The Home As A Lighthouse - Part 7

 

The home is to be a place where we shine as lights in the world (Philippians 2:15).  This world needs to see God’s goodness in our families.  Friends, relatives and neighbors are watching and waiting to see what a home in Christ really is.  A great challenge we have before us is in Acts 2:46 where the early church believers gather together to share their lives, food and learn more of the Savior.  These homes were full of thankfulness and generosity.  One way we can teach thankfulness to our children is always around the meal table.  It may be like a meaningless routine to say grace before eating.  But it is up to us how we do it.  I make it very clear that we are fed by God’s gracious hand.  Food on our table is a gift from God and it is just plain rude to eat without saying thanks.  Just by this simple act of gratitude wherever we are, we are shining our light.   We also make it a joyful time by singing our thanksgiving to God before we eat.



Wherever we go, we try to stay together as a family.  You will be surprised what an impact this is to many, even Christians.  Many have come to us and told us that they were blessed just by watching our family and how we interact with one another.  Then I try to be more conscious and careful of my actions and attitude.

A farmer at farmer’s market, finally approached my and said, “you know, I am getting married in two weeks and I wanted to ask you for advise on how to raise my children because I have been observing every week your kids and they are very obedient.  How do you teach them?  I like children and I look forward in having my own someday?”  Wow!  First of all, I commended him for liking children.  This is very, very unusual.  Almost all the comments I get weekly as I am out with my children are that children are a burden.  Sure they are “cute” but only one or two of them and that was enough.  I also let the gentleman know that my children are just as any other children, sinful by nature, but we teach them what God requires of them.  They only way to godly parenting is through Christ and by His grace only.

One way we can be a lighthouse is by prayer walking our neighborhood.  Simply pray with your children for your neighbors.  You will be surprised how the Lord opens opportunities to share His goodness with others.

Here is a great tool if you want to connect with others praying in for your neighborhood: http://www.transformourworld.org/en/adopt

 

How do you cultivate a spirit of gratitude in your home so it can shine with joy?

The Home - Part 8

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Our 2011 Journey continues...

We have been in quite a journey of faith in the Lord this year. It started last year, 2010, we sold our house in the hills, Noah was born a month after that when we moved to our little house (not so little actually). Then we put the house for sale and sold this year in June. I'm finally relaxing a bit from living out of boxes. For about two years I've had packed boxes. Even today, I was still unpacking and more boxes are coming still. Yet I know that it is only a matter of time before I have to pack again. When we sold our house, we had no clue where to go. With no income for about two years, we didnt' want to and couldn't rent in this area. It is just too expensive. We've put the map, of America, and asked the Lord where He wants us.
In the midst we have been truly blessed by our church community. The encouragement and exhortations of the preaching of the Word and the friendships have edified us and given us some stability in these times transition.
For a month after we left our house we had been "like camping". Like the widow who took in Elijah when he had nothing, we were blessed by a dear sister in the Lord to enjoy our peaceful stay with her. Then we headed over to Redding with another dear brother and his family who hosted us. Then we stayed at my Mother's house for a few days.
Every night we would gather as a family and thank the Lord for providing for us our daily needs. But I desperately cried out to the Lord for stability and our own place to be able to train our children, not merely raise them.
That very night, another dear friend e-mailed me that she had her house for rent. It was a very expensive rent and a beautiful home in a gated country club golf community, so I replied that we ca housesit while she found renters. She responded by giving us the house to basically house sit. What a blessing!!! We thanked God as soon as we stepped foot here. He blessings are over abundant.
Now we've asked the Lord to reveal to us His eternal purposes for having us here. We certainly don't need this big home. The next day we moved here, Jose gets a call about someone wanting to start a house of prayer in this city!!! We knew we were in God's perfect will. We're praying about the wisest way to proceed and thrilled that the Lord has great plans for our family in every step of our way.

We don't know how long we'll be here before I start packing again. But in the meantime, we're enoying our fellowship with the Holy Spirit through our family's fellowship and the blessing of this home. Our girls are content, they've always been, with little or much. Our little man is blossoming. We thanked the Lord for allowing us to enjoy him 15 months of his life. He is starting to talk, hug, show his tender love to his sisters and eat with a fork by himself.

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Thank You Lord for Motherhood

Thank God, O women for the quietude of your home, and that you are queen in it. Men come at eventide to the home; but all day long you are there, beautifying it, sanctifying it, adorning it, blessing it. Better be there than wear a queen's coronet. Better be there than carry the purse of a princess. It may be a very humble home. There may be no carpet on the floor. There may be no pictures on the wall. There may be no silks in the wardrobe; but, by your faith in God, and your cheerful demeanor, you may garniture that place with more splendor than the upholsterer's hand ever kindled. ~ T. DeWitt Talmage

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Education "by the way" for young learners

Deuteronomy 6:7 "...and you shall teach them diligently to your children.....when you walk by the way..."

Being gone through schooling all my years of school even through a teaching credetial program for the state of CA, I had been taught and conditioned that education is something to do rather than a way of life.   In my home education, a check list in my "to do list" would be something like "math", "read Bible" at a certain time.  And there is absolutely nothing wrong with schedules or scheduling activities, many times it's the only way you'll get things done.  But the way we approach each task in our schedule has a lot to say about how motivated children will be at learning.

I've experienced that with young learners love to learn new things.  They will be life long learners when we make education a life style rather than a task or chore. 

At first I would say something like, "Lizbeth, it's time for our writing, or Bible reading."  At first she would eagerly engage.  The next day, I would get a response like "uuuugh, I don't want to do it."  Rather than seeing disobedience, she was trying to tell me that it wasn't interesting or exciting. 

Now, she would go through anything on my "to do list", but without knowing it and with a totally different attitude.  First, I know what interests her.  She likes to draw.  So I say something like, "Lizbeth, let's read this story and illustrate it."  Wow! What a different response.  She is then off showing her Bible illustration to everyone.  Then she would be playing about the story. 

Recently she did this with Dad.  They read about those who enter through the wide gate and the narrow gate.  They illustrated it.  She shared it excitedly with everyone in the house.  The next day I found her playing and she told be, "Mommy, look, these people are going through this wide gate and these little girl is going through the narrow gate."

Now reading and writing is done all day long too.   She would read a recipe as we bake something or write our shopping list or do some math with the recipe ingredients.  And there, reading, writing and math was done  on my schedule. 

Lizbeth has just turned six and almost everything she has learned now has been by living life day by day and seizing every opportinity and every question she asks to instruct her in the subject.   This really applies to almost everything to a young mind.  This way the Word of God is  being lived and applied before us all throughout the day.

This is essential for her, as she is developing a heart of wisdom, to view learning as an exciting never ending treasure.   If there is something that I think is of value for her to learn and she is not interested, then it's my job to make it interesting.  It always works.  In our house the word "boring" or "bored" is forbidden.  I tell my children that when your soul is asleep, you're almost always bored.  But awakens our soul so we can use our imagination and be creative in any circumstance.

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Demographic Bomb

"'Demographic Bomb' shows what happens when countries comprising 80% of the world's economy have plummeting numbers of workers, consumers and innovators - leading to falling consumer spending, and too few workers to support the elderly," McLerran disclosed.

Potential crisis situation in most countries (especially the developed ones, Japan being the leader) characterized by an increasing number of older people dependent on pension schemes a direct result of demographic transition. As the dependency ratio rises, the income of the working segment (comprising of a declining number of younger people) of a population comes under increasing pressure to provide support for the non-working (older and growing) segment.

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Demographic Winter

When the great social experiments of the 1960’s were launched, and when concern over a “population bomb” loomed large, we did not have the social science and economic studies we have available to us today.  So the world embarked unknowingly on a self-destructive course.

Demographic Winter: The Decline of the Human Family seeks to reawaken society to the importance of the stable, intact family, and engender a discussion and greater focus in the media, in academia, in the halls of policy makers, in religious circles, in the committees of civil society and in households around the world.  Our hope is that all of these circles will bring to bear on the problems facing the family the tremendous contributions each can uniquely make.  In this way, we hope to avert the storm that is now most surely coming on.

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Be Fruitful and Multiply!

We like to call it "Unplanned Parenthood", not that children are not planned.  They are planned by the wisest and greater, Creator mind.  For God knew every child even before they are born.  He knows best what we need and when we need it.

Here are a few reasons why it's best to "Be Fruitful and Multiply".

1.  It is God’s original intent since Creation.  It has been His first commnad to man since it's creation.  Wow, how much time did God think they needed to get to know each other before having babies.  No need for that in an unfallen world.  As newlyweds embrace Christ like characters, babies are always a blessing.

2.  God’s Word has something to say about  abstinence for married couples:  after birth and during menstruation.

3.  Psalm 127: Blessed is the men whose quiver is full of them.  4.  Psalm 128: Blessed is the woman

5.  Deut. 28 :4  “I will bless the fruit of the womb”.  Children are a blessing period, not an inconvineance or a curse or expensive.....

6.  God's commnad of  "Be Fruitful and Multiply" is against the Eugenics movement presently mascaraded as "population control" or "birth control"

7.  These are the 10 commandments of the New Age:


The ten commandments are as follows:

• Maintain humanity under five hundred million in perpetual balance with nature


• Guide reproduction wisely, improving fitness and diversity


• Unite humanity with a living new language


• Rule passion, faith, tradition, and all things with tempered reason


• Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts


• Let all nations rule internally, resolving external disputes in a world court


• Avoid petty laws an useless officials


• Balance personal rights with social duties


• Prize truth, beauty, love...seeking harmony with the infinite


• Be not a cancer on earth...leave room for nature...

8.  Humanistic minds say: “Overpopulation is the world’s top environmental issue” ScienceDaily (Apr. 20, 2009)

9.  The Muslim culture that is not influenced by American Culture have a goal and a purpose.  Please watch:  http://www.youtubhttp://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=122103e.com/watch?v=6-3X5hIFXYU

10.  God desires godly multigenerational seed

11.  God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob… God thinks Generationally.

 

12.  Children are highly desired in the biblical Hebrew culture:  Rebekkah’s sisters bless her as she marries Isaac: “May your children be millions and nations, and may the possess the gates of their enemies” Gen 24: 60

13.  A Holy Purpose: A key for Multigenerational Blessing. Isaiah 58:12

14.   The Feminist movement has come against children so as to make women feel like children are a burden.

15. The Enemies of God who are against this holy command:

Karl Marx 1860’s

Charles Darwin 1860’s

Robert Owen 1830’s

Margaret Sanger 1860’s

John Dewey 1930’s

16.  The Pill is an abortoficient invented to reject God's blessings of children.

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=122103

17.  We should pray to have several children and not limit God in how He wants to bless us.  We should aspire to see our children possess the gates of their enemies.  We should should study and prepare to raise them to be exemplary effective Christian warriors.  We should think ahead, not only to our children but to our grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  We must be passionately in love with our children.

Key FAQ’s:

1.  How can a couple enjoy a sexual relationship without the worry of getting pregnant?

This is the number one question we get.  The question itself is full of erroneous thinking and a western mindset.   Everytime a couple comes together they reflect the very image of God in becoming one and should submit the outcome of that union to God who is the one who opens and closes the womb and is Sovereign above all things.  And the consumation of Christ and His Bride in the coming Wedding of the Lamb of God.  This culture has perverted that which is only holy and created by God and has made it a sport of selfishness.

2.  Is it a sin to do family planning?

We're no one to sit in the seat of judgement for the salvation of your soul, but upon all the evidences listed above God's Word says that "if you know what's good and you don't do it, it's a sin (James 4:17). Why would anyone not want to get blessed?

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Family Devotions

Every morning our day starts with family worship, Bible and prayer.  With little ones, let me tell you, it's quite different.  We can't expect the deep worship we're used to in the House of Prayer, or exegetical Bible studies or long prayer sessions.  They are different, fun, practical and with lots of instruction.  We have dancers and singers in our home.  They can dance and sing all day.  So worship time is always a favorite time.   Honestly, our girls look forward to the "exampolitos" as they call it.  This is when Mom or Dad (usually Dad), sits with them and reads the Proverb verses that corresponds to that day of the month.  Then he takes whatever little things the girls brought and they come alive as he does examples of the verses read.  The girls love it so much that would stay sitting and attentive for an hour at times.  Usually, we have to stop to move on with our day, but they always insist, "just one more, Daddy, just one more, pleeeeeease".

One a good day Daddy would do just one more.  On other days Bible time would go something like this:

Dad: ...that means to be kind to one another and share...

Lizbeth:  No, Sarah, I need this one (and takes an example "person" from little sister)

Sarah: No, I want it, waaa, waaaa

Dad:  hey, wait a minute, what am I just teaching you girls.

Did you ever had these times?

There are endless ideas on age appropriate family devotions.  Dress up, use puppets, act them out, use props and make characters come alive...

What are some the ideas you do to instruct your little ones in God's ways?

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