Saturday, December 31, 2016

Redeemed: HIStory for My Life Famiy/Children Resource File







Wow-I'm so excited so many of you are joining us this upcoming New Year for our Redeemed Bible study! 
I'm also excited because I just learned how to actually include a file link so you can download straight from my blog!  Whoo Hoo!  So now for a little bonus...some family/children resources if you'd like to include the whole family in the study!  To download, simply click on the caption under the picture.




https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3cimEKXqkG3ZE9FMTc2UGlGZlE/view?usp=sharing
Family/Children Resource File


Over Advent, our family did Christ-Centered Christmas by Vibrant Family.  The format and flexibility worked wonderfully for our family!  Therefore, I decided to create some of the same resources for this study. 

Each night one of our kids will pull down a scripture tag.  We will read the scripture, discuss, and pray.  Then depending on the time and/or scripture, we will choose a way to respond to the scripture.  Sometimes it's simply discussion and prayer.  Other times, we may write it on a scripture card, do a coloring sheet, a Scripture and a Picture sheet, or my oldest may even do a SOAP sheet.   We make this a fun time – sometimes including snacks and hot chocolate!  It can take as little as 10 minutes or as much as an hour depending on the time we have and what we choose to do!  In this file you will find the following:


  • 30 Day Scripture Countdown-A title graphic and 30 tags to create a scripture countdown for your family.  Simply print the books and the scripture pages, cut out, and then staple the books on top of the corresponding day of scripture.  You can use these anyway that works for your family!  You can take these tags and hang them on twine across a mantle or wall.  We have an old window with chicken wire stapled on top and I use small clothespins to hang them on.  Each night one of the kids pulls down our tag for that day and we read the scripture together and discuss as a family. 
  • Scripture Cards – A couple cards for you (or your children) to write down key verses.  For my younger ones, I will write out the verse and they trace with a hi-lighter or crayons.  These are great to stick around the house and recall the verse all week!
  • Links to Coloring Pages Links to free coloring pages we will be using during this study.
  • Scripture & A Picture Sheet- This is the first thing I start using with my kids for them to respond to scripture.  Super easy and I think the name explains itself!  They write the scripture at the bottom (again you can write and they can trace over it, if needed.)  Then draw a picture showing what they think the scripture means.







I hope your family enjoys these resources as much as we have and they draw you closer to each other and more importantly to God!   If you have any questions, suggestions or comments – I’d love to hear them!

Keep seeking Him first!

~ Anna




Friday, December 30, 2016

Redeemed: HIStory for My Life



"But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.  And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son, into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.  Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ."  Galatians 4:4-7

God has written a story, not some fictional fairy tale, but a real-life account.  It started long ago before we were born, before the world even existed.  It's a story of redemption.  A story that includes Adam, Moses, Ruth, David, Jesus, Paul, Constantine, Billy Graham, Jim and Elizabeth Elliott and now you and me. 
 
 
 
God's plan of redemption is perfect and it's for everyone.  Once we are redeemed, nothing can pluck us from the palm of His hand.  He has freed us from sin.  Yet, we are still living in a sin filled world.  A world that makes it so easy to fall back into bondage.  We can be redeemed yet so shackled by daily burdens and sin we can't enjoy the life God has in store for us.  Have you ever seen a fish trying to swim against the current?  That's how I feel I am sometimes.  He has set me free from sin and has this wonderful plan for my life, yet I get distracted, see something flashy in the other direction and off I go against the flow-against His will-and it's nothing but a struggle!   I'm living as a servant not an heir!
 
"It does a man no good to be free until he knows how to live, how to walk in step with God."  Amos Fortune:  A Free Man  by Elizabeth Yates
Life can be an against the flow struggle or it can be a joy filled, peaceful adventure alongside Him!  To better understand our place in His story, we need a clear picture of redemption.  What does it mean to be redeemed?  Why is redemption necessary?  What does a redeemed life look like?  What is hindering us from being free to live the life God has called us to live? What is God's plan for the redeemed now and in the future?  My GMG group is about to begin the study, Redeemed:  HIStory for My Life where we'll look at these questions and more.  The study will be six weeks long and will be broken down like this:

 

 
Week One-Past:  God's Plan from the Beginning
Week Two-Past:  Children of Israel
Week Three-Present:  Living Free
Week Four-Present:  Let the Redeemed Say So!
Week Five-Future:  The Best is Yet to Come
Week Six-Reflection
 

 

 
We'll be starting Monday, January 2 and would love for you to join us!  It will be like our One Thing is Needful study.  You have two options with the study. You can print out the first page and use it along with a notebook to SOAP; or you can print out all the pages and stick them in a binder for a complete journal to use. 
 
Each week contains the following:
 
  1. Bible Memory Verse
  2. Weekly Challenge
  3. Five days of scripture, along with SOAP pages if you choose to use them.  
  4. A blog post to go along with each week to keep us accountable (OK-mainly to keep me accountable).

 
If you'd like to join us for this study, here's what you need to do:
 
  • Just comment below with your e-mail and I'll send you the file containing the Reading plan and SOAP journal. 
  • One you receive the email, print out your choice of either the one page Quick Sheet and grab a notebook to write out your SOAPS; or go ahead and print out all the pages to write out your SOAPS.  Just depends on how much ink and paper you want to use!  I love to print mine out and put in a three ring binder.
  • Grab an accountability partner.  I LOVE my GMG group.  We check in with each other everyday on FB.  Sometimes it's a long post sharing what God has revealed, other times it's  "Good Morning girls, I read the scripture today!"  So whether you want to send a text, email, call or do it via Facebook find a friend(s) to hold you accountable!  If you don't have anyone else, then feel free to check in here each week at my blog.  I'd love to hear from you!

The past has been written.  The future has been written.  But our role in His plan depends upon us.  Our chapter in His story is being written day by day.  It's up to us to choose the incredible journey He has ahead of us as one of the redeemed.  How sad it would be to get to the end and realize we'd missed the best part- HIS story for our life. 



Thursday, December 29, 2016

October: The Month of Field Trips

As we began this school year, I knew one thing I wanted to do more of was field trips this year.  Well, this month we have done some field trips!  In fact, that's mostly what we've done.  I would say we are going to slow down now and stay in our "classroom" more; however, as I type this post, we just finished math, reading and our CC memory work in the van headed to Disney World!  Ahh, the freedom of homeschooling!  Maybe come winter we'll stay in the classroom-maybe.

Our first field trip was actually the last week of September.  After celebrating Johnny Appleseed's birthday, we visited Steele Apple Orchard in Cullman.  We went with some from our Classical Conversations community.  Taz's favorite part was the tractor on the porch before the tour even started.



We had a tour which included four stations:  the history of Johnny Appleseed; bees and pollination; different types of apples and taste testing; and then picking, washing and packing of apples. 
Apple Types and Taste Testing Station

Showing an apple picking bag and describing the picking,washing and grading process

 Of course, we didn't come home without candy apples and a bushel of apples.  The kids enjoyed the candy apples that afternoon and then we made some fried apple pies the next week.  Yum!






We took advantage of the beautiful leaves starting to change and spent the day at Mount Cheaha State Park.  It's the highest point in Alabama and has some breathtaking views. 



We were able to go on a couple short hikes (1-2 miles).  The leaves were just starting to change but the weather was awesome!  This was one of the very few cool weekends we had in October.  We were able to talk about seasons, weather and colors with the littles and the difference between coniferous and deciduous trees with "Miss Priss".  I love how just being outside and exploring brings up all sorts of questions.  I'm also thankful my better half as a science degree and is much better at answering these questions than I am :)





After hiking we were able to purchase a small bag of gems from the camp store and do some mining.  This was the girls' favorite part!   They loved finding all the "jewels".  We were able to sort and identify several of them, including some gold - fools' gold, that is!









Our next field trips was the week of Columbus Day.  After reading Christopher Columbus by Minna Lacey and doing several Christopher Columbus writing activities, we had the opportunity to see replicas of the Nina and the Pinta by the Columbus Foundation. The Nina was the most historically accurate Columbus replica ever built and it was so cool to see it in person!








Sunday, October 2, 2016

Medieval Study


 Wow - it's been over 3 years since I did a "school" post!  What?!?!  Where has time gone???  I keep having links pop up on my Facebook memories and I love looking back and remembering these times, so I'm going to try and post occasionally this year - if for nothing else for me to look back!

So to catch everyone up (just in case anyone else does actually read these) Miss Priss is now in first grade; Ladybug is now 4 and I've added one that we're going to call Taz (you know-like Tasmanian devil) since he is all boy and goes through destroying whatever may be in his path!  My oldest two and I participate in a Classical Conversations Community, which I can't say enough good things about!  We just wrapped up a Medieval Study so here's a little recap on some things we did! 

My kids LOVED this study - kings, queens, castles, knights, sword fights- what more could kids want?  As always, we did ALOT of reading!  I read aloud at least 30 minutes a day and have to admit it's my favorite 30 minutes of the day!  We kicked off our study with Time Traveler, which is a book where you pretend to go back in time and visit with 4 different time periods.   We, of course, went to the Medieval period and followed a baron through his castle, a hunting trip, the town, a feast, his children becoming a squire and knight, returning from the Crusades and more!  We also read several books on King Arthur and the Knights of the Round table.  Here are most of the books we read:







We also learned songs and history facts about Charlemagne, William the Conqueror, the Crusades, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Richard Lionheart, Europe, etc.  (Thank you CC!)  There were numerous castle buildings- most complete with keeps, moats and drawbridges. 



We also read and discussed a lot about knights: the way they dressed, their high moral code, and how they became a knight.  We even made our own family Coat of Arms which we used in our family presentation at Classical Conversations.  



Ladybug and Taz also did several activities using the Medieval Pack by 3 Dinosaurs. Miss Priss and I read the Magic Treehouse Non-fiction book Knights and Castles and did some writing activities.

Finally, we took everything we'd learned about medieval customs, food, dress, entertainment, etc. and wrapped it all up with a medieval feast! The kids painted and decorated chalices (although after painting them, I'm not sure how safe they were to drink from-oops!).  However, the girls loved blinging them all up and adding their names! 



Of course we needed to dress the part.  I had a dress I'd used for an old-fashion day at church and the girls had princess dresses.  However, we didn't just happen to have any knight costumes laying around.  So we took some plain t-shirts and added a cross and placed it over a gray shirt and pants.  Voila - Knight Crusaders! 


The girls help me set the table.  We included candlesticks and wooden dishes.  We ate as peasants on bread (called trenches) instead of actual plates.  We did not use any silverware until our pudding and then only spoons.  Our meal consisted of beef tips, potatoes, bread, cheese, fruit, and pudding.  During that time, scraps were just thrown onto the floor and people spit in the floor, allowing the dogs to come and feast too.  My children reminded me of this as we sat down-however, I drew the line with that! 

Miss Priss enjoying some sparkling cranberry juice from her chalice.




Since Medieval feasts were usually followed by entertainment, we then listened to Greensleeves and watched this Youtube video on a Medieval dance.  Of course, we had to try it ourselves!  This was the girls' favorite part of the night!



After our music and dancing, there was one last sword fight, then we ended the night by watching Robin Hood.  



Yes, we are officially that weird homeschooling family, but I'm loving every minute of it!  Now on to the Renaissance and Shakespeare!




Sunday, February 21, 2016

One Thing is Needful: Week Eight - Reflections


I can't believe we are already on our last week of this study!  It has been such a joy to walk through this with each of you. 

As I began to reflect back on the study and prepare for this upcoming week, my thoughts went to something I once heard Francis Chan (author of Crazy Love) say.  He says imagine you told your child to go clean their room.  Your child walks away and then returns saying:

I memorized what you said.  I can say it in Greek!  In fact, some of my friends are going to come over tonight and do a little study on what it would look like for me to clean my room.
Yet- they never actually clean the room!  Is that going to work with you?  Are you going to be pleased with that?  No way!  The scenario sounds absurd, yet aren't we often guilty of doing exactly that in our Bible studies? 

Is there a disconnect between our quiet time and our application of God's word in real life?  We can read God's word, study it, memorize, it, look up the Greek meanings and even apply it to hypothetical situations; however, all of this is in vain if we do not DO IT!


But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.  For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:  For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.  But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he begin not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.  (James 1:22-25)


We've looked into God's word and seen who we need to be. We know that He is the key to balancing all the other areas and relationships in our life.  He's not just another area off to the side or the first thing on our to do list to check off.  He's our everything - our ONE thing needful!  Now let's not forget it, or just go our own way, but let's practice it.  (Hopefully, you already are!) 

Let me tell you, just because you are at His feet doesn't mean everything around you is going to change and become easier.  God doesn't promise that everything will be peachy-keen when we surrender to Him.  In fact, contrary to popular belief, He doesn't even promise to not give us more than we can bear.  However, what He does promise is to always be there.  The change isn't going to be on our outside circumstances but on the inside.  It's going to come with our choice we make within the circumstance.

It's all up to us - will we choose the good part?  Will we be Mary sitting at His feet or Martha allowing other distractions to separate us from Christ?  

As we go through this week and reflect on each area of our life, there are three questions we will ask: 
  1. What scripture stood out the most from that week? 
  2. What does sitting at His feet actually look like in that area of our life? 
  3. What do we want to remember most from this week?

Based on these answers, we can form a strategy to carry out His word and be more like Mary.  I'd love to hear your responses as we go throughout this week!  What has God shown you through this study?  What does sitting at His feet actually look like in your day to day life?
 







Monday, February 15, 2016

One Thing Is Needful: Week Seven - Health


I'm excited to have another guest blogger this week!  Tara is a part of our GMG group and she has a gift for motivating others to lead a healthier lifestyle.  Tara is a Beachbody Coach and when she's not working out with her husband or prepping meals, she's chasing around and loving on two precious little girls!  At her house working out and eating healthy is a family affair.  Today she shares with us her journey of becoming the woman God desires her to be on the inside AND outside!

 


As women, we seem to always place other’s physical and sometimes spiritual wellbeing, happiness, wholeness, and health above our own. This decision is one that we feel like we are making out of love towards our family and friends yet can direct our path down a tiresome road that will lead to self neglect, low self esteem, a spiritual drought, poor health, and even depression.
 
It is time we break that cycle! God made you! God wants you to take care of yourself so you can accomplish what no one else can for His kingdom! You are hosting the King of ALL Kings inside your heart! We would spend countless days, weeks, months, even years to prepare our home for a visit from an earthly King. We have a far bigger task than that! Our bodies are the temple of the Lord! He deserves to dwell in a temple made up of physical and spiritual wellbeing, happiness, wholeness, and health!

Just over two years ago, my husband and I began our healthy health and fitness journey. I phrase the description of our journey like I did because I had been on my own journey alone for years...and it was not a healthy one! I had always made health and fitness decisions that were based simply on seeing a certain number on that little black devil in my closet that many other much more lovingly refer to as a scale. My confidence was gained and lost when I felt like the number (which no one except me knew) reflected me being “in shape.”  I grew up with three sisters, all of them taller than me, yet all of them weighed less than I did. I thought my weight should be less than theirs since my height was. I thought I was overweight because the BMI I calculated didn’t take into account my muscle mass. This is where my deepest, darkest secret stemmed from. I became a binge eater. I took caffeine pills. I took laxatives. I dehydrated myself. I did all this because my head was telling me that I was overweight if I weighed more than 125 since I am only 5’2”.


Oh! The times I was sick because of these unhealthy decisions I had made in order to reach that little number I had set in my mind so that I could feel confident! (twice reaching the point of having to have fluids at the hospital) The countless times my personal relationship with my husband was affected because I didn’t feel confident in my own skin! The times I lied to friends and family about why I was not eating when the truth was I had binged on thousands of calories and had chosen to not eat the next day to make up for the binge. The hours I would spend on the treadmill to burn off a certain amount of calories I had consumed. The caffeine pills that caused me to be addicted to caffeine and the laxatives that caused me for a while to become dependent on them because I had abused them as well as my body. The selfish decisions I made in order to become what I had set in my mind to be healthy!

 I hope you are able to see now why I described our journey that started two years ago the way I did with the double use of the word ‘health.’ Daniel and I began our journey working out together at home. Through a company I am now a coach with, I was taught how to eat properly to fuel my body with clean foods and work out with a purpose! I no longer spent exhausting hours running to burn calories. I learned that my body needed more substance to my workout, not necessarily more time.

That leads me to the thought of feeding our souls “clean” food and developing healthy spiritual habits that will make our spiritual life stronger. Everything that we allow our mind to be opened to, our brain to ponder on, and our heart to be changed by is what we are feeding our inner being. Each and everything that we do, as insignificant as it may seem, is moving us towards becoming spiritually stronger, weaker, or complacent.

 
“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Philippians 4:8

 

Clean eating in the physical sense is ‘eschewing processed, packaged convenience foods laden with artificial additives in favor of real, whole foods that are as close to the source of production as possible, so you can live a better, longer life.’ This is honestly much harder to do in the physical sense than it is in the spiritual sense if you ask me and here is why: Though I try to avoid eating processed foods and am teaching my children to eat healthy as well, I do keep some processed food around my house for my girls. (They love their cheese balls and pop tarts...and unfortunately so do I!) These foods are available and convenient. Clean foods take time and effort to prepare. I must take time to prepare for the week ahead by cutting, chopping, baking, grilling, sautéing and portioning or else I will quickly find myself grabbing those convenient foods that aren’t clean.

 

Our spiritual life should honestly be a little more easily managed. We should be diligent in keeping our entire family fed by clean spiritual foods. Unlike unclean physical food, any amount of unclean spiritual food can be eternally life threatening. As a momma I can’t help but think about that for a time we can protect our children and keep them under our wing with little to no outside influences. I monitor everything about my children from what they watch and read, who they play with, what they hear, and what they wear. I feed their soul clean spiritual food with no tolerance for anything unclean. By protecting and keeping their hearts clean, it keeps me doing the same with mine!

 
Drifting my focus to the strengthening aspect of our health, exercise. It has become so much a part of Daniel and my lives that it has become something we need, desire, and feel unfocused without. This sure did not happen overnight! There were weeks of dread, sleep deprivation and half-heartedness when we began waking up extra early to get our day started with exercise.
 
But....then the results started to show! Our efforts were paying off! We both felt better from the inside out. We started to enjoy being sore! We felt invigorated after the strenuous workout.

 
 

 
Daniel and I developed a confidence as well as a stronger connection because of this shared discipline we were now incorporating in our lives. Thirty to forty-five minutes of purposeful hard work first thing in the morning made us stronger and more focused on keeping our body fueled with clean foods throughout the day. We began our day by working hard and did not want to mess up what we had done by eating something that was not good fuel for our body!
 
When we are focused on WHY we started the journey and celebrate each step it becomes a joyful one!

Oh the comparisons between exercise and spiritual strength! We need to spend time sitting at our Lord’s feet! We need to spend time studying His word to gain knowledge and understanding. We need to spend time in prayer to draw closer to Him. We need to open our hearts to hear our Lord’s voice and seek His guidance for our lives. Yes, those things take effort. It takes effort to be a God-fearing woman. It takes discipline. It takes hard work and perseverance. It takes purposefully directing each step we take in order to arrive at the end result that we want to achieve! We will grow weary along the way but it is so important to remember WHY we are on this journey and WHO is walking with us!
 
My journey on each of these paths will be lifelong. I hope I never become complacent in where I am and always remember my WHY!  My family is my WHY!  I want to be a confident and healthy wife to my godsent husband.  I want to be a godly example of a healthy and spiritual woman to my girls.  I can do neither of these things without my Lord!


 
 
I will leave you with this that I can apply to my spiritual as well as my physical life.
 

  • Your children are NEVER an excuse but a REASON!
  • Don’t compare yourself to others.
  • Surround yourself with others with the same goals as you.
  • Prioritize by placing things with lifelong and eternal value first.
  • Always remember it will make you a better person...YOU ARE WORTH IT!