Prayer for Mexico

Tonight we had such a sweet time of prayer over the men that are leaving for Mexico on Saturday. The people of our church laid hands on the men and prayed over them and our families. Pastor Greg went to each man personally and prayed over them. It's always so obvious that he hears from the Lord. What he had to say to P was so relevant and so much of it matched what we have been praying for the trip and our lives. Pastor Greg also asked the church to remember the families and check up on us while our husbands are away. It was so powerful. Please continue to pray. The men will leave this Saturday and return the following Saturday, we will be able to post very little, but I will update you all as I can.

I do think I will make my blog temporarily private.

Great Quote

"Jesus did not promise to change the circumstances around us. He promised great peace and pure joy to those who would learn to believe that God actually controls all things."
~Corrie Ten Boom

****************************************************
I posted the above quote earlier today, then tonight Pastor Greg said something that I think goes along well with this one, so I thought I would share it.

"God wants to teach us self-control when we are in the midst of situations where we have no control."
~Pastor Greg Devries

This Weeks Happenings

We are having an interesting week around here. Financial Peace classes were canceled for Monday night, there is nothing scheduled for Tuesday night and we are on fall break from co-op this week, so our schedule for the week has been much lighter than usual. We are spending our time (mostly in our pajamas) doing schoolwork, catching up on housework and enjoying spending time with P while we prepare him for his trip. I have mixed emotions about the coming week. I know I will miss him terribly and I'm definitely praying for his safety and ours while he is away, but I'm also so excited about what the Lord is going to do in Mexico. I can't wait for him to return and tell me all about what he experienced and how God moved while they were there. Seems silly to be anticipating his return before he has even left. The kids and I are planning on getting lots of stuff done around the house while he is away, so he can come home and really relax. I also think we will be spending a lot of time with my sister-in-law next week. My brother is heading to Mexico as well and she will probably be staying with us a lot of the week. I also think that we will be going out Friday night with some really special friends of ours to see "Fireproof", I'm looking forward to that. We haven't been to the movies together in ages. Oh, and on the school front I have been convicted about how little Bible I was integrating into our days, so we are now doing devotions (this month on attitude), reading a story from our Eggermeier's(sp?) book and the scripture that goes along with it, memorizing books of the Bible, some verses, 1st catechisms and having prayer and sometimes worship time. We are also reading from "The Book of Virtues" right now from the chapter on self-discipline. I had forgotten how much we enjoyed that time when we were doing it before and we are all glad to be back on the right track. We will probably be adding some nighttime reading of the new testament (right now we are in the OT in the mornings) and starting a character training curriculum as a family in the evenings. It's called "The Narrow Way" and it's published by Pearables. I hope you all have a blessed week. Please be praying for the team as they prepare to head to Mexico.

Scripture Memory For Children

As a child I always struggled with memorization. I don't want my kids to have the same struggles and I really want the Word to be hidden in their hearts. So, we use the scripture memory method suggested at Simply Charlotte Mason. At first it may seem a bit complicated, but once you make your box you will understand and it has been extremely effective. I love that it continues to review past verses for a very long time. I have been looking for a list of suggested verses to learn. I found one today that I think is a great resource. It has them listed in age groups, but I will tell you that Mason learns most of what my girls are learning and he is 4 grades behind them. Just thought I would share this Parent Handbook for Scripture Memory with everyone. Hope you find it useful.