The Essence of a Mother

In obedience to the Lord, our family began observing the Sabbath Day (Shabbat) commanded by the Lord in His Ten Commandments. This has been such a blessing to our family. We love to celebrate this day and give it to the Lord. In the Jewish Traditions, the Jewish people's whole focus during the week is the Day of Shabbat. They make sure the Shabbat is a day they make a priority above all their other days. The Shabbat is the day God commanded His people to set aside and Rest---Something everyone needs. A day of Rest is so needed especially in today's society of rushing and doing it "all"-- day by day. Day to day we are putting demands on our lives---Working, cleaning, cooking,etc.--making our days BUSY. Of course, the One who has created us and knows us more than we know ourselves, has said "Take a day of REST"-- Lay aside all that you do and REST in the LORD's goodness. This is what we will do in the DAY the Lord comes. We will rest in His Glory. We use t...

The Lord--- In His presence there is Joy! Life can become a routine and mundane when we don't put our focus on the One who leads our path. He knows us by name. He knows our every thought. He loves each of us in a way we can't even fathom. How are we as parents leading our children to know their Father in Heaven personally. Yes, we can take them to church and maybe youth group but is our lifestyle a lifestyle of worship. Worship of the King of Kings. Do we leave our children's bible study, praise and worship, and personal prayer time as a task or a subject to accomplish later? Or are we takin g the time to teach them who their Lord is? I have been convicted of this many times in my Christian walk. I have found seasons when I brush "seeking" under the carpet, because I have other things that the children need to learn. The enemy can deceive us and we might not even realize we have been deceived. He is a crafty serpent. Speaking lies into our ears and possibly even...

Me, my babe(my hubby), and my little Kole Our friends Keisha and Kevin. They came down to visit during the Holidays. They live up in NC. We were so happy to see them. Us posing with Santa. Every Christmas Eve our tradition is to head down to the Mall and get our Santa pic. This year, while waiting in line for our pic, there was a bomb threat. So we all had to evacuate. We caught Santa outside. Ha ha ha. The troop assembling the trampoline and the end result. They are out there all day. Great exercise also. My two year old Galen riding his Harley! Justin my 12 yr. old, finally got his banjo. Let the bluegrass begin!! Yeehaw. I have so many more pictures that I would like to post. But for now enjoy these. Periodically I will post pictures of my lovely family.

Having a large family is such a great JOY. Just as is said in Psalm 127:5 "Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them...". I experience much life and joys everyday. Everyday is a new adventure. Daily I long see what new things my children have learned. How they are growing and how they are maturing. Yes, there are those days when we as mothers feel bogged down with so many responsibilities. But we can't overlook the bigger picture. The bigger picture of enjoying each and everyday of life to its fullest. Experiencing life to its fullest, is dwelling on the positive... The baby kisses, the toothless smiles, their desires to talk to mom and dad into the late evening. Even thinking about how my children will grow into godly adults and one day have their own families; I look forward to the days my children have their families. I forsee my latter days continuing to be filled with life. I long to see the days when my children have children and my many grandbabie...

A new year and new beginnings. It is awesome to have the Lord daily in my life. Without Him I would be walking aimlessly. Which brings me to the topic of my post. New Beginnings in my life. I am excited for the New Beginnings the Lord is bringing this year. I actually heard this word just before the birth of my 6th child, baby Kole. This was one year ago. I thought, "new beginnings" meant saying goodbye to the season of having babies and saying hello to a new life of not having to be pregnant again. Little did I know that my Lord has other plans. His plans are way bigger than what we can fathom. When we think in our own understanding that we need to go one direction, the Lord always seems to interfere with our plans and shows us His ways. As I have said before, Seek and you will find His ways. And His ways are the best ways. New beginnings WAS a different message in my heart (my own fleshly heart). My own understanding of how things should go were blown clear out of the water...

Vision? What is the vision for your family? What is the vision for your children? Are you walking aimlessly or are you walking with a purpose. Are we as parents teaching our children to walk with purpose; to walk in the calling they have on their lives? As homeschooling parents, we have a huge responsibility to make sure our children are learning the right information. We want to make sure they are successful in all they do and make sure there are no gaps in their education. STOP!!! Are we losing focus here? What does God want? Have we asked Him lately to show us what direction our childen should take? Or are we just filling their minds with useless knowledge? Most of the information we throw at them they will forget a day from now. But the things the LORD has chosen for them, will remain for eternity. Yes, we as homeschooling parents have a huge responsibility; the responsibility to teach and train up our children in the way they should go. This is made known by seeking the Lord Himse...

It is the day after Christmas, and the New Year will soon approach us. Time seems to fly and when we look back we ask ourselves---"What have we done this past year to make a difference in someone's life?" Sometimes as mothers we can get so distracted and caught up with doing "stuff", whatever this "stuff" might mean to you. Ask yourselves, does this "stuff" that I am doing have eternal value. I have been looking at my life like this lately. I am usually the first to get up tight about my agenda not going the way I have planned. Or the house is a wreck. Or I have to this or that. I can absolutely drive myself into a panic if I start to look at all the little details of my life. Little details here or little details there, can steal our joy right out of our day. The LORD wants us to cast our cares and burdens to HIM. Then he wants us to look to Him for direction. He does not want us to fill our minds with the details of life, because He will ta...