Marriage Monday "A True Wife"

I am going to be sharing quotes from a very good book called, "The Family" by J.R. Miller. It is a lovely book originally published in 1882! I have read many things by J.R. Miller, I love his writings. I hope you are encouraged and challenged by the following quote taken from "The Family"

"Every true wife makes her husband's interests her own. While he lives for her, carrying her image in his heart and toiling for her all the days, she thinks only of what will do him good. When burdens press upon him she tries to lighten them by sympathy, be cheer, by inspiration of love. She enters with zest and enthusiasm into all his plans. She is never a weight to drag him down; she is strength in his heart to help him ever to do nobler and better things."

She what I'm saying? Quite convicting, isn't it?

Questions to ask ourselves.

Do I make his interests my own?

When he is heavy laden do I try to lighten his load or am I bothered because I have my own burdens, thank you very much!?

Do I enter with zest into HIS plans?

Do You Love Your Children?

He who spares his rod [of discipline] hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines diligently and punishes him early. Proverbs 13:24

I just love when one verse just jumps off the page and stops me dead in my tracks! (Been happening a lot lately : )

It seems like such a simple verse, even a very common one. I mean, it seems so much of the teachings on parenting center around this verse and others like it. A first glance, seems pretty clear, discipline your children.

So, what made this verse POP?

The d-word.

Diligently.

Do I love my children?

Certainly, I would answer quickly, without even a hesitation. Upon further review though, if I am not diligently disciplining and training them then I am not loving them! Ouch!

Diligence immediately makes me think of consistency. Am I consistent with training and discipling my children? Do I let things go because I am busy with my own thing? Do I ignore something because I’m just too lazy to deal with it?

These are tough questions!

I have been rereading Raising Godly Tomatoes and the Lord is wasting no time teaching this mama some areas that need, shall we say, ‘tweaking’! This particular paragraph was very convicting. Actually I can’t seem to get past it. I read it, am wowed at what it says, and just sit there stunned!

Consistency

The degree of success you achieve will be directly related to how consistent you are. Don't get lazy. Don't give up. Don't make excuses. Don’t be “on again, off again” about training your children. Keep your children with you and watch them, correcting all disobedience and bad attitudes. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Don't be afraid to set high standards and maintain them. Teach and train your children, then expect them to act in a godly manner. Require them to always act the way you would like them to act, and the way you believe God would like them to act, not the way others may let their children act. Be consistent in your training and in your expectations. (Taken directly from Raising Godly Tomatoes,chapter 3)

If you are a mama in the very throes of child-training or are a new mama about to embark on this journey, or are an older woman who would love a refresher course so you can encourage your own daughters or other young women, READ THIS BOOK!

It is so well written. You can even read it online at Raising Godly Tomatoes, just look on the left sidebar and begin clicking on the chapters. Or you may purchase the book directly from thier website, which is what I wish I had done before I printed the whole thing up! It is an invaluable resource!

Have you read Raising Godly Tomatoes?

What did you think?

Are you diligent and consistent with training your children?

Do you love them? Then discipline them!

Shattered Plates

There was a time about ten years ago that I only had five children and I was able to keep all my plates a spinnin'. I was younger, healthier and sooooo clueless! Life was very scheduled and structured. School was done, not only on time, but even ahead of time. I baked bread, made homemade meals, kept up with laundry, and had an organized home. Like I said, I had all my plates spinning and spinning well. I was confused as to why anyone else couldn't do it all too. I was pretty pleased with my abilities and gifts.

Fast forward ten years later. I am definitely older, not so healthy and well, still clueless to a certain degree.

In the past ten years the Lord has arranged my circumstances just so that somewhere and sometime my plates all went flying out of my hands and have shattered all over the floor! I had an ectopic pregnancy, two babies die at 17 weeks gestation and four babies since then. Years of poor eating and living in a toxic world had taken their toll on my body. Not to mention all those pregnancies without all the nutritional and physical support. I developed chronic pain in my back and right sacroiliac joint, and hormonal migraines every month. All of this physical stuff as well as some extremely emotional circumstances that pushed me to my limit physically, emotionally and spiritually.

Many of those years were what we now call our 'survival years'. We were barely surviving. Long gone were the scheduled days, the homemade bread and organized home. The good news is that the Lord was really breaking this prideful Mama who was so sure she had it all together.

These past several years have been the most difficult years of my life. They have also been some of the most wonderful because of the closeness and mercy I have experienced from my Father. In the middle of it I wondered where He was. Why wasn't He changing things? But now, just on the other side of it I see it was Him who carried me all the way through. It was by His mercy that I am here today. I have to wonder if not for His grace. . .I can't even go there in my mind. I am humbled and awed that He loves me so much that He brought such discipline and hardship yet was ALWAYS by my side. And even when I couldn't take it anymore and was on my face ready to just give up, He was the lifter of my head.

The last couple of years my health is slowly coming back. Strength is slowly returning to this body. It has been a year and a half since our last baby. I am ready to move! Ready to put things back together.

But, all I see in front of me is all of my plates shattered into hundreds of pieces. I am overwhelmed! I don't even know where to begin, which two pieces to put together first. He still speaks so tenderly to me and encourages me to wait on Him. I am encouraged that we must be moving on to a new place because up until recently I couldn't even see my shattered plates! I was buried in the 'dust' from the broken plates. He has cleared away the dust and has at least shown me the pieces. Just the other day He even showed me one teensy piece to pick up and then another.

His overwhelming words to me lately have been that "we are going to the other side". The story about Jesus telling the disciples to get in the boat and go to the other side speaks volumes to me right now. On their way to the other side a great storm came up and they were afraid. They forgot that He said they were going to the other side! Whenever I start to panic; take my eyes off of Him and put them on the circumstance, the mess, the shattered pieces He gently reminds me, "I told you, we are going to the other side, trust in Me"

So, that is my little story of my Shattered Plates. This is not the end of the story, for it continues on. Maybe when I get to the other side I'll update this story. ;-)

Thank You Lord Jesus for the storms of life that bring much needed rain to purify our hearts. Thank You for your mercy and love.

Marriage Monday "Praying For Our Man"

Today let's talk about praying for our man! I float in and out of consistency with this one. I wish I would say I daily, regularly and methodically pray for my husband. I am sure we all aspire to that.

I’ll share a couple of resources I have used over the years. Please, share any and all of your ideas.

One book I have used many times is "Power of a Praying Wife" by Stormie Omartian. If you don't have this book, you can buy a used copy on Amazon used for only a penny plus $3.49 shipping! This is a great book that consists of 31 chapters, each focusing on a different subject to pray for your husband. After I read through the book the first time, I then went through and highlighted just the parts of the prayer that applied to my husband and I. Every time through from then on I just prayed through my highlighted sections.

This would be a great summer read! Depending on the season of your life right now, you could do it all in one month, or spread it out into July and August.

Another list I have used from time to time called is called Praying for your husband. It was nice to break things up by praying my own prayer using this as a reference when the Power of a Praying Wife seemed to get monotonous.

One habit I have gotten into is praying for Brian at night in bed. I have a hard time falling asleep as quickly as he does, so I place my hand on his back and begin praising and thanking God for him. It then turns into praying for wisdom, understanding, and favor; whatever the Lord puts on my heart. I love this because I kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. One, I pray for him, and two, I usually fall asleep quicker. ;-)

I also have picked out certain scriptural prayers from the Word of God and have typed these up and regularly prayed them for him. Ephesians 1:16-20, Colossians 1:9-12, 1 Thessalonians 5:23 should get you started.

So, how about you? Do you have a method or plan you use that you could share with us to faithfully pray for our husband?

Have you read “The Power of a Praying Wife”? Are you up to a challenge to pray every day for your husband for a whole month?

Lord Jesus, amidst the busyness of life please draw us unto You and remind our hearts to pray for our husbands. By Your Holy Spirit cause us to diligently pray for them. Give us supernatural insight and wisdom into what they need that only You can meet and the then the discipline to bring it to Your throne.

Marriage Monday "Woo Your Man!"

Today let’s talk about what I call “woo-ing” or romancing our husbands.

As women, mamas, and wives we have our plates quite full! (I’m not trying to add one more thing that has to be done.) It is easy to put this idea on the back burner while we try to juggle our lives. Romancing our husbands does not have to be ‘one more thing’ we feel burdened to do. Let’s look at it as a way to love them, honor them, bless them, and quite frankly, a way to have some fun! Plus, I think being 'wooed' is just about every guys love language! ;-)

I came across this great list of ideas on ways to romance your husband by Cindy Rushton. It was called Marriage 911 Flight Plans.** Some of these ideas are fabulous!

A sampling of them are. . .

Make him a CD of favorite love songs.

Pull out your wedding album and snuggle up.

Read the Song of Solomon together, privately.

Write him love notes or emails.

Watch a ballgame with him.

Plan a day pampering him.

Have a campfire date, just the two of you.

Watch the sunset together.

Plan a candlelight bath.

Go out for a latte.

Bring him breakfast in bed.Write a long and mushy love letter!

Meet him for lunch.

This is just a sampling of her ideas.

Here are two of our ideas.

Date night has become a regular event for us for the past several years. It is not a 'going out' date, but an in house date. Every Saturday, no matter what, we have 'date night'. After baths, and tucking the littles in, it is our night. The older children take care of any other littles that might still be up and we scamper off downstairs for movie night or to watch something we taped during the week. Shows from the Food Network or TLC usually.

Another thing we used to do was, every Saturday morning, just Brian and I went grocery shopping. We would go very early in the morning. We would take some hard boiled eggs and toast, pick up a Starbucks Latte and spend an hour leisurely grocery shopping. I would usually wear something cute and 'doll' up a little. We would talk, plan and laugh during our time alone.

I know, simple folk, but it is our life! ;-)

You know your husband better than anyone. I am sure you can come up with some great ideas.
Lets take our eyes off of ourselves and our busyness and look for ways to really romance our husbands.

Lighten up, if you need to – lets have some fun!

Find ways to bring that spark back, or fan the flame that is already there!

Lord Jesus, what a gift you have given us in this marriage. Help us take our eyes off of ourselves and look for ways to really bless our husbands. Give us wisdom and creative ways to put a little spark into our marriage.

So, what are you ideas for woo-ing that man of yours? Are you up to the challenge this week of finding ways to romance him?


Have a lovely week ladies. (wink, wink)

**For some reason this link is not working, but I am leaving it in because I think it must be a temporary problem. She has a very popular website and for some reason it is down right now.

Our Crazy Life!

I am sure many of you already think I am a bit on the loopy side, but here is the proof! This was not a typical day, but it was so outrageous I just had to take pictures and show you!

We had butter making, cheese making, bread baking, water Kefir and milk Kefir making, kombucha making and crackers soaking! All in one day

Here we have already brewed kombucha and a few of the 10 loaves we made.

Here we have the cream cheese hanging to get all of the whey out of it. We use the remaining whey to soak our grains and beans with. We make this cheese out of our raw milk. I usually mix in some herbs, garlic, salt and pepper and use it for a veggie dip. Or, sometimes we 'water' it down with milk and it becomes a ranch type salad dressing. Very, very good for you!

This is a picture of our jars of Kefir to be fermented. The large 2 quart jar in the back of the picture is the completed Kefir from the day before. We use this for our Kefir smoothies and soaking our grains. Also, for pancakes and muffins.

These three bowls are our cracker recipe that we soak for 24 hours before we roll them and bake them. Oh, we use the Kefir to soak these too.

The two glasses are 'juiced' ginger that we put in our kombucha. We love ginger Kombucha! the three bowls in the background are the 'tea' cooling waiting for us to put the kombucha scoby into it to make a new batch of kombucha. Am I freaking you out yet?

This is where we keep our water and milk Kefir while it 'ferments' or 'brews'. My very capable 13 year old daughter is pretty much in charge of Kefir making.

Okay, that was one busy homemaking day! While these tasks don't all usually happen in one day, they do happen all through the week. We have been doing them for so long now that they are just part of what we do!

I am extremely passionate about healthy eating, especially for Mamas who are to nourish and feed their families. I have been working on a series on Nourishing Eating. I pray the Lord allows the time to post it. Pray for me too, will you?

Why Does it Always Come Back to Me?

I see harshness in my children as they interact with each other. I pray and ask God for wisdom, saying, "look, do You see how they are acting? What should I do?" The answer seems slow in coming, but as the days go on I begin to see myself react harshly with the children. I see impatience and indifference in myself towards them. What?! Could it be they are modeling what they see in me?!



Nobody seems to follow our schedule, I grouse. Our life feels so chaotic, never the same everyday. I can't seem to get on top of it. How do I make them do what they are supposed to do when they are supposed to do it?! Again, I cry out for wisdom. I begin to see Mama tends to go off and do her own thing whenever she has a chance. Sneaking in what she wants to do instead of what the schedule has on it. Hmmmmm, could it be me?



Everyone in this family seems so distracted and going their own way! Why is everyone so focused on their own agenda instead of serving each other. Why are they so "self" focused instead of being "other" focused? Lord, what is it? The Lord, once again shines His light and I see a very distracted Mama who, every chance she gets pursues her own agenda, not the family's agenda. All in the name of learning to "serve" the family better, mind you, but distracted none the less.



These older children tend to scamper off and 'just real quick' check something online, email, ect. Hmmmm, I think I know where this is going. ;-) Does Mama scamper off to 'just real quick' check email, blogs, ect.?



I am not at all saying that all of my children's sins and weaknesses are my fault. I understand we all were born with a sin nature. I am just giving you a glimpse at what the Lord has been showing me lately. I am in a very difficult season right now as He shines His glorious light on the dark places of my heart. It is also a most precious time because the very fact that He is disciplining me is proof of His great love for me! (See Hebrews 12:5-13) So, while this time of discipline seems painful, afterwards it will produce a harvest of righteousness.



Are you struggling with certain areas in your life right now? Have you cried out for wisdom? Is is possible that the struggle has more to do with you that it does with the other person or thing?



Lord Jesus, thank You that You love us way too much to let us stay the same! Thank You for the Holy Spirit Who lovingly convicts and brings Truth to our hearts. Continue to shine Your Light in our lives, we so desperately want to be like Jesus!

First Official "At the Well" Post!

I just wanted to let you know that today was my first official post at

I shared about Redeeming the Time with a Summer Schedule.

Check it out!

Anxious For What?

What am I anxious about, just now?

Do I not trust in my Jehovah?

Am I not confident in Jehovah?

For He holds the world in His hands.

He holds my very breath.

He ordains my every step.

What is this trifle thing that seeks to cause unrest in my soul?

Has it possibly escaped the eye of my omniscient Father?

I think not!

He knows the way that I take. When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

[Most] blessed is the man who believes in, trusts in, and relies on the Lord, and whose hope and confidence the Lord is.
For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters that spreads out its roots by the river; and it shall not see and fear when heat comes; but its leaf shall be green. It shall not be anxious and full of care in the year of drought, nor shall it cease yielding fruit. (Jer. 17:7,8)

Marriage Monday 1 Peter 3

The scripture we are going to talk about today is so great! It is extremely rich with meaning and lessons for us wives. There is no way this crazy mama from "Podunk" Michigan can do it justice. I won't even try!

What I will do is share some thoughts interspersed throughout the text.

I want to challenge you to meditate on this passage at least for this whole week. Let is go in and work on your heart and let the Lord really speak to your heart. Read it through at least once a day and more if you can. You may print up the download I have provided or you can print up your favorite version from Bible Gateway. You just put the reference in and choose your version.

In like manner, you married women, be submissive to your own husbands [subordinate yourselves as being secondary to and dependent on them, and adapt yourselves to them], so that even if any do not obey the Word [of God], they may be won over not by discussion but by the [godly] lives of their wives,

There is that word 'adapt' again. ;-) (See this post) What strikes me here is that they are won over not by our discussion but by our example! Not by our multiple words, nagging and just plain old trying to make them just "get it", but by the godliness in our own lives! Ouch. How often do I think if I could just make him 'see', when it would be better for me to shut my mouth and live what I am preaching.

When they observe the pure and modest way in which you conduct yourselves, together with your reverence [for your husband; you are to feel for him all that reverence includes: to respect, defer to, revere him--to honor, esteem, appreciate, prize, and, in the human sense, to adore him, that is, to admire, praise, be devoted to, deeply love, and enjoy your husband].

What kind of example do we give, to our husband (and children)? I love the amplified here with its description of 'reverence'. Am I respecting him when I question him on how he does things or what I think he should be doing? Do I honor and appreciate him? Do I enjoy him? Do you see what I am saying? There is sooooo much here to meditate on and seek the Holy Spirit's enlightenment on?!

Let not yours be the [merely] external adorning with [elaborate] interweaving and knotting of the hair, the wearing of jewelry, or changes of clothes; But let it be the inward adorning and beauty of the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible and unfading charm of a gentle and peaceful spirit, which [is not anxious or wrought up, but] is very precious in the sight of God.

Oh, that precious 'gentle and peaceful spirit'. Am I anxious or wrought up over things in our marriage, or in my husband? Am I able to trust it to the Lord and just be at peace? Do I focus more on my outward appearance than I do my 'hidden person of the heart'? What is more precious to God?

For it was thus that the pious women of old who hoped in God were [accustomed] to beautify themselves and were submissive to their husbands [adapting themselves to them as themselves secondary and dependent upon them].

It was thus that Sarah obeyed Abraham [following his guidance and acknowledging his headship over her by] calling him lord (master, leader, authority). And you are now her true daughters if you do right and let nothing terrify you [not giving way to hysterical fears or letting anxieties unnerve you].

Do you remember the stories about Abraham? He made a few blunders, but Sarah obeyed him! She recognized his headship over her. What things do you let terrify you or make you anxious?

Here is 1 Peter 3:1-6 for you to print up and study this week. Click on the link here and follow the directions on the page you arrive at.

Let me know how you are doing with it. Please feel free to share your thoughts about this section of scripture and how it speaks to you.

This is what the download should look like.

Lord Jesus, how we desperately need You if we are even going to come close to living our Your Word. Open our eyes, speak to our hearts, impart your glorious grace to be the Godly wives you have called us to be.

She Just Wanted to Talk

She was excited to tell me something. . .doesn’t matter what it was, it’s always something that is important to her.

I was busy, as usual, busy with my own agenda and distracted.

She was smiling and sharing her heart.

I was not listening and didn’t care.

Finally, I could not take it anymore, I snapped, “Okay, just stop. I don’t know what you are talking about, just never mind!”

She turned away, humiliated and hurt. She continued on with the dishes and didn’t say another word.

I saw her face. I saw the rejection. I immediately felt the Holy Spirit rebuke me with the word of God, “A gentle tongue is life, but willful contrariness in it breaks down the spirit.”

I was reminded of a thank you note she wrote earlier to a friend of mine. She was thanking her for listening to her and being so interested in what she had to say. She said how nice it was to have someone to listen to her. It felt like a dagger to my heart.

What am I thinking!? Why do I do things like that?! How awful! Would I EVER do that to my husband or a friend? Absolutely not! Never would I do that to anyone else, why on earth would I treat my own child that way? My daughter who loves to spend time with me and talk with me.

I wish I could tell you I humbled myself right then and there and begged her forgiveness. I did not. I did look for the very next opportunity and said, “What was that you were telling me a few minutes ago, I can listen to you now.” Hardly sufficient, I know.

My time with each of these children is so short, even though the days seem so long. I truly hate this selfishness in me and cry out to God to change me, to cleanse me, to draw my heart towards them. He is faithful and His grace is sufficient, I must trust that.

Why share such a raw low point from my life? I share this to encourage you to not ever allow yourself to get away with such behavior towards your children. Or anyone for that matter, but especially not these precious gifts.

Lord Jesus, you know our every weakness and you love us anyway. Help each one of us Mamas to cherish these gifts and treat them like priceless, fragile treasures. Heal any wounds we have created by our words, our selfishness. Keep us ever sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Thank You for Your mercy poured out through the forgiveness of Jesus Christ.

Marriage Monday "Appeal or Nagging"

I’ve written a post before on the tone of our words, so I won’t revisit that. Of course, tone matters! Today I would like to focus on making an appeal to our husband verses nagging.

It is better to dwell in a desert land than with a contentious woman and with vexation. (Pr. 21:19) (see also Pr. 25:24)

I read awhile ago that if a woman mentions something twice to her husband it is probably nagging. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying we can’t remind or encourage them, you know what I mean. The Holy Spirit is faithful to point this out to us.

We don’t need to take the place of the Holy Spirit. He is far more effective than our nagging will ever be. There have been things in our marriage I just ‘knew’ should be a certain way and I was not afraid to make it known. Do you know, some of those things still haven’t changed? I believe a huge part of the reason why is because of my nagging.

Contrast that to some of the things I just mentioned once or twice and then submitted it to the the Lord. Those things seem to come about much quicker, if they were God’s will in the first place! Many things I now see were not God’s will, but my own, and I am so thankful for God’s mercy in keeping my husband from doing what I was so sure was right!

A verse I LOVE is Proverbs 21:1;

THE KING'S heart is in the hand of the Lord, as are the watercourses; He turns it whichever way He wills.

Our husbands' hearts are in the Lord’s hands. He moves their hearts in the way they should go, not us, and certainly not our ‘many words’! (See Proverbs 27:15-17 for further study)

A word fitly spoken and in due season is like apples of gold in settings of silver. (Proverbs 25:11)

There are times when we do need to bring something up to our husband. We would be wise to learn how to make an appeal in a Godly and honoring way. I love how Martha Peace explains it. (If you don’t have her book ‘The Excellent Wife’, I highly recommend it)

The following are suggestions from “The Excellent Wife” by Martha Peace.

*An appeal should be done for the purpose of achieving the husband’s objective or desire.

*The motive of the wife must not be manipulative.

*The appeal should be made in a respectful manner and with a spirit of humility.
*The appeal should be made at the proper time.

*The appeal should be made only once.

*The wife should always preface or conclude an appeal with a statement that she is willing to do whatever her husband decides. (as long as it is not sin)

I loves this quote from her book: “When a husband does not listen to or grant his wife’s appeal, she must accept his decision as the will of God for her at that moment.” All of these suggestions can be found in Chapter 14.

Do you find yourself nagging instead of trusting God to bring the changes in your husband? What ways will you seek to change this?

Have you read “The Excellent Wife”? Did you like it?

Heavenly Father, we desire to honor You with our words. Please show us when we have begun to nag. Show us our hearts. Expose the lack of trust in You when we push our own agenda. Give us grace to trust You more and leave our wonderful husbands in Your faithful and capable hands.

A Mama's Heart to Her Son

This is the 'letter' I read to my son Luke at his graduation ceremony.

Luke, I remember fibbing to the doctor on how long I was trying to get pregnant because we were so anxious to have another baby. (we had to be 'trying' for a certain amount of time) He put me on some medicine to help me get pregnant. I remember the next appointment He smiled and said congratulations! We were thrilled.

Now here we are 19 years later celebrating your graduation. It seems I only blinked and you went from my sweet little Lukey with big brown eyes to a Godly young man with strength of character and deep passions and convictions.

What a privilege and honor it has been to be your mom! You are a diligent, hard working man. God has blessed you with a tender heart, so sensitive to the Holy Spirit. He has also given you drive and passion for what is true and right.

It seems odd to say, “I’m so proud of you,” because it feels like when I say that somehow I am taking credit for it, and I cannot take credit for the man you are today. All the glory and credit goes to God. Certainly we were vessels used, in part, to shape and mold you, but it is the Lord who gets the credit for all the good that is in you and all that you will accomplish on this earth.

Luke, remember that all those things that come so easily to you, all your strengths and gifts are from Him. That apart from Christ there is no good thing in you. It is all from Him. Don’t lose sight of that.

Thank you for giving us your heart, and for how you have served your family. Thank you for being patient and forgiving with us. Thank you for the example you have been for your brothers and sisters.



This is from 1 Chronicles 28, when David gathered all the leaders of Israel and told them that God had chosen his son, Solomon to build His house.

I have paraphrased his words to the people and his son and it is our encouragement and prayer for you, Luke.

Keep and seek to be familiar with all the commandments of the Lord your God, that you may possess this good land and leave it as an inheritance for your children after you forever.


Luke, know the God of your father. Really know Him, understand, heed and cherish Him.

Serve Him with a blameless heart and a willing mind.

We give this charge to you Luke, Be strong and courageous. Fear not, for the Lord God, our God is with you. He will not forsake you until you have finished all the work He has for you. Be strong and do it.

Above and Beyond . . .

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us . . .

Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.

Okay, I don't even know where to start! God is so unbelievable awesome, faithful and merciful! My husband and I were completely and utterly overwhelmed by His love this weekend as we celebrated our son's graduation from our home school, Zoe Academy.

We were completely humbled by everything that went on that day. When you are in the middle of life, wondering at times if you are even doing it right, it can be so hard to see any fruit. As the years go on, and we get closer to the Lord, we become more and more aware of our own short comings, realizing that if there be any fruit, anything 'good' come out of our obedience it is going to have to be God and His grace!

We had approximately 75 friends and family join us in our celebration. We opened with prayer and introductions. My husband and I both shared from our hearts to our son. God had given each of us very specific scripture to share with him.

Our son then shared his graduation 'speech' which was short and sweet. ;-)

Some of his siblings shared a scripture with him that they felt the Lord gave them. This was amazingly sweet, as they all seemed so fitting. Even our 8 year old shared a verse she has been memorizing.

It was a beautiful, sunny day, though a bit chilly. We passed out blankets for those in need. Our prayer was to be a light to our family and friends and glorify God in all that we did and said.

After the presentation of the diploma and mom, dad and siblings sharing, we opened it up for others to share from their hearts. When we sent out invitations, we included a note asking the guests to prayerfully consider sharing something for our son.

This is where it got overwhelming and amazing! The things people shared about our son and about our family in general were almost more than I could take. It was so awesome to hear how many lives and in how many ways we have touched others' lives without even knowing it! Our neighbor, who we have served and loved quietly over the years was weeping as he shared how our son and all our children have ministered to him over the years. Our children shovel his long drive, mow his lawn, bring him 'gifts', fix things for him. (he has pretty significant health problems) He tries to pay them and profusely thanks them. I think some of my kids don't even know that people get paid to do some of the things they do for him, they just love to help him. Many, many in the crowd were brought to tears by what he shared.

This man has been both our older sons' Hebrew, Latin and Chemistry teacher over the last three years. He is an awesome, Godly, brilliant man from the country of Holland. He has the coolest accent. He shared from a Latin/Hebrew Psalter, then translated right before our eyes. Then he proceeded to give my son the book as a gift. He had him look in the back of the book (Hebrew books starts at the back ;-) and the date was from the 1600s! What a thoughtful and almost priceless gift!

So many people got up one after another and shared scriptures, prayers, wisdom and insight. It was amazing to see the body of Christ shared that way.

All you can mostly see in the picture are chips and bread, but trust me, it was a phenomenal spread! Brian's mom made her incredible kielbasa. We made about 500 meatballs from an old family recipe. We had beans, pasta salad, green salad, fruit salad, macaroni salad, sumi salad. The word on the street was that it was fabulous! People kept coming back for more. It was great. I love to feed people! Of course, we finished with cake from Costco. Amazing chocolate cake!

Here we are, proud Papa and Mama and one amazing kid!

One other thing that was so amazing and encouraging to us is that the things people shared felt like a gift from our Father. It was as if He was saying, "well done, My children". There were unsaved family members there that have thought us to be just a tad bit loopy for homeschooling and for having a large family. Their comments have gotten fewer and farther between as we have held to our convictions over the years. I dare say that many of the doubts as to whether what we were doing would turn out okay were probably relieved just a bit that day. God seemed to place people who have been touched by our lives with family members who have doubted our sanity. We long ago stopped going to others for validation over our convictions, but this was just sort of sweet and we felt slightly validated.

There was a dear message on our machine at the end of the day that said, "Brian and Michelle, your hospitality and love was only outshone by your humility in giving God the credit for all He has done."

For all you mamas out there who wonder if it is worth it, let me tell you it is! God will reward the work of your hands. I am not saying it is over, but it sure feels good to get a smile from my Father.

Thank you for reading about our special day. If you have any questions about how we 'do' graduation or 'school' for that matter, please feel free to ask. If you are struggling and need encouragement to stay the course, please drop me a note. God is so faithful to complete what He has begun!

Marriage Monday "Adapt Yourself"

Wives, be subject (be submissive and adapt yourselves) to your own husbands as [a service] to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:22)

I love the amplified version of these verses. As I was studying these verses the word adapt really struck me.

We often hear the word submit or submissive pertaining to our role as wives, but it sure does get a bad rap sometimes, doesn’t it? One’s pride and ignorance easily bucks up against having to submit to another.

Today let's focus on the word adapt. This word seems easy for me to wrap my mind around. The challenge for this week is to look for opportunities to adapt yourself or your plans to your husband's. Start small, practice on the easy things. Make it a habit to adapt yourself to him! It just might make the bigger things easier ~ one could hope, right? ;-)

If he has an opinion of which order something should be done, do it his way.

Maybe he thinks you should take this route instead of the way you would take. Simply keep your mouth closed and adapt yourself to his way.

Maybe it is adapting to his way of parenting, dress, finances ect. Whatever it is, look for ways to adapt yourself to him!

Synonyms for adapt: adjust, accommodate, conform, reconcile. Adapt implies a modification according to changing circumstances, "adapted themselves to the warmer climate" (or your husband! ;-). Accommodate may suggest yielding or compromising.

What ways can you, out of your love for your Lord, adapt yourself to your husband?

Okay, I have to share this one. I was looking this verse up in our 'Interlinear Scripture Analyzer', it wasn't making sense to me so I asked my two older sons what they thought it was saying, being the Latin and Hebrew geeks that they are.

This is how it was on the computer:

"The women (wives) to the own men (husbands) as to the Master"

Out of the mouth of babes. . .this was their response, said so matter-of-factly.

"Women be to your husbands as you are to the Lord."

Isn't that good?! Sounds simple, right? If we were to our husbands as we are to the Lord we would be fulfilling the command in this verse!

Marriage Monday: Love Your Man

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails...

I think the above verse is our starting point for sure! My husband has put these verses into a little chart with three columns. First column: Loves is. . . love is kind, ect. Second column: Love does not. . .keep record of wrong, ect. Third column: Love. . . always hopes, ect. He then has placed each of the points in the verse under its proper column. He reads it each day and when a difficult situation comes up he pulls this out and begins to go through it asking himself, am I being kind, am I being patient, ect.

Boy, can I sure learn from this man. What if we, as wives did this type of thing in regards to our husbands? I think it is an excellent idea. Anyone up for trying this idea this week?

Another thing the Lord has showed me is to find out how my husband receives love. There is a book called Love Languages, by Gary Chapman that is helpful to figure out how your husband is 'wired' to receive love.

For example, in the book, Mr. Chapman breaks them down into five catergories. Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, Physical Touch, and Words of Affirmation. It is not necessary to know which of these is your husband's love language. I truly believe the Word of God is all we need and if you obey that, you will be speaking your husbands love language. But, it doesn't hurt to learn about and study your husband. It's part of 'building' your marriage. You can read a description of each of the languages here.

One way to find out just how to love this man is to ask him! Simple enough. . . well, you might need to gently coax it out of him if he is not a talker, but he will probably give you some insight into what is important to him.

My husband has often said he doesn't care what the house looks like when he gets home, he just wants a happy mama and children. He would rather I sit on the floor and play with the children all day than to come home to a perfectly cleaned house and know I didn't spend time with the children. Not that he doesn't like it picked up some ;-)

Does a hot cooked meal say 'I love you' or a peaceful and orderly home?

Would he like to see you in something other than your sweatpants and t-shirt?

What are his expectations with the house, meals, physical intimacy? Ask him. If you do so tenderly and lovingly expressing your desire to love him, my guess is that alone will say "I love you".

Do you know your husband's love language? Have you asked him what is important to him? What are some ways you could 'love' your husband this week?

My Favorite 'Spiritual Place'

When I first read what the topic was for today I was just about jumping up and down like my children do yelling "oooh, pick me, pick me!"

I LOVE this topic and love to share about the importance of having a quiet time. In this post I share what I do in my 'quiet time'. I share in another post how to make time for God.

I have my quiet time in our bedroom. We have a pretty small bedroom so we have sacrificed having an extra dresser in our room so I can have my quiet time area. (Thank you Honey ;-)

One of my children will often times light my candles for me in the morning. I curl up in my chair, pillow on my lap, journal and bible on the pillow. I have to have my tea each morning, I don't think it is the same without it. This is where I pour out my heart to my Father.

To my left is my hymnal, another devotional journal and my 'spiritual binder' where I keep future blog posts, articles I am reading, inspiring posts, ect.

Behind my chair, in a box are all my 'study' tools. They include my Hebrew and Greek dictionaries, concordance, and Matthew Henry Commentator. I can get totally lost looking up words in these dictionaries. I love to dig deeper and find the original meanings.

My favorite basket includes my most cherished devotionals. I have written before about them. My favorites are 'Streams in the Desert' and 'Springs in the Valley'. This also contains my 'Utmost for His Highest' an NIV and KJV bible. Also, this is where I keep my "Mama Truths"

I hope you have enjoyed a peek inside my 'quiet time'. Tell me about your time with the Lord! Isn't is so awesome to be able to meet with our King and Lord?

Are you struggling with having a quiet time? Don't give up, He is waiting for you!

Sweet Fellowship With The Lord

( I wrote my post before I saw the theme this week, sorry.)

I am so thankful or sweet fellowship with my Lord!

I don't think I could adequately describe the sweetness and deep satisfaction this 'quiet hour' with the Lord has brought over the years.

By His grace, it has become the single most needful and important part of my day.

It started several years ago with a weight loss bible study, of all things, that I would do in the mornings that included journaling your thoughts and struggles.

I was hooked when I began to see if I showed up each morning and cried out to Him, He not only "showed up" but poured out His love and mercy upon me. What started out as a simple bible study became my very life line.

All these years later that quiet time has only become richer and more precious.

There have been . . .

. . .many hurts that have been healed

. . .many joys expressed

. . .many tears shed

. . .many sins exposed

. . .many fears relieved

. . .many prayers answered

I am unashamed to admit that I am completely and utterly desperate for Him! I need Him to speak to my heart, pick me up off the floor, quiet my restless heart and direct my steps.

I am forever thankful for what HE has made our quiet time into.

These are two of my favorite verses that speak to me about this time with Him.

The secret [of the sweet, satisfying companionship] of the Lord have they who fear (revere and worship) Him, and He will show them His covenant and reveal to them its [deep, inner] meaning. (Ps. 24:14 Amp.)

And therefore the Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking, and longing] to be gracious to you; and therefore He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken companionship]! (Isaiah 30:18)

How about you, do you have a daily precious time with your Lord?

Do you find it to be the most wonderful thing in the world?

He longs to meet with you and speak to your heart.

Please check out what other precious women are thankful for.

Marriage Monday: Know and Accept Your Man!

Every wise woman builds her house, but the foolish one tears it down with her own hands. (Pr. 14:1)

The Lord has been speaking to me lately about ‘building’ my marriage. I have decided to ‘try’ to write about marriage on Mondays for the next couple of weeks. Marriage Monday! Feel free to join in with comments and/or writing on your own blog about marriage. You may leave the link to your post in the comment section.

I have been convicted of late, that just because my marriage is awesome and my husband is ‘easy’ for me to love, that that is no reason to not ‘build’ my marriage. Certainly there have been years that my husband and I call our survival years. You know, those years when the children came one right after the other, various health issues as well as stressors within our family prevented us from focusing on anything other than, well, surviving. Now I believe is the time He is calling me to build and sow into our marriage. So, what I am planning on writing about is what the Lord has put on my heart. I hope you are encouraged and challenged to ‘build’ your marriage as well.

This week’s topic is titled Knowing and Accepting Your Man.

One resource I loved about knowing your man was Debi Pearl’s book 'Created to be His Helpmeet'. (Let's not discuss whether or not we agree with everything the Pearls stand for, okay? While I personally question some of their teaching, I was blessed and challenged by this book. I ‘ate the meat and spit out the bones’. I pray you do the same. If nothing else, the link I provide below is a wonderful excerpt that will surely bless you.)

It has benefited me greatly to know what type of man my husband was created to be. Things that used to really irritate me don’t anymore as I realize that this is how the Lord created him. I can choose to accept it and love him for who he is, or I can allow it to irritate me. If I do the latter, I forget that I was created for him, not him for me. (1 Cor. 11:9)

Debi explains that there are three types of men. The Command, the Visionary, and the Steady Man.

Mr. Command

A few men are born with more than their share of dominance and, on the surface, a deficit in gentleness. They often end up in positions that command other men. We will call them Command Men. They are born leaders. They are often chosen by other men to be military commanders, politicians, preachers, heads of corporations, and managers of businesses. Winston Churchill, George Patton, and Ronald Reagan are examples of dominant men. Since our world needs only a few leaders, God seems to limit the number of these Command Men. These men see life as if they are looking from a high mountain, they see the big picture rather than individual needs.

They are known for expecting their wives to wait on them hand and foot. A Command Man does not want his wife involved in any project that prevents her from serving him. . .

Mr. Visionary

Some of you are married to men who are shakers, changers, and dreamers. These men get the entire family upset about peripheral issues, such as: do we believe in Christmas? Should we use state marriage licenses? Should a Christian opt out of the Social Security system? The issues may be serious and worthy of one’s commitment, but , in varying degrees, these men have tunnel vision, tenaciously focusing on single issues. They are often the church splitters and the ones who demand doctrinal purity and proper dress and conduct. Like a prophet, they call people to task for their inconsistencies. If they are not wise, they can be real jerks who push their agendas, forcing others to go their way.

Visionaries are often gifted men or inventors, and I am sure it was men of this caliber that conquered the Wild West, though they would not have been the farmers who settled it. Today, Visionary men are street preachers, political activists, organizers and instigators of any front-line social issue. They love confrontation, and hate the status quo. “Why leave it the way it is when you can change it?” They are the men who keep the rest of the world from getting stagnant or dull. The Visionary is consumed with a need to communicate with his words, music, writing, voice, art, or actions. He is the “voice crying out in the wilderness” striving to change the way humanity is behaving or thinking. . .

Mr. Steady

The Steady Man does not make snap decisions or spend his last dime on a new idea, and he doesn’t try to tell other people what to do. He avoids controversy.

His steadiness makes him the last to change, so he seems to be a follower because he is seldom out front forming up the troops. There is no exciting rush in him, just a slow, steady climb with no bells or whistles. You wish he would just make up his mind, and that he would take a stand in the church. He seems to just let people use him. There are times you wish he would boldly tell you what to do so you would not have to carry all the burden of decision-making.

These are excerpts from 'Created to Be His Helpmeet'. You can read the full excerpt here .

I believe it is so crucial to know what type of man we are married to. Ask the Lord to clearly show you what type of man your are married to, and help you accept and appreciate him. We need to embrace how God made our husbands and realize that our loving and merciful Father chose this man just for us!

May I share some tips I have learned along the way?

*Do not ever allow yourself to grumble about the type of man he is. To do so would be grumbling against God. He was fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God and is given to you to love and accept.

*Do not ever compare your husband to another man! We know this, right? It can be tempting, but it is so dangerous and can destroy your marriage.

*Ask God to show you ways in which being married to the type of man you are has blessed you or saved you from something. I cannot even begin to tell you of the things the Lord has showed me that my ‘steady man’ has saved this impulsive and passionate pluck from. ;-)

When you realize what type of man you are married to and really begin to accept and embrace him, your heart will burn with a fresh love for him like never before! You will see him in a new way. You might need to practice being thankful for awhile. Or you may need to stop yourself from the habit of grumbling about him, but when you get your eyes off of yourself and onto Jesus the creator of this wonderful man of yours, well, that is when the real building begins!

Do you see your husband in one of the descriptions of the types of men? Do you appreciate and accept him? Are you willing to 'build' your marriage by first embracing who God created your man to be? Please share any insights on this topic, I would love to read them!

Getting To Know Each Other At the Well

Okay, this will be fun! I am looking forward to getting to 'know' you all better!

My name is Michelle. I am almost 43 years old. I am daughter to the King, wife to a Godly man, Mama to nine precious blessings, Mimi to one sweet grandson, and home school mama. I have many, many other interests, but these are my favorite!









I am married to my best friend ever! We have so much fun together, we laugh at and with each other and can be rather silly, as you will see from a picture down the page. We do everything together. We have been through lots of difficult times during the 20+ years we have been married and feel only closer and more intimate because of them. We pray together everyday. We love to share the Word of God with each other, and if we are having our quiet time in the same room we find it difficult to keep quiet as we can hardly wait to share what the Lord is showing us. Okay, I have a harder time with this than he does.





I LOVE my role as Mama! I struggle greatly with it, but I love it. I am totally fulfilled in my calling as wife and mother. I can't imagine anything else for me. I am living my dream. Our eldest is out on his own. At home we still have eight children. We will be having a ceremony at our home in two weeks to graduate our second son. Our third son will graduate next year. They are so awesome and such a great help to our family. Next we have a daughter, 13 and a son, 11. They are our "middles". They too are a great help and are being trained up to take their older siblings chores. Then we have what we call our "littles". Sweet girl age 8, sweet girl age 6, handsome and sweet boy, age 5, and our little pumpkin and little man of the house, age 16 months!






We work, play and serve together, all of us. Family night around here might be a trip to Costco or snuggled up to a Christy video munching on popcorn.




See, I told we could be crazy. We are way to serious, but every now and again we do something so silly and have the kids roaring with laughter. I recently lost a significant amount of weight and my dear husband was giving airplane rides and invited me along. I was laughing so hard! The kids were laughing harder. You should have heard the squeals, from me and them.

It might interest you to know that just this morning, in the middle of bread baking and painting the house trim we had a wedding at our home! If you look closely you can see my third son painting above the garage, he was much too busy to attend the wedding today. I was the only guest, tissues in hand. We did have a minor accident when one daughter stepped on the other while trying to catch the bouquet. No blood though.

Random things about me:

I have been pregnant or breastfeeding 17 1/4 years of the last 22!

I have five precious babies in heaven

I live in a 1248 sq. ft. home ( 10 of us!)

I love to bake bread. Especially when it turns out like it did today!

I love to learn new things.

I have struggled with health issues for over five years, and the Lord has broken a lot of 'me' during it.

I used to think leading bible studies or writing a book was where IT's at.

Only in the past few years am I finally getting a grasp on the fact that being a mama is where IT is at! (and I want to shout it from the rooftops!)

I hate correcting school work!

I love to encourage others

I love candles (smelly, yummy candles)

I have an Italian stove-top espresso maker that I use frequently for hubby and I

I enjoy a triple latte w/ extra shot, no syrup please

I drink raw milk

I love to scour out my sink and clean my stove, but rarely get to do it

I LOVE my quiet time with God

In storage, I have boxes of old quiet time journals

I love to throw things away!

I drink Black Currant Tea every single day!

I love the beach, really, really love the beach. (Many family vacations on Lake Michigan)

I want twin girls really badly!

I spend every single sunny day in the summer by the pool with the kids. (has to be sunny or I won't go out!)

I hope you have enjoyed this random glimpse into my world. Have a lovely day!!



Come meet other wonderful ladies At the Well

Rejoicing in the God of My Salvation!

My version of Habakkuk 3:17-19

Though the basement is flooded and the house is torn apart, though we are preparing the house for a graduation party (in 2 weeks), though the my back has been so bad lately and all of the children's clothes need organizing for the new season, and though life still goes and we still need to eat and wash laundry,

Yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the [victorious] God of my salvation! The Lord God is my Strength, my personal bravery, and my invincible army; He makes my feet like hinds' feet and will make me to walk [not to stand still in terror, but to walk] and make [spiritual] progress upon my high places [of trouble, suffering, or responsibility]!

Now I know these things pale in comparison to what some of you might be dealing with, just sharing my last few days. :-)

What could you fill the first part of these verses with? Then, can you turn it around and put your hope and trust in your GOD!?