Tag Archives: prayer

10 Little Daily Routines for the School Year

Posted on by
4

I have to admit, I love daily routines. I’m not a detail person, so having a solid routine keeps me from being stuck dealing with details all the time and leaves me to think big thoughts and make big plans and dream big dreams.

Speedracer seems to be adjusting to school this year pretty well.

{In contrast, Mr. Fix-It takes “fly by the seat of your pants” and “taking the scenic route” to new and undiscovered heights!}

This year’s school change has been really big for our household. Really big. It’s completely changed up our household routine and made it much more difficult for me to squeeze in the family time I covet for all of us. We’ve got a 20-30 minute car ride to school now. But here’s a few great little love-routines that we’ve fallen into using to fill in the gaps and keep us all connected…

I think, as difficult as last year seemed some times, he matured a lot.

1. Waving goodbye. Yep, every morning I help the crew get up, get ready, and get out the door. Then I stand on the porch in my horrible old-lady bathrobe (thank goodness we live in the country!) and wave madly until they are out of sight. Skipped it one time and they all left for the day thinking I was mad at them.

2. Lunchbox notes. A long-time favorite around here!

3. Backpack notes. New this year since the boys aren’t packing lunches. I paper-clip them to the top of their daily folder for when they unpack at school.

4. Pocket bibles. We just started this and they love. We got them each a little bible for their backpacks and mark a verse in it for each of them. I mark a new one as I feel lead to, depending on what’s going on with each of them.

I was a little worried with how shy he seemed at orientation, but everything seems to be going along smooth.

5. Compare schedules. I keep all the kiddos weekly schedules posted in the kitchen and we compare schedules to stay involved with each other. Oh, you have library today at 10 am–I have a staff meeting at the same time! Or Oh, it’s spaghetti day–I’m having leftover spaghetti for lunch today too!

6. Say 3 things. While driving home, we go from youngest to oldest and they each name 3 things they learned today, or that happened at school today. Anyone that says “nothing” gets skipped and hearing everyone else chattering on usually makes them want their turn back.

7. Ask specifics. I stay on top of what tests are when, what bible verses everyone is memorizing, what the color of the week is, etc. After 3 things, I start asking questions of each one of them. Asking specifically keeps the dreaded “nothing” or “fine” from coming up very often.

8. Pray together! Oh, this one should almost be first on the list–but I’m kind of going in order of execution here. I take prayer request from each of the children and we pray together in the car. Usually our discussions about our day help develop prayer requests.

Wow–nothing says “farm kid” like having a manure spreader in the background of your pictures, right?!

9. Sing. We’re trying to learn some old hymns together–at least the first verse. Last week we were working on “Holly-lou-la, I’m the glory! Holly-lou-la, Amen! Holly-lou-la, Mine the glory! Revive us again!”

10. Listen to audio products. We’ve been really enjoying our Jonathan Park CDs–they’ve been a huge hit! (As well as very educational, but the kids don’t really know that part!) So I’ve been watching for new discs in that series, but also thinking about some plain audio books like G. A. Hently and Tales of American Heroines.The radio relaxes me, but I prefer to use our family time for something that’s going to spark discussion later on.

Remember, we have to choose what’s best, not just settle for what’s not bad!

Choose You This Day

Posted on by
8

May is a tough month for me.

Every year I struggle more with Mother’s Day. My children want so much for it to be special for me, but inside my whole heart just cries that I would rather celebrate having a mother than being a mother, today. No day reminds me more that I am a motherless daughter than Mother’s Day.

Every year, as I approach that anniversary, that day, that moment from 2006, I struggle against fear. Fear that it’s not over. Fear that I still have more to lose, more to be taken, stolen. Fear that there’s not enough time to be together, to teach, to love, to live. Fear that the pain, the hurt, the numbing grayness lurks right around the corner just waiting for me to give up and give in.

February seems so far away already.

And this year, our school is closing. Choices looming. Little hearts anxiously seeking to understand the future.

Finding our little Christian Academy was an immeasurable blessing when I wasn’t sure what blessings looked like any more. It was an answer when I wasn’t even sure we were asking the right questions. It was a warm and soothing greenhouse to nurture my little seedlings. It was a safe, protected place to hide my most precious treasures when I wasn’t sure I was strong enough to fend off the whole world.

Some of the mothers have already started weaning their lambs.

Over the last few weeks I laughed, I smiled, I joked as if spring is my favorite time of year…and inside the tension draws tighter and tighter…

My prayer life has been full of frustration lately–arguing, demanding, cajoling, insisting…occasionally ignoring…wanting my own way, my own plan…

“…Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” (Zechariah 4:6b)

The danger for some of us is not the lure of “the world.” It is ourselves. It’s believing in our own strength, our own power, our own plans.

Shearing time is coming up soon.

And here I am again, on my knees, crying out for help…”Why me, Lord?! Haven’t I been through enough?! Why does this have to be so hard? Do I have to face down every fear? Defeat every demon? Can’t I just get a break? Can’t we just do it my way this. one. time?”

Do I get an answer?

Oh, I do.

“Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” (James 1:3-4)

“And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.” (Zechariah 13:9)

A tissue from my husband…hugs and soft words from sisters in Christ…strengthening wisdom from a prayerful momma further down this road…Scripture falling from the mouth of babes…

“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” (Isaiah 41:10)

And I take a deep breath, and I choose this day to serve the Lord.

I choose this day to have faith, to wait upon the Lord.

I choose this day to establish my heart, to hold fast, to believe in the Lord.

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” (1 Peter 5:8-10)

What do you choose this day?

 

 

Intentional Prayer and Scripture

Posted on by
5

It’s been a while since I posted anything really crafty. I’ve been a little too busy for much crafting and what I have been doing has been very last minute. But here’s something I’m very excited about finishing–my prayer journal!

The pictures don't do this Stampin' Up! paper justice. It's glittery!

My goal for this year, 2012, is intentional prayer and scripture. Not just to pray for a year, or read for a year, but to use this year to create a regular, intentional daily habit and routine of prayer time and scripture time. I do pray. A lot.  But mostly I’m talking to God, not listening. Not waiting on Him. Not approaching his throne with reverence and awe. {I tend to chat with Him while I’m driving a lot–so clearly I’m not giving it my full time and attention.} The times when I have prayed with a fully open and committed heart, the rewards have been huge!

Prayer changes things–usually starting with yourself! I have found that it’s true that you can’t pray for someone and stay mad at them at the same time. I have also found that it’s much easier to discard the world’s relative morality when you spend time in prayer. When your heart is open and listening, God tells you what is right and wrong very clearly–and usually why too.

I put some favorite old hymns on it and inside the covers as reminders.

Plus, there’s something to be said for a little organization. I don’t go to the grocery store without a list because I’ll inevitably forget something. Well the Holy Spirit has been tugging on my heart a lot lately about what I haven’t been praying about, who I haven’t been praying for, and how randomly I commit to pray for something and then end up forgetting about it after the first day.

There’s a couple at our church that are true Prayer Warriors. If they say they’re praying for you, you can have no doubt they are. If you make a prayer request, you can be sure it’s on their list and they are taking it to God until you tell them otherwise! They told a story in church that he was praying for an expectant mother once until he mentioned it to his wife one day and she said, “that baby’s 2 months old!” He said that no one told him, so he just kept praying for a safe delivery. What an inspiration!

"This is my story, this is my song--praising my Savior all the day long!"

So I’ll be keeping my prayer requests and commitments in this lovely, inspirational journal I made. I’m also excited to snip out and glue quotes and hymns and pictures and anything else that moves me on this journey. But most of all, I’m excited to start recording my blessings, my thanksgiving, my answered prayers, so that I can page through it and find joy and hope when I’m discouraged. Reminders of God’s love. Direction. Purpose. Just like paging through pictures of my family soothes my heart when it gets frustrated and out of sorts.

And I’m so excited to be joining Aurie over at Our Good Life for the Bible in 90 Days in February!

Yep, we’re going to read the whole Bible in 3 months.

I love how the back cover turned out with those 3 hearts!

It’s not an in-depth Bible study. It’s just reading the whole thing, from start to finish. But I think it’s going to be a great kick-off to creating a regular reading habit. I tend to read my favorite parts over and over again (I do the same thing with other books!) rather than knowing God’s Word as a complete picture.

Let me tell you, I’m just a babe in Christ, but there’s one thing I’ve learned over the last couple years–Christianity is not for the faint of heart. True Christianity is a life of self-discipline, study, and denial. God calls us to do hard things for His good purpose–not ours. But I’m convinced that the rewards are going to be even greater than our sacrifices!