Rejoicing in those moments... They come so often that we take them for granted. They are so fleeting that we often don't notice that we have them, till they are long gone. Gratitude to God for the simple smell of a clean baby, snuggling in your arms rather than wrestling. Thankfulness for songs to sing to a blessing about God, and life, and salvation.

Blessed Assurance Jesus is Mine... Oh what a foretaste of glory divine,
Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.... I once was....
To God be the glory great things He hath done, so loved He the world that He gave us
Jesus, lover of my soul, I will follow you all of my days....
Praise God from whom all blessings flow, praise Him all creatures here below.....
Pass me not O gentle savior, hear my humble cry...
Imortal Invisible God only Wise, In light inassessable hid from our eyes, most blessed most glorious .....
God of Wonders beyond our galaxy... YOU are holy... holy
Holy holy holy, Lord God Almighty, early in the morning our song shall rise to thee....
Blessed be the name of the Lord.... blessed be Your glorious name...

Contentment isn't just being ok that stuff is the way it is... It is being joyful doing, or being right where the Lord would have you right now, knowing that is wonderful, even if right here and right now is so hard.... If it is what He has for you, and He is good, it is good where you are, and better where you are headed... There is such hope in contentment. Contentment is NOT apathy.... Not at all...

This Flag symbolizes FREEDOM. I know it does not carry the same weight of glory it perhaps once did. That the freedom is fleeting, but I stand firm that she is still a beautiful country, once glorious in her grace and freedom. I pray she is robed in such again. I am still proud to be an American.

I am a proud member of HSLDA. While I suppose there will be times, I may not agree with their every position... No one ever agrees all the time. I just really am thankful for this organization.

I am so grieved in listening to parents speak of their own children as if they weren't their own, but the states. It seems wrong for teachers or anyone to think that you don't know what is best for your children, and frankly that you won't do what is best. It is offensive, and arrogant.

I have been blessed since 2002 to educate my children in our home. We have traveled this country, we have brought our school books with us where ever we have been. We have been to countless historical sites, from Plymouth Plantation to the Redwoods of California; from Charleston South Carolina, to Hessel Michigan. From Raleigh North Carolina to the deep North Woods of Wisconsin. We have walked the Freedom trail, and grieved at how little freedom we still have today. We have been to Concord and Lexington to see where brave men fought and died for our right to Liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We could NEVER have seen any of it, had we not chosen to home educate. And with out those soldiers who died for us we would never have had the right to be free. With out the tireless work of the staff at HSLDA, and the many parents and grandparents who have fought for my right to educate my children, We wouldn't be able to do what we do. We wouldn't know nearly as much as we do about freedom. Wouldn't know what it took to give it to us. Wouldn't realize it's great worth.

Freedom is NOT free...
It was bought with a price.

Thank you to those fighting the good fight!

I am posting below a copy of a letter Attorney Christopher Klicka wrote, defending us yet again. Thank you Mr. Klicka! May God bless you....

If you would like to learn more about home schooling for the work of HSLDA (Home school Legal Defence) Please check them out on the web at http://www.hslda.org/

Recently an article appeared in the Lansing State Journal in which columnist John Schneider criticizes homeschooling. Attorney Chris Klicka responded as follows:

Dear Mr. Schneider,
Your article “Lack of oversight for home-schooled alarms educator” indicated that because homeschooling is not supervised by government bureaucrats, homeschooled children are not being well educated. The statement from public school teacher Nancy Head that “nobody ever checks up on these kids” makes it appear that homeschool parents need to be held accountable to the state.
However, this is not what evidence has shown. A national study performed by Dr. Brian Ray, “Is Government Regulation Necessary for High Achievement?” compared and contrasted the performance of homeschooled children throughout the country according to the amount of government regulations. The study shows that the academic performance of homeschooled children in states such as New York, with much regulation, is the same as homeschooled children in states like Missouri, which have little regulation. In other words, more government rules and accountability does not make better students.
There is nothing “broke” with the academic performance of Michigan homeschoolers, and there is, therefore, no need to fix it. National studies have shown that Michigan homeschool students, on the average, score above average on standardized achievement tests. The bottom line is that homeschooling works. [To view a summary of national homeschool achievement click here.]
Furthermore, the United States Supreme Court has recognized that the average parent acts in the best interest of their children. After working for the Home School Legal Defense Association for 23 years, I have found that homeschool parents want their children to not only succeed academically, but in every way. Michigan’s compulsory attendance statute regarding homeschooling both protects the fundamental rights of parents to direct the education of their children as guaranteed through the Fourteenth Amendment, and also upholds the understanding that we need to trust parents more than the government oversight.
Homeschooling has not always been free in Michigan. Thousands of families in the 1980’s and 1990’s felt the oppression from the state when they were hounded as criminals by local school districts and the State Department of Education simply because they chose to homeschool. Many families were taken to court. During those years, HSLDA represented thousands of homeschool families, whose right to home school was being challenged by the state. Fortunately for the innocent homeschool families in Michigan, the state supreme court, in our case People v. DeJonge, 501 N.W.2d 127, (Mich. 1993), ruled in favor of the homeschool families and found the teacher certification requirement an unconstitutional violation of the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.
A few years later, the legislature saw the importance of protecting parents’ rights in the area of education and enacted MCLA § 380.01. “It is the natural, fundamental right of parents and legal guardians to determine and direct the care, teaching, and education of their children.” This reaffirmed the basic fundamental right of all parents, including homeschool parents, to have the right to choose the form of education that they deem best for their children.
There is no need to question the need for accountability for homeschool parents to state bureaucracy. Homeschooling has a proven track record of working best when it is left alone by the government.
Sincerely,
Christopher J. Klicka, Esq.HSLDA Senior Counsel
CJK:kts

Creation Museum

We did it!

We finally went to the Creation Museum!
Friday we packed up the van, loaded up the kids, Auntie and Uncle and drove to pick up my darling husband! We then hit the road and drove for many hours to Kentucky! We used up our hotel "points" to do this great trip. The ride was most comfortable, we packed light (except on snacks), and were ready to hit the museum when it opened. It was FABULOUS... It was so busy but we saw everything. Every exibit, every thing... except outside stuff as it was raining. We even got some fun picture taken with us and a dinosaur... Ahhh, I will try to scan it in. Believe me when I say I HAVE NO pictures... Our batteries ran out, and the museum did too.... any way it was great! A great time was had by all.

Saturday Night Supper was at Montgomery's and the Ribs were a hit all around our boisterous table. Sunday we hit the road early and were home by dinner time.
What an action packed weekend! I highly recommend the Creation Museum!

Click here to plan YOUR trip!

http://www.creationmuseum.org/

Be sure to comment and let me know if you have gone, and what YOU thought!

glazed

So things can get a bit wacky and wild. Yet God in his sovereignty is still totally in control... I am NOT in control, I am OUT of control, but God, He is IN control... so all is well....
I think what is so hard about spiritual warfare on the physical realm, or rather what perhaps adds "spiritual" to the physical is people... yes... I am going somewhere...
Our home is "under attack"... Some Christians would and have told me to walk about my house rebuking Satan and his minions to clear my home of its illness and strain. That all that ails us is wickedness, and evil. Some would tell me, and have, that all I need is herbs and tinctures; this one for this, and that one for that. Some would tell me that my karma is attracting negative energy and I need a shaman to help me find the energy block so that my energy can more freely flow and attract positive energy again, that I am imbalanced. Some tell me to have this surgery or that, take this drug and then take these other drugs to treat me from the symptoms of the first....Some would say all we need is better air filtration, water filtration, hard wood floors, better yet bamboo...not to mention organic EVERYTHING from food to clothing to matress, to shower curtains.... People... and these are the ones who THOUGHT about my plight, and loved me enough to listen a bit before offering their adjenda.....
Then there are the majority of people...
The majority of people ask how you are but Don't really WANT to know. Some are funny because they really think, with all their heart (would argue if you said otherwise) that they do want to know, that they really CARE, but when you begin to talk they learn they don't. What do I mean.... their eyes glaze over....
really?
yep....
See I have done it too...
You know the scenario, a little ol' auntie of someone or other is seating near you at some occasion or other and you decide to make chatter... Be friendly, 'there is no need to see an age gap' you think. 'I can learn a lot from older folks' you tell yourself. So you start chatting, first about the weather, then about how many children she had or grandchildren,' oh dear 17 great grand children', 'Praise the LORD! ' OK, this conversation is going rather well you think, and then it starts.
Words like rheumatism, and incontinence, and discussion of hip surgery, and diseases you thought went out in the last century, words like "gout".... It branches off into discussion of bowel movements and side affects from different drugs, and OH MY all the different drugs she has to take, you are officially GLAZING OVER... yes she can see it, the astute can, only those with feeble eyesight or slower wit won't.... And the subject changes, it's abrupt, she's gone back to the weather, and YOU are thankful...
What do glazed over eyes look like?
a bit like a rabbit.
the eyes begin to dart this way and that, looking for another person, any person. Distraction is the first phase... then verbally come the "oh", " ump hum" " oh my" reallY?" by this point you are making actual eye contact with ol' auntie less and less.... you are searching for a WAY OUT of this dialoge.
She mentions one more symptom and you are gone, glazed, you don't actually hear her anymore, it's a bit like the Peanut's show as a kid. Whenever the adults enter a scene they speak a "blah BLAHblah ha" language and its Very distorted and impossible to comprehend.
"NOT me" you say, "I don't do that." Really? Are you certain you don't? It is rather hard to tell, as our pride doesn't want to admit the level of our caring. We really want to believe we care to know the answer to "how are you?" Maybe you do, maybe you really want to know, then I commend you. You are one of the few, one of the elite.
God's word talks about "bearing one another's burdens"... It's often taught ,or perhaps understood as a "physical" thing we should do. Like bring a meal, or help financially, send a card or give a hug. Yet, sometimes it's spiritual, sometimes more than ministering to the 'person', we are called to minister to the soul. It's listening,all the way through... It is asking hard questions, like... "how do you feel about that? " "How do you remember which medicine to take when?" "Are you feeling overwhelmed?" "did you get a second opinion?" "Are you praying to God about this?" "Can I pray for you?" Sometimes it's just asking the follow up question... "what exactly is gout?" or "endometriosis" or fill in the blank..... :)
The customary "oooh" and the "ahh" and the "uh huh..." are dangerous things to say.. Because you aren't really saying ANYTHING at all. They make auntie feel like a TV show to you, a drama. Maybe she's not into being a drama. Maybe she's just a lady, a real human in the FLESH, that has more burdens than she knows what to do with, and God gave you an opportunity to bear her burden with her because God knows that once you hear her out, feel where she is at it, to know in some detail of what is going on with her, you simply won't be able to KEEP from praying for her. Even if you never see her again, you won't fail to forget her in your prayers for long.
How do I know?
I have learned to listen. Learned the hard way.
HOW? When did I learn about this glazing?
Well, I am fairly young, but I am much like the auntie. My ailments, and all that is going on physically with my family's health, is overwhelming to me. And people ask, and I learn to discern, who wants me to be a drama, who doesn't want to hear anything but the proverbial "fine" in responce to their "how are you?". I have had illnesses, I have had days, weeks, even months, that if I told some people, they would think it were an impossible lie, a made up story, some drama for Monday night television...
I learned when to do a quick wrap up and change of subject to save them the embarrassment of their rudeness, and me, well,save the thread left to my dignity. No, I don't want to be gawked at, gossipped about, the center of any attention, or frankly be disregarded.
Yes, there is more to my life than illness... So I even avoid some health topics, and some peoples questions all together.... Right or wrong, I suppose I do it to protect myself. It hurts, that glazed eye, darting away, hurts and makes you feel lonely. God may choose to heal me this afternoon, and maybe filtered air will help too, I take supplements as well as medications; I am tired of people that think if I say how things are really going, if I say that things are just plain hard right now, that somehow I am complaining. Somehow I am not rejoicing in the Lord, not thankful, must be in sin.... God has allowed, povidentially decreed for me to be right where I am right now, I am thankful, I am rejoicing, but He has me in a hard place. That is NOT ok with some folks. It is ok with me. Jesus promised to NEVER leave me, NOR forsake me. I trust in HIM. I believe HIM. Walking with God is a walk, sometimes it is through a bed of roses, sometimes through mountains, valleys... He NEVER said it was easy, He just said to follow... Follow I will... Jesus wants us to bear one another's burdens.... The world won't, but when we as His followers do, it really ministers to the soul. It honors HIS request... Encourages one on the way. To bear one another's burdens is to BE like Jesus... I don't need to wonder What would Jesus Do... I know what He did, I read the book.
Have you ministered lately?
bore a burden?
have one that needs bearing?
you are loved!

THATS MY KING

Oh this is a gem! click on the Link below for some encouraging words from a great preacher! Just want to be reminded of who Jesus Is???
click away and don't forget to come back and comment! I can't wait to hear whatcha thought!
love ya
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1815999723852888975

bag o marbles....

Remember the olden' days .... when little boys and girls had bags filled with marbles and would play with them at recess, or after school... I don't know the games, I am not that old. But I have seen it on tv shows like little house on the prairie.... :) I have HEARD... that they did this. I even have a son who plays some old game with my father. It is rather in a circle and there is shooting of one marble with another marble or some such thing.
But that bag of marbles....
it comes to mind....
summer days
hot muggy days and nights
and sidewalk games, hopscotch, jump rope, fun games.
This summer most of the children in my neck of the woods haven't been out. Occasionally yes, but for the most part, its been a "ghost town" sort of neighborhood. Video games, movies, day camp have absorbed the summer of the normal suburbanite kid... then there were mine....
It hasn't been a summer of fun and adventure here.
It hasn't been filled with endless days in our pool, or bike rides to the beach, or hopscotch, or cartwheels, or bonfires in the pit at night... nope, there has been little of that here...
Why?
What is wrong?
What happened?
Something major?
Something big?
no....
just a bag full of marbles.... A very big bag....
A naughty adversary,
and a wonderfully sovereign God... who has NEVER left our side or forsaken us...
There is no "elephant" in the room, white or pink or black for that matter....
There is no great Mountain to climb...
just a big bag of marbles...
a silly bag of marbles... child's play really
but then we are children... HIS children;
and someone dumped this bag all over the floor, of our home....
we stumble,
we fall on our rumps,
we struggle to get up,
we walk carefully now,
shuffling our feet...

What do I mean?
Well, we have so many "little" things to trip us up this summer...
No one BIG thing...
just many little things....
Too many to list in entirety...
But here goes a few...
*salmonella (yes it was horrid! over a month of constant disinfectant, and bouts of serious bathroom issues, yes we were reported to the county)
*black algae (all that rain, messes with a pools pH and the heat messes with chlorine and ugh, very little swimming)
*delays and difficulties in my darlings project at work ( a whole bag of marbles just at work)
those difficulties have side effects at home....
*no garden
*behind on yard work
* broken back door that had to be replaced.. (another drama)
* a swing set still not finished (I think it is summer #4)
*one car family for the last, nearly 9 months(that should speak volumes :) God has been gracious in this with gas prices as they are :), and drives to work so I can sometimes have the car ! woohoo!)
oh and we mustn't forget the big increase in property taxes...
or the many health issues facing each child
or mama,
oh the poor children and their sick mama, icky pool, no car, endless chores, rather than endless summer days..
the 6 week head ache... or is it 7 now... hmmm :)
oh and this week
the massive infection in mama's tooth (yes that would be me)(the probable culprit of lengthy head ache) which needs to be pulled... that is a drama if there ever was one. (I am so enjoying sharing with you all this. I am rejoicing!)
Oh the constant illness and events to keep us from regular fellowship at church....
Our church is about 40-45 minutes away....
with illness and various other issues (car issues, family events etc) even attending has been most difficult.
We have on occasion had to attend a different church just to be able to Worship God, this is so hard....
Each time some wonderful occasion has come up at church, we simply can not be there... I don't know how to express how difficult it is to not be able to participate in your church....
these are just the more sightly issues or "marbles" that we trip on...

What is God taught me?
What am I learning...
to be graceful and patient even when I am in pain....
that yelling at someone because they are yelling and it hurts, makes the hurting worse, and quiet words go farther... isn't there a Proverb that confirms this??? hmmm
To be thankful to the Lord for headaches, because He is teaching me so much with it
To go to Him in prayer for everything.
To trust to my husband my self, my health, my whole being, because God is worthy of my trust and He's called me to do this.
That the scriptures say that My Husband should love me as much as he loves his own self, and will care for me as he would care for himself, and I need sometimes, well to LET him.... :0)
I am learning, that I need to go where ever God is calling us, and not stick my feet in the sand and yell and tantrum, like Ben, about what I want. (funny how two year olds can rebuke you just by BEING)
I am learning it is so nice to fellowship with people that look the same, and do life the same, but that God might not always have me there... (this is hard) Because I THINK that God should want me where I am comfortable... but I don't have any scripture references for this... email if you find some :)
I have learned yet again that too often what I am learning, I have already learned, and apparently I don't KNOW it enough to walk it... oi vey)
I am learning (yet again) that two cars is a luxury, and God is refining us with one... thank you Lord.
I am learning to be thankful for fellow gardeners :) Who share their abundance with others...
To trust,
to believe
to walk what He teaches me
to walk where God leads
to walk as He wants me to
with or without the "reasons" for...
I am tired....
I am thankful...
I am overwhelmed.
I am overjoyed with the Love of Christ Jesus....
I have been so humbled this summer...
So broken,
just when I think there is little left of me,
He shows me more,
I wonder when will I ever get to the end of me...
I am so wearying...
I am so glad God is so patient,
that He will NOT tire of refining and sanctifying little old me.

there is so much going on... so little to say... if you think of me, just pray...
pray for our health,
for our spirits to not be weary,
pray we'd continue to rejoice in the Lord
In HIS will
His way
where ever we are...
pray that we'd walk wisely
carefully
prayerfully
seeking to be with HIM...
that we'd never put our works, or ministries, our deeds before our Lord and Savior...
but that with all we say, with all we'd do, we'd run to Jesus and lay it all at His feet and work as UNTO our KING, not putting anything before HIM, but that He would have First place in our hearts, minds, and souls...
It looks the same on the outside.
It is different in the heart...
It is a matter of how we approach our work, or our circumstance .... Is it merely my duty, my job? Or am I running past the duty to the throne of the King, and waiting on Him in prayer, seeking to do whatever it is, HIS way, or mine?
its subtle I know...
as I dissect this more and more
I will share
If you want....
I don't have it all worked out... I am learning...
it's like learning algebra... I am watching, and starting to work out problems with my Teacher, but I certainly don't know enough to get up and teach another.... :)
patience....
some day that too will be a virtue some will attribute to me...
until then...
I am growing in grace...
how about you?
please respond, it'll make my day :)
hugs
<>< anika

MORE more more

oh how sad it is that my heart grows so faint in sharing.... oh how sinful I am that a little encouragements can go so very far... lol... thank you Lord for friends :)