Where did the summer go?

We've come upon the end of October and it seems that I'm not nearly as ready for winter to come as I should be.  I've been cleaning out the closets that I stored all the winter stuff in and realized that I didn't do a very good job sorting out what is too small and needs mended. 

I've also been trying to decide how to handle the enormous amount of winter wear we'll have this year. Where will all the gloves, scarves, hats, boots and coats get put when not being used?  Our "not too efficient" coat closet is being used for other things and I'm pretty sure we'll be using the backs of the chairs in the dining room and throwing stuff down on the floor a little too much.

I'm going to try to create a quazi "mud room" on our back porch to put the sloppy boots when we aren't using them.  I will likely find me a big tubby to put the accessories in for the kids to "fish" for the matching set of gloves. 

Coats, though?  ugh...  Maybe I'll just make the kids take them back to their rooms...

In the life of...

2 year olds are amazing!  They are like stealth objects moving through your life.  

One minute they are sitting there being sweet, looking at a book and babbling while you are being distracted talking to another child sitting across the table...  (unfortunately, there is a vase with flowers making the perfect camouflage for her to hide her mischievous plan)... 

Then, you get up and walk to her and smile and say "oh honey, don't cut up that book, it belongs to your sister..."  you look at her sweet smile and then,

as you are about to remove the safety school scissors from her little tight fist, you notice that not only the book has been cut, but...

 "oh my" her hair! "oh my" her hair! and her shirt!!! 

What in the world has happened???  She's the most beautiful, precious little child that you've ever seen and in one swift moment of time she has cut all those precious golden locks off her fore head...  Almost like using a #1 attachment on the clippers its so close to her scalp... 

What kind of mother are you?  How could you let this happen? 

Let this happen???  She's sitting in the same room with me! She's at the same table with me!  I didn't "let" it happened...

I believe that she will grow up and be part of the C.I.A. or some other secret organization. She will be an international spy known only for her amazing acts of stealth and agility... She's grooming herself (yes, pun intended) to be like James Bond, Cody Banks, Emma Peel, Perry the Platypus... 
 

OMG...

 Sometimes kids don't understand why cursing is so bad.  Everyone does it.  Its on t.v., friends and relatives cuss,  sometimes parents or other respected adults.  Being in the foster care business, we've seen kids come from all kinds of back grounds and mixed up families.  They were not taught the right use of language by the people that they've trusted to care for them and meet their needs.

I've never been given a black and white lesson on the subject and sometimes struggle to help my own kids understand why God says its wrong. Its funny how when they get older, telling them "because I said so" just doesn't do the trick anymore. :-)

I've always known there are bible verses on this topic.  I've just never taken the time to really study the bible on this subject and record notes about it... until now.  I'm not sure what has prompted me to do this study now (except maybe the Holy Spirit working in me), but it turned out to be a pretty interesting study.

I wanted to find a way to share it.  It may be that you have already got this covered with your family.  But maybe someone out there could use the encouragement.

What the Bible says about 

Choosing our words...

In Matthew 26:74, we find Peter, a man following Christ and one of His disciples.  He cursed.
He used cursing and swearing when he denied Jesus.

I don't believe its a coincidence that this is recorded in this way.  Peter was an example to us.  Sometimes Peter was a little impatient and stubborn.  He was like many of us today.  But he made a mistake and used cursing and swearing when he denied Jesus.  He fell back into old habits as a young Christian.  Does that ever happen to you?

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Leviticus 18:21(b) states "...neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord."

• Irreverently saying "OMG", "Oh my God, slang use of "Gosh Darn" or saying "goddammit", "Oh Jeez", or "Jesus Christ", or even "cheese and rice"...

    All of these examples (and more) are versions of profaning (or desecrating) the name of God.

This is expressly prohibited by God's Word!!

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Peter admonishes (or warns) Christians in 1 Peter 2:1 telling them to "lay aside" (or "stop doing") all malice, guile, hypocrisies, envies... "and all evil speakings".  He goes on to say that you should desire the Word so that you can grow spiritually.

Will you grow spiritually if being disobedient to God's word?  Sin is any disobedience to God's word.  Sin detracts from growing spiritually.  Evil speakings will detract from growing spiritually.

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Solomon tells us in Proverbs 15:4 that "a wholesome tongue is a tree of life".  Look at these references to the "tree of life":

• Gen. 3:22 tells us that one who eats of the tree will live forever.
• Gen. 3:24 tells us how valuable the tree is to God and how He protects it.
• Revelation 22:14 tells us who has the right to eat from the tree... "those that do his commandments."  

Again, the importance of being obedient to God!

Also, in Proverbs 15:4, Solomon concludes that "perverseness therein (in the tongue) is a breach in the Spirit".  The Holy Spirit is given to us when we become a child of God by accepting Jesus Christ as our savior.  We then have so much available to us:

•  The Holy Spirit is God - Matthew3:16
• The Spirit is willing, but... Matthew 26:41
• Our comforter - John 15:26
• The Truth - John 16:13, 1 John 5:6
• Life - Romans 8:10
• sons of God - Romans 8:14
• Our prayer partner - Romans 8:26
• Dwells in us - 1 Corinthians 3:16

Using foul language will put "a breach in the Spirit".  A breach is the act of breaking, a rupture, a gap, a separation.  We should not let any corrupt communication (evil words) proceed out of our mouth according to Ephesians 4:29.  Doing so will "grieve" the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30).

1 Thessalonians 5:19 warns us to "quench not" the Holy Spirit.  To quench means to extinguish, to quiet, to destroy or to stifle.

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Its not easy...

James 3:6,8 describe the tongue:

• a fire
• a world of iniquity (sin)
• defileth the whole body
• setteth on fire
• is set on fire of hell
• no man can tame
• an unruly evil
• full of deadly poison

wow.  not a pretty picture, is it?
Verse 9 of chapter 3 says that we "bless" God and "curse" man with the same tongue... 
Verse 10 says that "these things ought not so to be"!!!
1 Thes. 5:22 tells us to "abstain from all appearance of evil"

So, if no man can tame the tongue, then how can we be obedient to God and please him with our speech?

• Only God can help us with our choice of words through his wisdom that he gives liberally!!
• If this is a problem for you, pray to God to help you with this problem just as you do when you need help in other areas of your life.

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We will be judged by our words we choose to say.

Matthew 12:36 says "...every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account..."
Verse 37 says that by your words will you be justified or condemned.

It is very important to our life everlasting to choose our words wisely today.

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2012... what happened to the past 3 years anyway?  well I guess facebook happened.



Family is well.  We're in the process of adopting two beautiful little girls and that will make our "forever family" 8 in number.

School is going well.  One in 7th grade, one in 2nd grade, one in preschool...  All are enrolled in public school for now.