Image by Dave Delaney via Flickr

It seems that people liked my twitter RT recap last week so I think I will continue with it.  There are so many great quotes that come through on Twitter each day that I just cannot help but to share them.  So here are a few for you to sink your teeth into.

• You should not believe your conscience and feelings more than the word which the Lord who receives sinners preaches to you. Martin Luther…
• RT @burk_parsons: A man preaches that sermon only well unto others which preaches itself in his own soul—Owen
• RT @burk_parsons: Either our religion will transform us or we will transform our religion to suit our sympathies—Horton
• RT @ReformedGlory: ‘I find more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history whatsoever! ” Isaac Newton
• RT @RevJohnOwen: The custom of sinning takes away the sense of it, the course of the world takes away the shame of it.
• RT @HavetheChoice: Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.– Mother Teresa
• RT @burk_parsons: No man knows how bad he is until he has tried very hard to be good—Lewis
• RT @burk_parsons: The life of holiness is a life hidden in Christ and His holiness resulting in a life of repentance/faith/obedience.
• RT @burk_parsons: We need to be more shortsighted, thinking less about how holy we’ll be tomorrow and more about how holy we’ll be today.
• RT @ReformedGlory: “You lose your strength, Christian, the moment you depart from your integrity” Charles Spurgeon
• “Faith does not have value; it is the instrument.” Francis A. Schaeffer (The Finished Work of Christ: The Truth of Romans 1-8 )
• RT@ReformedGlory: Works?Works?A man get to heaven by works?I would as soon think of climbing to the moon on a rope of sand!George Whitefield
• RT @ReformedGlory: “The richness of God’s Word ought to determine our prayer, not the poverty of our heart.”Dietrich Bonhoeffer
• RT @burk_parsons: Sin will not come to you, saying, “I am sin.” It would do little harm if it did—Ryle

I serve an amazing God! He is sovereign over all, fully of mercy, grace, and justice. He is one who acts providentially. He provides all things often times above what we can ask or imagine.  This past week during our daily devotion time we have been going over question number eleven of the Westminster Shorter Catechism and studying through the book of Esther.

Q. 11. What are God’s works of providence?
A. God’s works of providence are, his most holy, wise,and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions.

Westminster Confession – Chapter 5: Of Providence by Westminster Assembly

I. God the great Creator of all things does uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by His most wise and holy providence, according to His infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of His own will, to the praise of the glory of His wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy.

God has shown himself once again to be abundant in his graciousness and providence in our lives.
In two days this past week there have been expenses adding up to thousands of dollars that have just melted away. Some may chalk it up to coincidence or good luck and timing but I know what an amazing God I serve. I see his handiwork in how he orchestrates my life and am awed. To God be the glory!  All the while we are studying about his great providence, he provides us with tangible examples in our daily lives.

Let me share with you how God provided for us this past week.

• My older children were going to be attending an event which they told us would be at a cost of $60.  This fee was waived!
• My older girls just joined a figure skating performance competition class.  One daughter received a discount I did not expect and another was able to take her class for free due to the fact that she teaches there.  Another $60 waived.
• My hubby’s pay raise was more than anticipated by an amount of $85.
• My son, who has had a problem tooth for almost nine years, was in need of a root canal.  We have been putting it off because we just could not afford it.  We do have insurance but they did not have a preferred provider who works with our insurance that they would refer us to and with the dental costs being higher here in Alaska our portion was a very large amount.  My husband decided to take him in to the military clinic just to see if his case would be deemed an “emergency” case and could be treated there.  This was just a quick look over kind of appointment on a walk in basis that he was hoping to be able to get him in to be seen.  When he arrived they said they had an appointment that had been canceled and would look him over.  They went ahead and did the root canal then and there.  He has an appointment next week for the crown.  A total cost to us of $0!  This saved us close to $2000!

The Lord knows our earthly needs.  He knows our desires.  He providentially provides both when in his plan!  His plan for us is best.  The creator of our life knows what is truly needed and even provides that which is not needed but desired.  Praise be to God!

More importantly than our earthly needs and desires, He knows our eternal needs!  He provides that for his children!  Praise be to God!  In fact, that is his priority.  I am thankful that even when I miss seeing his hand at work, when it seems that earthly needs are not met, that I can trust in the fact that he has a plan and is working it out.  I can trust that he has eternal benefit at mind first and foremost.  He causes me to be amazed all the more and I pray that his glory is seen when at work in my life!

Image by Star's Fault via Flickr

There are things I see every day here in Alaska that I have come to love.  There are some things that are common to see here on regular basis that just are not so common in other places.  Here are some of those daily or almost daily sightings that I just love!

• Snowmachines and ATVs running along side the roads.
• Kennel Trucks with musher sleds on top.
• Dog mushers racing their dogs.
• No matter what season it is, people are out and about using the trail and climbing the mountains.
• Bush planes.
• Ice Fishing tents on the lakes.
• People wearing only jackets and sweaters when it hits 30 degrees because it is warm.
• Moose, bear, and dall sheep along the roads and in yards.
• Bald Eagles are as common as robins in other parts of the country.
• Wearing real fur is not only acceptable but almost expected!
• Homemade ice rinks in people’s yards.
• Paragliders jumping off the mountain tops.
• Mountains, mountains everywhere you look.
• The most AMAZING sunsets I have ever seen.
• Trees that literally lay down under the weight of the snow.
• Great big and rugged beards!
• People checking out each other’s rifles in the Fred Meyer parking lot.
• Dip nets.
• Downtown murals in Anchorage.
• Beluga Whales swimming in the Cook Inlet.
• The unbelievably long days of sunshine in the summer.
• Fireweed, ferns, and arctic poppies.
• More outdoor trails than you could ever imagine hiking.
• Diversity of the scenery(tall pines, scrawny pines, rain forest, ocean side, tundra, majestic mountains, volcanos, hot springs).
• Snow & Ice sculptures.
• Whalebone carvings and native Alaskan art.
• Gorgeous Alpenglow.
• Snowshoes….I especially love the old wooden ones.

What is it that you love about where you live that maybe isn’t so common elsewhere?  Other Alaskans, can you add some more?

“It is now almost universally supposed that saving faith is nothing more than an act of the human will, which any man is capable of performing: all that is needed is to bring before a sinner a few verses of Scripture which describe his lost condition, one or two which contain the word “believe,” and then a little persuasion, for him to “accept Christ,” and the thing is done. And the awful thing is that so very, very few see anything wrong with this—blind to the fact that such a process is only the Devil’s drug to lull thousands into a false peace.” —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

I thought I would try something new today. Since I cannot think of anything to really blog about. Well, I do have a few ideas but not enough time today to put them together. I thought I would share with you some of my favorite Twitter quotes today. Twitter is a bit crazy with so much to keep up with but at least it is only snippets of information. I follow a lot of great people that challenge me to continue to strive to bring God glory. I thought I would share some of their quotes with you today. If you follow me on Twitter you probably have seen these RTs but they are good ones to ponder on again. Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think of them, which is your favorite, or if you find one particularly challenging.

Enjoy…..

• RT @ReformedGlory: Christ did not die for any upon condition, if they do believe; but He died for all God’s elect that they should believe.  JOHN OWENRT
• @burk_parsons:Toward a genuine life-Let’s be more concerned to preach what we practice than always attempting to practice what we preach.
• RT @DonWhitney: Things I wish I’d said: “With many things in life, we will suffer the pain of self-discipline or the pain of regret.”
• RT @Quiet_Daisy Thy mercies have brought me to the dawn of another day. Vain will be its gift unless I grow in grace increase in knowledge(VofV)
• RT @voiceofthesheep Why is that those who go early & rush for best seats at a show, or buy best seats for a game, pick worst seats at church?
• RT @Tabletalk_Mag: After you tried the higher life, deeper life, and your best life now, go to the all-encompassing Gospel for all of life.
• RT @MonergismBooks: “To will is of nature, but to will aright is of grace.” – AugustineRT
• @Burk_Parsons Christianity isn’t just a relationship, it’s a religion that encompasses all of life existing in God’s relationship with us
• RT @MonergismBooks: “Morality may hide corruption, but faith only purifies the heart from it.”- John Flavel

Image via Wikipedia

When teaching penmanship, basic grammar, spelling, literature, accuracy, punctuation, vocabulary, sentence structure, attention to detail, and memory skills copywork and handwriting books are a great resource.  There are many different curricula available for such things but you want to make sure they are books of substance?  We do not want to just have busy work. When trying to instill godly character in our children it is important to use a curriculum that addresses those needs as well.  I have several listed here that you may want to look into.  We have used several ourselves!

A Reason for Writing has been around for a long time.   They offer curriculum for grades K-6th.  All of the lessons are based on scripture verses.  Along with learning good penmanship children are memorizing and sharing the Word of God.

Memoria Press has a little bit of a different approach.  Their books not only contain scripture but also classic poetry, literature selections, Latin sayings, and hymns.  They also have a great explanation on their website of the benefits of copywork.  They offer a primary set consisting of three books, a cursive book, as well as a composition and sketch book.

Veritas Press has a handwriting series entitled Classically Cursive.  There are four books in this series.  These reproducible books originated by the folks at Logos School are all you need to teach cursive handwriting.  These books use scripture and the catechism.  The four books are entitled, “Bible Primer, Ten Commandments, Shorter Catechism, and The Attributes of God.”

Last but not least are the Journibles.  These are actually designed for older teens and adults.  Yes, we adults can benefit too!  I am very excited about these and am looking forward to investing in some for myself.  Here is a description from the website on these books.

Each book is organized so that you can write out your very own copy of Scripture. You will be writing the Bible text only on the right hand page of the book. This should make for easier writing and also allows ample space on the left page to write your own notes and comments. From time to time a question or word will be lightly printed on the left page; these questions are to aid in further study, but should not interfere with your own notes and comments.

So there you go!  Several great resources for meeting the needs of handwriting and copywork but also attending to our spiritual needs.  Do you have any other great resources for this?  Have you used any of these?  Which are your favorite?  I would love for you to share!

Here is another question posed to me from my in real life friend and my response.

I am writing today knowing that I am opening a door to ridicule but to be perfectly honest I am a bit distressed. I am so tired of watered-down, cultural, feel-good Christianity! I am tired of so many Christians minimizing the power, authority, and sovereignty of Christ. Many I truly believe do not even know they are doing this. That is the scary thing about cultural Christianity. There are many Christians that truly love the Lord and are committed but they do not realize how much of the culture comes out of them when they speak, share, and live their lives. They also are in no way teachable or even open to the fact that they might resemble the culture. Many denominations pride (yes, pride) themselves on being teachable but that only goes as far as to apply to those things that sound acceptable to them. If it is a challenge to their previous line of thinking then it is condemned as heresy without being given any consideration, prayer, or an opening to the Spirit. Tradition trumps Truth, comfort trumps conviction and the culture prevails. Thus cultural Christianity rules. It is what around our home has become called K-Love theology. Do not get me wrong, I LOVE Christian radio, but there is more to Christianity than a song that encourages and makes you feel good. There is more to Christianity than empathy, sympathy, compassion, and prayer. All of these things are a part of living the Christian life but alone they are not the Christian life. Where is the conviction, repentance, and purging of sin, the accountability, the surrender, submission, and sacrifice?  There must be a balance.  Cultural Christianity feels good most of the time; but a life surrendered to God may not always feel good, may be difficult, may cost us, but brings glory to God and conforms us to His image.