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We took a break for a couple of days this week to visit my parents. Scott will be starting driving a school bus on Monday. It was good for the kids us to take a break as well. I also am able to post a few videos before we leave high speed internet.

Scott took me out to eat today. We have not had a real date in a long time. Sometimes we’ll fix up some kind of meal and watch a movie or just talk after the kids are in bed. But while at Grandparents we are able to actually go out to eat. We even spent a little extra money and visited a Texas Musicians Museum while we were at it. It was pretty fun and my husband got into a really good theological discussion with the man that runs the museum. He invited the man to visit my Dad’s church as well.

Here are a few videos I took over the summer. This first video is of Scott singing Action Bible Songs with a doll for the kids.

This next video is of Jonathan and Hannah playing the piano together and singing. I’m not sure which Hymn they are playing.

This last one for tonight is of Joshua giving his siblings a ride on a four wheeler.

I guess that will be all the posts I’ll try to post tonight. I may try to post a couple more tomorrow. Hope you enjoy these until then.

This next video is of Ruth and Jonathan sliding down a slide. We had visited a zoo that day with another family and the kids enjoyed getting to play at the park.

It’s been too long since I’ve blogged. I guess I have gotten a little lazy since I’ve been introduced to Facebook. Lately I’ve been putting more short thoughts in facebook and have slacked off on my blogging. But I am going to make up for it today, and try not to forget my blogging world.

Actually I kill two birds with one stone by blogging. Whatever I blog is posted to facebook as well. The best of both worlds. 🙂

Here are some of the pictures I took at Church Camp. This first is my parents with my kids in the cafeteria line. The meals have actually been very good at camp.

Here is Joshua waiting for the preaching to begin during Tabernacle.

Hannah and Ruth were both covered in Bubbles from the slip-n-slide that was rented for our camp. Shampoo was used to help make it slippery. So they were good and clean afterward.

Scott, Joshua, and Ruth sang a special at camp.

Jonathan loved helping clean the dorm. He was constantly armed with broom and dust pan whenever we went inside the dorm.

It was a very good week at camp. There were 26 campers reported saved, 2 announced their call to preach while there, and several rededications.

The good thing about camp is that you get the children out of the world, away from their t.v.’s and you surround them with the gospel throughout the day. Our scheduled included Morning Devotional in the Tabernacle before breakfast, Bible Classes after Breakfast, Children’s Choir after class, Sermon before lunch, Lunch, Free time- where activities were planned each day for the children. The girls had an hour swim time while the boys were doing other activities, then the boys had their swim time while the girls were doing activities. Then after all the fun time ended at 4 p.m. everyone got ready for Dinner and then after Dinner we got ready for the Evening Service, during which was Testimony time, and good preaching brought by one of the Pastor’s present. Then after the service, we had free time. We ended each day with cabin devotions and lights out.

All three of my older kids were wishing they could live at church camp. I explained that they would be rather lonely all by themselves, so they decided that they want everyone to live at church camp. I’m not sure how the other sponsors would feel about a year round church camp. Despite the fun at camp, I was still glad to get back home and back into a routine again.

I’ll be getting the children started back on our homeschooling tomorrow. I gave them a couple of weeks off because of camp and Scott and Joshua’s hiking trip. Then I wanted a few extra days to prepare for starting a new year with the children. So tomorrow will be our official back to homeschool day. I plan to take them to the Library tomorrow and then to the store to pick up some homeschool supplies.

I think that pretty much catches everyone up on what all has been going on our summer. I’ll try to post more pictures later.

1 John 2:15-17 Love not the world, neither the things [that are] in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (16) For all that [is] in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. (17) And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

While we are on our trip I took this picture of this family of Ducks. I love how the father and mother duck were together with all their little ducks. They have a few more ducklings than I have but we are trying to catch up.

Yes, we are now expecting a 7th member to our ever growing family. Right now the tentative due date is March 14, 2010. We still need to find a doctor or midwife. We are also going to have to keep our eye out for at least a 7 passenger van. Right now we’ve been squeezing into our 6 passenger car. My husband told our oldest son that sits between us, “Right now a van would be a luxury, but in March it will be a necessity.” 🙂 So I know we’ll have a van come March.

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)

We went on a trip a couple of weeks ago to Michigan to visit some of my husband’s family there. We had such a good time. I wanted to share some of my favorite pictures.

On our way up there we camped out a couple of nights to break the trip up. There was an associational meeting in Missouri so we had taken an extra night to stop and visit with some of the preachers we knew might be there.

We managed to afford this trip by camping out each night. This picture of the kids in front of the tent was taken in Illinois, right by the Mississippi River. We also found on this trip that Hannah and Jonathan have problems with car sickness, especially if we drive right after eating a good meal. We learned to eat real light while driving.

We arrived at Scott’s Mom’s house and were greeted by “the girls” as my in-law’s dogs are called. Hannah had determined before we arrived at Grandma’s house that she would not be afraid of their dogs anymore. I had to take a picture of her petting one of them. I told her if I didn’t get a picture no one would believe she wasn’t scared. So here is proof. 🙂

On Saturday we celebrated Joshua’s 11th birthday. We had cake and ice cream and then we went to the lake and went fishing. I caught 3 small fish and my mother-in-law caught 1. I was praying someone would catch something, since the last time I took the kids fishing we didn’t catch anything and it was a stocked pond. Joshua was sure I was doing something wrong at the time. I told him it’s a matter of patience, which my four kids seem to lack when it comes to fishing.

Then on Monday we had a cook-out at my in-laws house where most of Scott’s Aunts were able to come to. Here is a picture of Scott with his Mom and 3 of his Aunts.

Of course for Joshua the highlight of this trip is getting to drive the four wheeler. We let him give the girls a ride in the woods but we didn’t plan on him taking Jonathan. I took this picture after we found out that Jonathan had already gone with them through the woods and he was waving at everyone and saying “Bye!!!!” They grow up so fast.

Over all this has been a very good trip. Scott and I both agreed that we were going to need a vacation from vacation, but once we got home the kids didn’t have too much trouble getting back into the routine again.

“Ruth’s pancaking again,” Hannah told me this morning.

I turned from my Bible where I was doing my morning’s reading and asked her, “What’s pancaking?”

“Oh, I don’t know how to say it,” was her response.

She told me how she had told Joshua where Ruth was hiding during hide-and-seek and that now Ruth was Pancaking.

I asked her, “Oh, do you mean panicking?”

She was quite happy that I figured it out. I then taught her how to say “panic”. Then as we were eating lunch, I joked that the computer was “pancaking” since it was making so much noise. She quite clearly said, “No Mommy, It’s panicking!”

So my little girl is “Pancaking” no more. She is learning so quickly.

The girls earned five stickers for our Rewarded Reading program. For every five stickers they earn, they get a piece of bubble gum. After ten stickers, they get a candy bar. Then once they reach 30 stickers, they get a Pizza Party. Joshua has one more book to read to have his five stickers. The older two children have to read a chapter book and write a book report to earn a sticker. Hannah must have 5 books read to her and tell me about them to earn a sticker. They each have a chart on the wall where we write the names of the books and place the stickers.

As I’m writing this, my son came in the room wanting some medicine for an itchy round spot on his arm. He asked me if it could be ringworm since we have a new kitten. I thought I would look up a picture of ringworm for him. I opened another browser window and sure enough, what he has looks just like ringworm.

I looked up information about it and treatment information. I read that it can be contagious by touch. I asked the other children if any of them had any itchy spots like Joshua. Hannah had a mosquito bite that she really wanted to be ringworm. Ruth said she didn’t have an itchy spot but she had a bump on the back of her shoulder that bothered her. I looked and yep, she has ringworm too. Jonathan of course held his arm up for me to inspect. So far, the younger two don’t have it. I think it’s because they are afraid of the kitten. They won’t let it come near them.

Okay, it’s tempting to “pancake” but I think instead I’ll go to the store and by some anti-fungal cream for ringworm. I also need to wash their clothes, sheets, and towels. At least it’s treatable. We’ll just need to get rid of it before it spreads anymore. Better check on treatments for the kitten as well.

Philippians 4:6 “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”

I read a poem a while back, that was a discussion between a mother and God about her desire to be on a mission field. I really liked that poem because by the end of it, it showed that even though God doesn’t always send us off somewhere else. We all have a mission field.

My mission field is my family. While that may seem like a small thing compared to feeding and clothing the homeless, taking care of orphans, or reaching far off peoples that have never heard the gospel. It is a very important role that I must take on whereever the Lord has us to go or stay.

I realize that the Lord wants His people to go into all the world but maybe it’s not me that’s suppose to do the actual going. Maybe it will be my children, or my grandchildren. I can be only one place at one time. However, I have four children. If I raise them to love the Lord and to do his will then how many people could be reached through them. I could have at least 4 Missionaries whether at home or abroad someday.

I do not know what the Lord has in store for us in the future. We may never go into a foreign field. I do know that my mission is right here at home, with my husband, my children, my parents, my in-laws, my grandparents, my neighbors. How many more lives can I touch if I quit looking out and wondering when the Lord is going to use me and looking in at what the Lord has right here for me to do. I could reach the world right where I’m at. Whether at home or in another country.

The Lord could one day decide to send us on a foreign field, but the most important field I have is my family. If I keep this in mind, I will be able to keep my focus no matter where we go.

If you are struggling with where God wants you, maybe you should look at where you are at right now. Are you a Sunday School teacher? Your students are your “Mission” field.

Are you a parent? Your children are your mission field.

Are you married? Then your spouse is your mission field. You are to help your spouse be all that he (or she) can be for God. We all have struggles. Sometimes we can help our spouse reach his full potential by being a source of encouragement and help in whatever he needs to serve God.

Do you have neighbors? Then you are to reflect God’s light to them. If they see your life maybe they too will desire to serve him.

Whereever we are God has a mission for us. We need to pray and seek his will for our lives. God knows what is best for each one of us. We cannot decide what another person is suppose to do. But we are able to determine what it is God wants for our own personal lives.

Say not ye, There are yet four months, and [then] cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours. And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did. So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days. And many more believed because of his own word; And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard [him] ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.
(Joh 4:35-42)

And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and [his] disciples rebuked those that brought [them]. But when Jesus saw [it], he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, put [his] hands upon them, and blessed them. (Mark 10:13-16)

We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please [his] neighbour for [his] good to edification. (Romans 15:1,2)

A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) . . . Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. (1Timothy 3:2-5, 12)