Taming The Flaming

The Bible has a lot to say
About my little tongue,
It's a fire that want's it's way
And hurts friends one by one.

Lord help me always remember
You're looking straight at me,

And help me guard my mouth gate
Very thoroughly!

Our Children... Our Siblings... Our Selves

         "Alas, if our children lose the crown of life, it will be but a small consolation that they have won the laurels of literature or art. Many who ought to know better think themselves superlatively blessed in their children if they become rich, if they marry well, if they strike out into profitable enterprises in trade, or if they attain eminence in the profession which they have espoused. Their parents will go to their beds rejoicing, and awake perfectly satisfied, though their boys are hastening down to hell, if they are also making money by the bushel. They have no greater joy than that their children are having their portion in this life, and laying up treasure where rust corrupts it. Though neither their sons nor daughters show my signs of the new birth, give no evidence of being rich towards God, manifest no traces of electing love or redeeming grace, or the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit, yet there are parents who are content with their condition." 
From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Parent's and Pastor's Joy," delivered December 21, 1873.


            Spurgeon talks about what it is worth from a parents perspective if their children gain all in this world yet forget to prepare for the next. But what of us who are not mothers or fathers? Is there not a lesson in this for us as well?
            I am an older sister 8 times over, and each of my younger brothers ands sisters are such blessings, I love to sit on their beds and read them stories or laugh as they tell me about their wild rabbit hunts. Because we are educated at home I get to help my sisters with their science experiments, and work through multiplication problems with my brothers. Yet when everything is boiled down, how much of what I do is to help them succeed in this world, and how much points them to their Creator? This bring a new question, do those around me see Christ in me? 
Can they tell I am a Christian by the books I read, the movies I watch or the music I listen to?
           To apply this a little further, do the thoughts that I feed my mind through books, movies, music, etc. draw me nearer to my Lord or do they push me backwards? Will they count for eternity or will they burn like dirty rags?

"Alas, if our children lose the crown of life, it will be but a small consolation that they have won the laurels of literature or art."


 "... the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know what makes them stumble...  Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life... Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or the left; Remove your foot from evil. " Proverbs 4: 18-27

TIME

Time
is a choice to be made
Every moment of every day, 

A choice of what to do with it.  

What we do with our time
determines who and what we are.
What we do in our spare moments  

shows what matters most to us.
What are you doing with yours?

"This is the day the Lord hath made, I will rejoice and be glad in it."
Psalm 118:24

"As if you could kill time without injuring eternity."
Henry Daivd Thoreau

The first hour of the morning is the rudder of the day.
Henry Ward Beecher
"Time is free, but priceless. You can't own it, but you can use it. You can't keep it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it you can never get it back."
Harvey MacKay

Take care in your minutes, and the hours will take care of themselves.
Lord Chesterfield

Much may be done in those little shreds and patches of time, which every day produces, and which most men throw away, but which nevertheless will make at the end of it no small deduction for the life of man.
Charles Caleb Colton

"Time is the scarcest resource of the manager; If it is not managed, nothing else can be managed.One cannot buy, rent or hire more time. The supply of time is totally inelastic. No matter how high the demand, the supply will not go up. There is no price for it. Time is totally perishable and cannot be stored. Yesterday's time is gone forever, and will never come back. Time is always in short supply. There is no substitute for time. Everything requires time. All work takes place in, and uses up time. Yet most people take for granted this unique, irreplaceable and necessary resource." Peter F. Druker

 "

"One of the illusions of life is that the present hour is not the critical, decisive hour. Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. No man has learned anything rightly, until he knows that every day might be his last."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

What do you want to get done? In what order of importance? Over what period of time? What is the time available? What is the best strategy for application of time to projects for the most effective results?
Ted W. Engstrom

If time is precious, no book that will not improve by repeated reading deserves to be read at all.
Thomas Carlyle


 

"The great dividing line between success and failure can be expressed in five words: I DID NOT HAVE TIME."
Franklin Field

Good, Better, Best,  

Never let it rest,
Until your GOOD is BETTER,
And your Better BEST.

I am reviewing and re-(re)writing my priority list today.
Want to join me?

Turn Around

I was wondering what I could post today, since I haven't posted in a good week, and my eye rested on a poem I wrote to myself years ago and taped in the front of my Bible. It has stood like a guard rail to keep me on track when I loose joy and have to choose to keep seeking the Lord.

Watch out, beware! Use caution, have care!
Have you neglected God's word today?
Have you been going your own way?
Have you pleaded for His help today?
Watch out. Beware.

Stop running, quit doing! Halt now, while you can!
Do you think that you can run this race alone?
Without the Word in you Spirit sown?
And daily "what Jesus would do" to you shown?
Halt now while you can.

Run aground, turn around! Be heavenbound!
Fix your eyes on Jesus to finish the race,
Each day read His Word, in prayer seek His face,
Think His thoughts, sing His joy, spread His grace.
Turn around.

Today, we are having our first Guest Speaker!
Meet: Mrs. Lettie Burd Cowman.

Mrs. Cowman worked as a pioneer missionary with her husband in Japan and China from 1901 to 1917, during which time they helped found the Oriental Missionary Society. When Mr. Cowman's poor health forced the couple to return to the United States, Mrs. Cowman turned her attention to caring for her husband until his death six years later. Out of Mrs. Cowman's experiences and heartbreak came her first book, A devotional,"Streams in the Desert," followed by its companion "Springs in the Valley." During the next twenty-five years, Mrs. Cowman inspired several nationwide Scripture distribution campaigns and wrote seven more books. Finally, on Easter Sunday in 1960, at the age of ninety, Mrs.Cowman went to meet the God she had served so faithfully for nearly a century.
I have treasured Mrs. Cowman's writings for some time, now, I give them to you!

    "I went to America some years ago with the captain of a steamer, who was a very devoted Christian. When off the coast of Newfoundland he said to me, 'The last time that I was here.... something happened that revolutionized the whole of my christian life. We had George Muller on board. I had been on the Bridge twenty-four hours and had never left it. George Muller came to me and said, "Captain, I have come to tell you that I must be in Quebec Saturday afternoon."
"It is impossible," I said.
"Very well, if your ship cannot take me, God will find some other way. I have never broken an engagement for fifty-seven years. Let us go down to the chart-room and pray."
      I looked at that man of God and thought to myself, What lunatic asylum can that man have come from? I never heard of such a thing as this.
"Mr. Mueller," I said, "do you know how dense this fog is?"
"No," he replied, "my eye is not on the density of the fog, but on the living God, who controls every circumstance of my life."
    He knelt down and prayed one of the most simple prayers, and when he finished, I was going to pray, but he put his hand on my shoulder, and told me not to pray.
"First, you do not believe He will answer; and second, I believe He has, and there is no need for you to pray about it."
     I looked at him; and he said, "Captain, I have known my Lord for fifty-seven years, and there has never been a single day that I have failed to get audience with the King. Get up, Captian, and open the door, and you will find the fog gone."
     I got up, and the fog was indeed gone. On Saturday afternoon, George Muller was in Quebec for his engagement.' "

Have you ever wondered?

Have you ever wondered what God has planed for your life? If He even has a plan for your life?  Or if He does, what in the world it is, and how you can know what His will for your life is?

I know that I have wondered these things over and over again, and have asked myself, what does God want me to do? What is His will for my life? I want to honor Him, serve Him, and give Him glory, but how can I do that? How do I know?

A few days ago my father played a sermon by Mr. Voddie Baucham that frankly shocked me.
I would encourage you to listen to it and think about what Scripture says.

Feminine Dress

 We apologize that it has been so long since our last post! Please, the next time you see us disappear, bury us in email reminders!
Today's topic is Feminine Dress: What it is, but today, we are going to give you the opinion of others through quotes! If you have something to add, or have more questions, feel free to drop us a note. Rebecca, Heather and I love to hear from you! (...As a side note, are there topics you would like us to cover?)

"One of the first evidences of a real lady, is that she should be modest. By modesty we mean that she shall not say, do, nor wear anything that would cause her to appear gaudy, ill-bred, or unchaste. There should be nothing about her to attract unfavorable attention, nothing in her dress or manner that would give a man an excuse for vulgar comment. When we dress contrary to the rule of modesty we give excuse for unwholesome thoughts in the mind of those who look upon us, and every girl who oversteps these bounds makes herself liable to misunderstanding and insult, though she may be innocent of any such intention."
 ~Margaret Hale



^"In like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing,
But, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works."
~ 1Timothy 2:9-10

 "It seems to be the fashion nowadays for a girl to behave as much like a man as possible. Well, I won't! I'll make the best of being a girl and be as nice a specimen as I can: sweet and modest, a dear, dainty thing with clothes smelling all sweet and violet-y, a soft voice, and pretty, womanly ways. Since I'm a girl, I prefer to be a real one!" 
~ Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey

O woman! lovely woman! Nature made thee
To temper man: we had been brutes without you.
Angels are painted fair, to look like you:
There’s in you all that we believe of heaven,—
Amazing brightness, purity, and truth,
Eternal joy, and everlasting love.
~ Thomas Otway, Venice Preserved, Act i. Sc. 1.

"Why do women want to dress like men when they’re fortunate enough to be women? Why lose femininity, which is one of our greatest charms? We get more accomplished by being charming than we would be by flaunting." ~Tasha Tudor

"Modesty answers not the crude how of femininity, but the beautiful why."
~Wendy Shalit (A Return to Modesty: Discovering the Lost Virtue)

Fem’ninity is seen in her modesty,

Of manner and tongue as well as dress,

In her sensitiveness to propriety,

Not overly proud, or with looks obsessed
~ Godly Femininity

"The true worth of a race must be measured by the character of its womanhood." 

~ Mary Mcleod Bethune

"A good woman is a wondrous creature, cleaving to the right and to the good under all change: lovely in youthful comeliness, lovely all her life long in comeliness of heart."

~ Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Life of Tennyson, Vol. I. 

“The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity.”
~ Margaret D. Nadauld

"Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel— ⁴ rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. ⁵ For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves"
~ 1 Peter 3: 3-5

 


I wonder.... are we, the young, Christian women of the 21st century fulfilling our role?  How are we to bring up the next generation if we do not do what we know is right in this area of modest dress and modest actions?
One does not need a husband to be a godly woman . 

If...

If you can never marry,

see all your dreams rearranged,

and still remain pure,

If you can plan and plot

and it all be overturned at a moments notice,

and still submit joyfully

If you can slave over a dinner all day

only to have a child snub it

then rise again the next day and start all over again,

If you can sweep, mop, and scrub,

and watch as your family walks through with boots and dirty hands

and welcome them home,

If you can teach the same math lesson one hundred times,

only for the child to still not get it,

and return tomorrow and try again,

If you can absorb the troubles around you,

take in the worn and weary,

and never be praised,

If you can remain calm,

while everyone around you gives in to the chaos,

If you can hold the child who got hurt,

doing something you told him not to,

If you can walk through the trials of life

and cling all the closer to God,

Then, then my daughters, you will be women.

This poem was written by Olivia

based on Rudyard Kipling’s poem ‘If’

No Arms, No Legs, No Worries

"My name is Nick Vujicic. I was born without limbs and doctors have no medical explanation for this birth 'defect'. As you can imagine, I was faced with many challenges and obstacles.
'Consider it pure joy, my Brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.'....To count our hurt, pain and struggle as nothing but pure joy? As my parents were Christians, and my Dad even a Pastor of our church, they knew that verse very well. However, on the morning of the 4th of December 1982 in Melbourne (Australia), the last two words on the minds of my parents was 'Praise God!'. Their firstborn son had been born without limbs! There were no warnings or time to prepare themselves for it. The doctors were shocked and had no answers at all! There is still no medical reason why this had happened and Nick now has a Brother and Sister who were born just like any other baby. 
The whole church mourned over my birth and my parents were absolutely devastated. Everyone asked, 'if God is a God of Love, then why would He let something this bad happen to not just anyone, but dedicated Christians?' My Dad thought I wouldn't survive for very long, but tests proved that I was a healthy baby boy just with a few limbs missing. 
Understandably, my parents had strong concern and evident fears of what kind of life I'd be able to lead. God provided them strength, wisdom and courage through those early years and soon after that I was old enough to go to school. 
The law in Australia didn't allow me to be integrated into a main-stream school because of my physical disability. God did miracles and gave my Mom the strength to fight for the law to be changed. I was one of the first disabled students to be integrated into a main-stream school. 

I liked going to school, and just try to live life like everyone else, but it was in my early years of school where I encountered uncomfortable times of feeling rejected, weird and bullied because of my physical difference. It was very hard for me to get used to, but with the support of my parents, I started to develop attitudes and values which helped me overcome these challenging times. I knew that I was different but on the inside I was just like everyone else. There were many times when I felt so low that I wouldn't go to school just so I didn't have to face all the negative attention. I was encouraged by my parents to ignore them and to try start making friends by just talking with some kids. Soon the students realized that I was just like them, and starting there, God kept on blessing me with new friends. 
There were times when I felt depressed and angry because I couldn't change the way I was, or blame anyone for that matter. I went to Sunday School and learnt that God loves us all and that He cares for you. I understood that love to a point as a child, but I didn't understand that if God loved me why did He make me like this? Is it because I did something wrong? I thought I must have because out of all the kids at school, I'm the only weird one. I felt like I was a burden to those around me and the sooner I go, the better it'd be for everyone. I wanted to end my pain and end my life at a young age, but I am thankful once again, for my parents and family who were always there to comfort me and give me strength. 
Due to my emotional struggles I had experienced with bullying, self esteem and loneliness, God has implanted a passion of sharing my story and experiences to help others cope with whatever challenge they have in their life and let God turn it into a blessing. To encourage and inspire others to live to their fullest potential and not let anything get in the way of accomplishing their hopes and dreams. 
One of the first lessons that I have learnt was not to take things for granted.
'And we know that in all things God works for the best for those who love Him.'That verse spoke to my heart and convicted me to the point where that I know that there is no such thing as luck, chance or coincidence that these 'bad' things happen in our life. 
I had complete peace knowing that God won't let anything happen to us in our life unless He has a good purpose for it all. I completely gave my life to Christ at the age of fifteen after reading John 9. Jesus said that the reason the man was born blind was 'so that the works of God may be revealed through Him.' I truly believed that God would heal me so I could be a great testimony of His Awesome Power. Later on I was given the wisdom to understand that if we pray for something, if it's God's will, it'll happen in His time. If it's not God's will for it to happen, then I know that He has something better. 
I now see that Glory revealed as He is using me just the way I am and in ways others can't be used. 
I am now twenty-three years old and have completed a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Financial Planning and Accounting. I am also a motivational speaker and love to go out and share my story and testimony wherever opportunities become available. I have developed talks to relate to and encourage students through topics that challenge today's teenagers. I am also a speaker in the corporate sector. 
I have a passion for reaching out to youth and keep myself available for whatever God wants me to do, and wherever He leads, I follow. 


I have many dreams and goals that I have set to achieve in my life. I want to become the best witness I can be of God's Love and Hope, to become an international inspirational speaker and be used as a vessel in both Christian and non-Christian venues. I want to become financially independent by the age of 25, through real estate investments, to modify a car for me to drive and to be interviewed and share my story on the 'Oprah Winfrey Show'! Writing several best-selling books has been one of my dreams and I hope to finish writing my first by the end of the year. It will be called 'No Arms, No Legs, No Worries!' 


I believe that if you have the desire and passion to do something, and if it's God's will, you will achieve it in good time. As humans, we continually put limits on ourselves for no reason at all! What's worse is putting limits on God who can do all things. We put God in a 'box'. The awesome thing about the Power of God, is that if we want to do something for God, instead of focusing on our capability, concentrate on our availability for we know that it is God through us and we can't do anything without Him. Once we make ourselves available for God's work, guess whose capabilities we rely on? God's!

May the Lord Bless you 

In Christ, 
Nick Vujicic"

(This letter from Nick Vujicic was written 6 year ago, in 2005.)


Last week my Daddy showed me a video of Nick telling his testimony, and all I could do was cry. Cry that God would forgive me for my heartlessness, for my pride, for my selfish decisions. How could I, a young lady with a sound mind and body, be content just to know that I am saved, when millions of people are dying everyday, and there is no one who is willing to tell them. No one except a young man with out arms or legs, who was considered by all to be a helpless dead weight on society! Because of Nick, hundreds maybe thousands have come to know the God of the Universe. I want to stop sitting around, I want to find out why God made me the way He did, and what His purpose for my life really is!  I want to make myself available for God to use in any way that He sees fit.

" Before I formed you in the whom I knew you;

Before you were born I sanctified you;

I ordained you as a prophet to the nations." Jeremiah 1:5

" 'For My thoughts are not your thoughts ,

nor your ways My ways' says the Lord.

'For as the heavens are higher that the earth,

so are My ways higher than your ways,

And My thoughts than your thoughts.'" Isaiah 55:8-9

Why Did They Fight?

Let tyrants shake their iron rod, 

And Slav’ry clank her galling chains, 

We fear them not, we trust in God, 

New England’s God forever reigns.

Howe and Burgoyne and Clinton too, 

With Prescot and Cornwallis join’d, 

Together plot our Overthrow, 

In one Infernal league combin’d.

When God inspir’d us for the fight, 

Their ranks were broke, their lines were forc’d, 

Their ships were Shatter’d in our sight, 

Or swiftly driven from our Coast.

The Foe comes on with haughty Stride; 

Our troops advance with martial noise, 

Their Vet’rans flee before our Youth, 

And Gen’rals yield to beardless Boys.

What grateful Off’ring shall we bring? 

What shall we render to the Lord?

Loud Halleluiahs let us sing, 

And praise His name on ev’ry Chord.

by William Billings 

If the choice was yours, would you sign away your life?