I’m Back

If you think I have been a bit quiet on the internet lately you would be correct.  Over the past weekend we ended up with a virus on our computer.  So, our computer has been sitting here in the office turned off for three whole days!  In some ways it was refreshing and in other ways it was torturous!  But the Geek Squad guy came today and now my computer is squeaky clean!  It better be for a $300 bill!

So, I am back!

That is all!

Teaching the Content, Part 2

Continuing on from yesterday’s post, referencing the booklet Bringing the Gospel to Covenant Children: In Dependency on the Spirit by Joel R. Beeke.

Fourth:

Teach them they must be born again.

Children must be taught that their bad hearts and bad records make them unfit for communion with God.  Do not dismiss your children’s sins as mere naughtiness or childish behavior.  Don’t excuse their sins by repeating cliches such as, “Boys will be boys.”   And never encourage them to feel that being outwardly good is sufficient in God’s eyes.

More than good behavior is needed to meet the demands of God; inward regeneration of heart through a triune God is essential for salvation.

Our children are not merely sick and in need of reformation; they are born in trespasses and sins and need regeneration.

As teenagers, explain the biblical appeal regarding the need for “circumcision of the heart”.

Pray for wisdom to teach clearly and for grace to feel deeply your children’s inability to do anything toward their salvation while refusing, at the same time, to shirk your responsibility because of their inability.

Fifth:

Teach them about the moral law and its uses–

Show your older children from the Psalms, the Sermon on the Mount, and the ethical portions of Paul’s epistles that believers relish the law as a rule of life (see especially Psalm 119).  Explain to teenagers how walking in accord with God’s law keeps believers from antinomianism (anti=against; nomos=law; i.e., being against law) on one hand, and legalism on the other.  Show them how obedience to God’s law promotes brotherly love (1 John 5:3) and authentic Christian freedom (Ps. 116).

Sixth:

Teach them that the atoning blood of Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation.  Again and again, explain to your children the basics of the gospel: how Jesus saves sinners through His suffering, death, resurrection, and life.

Three Month Mark

It has been three months since my hubby left.  It has been hard.  We still have about 4 to 4 1/2 months to go.  Even though he is gone it doesn’t exactly mean that I have my queen sized bed all to myself.  In fact, some days I wonder where I will sleep!  Here is a shot of my supposedly empty bed.

What Next?

You know, I should know by now never to mutter the words, “What’s next?”  When, oh when, will I learn that lesson?  I want to forewarn you that this post may seem like one big, huge complaint but honestly it is not.  In fact, I am finding this rather comical at the moment.

You know they say big surprises come in threes when your hubby deploys.  We have passed that mark a while ago.  Hubby asked me in an email the other night if I was keeping a count.  Well, I really wasn’t, I was just remembering everything that had happened over the past two months that he has been gone.  But, I think I may just keep a count because I am beginning to think it may be a good thing to remember all that God has allowed to be thrown our way and what he has brought us through.

Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo…

Let me share with you a bit of our surprises.  One of which was an AWESOME surprise, the others, well, not so much.

Here we go…..

This deployment started off with rush.  His date was bumped up.  I posted that story HERE.

Two days after hubby left we found out that we are expecting baby number ten. I blogged about that HERE.  This is the AWESOME surprise!  Now on to the rest…

I also found out that I had actually broken my thumb not only damaged the ligaments.

When hubby’s pre-deployment training was over there was a little bit of a stress in actually getting him to where he needed to be.  There was an uprising in a country he was to fly through and things had to be rerouted.  It took him a week, maybe longer to actually hop around and get to where he needed to be.  That was a little stressful for me. After all, the clock doesn’t start counting down until he gets there.

A few weeks after hubby left we had a bum tire on the jeep.  It had been giving us some problems for a while but it was to the point where I would air it up and by the next morning I was praying to make it to the air pump!  We needed all new tires anyway so that is what we did.  Cha ching…..

Time came around for us to switch the studded tires off the van and when I took it in to have that done they told me my brakes were almost gone.  So I paid for a brake job too.  Cha ching….again.

Now the service light for the jeep is on.  It needs the regularly scheduled maintenance for 50,000 miles.  I am afraid to check and see what that bill is going to look like. Cha ching….again AND again.

An outlet in the kitchen just quit working.  So the under the counter lights are useless and I had to move the microwave.  Easy enough I guess but now I have a hard time finding a place to use my chopping block when making salads and the like.

Then there is the whole situation with the post office.  Misdelivery of package slip and when we went to check on it (we had been tracking the package) they had actually given the package out to someone else!  Apparently, they didn’t check ID and verify that the person they gave it to was who the package was supposed to go to.  Basically, they will do NOTHING and my daughter is out over $100. Postal workers tend to run and hide when I walk in now! Mwahahaha!

Moving on…..

Since we have had several added expenses lately.  Aside from the ones I just told you about, I am trying to pay for camp and plane tickets to get there as well as the $100 a month bill for hubby’s internet service in Afghanistan.  At least, hubby gets separation and hazard pay to help out.  So you know what, it is just the perfect time for my vacuum cleaner to break.  I really have not had to money and honestly I haven’t had the energy to go and buy a new one yet.  After three weeks without vacuuming I decided to borrow the neighbor’s vacuum.  After all, if I hadn’t the loose hair on the floor would have formed into another dog.  And two dogs is enough around here.  I plan on buying a new vacuum this weekend.  cha ching….

Ah, and then yesterday….  My older girls were outside playing frisbee.  Do you see where I am going from here??  Yep, we have a broken window!  It was purely an accident.  After all, when a left hander decides to try and throw right handed and the frisbee hits the deck railing who would think it would bounce and hit and shatter a window?  After, the fear and shock of the sound of shattering glass and a bit of, “How am I going to pay for this?” wore off; all I can do now is laugh.  I emailed hubby and he said his first reaction was to laugh too!  cha cha chingaling….

As I sat last night thinking of writing this post, I decided I would entitle it, “What Next?”  After all, that question has been going through my mind for a while now.  But as I sat down to pay the bills this morning, that question was answered.

I usually just pay our mortgage payment and rarely open the bill, after all, it is a set amount.  But thankfully, today I did open it.  I noticed our mortgage payment went up a pretty decent amount.  Wondering what in the world was going on, I called the bank.  Apparently, our home owner’s insurance went up.  The lady on the phone even suggested that it was a considerable amount and suggested we look for a new insurer!  She asked if we had filed a claim recently.  Well, we had…you can read about the rain in the bedroom HERE. She said that was most likely the reason for the increase.  Of course, we were never notified and no one even alluded to the fact that our insurance would go up if we had filed the claim. cha cha chingaling aling….

So, now I have a higher mortgage payment, just what we needed.  But you know, none of this is a surprise to God and he is providing for us in ways that I could not even imagine.  We are blessed and I have not lost sight of that fact.  But, I don’t think I will be asking the question, “What next?” for a long, long time.  I think I have learned my lesson in that regard.  I have also learned to laugh and take life as it comes and not to get too overly stressed. Well, at least for the moment.

Dreaming……..Then Reality

I had a wonderful dream last night.  Then this morning I was smacked upside the head with reality!

In my dream I awoke with energy and enthusiasm and was ready for a brand new day.  Reality arrived this morning with continued nausea, no energy, and children not even attempting to get out of bed.

In my dream school got off to a great start, went smoothly, and was enjoyed.  Reality arrived this morning with slow movers wanting to do anything but crack a book.

In my dream hubby was still here and heading off to work.  We were making dinner plans for the evening before he left.  Reality arrived this morning with the reminder that we would not be sharing dinner anytime soon.  Afghanistan is a bit too far for a dinner date.

In my dream I had a great blog post that was just going to knock your socks off in surprise.  Reality arrived this morning and you are stuck with post.

In my dream God provided me with the perfect day.  Reality arrived this morning with the assurance that God did indeed provide me with the perfect day.  Maybe not the day of my dreams but the day that was perfectly needed for my growth today.

Lord, help me to learn, to grow, and to enjoy today.

Psalm 118:24  This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

So, how is your day so far???

Ten is a Beautiful Number

OK, I can’t keep quiet any longer!

I have known for a whole week!   The news has leaked out here in Alaska but now we are going public.  I found out two days AFTER my hubby left.  It would have been nice to celebrate together. I would have known sooner but just misread the physical symptoms as pre-deployment stress.   Obviously, that was not the case.  I can now literally say my I have my hands full.

Baby number ten is on the way.

I am feeling pretty good so far considering how sick I usually am.  I am nauseous, sleepy, having a few migraines, and I can no longer stand the taste of my regular diet coke, but thankfully that is all.  Of course, that is ALWAYS open to change!  I would love not to have months of the usual vomiting and dry heaving though!

We already have a boy’s name and have narrowed our girl name down to three.  Due date as of now is November 23.  We will be having a very thankful Thanksgiving!

Psalm 127:1a Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.

Psalm 127:3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.

Psalm 139:13-16 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works;my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret,intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance;in your book were written, every one of them,the days that were formed for me,when as yet there was none of them.

Praise the Lord with us! And please pray for our family.