enjoy it just as much! 

I am so thankful that the Lord has sustained me whilst feeling ill.  It would have been very easy to just sink into the sofa, and abandon all thought of productivity. But, with God all things are possible!

So, I think I hear my bed calling now. 

Nighty-night!

Thursday 16 August 2012

Child Training Bible

How many times do you find yourself quoting the same Bible verse over, and over, and over, when you are rebuking your child?

"You KNOW the Bible says 'Thou shalt not steal'"

or,

"God says 'Be ye kind one to another'"

I certainly know that I did.

Or, worse.

You don't even remember to use the scriptures at ALL when rebuking and disciplining your children?!!?

I know I have fallen culprit to BOTH of these things.

And then....

I found THIS brilliant resource!!!

The Child Training Bible.



So, what is it?

It's NOT an actual Bible.  You have to buy that yourself, in addition to the kit.

It's NOT going to train your children for you.

Ok, you are right...I just told you what it is NOT! *chuckles*


"The Child Training Bible is tool that allows parents and children (and anyone that loves the Word of God) to go directly to the pages of Scripture for instruction in 20 key areas with a complete section dedicated to the gospel.


The CTB was designed with Colossians 3:9-10 in mind.   The Scriptures selected for the CTB teach why we are to “put off” certain behavior and what godly behavior we are to “put on” instead.

The front key of the CTB is a visual index of the areas that Scripture teaches us to “put off.”  These areas correspond to color-coded tabs and highlighted text.  CTB Scriptures address both negative and positive responses with the emphasis on Jesus Himself, His perfect life as an example and gift to us.





To make a Child Training Bible you will use the CTB charts that include over 200 Scripture references, heart and gospel questions, and sample prayers."





It is a tool to direct your child to the scriptures, and clearly show them why their behaviour is wrong. 

You have to buy highlighter pens and coloured tabs, and a Bible the right size, in order to put it all together.  It takes quite a long time, but it is worth it.  

It is a brilliant tool to make sure you do not speak in anger.  By taking the time to lift up the Bible, and turn to the scripture that applies to the sin, you have time to be calm and reasoned in the way you deal with your child.  I have also found that the children are a lot more affected by hearing what the Bible says, rather than just having me tell them, again, that they have been naughty.

It is only EVER God's Word that can speak to a soul, and so this way I am endeavouring to let God speak to my children, and not only me.

The best part is, you can now get them here in the UK!! 

You need to contact Mandy, and her email is wonderbrits@gmail.com.  She can let you know about the cost.  My lovely friend, Dawn, got me mine from the USA, when she got hers, so I don't know what the cost is from this side of the pond. 

I know it costs money, but I think it's worth the spend!

I can also tell you about the highlighters and tabs that I bought, if you want to know. 

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
Proverbs 22:6







Monday 13 August 2012

Ashes, mourning and heaviness - or beauty, joy and praise?

There are times in our lives that we can feel utterly disheartened, discouraged and overwhelmed.

Times when we simply feel that we are unable to get out of bed and do a single thing.

When we get up, make a start, and things still tumble down around us.  No matter how we try, things just.go.wrong.

Day after day, we can slog along - struggling.  Drowning in despair and gasping for some air of hope.

But, the thing is - it's there.  We don't need to feel this way!

When I was studying through the book of Isaiah in my daily readings, I was amazed by how many powerful verses of scripture that were there.  I was reminded of one of them, again, today.  You will understand why when you watch the video that I will be sharing below.


"to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified." 
Isaiah 61:3

To fully understand these verses, it helps to get some perspective and context regarding the time these words were written.  These were written by the prophet Isaiah, to the Jewish captives in Babylon.  They had been forcibly removed from their homeland, many years before, and had lived out their exile in a foreign land.  It was a difficult time for God's people, in a place that was not home, and held trial upon trial.  They probably thought they would never see their homeland again.  But, it was not the case, and Isaiah was sent to proclaim to them that their time in exile was coming to an end!

These people are described in a way that helps us to picture their desperation and depression.



brokenhearted    

captives

 bound

mourn



All these clearly paint a picture of a dejected and broken people.

But, there was good news!!! They were to be set free from their captivity!!  They were going home!!

When you look at the detail in our verse, you gain a greater understanding of the depths of their condition.  When you see what God was needing to replace, you will see the desperation of their predicament.

"ashes"  - it's not just a slight singe.  Nor even a bit of a blaze.  They are reduced to ashes. You only get ashes when the fire has virtually consumed the entirety of the thing that has been ravaged by fire.  It's the very last of what is left, after the heat has gone and the flames have done their work.  It's the very end of the process.  You can't get more burnt up than the ashes.  It was these ashes that were used to indicate sorrow and mourning in Bible times.  

"mourning" - mourning is a response to the deepest and darkest of losses.  If a fly is squished, we don't mourn its passing.  If we drop some money in the street, we don't go into mourning.  No, mourning is reserved for the extreme of loss.  The depths of sadness and despair.  

"spirit of heaviness" - are there times when you feel so downcast that you feel a heaviness, dragging right down in your heart? When you have no motivation, or impetus to get things done?

All in all, this is misery personified.

But, we have a gracious and wonderful God.

He is the one who maps out our life, and allows the twists and turns that our path takes.  It is HE who chooses to plot our journey through the hard times as well as the smooth.  And, the good news is that He has given us the anti-dote for times like these.  A hope in the heat of trial and difficulty.

He has gifted us with life out of the flames of trial.  With a Holy ointment, to ease the wounds in our life.

What does He give us?  He turns things right around.  He gives us perspective.

We have beauty, instead of ashes.  In Bible times, they wore beautiful headdresses at times of festivity, as opposed to putting ashes on their head in times of mourning. 

What beauty can we possibly "put on" in the midst of trial?  We can see the beauty of a Saviour who has born all of our sins, in His own body, upon that cruel cross of Calvary.  Who has died in our place, so that we never have to suffer the punishment of hell.  That One who has paid the ultimate sacrifice, with love and joy, in our stead.  When we fix our eyes upon the beauty of our Saviour, how can we see the ashes?  He can transform our sadness's into a thing of beauty, if we allow the love of Christ to permeate our souls.  To see His love and grace, instead of our struggles and trials.  If He has born all for us, we surely can bear the struggles we face on this earth.

We have the oil of joy, instead of mourning.  In times of rejoicing, they would have annointed themselves with beautiful oils.  We, too, need to look to the Lord to anoint us with the oil of the Holy Spirit.  To be awakened to the realisation that He dwells within us, to strengthen, help and uphold us.  that He alone can give us strength in these difficult times. How can we be anything but joyful, when we remember all of the grace and goodness of God in our lives?

We have a garment of praise, instead of a spirit of heaviness.  Do you ever find that putting on the right clothes makes you feel better?  I know of people who, on days when they feel down, don't get out of their PJ's.  So many  have said, that simply getting dressed can make them feel better.  Like they are ready for getting things done.  It's the same with our lives.  We have to CHOOSE to put on that garment of praise.  To have a life praising God, instead of dwelling on circumstances.  To rejoice instead of regret. To lift our eyes to the one who can give us satisfaction, only in Himself.


The last part of the verse really sums things up.


"that he might be glorified"


No matter what we experience in life, our focus must be  upon glorifying God.  It is not God-glorifying to look at what is going wrong, and to take our focus off the Lord.  To feel self-pitying and miserable.  There is a time for godly sorrow.  There is nothing un-Biblical about being sad when tragedy occurs.  We are human, and even the Lord himself wept at the grave of Lazarus, when He KNEW that Lazarus would shortly be alive again!!! But, it's the self-pitying and "poor me" attitude that is not right.  It's pretty much guaranteed that no matter what you are going through, someone has been through worse!  Ultimately, we need to also remember that God is sovereign, and all is for His glory and our good.


With all of this in mind, I am continually amazed at God and how He works in the lives of His children.  I am often utterly confounded by His ways and purposes.

The life of Joni Ereakson is one that I am amazed by.  For those of you who don't know who she is (and I am still amazed to find people who have not heard of her!), let me explain briefly.  At the age of 19, she made a foolish dive into the water.  I say foolish, because she was an experienced diver and didn't think about what she was doing, before she did it.  She says as much herself.  She broke her neck and was left paralysed in her lower limbs, and nearly completely paralysed in her upper limbs.  Yet, the Lord has been able to mightily use her to reach others with the gospel, and news of His love.  She has a continuing ministry to help those who are disabled, reaching them with the good news of salvation in Christ, and helping them practically.

If you follow the link below, you will find a short video (about 30 minutes) about what happened to her, and how God worked in her heart through the experience.  Joni also does amazing artwork!! So, watch it and be challenged.  Be challenged about how you look upon your own life experiences.  At how you view the circumstances that God has allowed in your life.  Remember that we must glorify God in our lives, by having that beauty, that joy and that praise!



Painting for God's Pleasure | Joni and Friends



I am having a break from my matriarchs for a month or so.  I have a busy couple of weeks coming up, culminating in our start back to school.  I also have a guest post when the matriarchs resume, which I am really excited about!

Saturday 11 August 2012

A chuckle from the past

We had friends staying with us this week, which was really lovely.

In the process of conversation, Robert remembered a funny story from when I had Joshua.

My lovely husband bought me a card, flowers...the whole shabang.  Being our first child, and all! (He still gets me flowers after each baby, but the card has not really been repeated...we don't really "do" cards!)

However, as is often the case with a first baby, it had been a loooooooong process.  We had been up all day Saturday, spent time with friends, gone out for dinner, and been up late on the Saturday evening.  Me, not doing anything much profitable. Robert -  preparing to preach the next day.  We learnt from that - don't be booked up to preach when your baby is overdue...or at least have a back up plan! *smiles*

I went into labour at about 2am and he hadn't gone to bed ( I had been there for a short while).  We had little sleep that night, and Joshua wasn't born until nearly 2am on the Monday morning.  Robert didn't get home to bed until at least a couple of hours later, and had to get up to collect my Mum from the airport.  It was a small wonder that he even though of a card and flowers at all!!

So, he brought them in, I admired it all, but it wasn't until that evening that I read the scripture reference that he put in the card.

It was from the Psalms, and I assumed it was something uplifting and thankful.

It was Psalm 31:10.

Do you know what it says???

"For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed." 

As you can imagine, my post-delivery mind was rather confused.

WHAT????  It was REALLY that bad?  The whole labour thing???

Until I stopped, and used my womanly brain to think outside of the box.

Proverbs 31 verse 10.  PROVERBS.

"Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies."

I laughed.  A lot!!! I smiled and pitied my poor tired husband who wrote the wrong reference.  And, when he came in to visit me next (yes, I had to stay in for FIVE long days...don't get me started....), he got a major ribbing from me.

We have laughed about it for a long time since!!!

So, the moral of the story?

Check you reference when you put scripture in a card - it may not be the one you thought it was!!!!

Happy Saturday!

Friday 10 August 2012

A great homeschool resource

This is an "oooh, ooh, oooh - jumping up and down with excitement" moment!!

I love finding something new and exciting that will help with home-schooling.  And, I just KNEW that going to the "Heart of the Matter" online conference would be worthwhile.

The speakers have been so encouraging.  That was great ALL on its own.  Encouragement is GOOD.

But, then the last speaker, on Thursday, hit the winner!

Rebecca Keliher has a ministry to homeschoolers.  She runs the website Homeschoolconvention.com.

You sign up, for free (oh YEAH!), and have access to resources, including videos to help homeschooling parents.

There are links for different curriculum choices and HS resources, in the format of "booths" at a conference.  I believe that they are also adding more content all the time!

I am really looking forward to watching some more videos and continuing to tune in as they add more content.

They also have a whole section with  reviews  of books and curriculum.  Like the videos, they have more that they are adding all the time.

There is also a blog, which is full of interesting articles.

So, head on over and see for yourself!  You will need to register, in order to look around the convention area, but it is quick, simple and free.








Thursday 9 August 2012

Books, books and more books - Tapestry of Grace

I am a bookaholic.

I LOVE books - buying them, looking at them, reading them.

To be fair, I don't have as much time to read as in days of yore.  But, I try and make the time to read, nonetheless.  And, failing that, at least I get to buy books for my CHILDREN to read!!!

I have a few different book categories I want to share about on here, whilst I am doing a sort out of my bookshelves.

School books, and my own personal reading.

I will start with school books, first.

I took a picture the last time my order came with our books for Tapestry of Grace, year 3, Unit 3.  Now, if you want the exact list, you need to look at it here.  I am not allowed to share it on here, for copyright purposes.  However, I want to just review a few of the titles that are used.



I love the titles that Marcia has chosen, when creating the curriculum.  There is a tremendous variety, and it includes some absolutely beautifully illustrated titles.  I always get exceptionally excited when they arrive - "oohing" and "ahing" over their contents.

I love the variety.  The different styles of presentation within the books.  They really make the subjects come alive.

There are picture books, chapter books, "choose your own adventure", comic style and illustrated history books, to name a few.

One of my favourite picture books for this unit, is this.


This is a lovely story about a little girl who lives in a lighthouse.  Although fictional, it gives factual details about female lighthouse keepers, at the back of the book, which lends itself to further study.  It triggers off discussion about many different topics, including fear, courage, patience and love.  The illustrations are lovely, and it was lovely to read aloud to my younger two school-aged children.  The older two loved it as well, and came back to me filled with questions and wanting to talk about it.







This one is a children's favourite.  They absolutely LOVED these stories, and laughed long and hard at the craftiness of Brer Rabbit! It triggered much discussion about the right and wrong way to behave towards others,and what the Bible teaches about people who are not honest. Again, the illustrations are simply beautiful.





This one was a favourite of Joshua's.  It is in the "choose your own adventure" format, which I loved as a child!  It allowed him to explore all the different perspectives of slavery in the Confederate states.  It was a terrific way to learn, whilst enjoying learning key historical facts about that time.






This is an exampe of one of the "hands-on" titles used in Tapestry of Grace.  It covers many different hands-on activities that would have been done during the time of Laura Ingalls.  It then ties in with the reading of Little HOuse on the Prarie for the slightly older children, and this lovely title below,  for the younger ones.









Finally, this one takes the format of a comic book.  Once again, Joshua was a great fan of this style, and there seems to be at least one in this format every unit. 

Although it wasn't covered in great detail in Tapestry of Grace, we also looked at the life of Mary Seacole when learning about Florence Nightengale.   If you don't know she is, she is worth learning about, and often overlooked in favour of Florence Nightengale.  Yet, she perhaps did more good as she went out onto the battlefield to help the wounded men.  So, if you are looking for someone interesting to study, go and look her up!!! There is an interesting documentary about her on youtube, as a starting point.

So, if you are looking for interesting books for school, it's worth looking at the Tapestry of Grace list.  If you REALLY want to use some interesting books, then start using Tapestry of Grace for yourself!!!  If you follow my link on the sidebar, then you can find out more.

Next up will be a review of some of my own books...I am already separating them out into subjects! 







Tuesday 7 August 2012

I'm here.....

I know.

It's not usual.

I've been quiet.

Where have I been?

Enjoying life, and having visitors.

Even as I type, we have lovely friends staying, and I am just stealing a few moments to drop in and say a quick "hello"!

We had a busy week of Holiday Bible Club last week.  It was on the theme of "Run the Race", which tied in  with us being the host Olympic nation.  It was encouraging to see some new children come in from the village, and new contacts being made.  We pray that the Lord would use the Gospel, that was clearly taught, to win souls for Himself.

Also, I want to quickly let you know that there is an online home-schooling conference on this week, run by "Heart of the Matter".



I have "attended" for the last few years, and have been greatly encouraged by the topics that have been covered.  It costs about £9 for the week, and you get all the MP3's of the sessions, any Powerpoint slides or notes, and many freebies.  The sessions run from early afternoon to early evening, in UK time.  It's ideal for us Brit's, as we simply don't have many Home-schooling conferences to GO to!

It's a great way to meet other home-schooling parents, as you can "chat" whilst the speaker is talking, or in the breaks in between.

So, sign up, and be encouraged!!!

And, you'll see my name appear from tomorrow onwards in the chat box! :-)

Plus, I hope to resume normal blogging activity later in the week!

But, for now, I will continue having a lovely time with my visiting friends!!