Wrapped Up in Our Own Plans

Yesterday, during my daily bible study time with William and Evan, I came across Psalm 138:8 in my NLT Study Bible: The LORD will work out his plans for my life--for your faithful love, O LORD, endures forever. Don't abandon me, for you made me.

I continued to read the application at the bottom of the page…

138:8 Every person dreams and makes plans for the future. Then they work hard to see those dreams and plans come true. But to make the most of life, we must include God's plan in our plans. He alone knows what is best for us; he alone can fulfill his purpose for us. As you make plans and dreams, talk with God about them.

Reading the scripture and application led us to talk about how clear our LORD's word is--He is in control and will work out the plans. Our job is to follow His word and lead, but how often are we too wrapped up in our own plans or dreams to listen to His…

A Beautiful Way of Life

Kendal's post, Ten Good Biblical Reasons for Homeschooling, is a great read--it offers scripture and purpose and is especially good for those of you who might be sitting on the fence about homeschooling. And, even if you have never considered homeschooling, it might change your perspective.

Now, a month into the homeschooling way of life, I can't imagine going back. It has changed our life, and it is beautiful!

Nourishing Our Family--Honoring God With Our Bodies

Wow--this video is well worth your time! Nourishing our family with healthy food is so important  But, how do we discern what is healthy these days?

Why Are There So Many Food Allergies Now?

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Raw Milk--Eye Opening Information

Back in June I contacted Jackie Calamos, Owner at Save Your Dairy. For the past four months, we have been buying non-homogenized whole milk in order to be eating healthier--getting back to eating traditional and non-processed foods. The whole time I have been on the look out for a raw milk provider. Yesterday Jackie contacted me and sent some powerful information. I am so excited and had to share!

Top Ten Reasons To Drink Raw Milk

For years, I drank 2% milk. Just regular old milk from the supermarket. Then I switched to organic 2% milk. wanted to avoid bovine growth hormones and pesticides and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). When I got pregnant, I switched to organic whole milk. I figured I needed the extra fat for my growing baby.

After Baby Kate was born, I wanted to feed her as healthfully as possible. Which is when I found out about raw milk. I did a ton of research on milk, and I became absolutely convinced that the healthiest, most nutritious milk to feed my daughter was real raw milk from grass-fed cows.

Here are my top ten reasons to drink raw milk:

(The slides are from thewebsite.).

 RealMilk.com  To download the whole Powerpoint by Lee Dexter and Sally Fallon-Morell, click here

1. Raw milk is vastly more nutritious than pasteurized milk.

2. Raw milk contains enzymes.

“Pasteurization destroys all the enzymes in milk— in fact, the test for successful pasteurization is absence of enzymes. These enzymes help the body assimilate all bodybuilding factors, including calcium. That is why those who drink pasteurized milk may suffer, nevertheless, from osteoporosis.” —

 Sally Fallon-Morell, RealMilk.com

3. Raw milk contains probiotics.

“Bacteria have a reputation for causing disease, so the idea of tossing down a few billion a day for your health might seem — literally and figuratively — hard to swallow. But a growing body of scientific evidence suggests that you can treat and even prevent some illnesses with foods and supplements containing certain kinds of live bacteria. Northern Europeans consume a lot of these beneficial microorganisms, called probiotics (from pro and biota, meaning “for life”), because of their tradition of eating foods fermented with bacteria, such as yogurt. Probiotic-laced beverages are also big business in Japan.” —

 Harvard Medical School, “Health Benefits of Taking Probiotics”

Because pasteurization destroys probiotics (good bacteria), any harmful bacteria present in the milk after pasteurization can and will flourish. On the other hand, published research shows that good bacteria and many other components in raw milk actually destroy pathogens added to the milk.” –

 Sally Fallon-Morell, WAPF

4. Raw milk is easier to digest — even for the lactose intolerant.

Raw milk can also help those suffering from asthma, eczema and many other ailments.

It contains “built-in safety systems” that help destroy pathogens:

5. Raw milk is safer than pasteurized milk. 

While raw milk often gets blamed for food-borne illnesses, the truth is, raw milk is safer than salad:

6. Raw milk is better for cows.

I always figured “organic milk” was the very best. But I was wrong. Organic milk often comes from cows in factories. Did you know, for example, that Horizon is a factory farm? I didn’t. I believed they were “happy cows”.

Unless the cows are raised on pasture, they are not healthy and they are certainly not happy. And if a cow is not healthy, how can her milk be healthy?

A cow in confinement lives on average for just 3.5 years. A cow grazing on pasture? Twelve years or more.

7. Clean, nutritious milk comes from healthy cows that eat grass, not sick cows eating grain.

Most cows, even at the “organic” dairies, are fed grain — corn and soy. Cows were never meant to eat grain. They are meant to eat grass, and to graze on pasture. When cows are fed grain, even organic grain, it makes them sick.

From Michael Pollan’s, October 15, 2006 in the New York Times:

 The Vegetable-Industrial Complex

The lethal strain of E. coli known as 0157:H7, responsible for this latest outbreak of food poisoning, was unknown before 1982; it is believed to have evolved in the gut of feedlot cattle. These are animals that stand around in their manure all day long, eating a diet of grain that happens to turn a cow’s rumen into an ideal habitat for E. coli 0157:H7. (The bug can’t survive long in cattle living on grass.)

From Nina Planck’s, September 21, 2006 in the New York Times:

 Leafy Green Sewage

In 2003, The Journal of Dairy Science noted that up to 80 percent of dairy cattle carry O157. (Fortunately, food safety measures prevent contaminated fecal matter from getting into most of our food most of the time.) Happily, the journal also provided a remedy based on a simple experiment. When cows were switched from a grain diet to hay for only five days, O157 declined 1,000-fold.

Raw milk can help turn the economy around in rural America.

8. Raw milk is better for farmers. 

This is one of my biggest reasons. I don’t know about you, but I hate what’s become of rural America. A few decades ago, people still raised their own food on small farms. Now our small farms have almost been completely wiped out by corporate America. Now instead of small farms with organic vegetables and cows grazing on pasture, we have Wal-Marts full of processed crap.

Buy raw milk from a small farm and you are making a difference, folks!

9. Raw milk doesn’t go “bad” like pasteurized milk does.

If you leave a gallon of pasteurized milk on the counter overnight, what happens to it? It goes bad! But if you leave a gallon of raw milk out, you can do all kinds of things with it. You can separate the cream. You can make butter, buttermilk, and whey. You can make yogurt. You can make cheese. You can add kefir or filmjolk culture and make all kinds of fermented treats.

I love that I sometimes find a sippy cup of raw milk my daughter left in the car the next day — and I don’t have to waste it — I can just kefir it!

10. Raw milk tastes better!

The first time I tasted real raw milk cheese in Paris, I realized there really is a difference in taste. I’ve always been fond of milk but now I LOVE milk. I’m totally crazy about it.

Rest--He Knows What Is Best

Two Sundays ago, after we got home from church, my husband gathered the boys and headed out front to wash the cars. While they were doing that, I grew frustrated and felt restless. I kept thinking about how I just wanted to sit and relax and hang out as a family. I felt guilty though. I felt like I needed to be working on some chore, too, since they were laboring out front.

Over the years we have generally done all our chores, as a family, on Saturdays--these chores include cleaning, yard work, and grocery shopping. We have a pretty efficient routine--we make a list, and as each person finishes one of the chores, it gets crossed off the list. Up until the end of May, both of us worked full time, and we wanted the boys to partake in the chores, so this routine worked. Now, even though I am at home, we still seem to get the majority of our chores done on Saturdays.

Sundays, however, have been set aside for our "day of rest"--a day where we can worship at church and mentally and physically wind down at home from our day-to-day work and busyness. My husband and I agreed to this as we knew that God makes it clear in His word.

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Genesis 2:2

There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the LORD. Leviticus 23:3

The fourth of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 states:

"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in the six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

So, after about 90 minutes of keeping myself busy while they finished washing the cars, they finally came inside. My oldest son was especially grumpy--Sundays are his one day he does not have sports, school work or chores. It is his day to rest and boy does he need it.

I was feeling grumpy, too, so I spoke privately to my husband and explained my frustration. While he understood and was sympathetic, he explained that he struggled to sit still and just wanted to get stuff done. I knew what he meant; he has always been a list maker and a get it done kind of guy. It is a great quality. But, I also know that Satan tempts us in all kinds of ways, even ways that don't seem evil.

So, I pointed out to my husband that perhaps Satan was tempting him to be busy rather than relax and recuperate. He is overworked right now and needs downtime. It was like a lightbulb went on for him. And, just as I said it, it was so clear to me, too.

When we are not well rested, we are vulnerable and opening the door to temptation. When we make ourselves busy, we miss out on what truly matters and can lose our focus. We miss out on being still…

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."
Psalm 46:10

In this busy world we live in, with so many distractions and temptations, it is even more important that we live by God's word and take a day to rest. He knows what is best for us.

Are They Prepared?

I have been tossing and turning for hours …so, here I am at 1 a.m.

There are just so many amazing things happening in our life right now--so much to share that I feel like my head is going to pop if I don't write! Thank God for this blog! Tonight I am so led to share what I experienced at church on Sunday even though I have another unpublished post that just needs a few final touches. I pray that every word I write glorifies Him, preaches His word, and inspires you.

So, I was scheduled to teach in the two year old room at church. It was not my usual Sunday, but another mom needed to switch as she was not available this weekend. I was more than happy to help, and what a blessing it was. . .

When I walked in, there was a young lady volunteering as my youth helper. She is a senior at a local public high school and was working on her volunteer hours for National Honor Society. For the next hour we had the most amazing conversation, and I was truly blessed by our time together. It was eye-opening for me as a parent.

As we were waiting for our two year olds to start trickling in, we introduced ourselves and she asked what I did. I shared that I had been a public school teacher but had felt led to homeschool our boys and become the keeper of our home. Basically I shared the condensed version of our journey.

No children showed up. . . and we continued talking.

After sharing how concerned I was, as a parent, that my children were being taught information as fact, that contradicted our beliefs as Christians, she shared some interesting things. She shared how she, too, struggled with the contradiction. At home and at church she was being taught biblical truths that clearly stood in disagreement with what she was learning at school. She pointed out that her parents taught her that she was to always respect her teachers and learn what they were teaching her. Sunday school teachers were teaching her one thing, and her school teachers were teaching another. She wanted a way for it all to work together. . .but, you see, it doesn't. You can't take a creator out of a creation or a designer out of a design. When you do, you are denying God. . .

We are putting our children in a situation where they must temporarily deny what they have been taught as truth. How soon will it take for them to start to doubt their parents' or the church's credibility?

Spending time with this young lady--our undivided hour--made it so clear how crafty Satan is. We are putting our children in this situation when they are most impressionable. We are allowing their ears to start to itch.

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 2 Timothy 4:3-4

Still, no children showed up. . .the first time, in the four years I have volunteered, that that has ever happened.

She continued to share with me that it is not easy being a Christian in school and that she often feels the pressure of scoffing. She even went on to explain how, in 8th grade, she had to write a persuasive essay on a controversial topic. The one she felt strongest about, from a list provided by the teacher, was abortion. She took a stand against it. But, she said it was so hard to write without including faith. She wanted to have a sound argument that would appeal to everyone, not just believers. . .

But, how do you argue with an opinion that does not regard human life as one of God's individual and purposeful creations? When a person does not believe that God created each and every one of us in our mother's womb, human life does not have the same value.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:13-14

While she held her own in the presentation of her persuasive essay, and certainly ministered in a way she felt she could within the setting, she still was a recipient of scoffing. And, to this day, four years later, she still hears the scoffing whenever the topic is brought up.

First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 2 Peter 3:3

As I close this post, and try to go get some sleep, I hopefully leave you with one thought that was made very clear to me on Sunday while I talked with a beautiful young lady. Our ministry as parents is more important today than ever. Our children are entering into battle each and every day whether you realize it or not. They are being tempted by worldly thinking and desires, they are being scoffed if they dare share their belief, and they are feeling and internalizing contradiction. Are they prepared?

Finally Family First

Yesterday, I had to make a tough decision--one that I was incredibly emotional about, and one that, in the past, I would have never considered doing. Today, I realize how huge that decision was in my spiritual growth. It truly marked the end my old self.

After agonizing for weeks about this decision, yet still committing and acting on my old decision-making ways, yesterday I stopped and listened. I listened to the holy spirit and obeyed. I emailed three beautiful women canceling my commitment to attend a women's church retreat. . .

I am sorry to be writing this email, but I have had it on my heart for some time causing me anxiety. I know I am the one who first brought up the retreat, so I feel like I might be letting you all down. But, I realize that my heart is not in the retreat right now. I feel that my spiritual growth is happening right here at home. My priorities have changed drastically.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:34

I pray that none of you feel this as a rejection, but rather that you see is at part of my growth. Leaving my family, even for a few days, at this point, does not feel right. Right now I need to simply be surrounded by them so that I can continue to be focused on my greatest mission…my family.

In the past I have put my marriage and children on the back burner and focused more on friendships. I realize that I needed my friends to fill in the gap because my priorities were misguided and based on worldly priorities. I am so sorry for leading you down that road, too. I need to cleanse myself so that I am not double-minded, and with that, draw nearer to God.

Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. James 4:7-10

That is not to say that I do not want friendships or that I don't want to be there for my dear friends. I do and I will. If any of you need me, I am just a phone call away. Please know that!!

At this point, the thought of returning to the way I was, where my focus was not entirely on my home, gives me great anxiety. My focus is becoming the woman God wants me to be. And, because it is so new, I need to remain where my heart is so that it will continue to be my treasure.

Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored. Titus 2:3-5

Yesterday marked a day I will not soon forget. It marked the day that I stopped, listened, and finally put my family first in all aspects of my life. Today, I am overflowing with joy and revelation.