Just A Quick Study - Angel's Blog

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/angelnavywife/633771/

They're Here Now

15 months ago & this morning

http://humblemusings.com/archives/2008/12/16/theyre-here-now/

Above is a link to a blog that talks about how precious our time is with our children. It is something that is so pressing on my heart lately. I want to make sure that I make the most of EVERY SECOND, giggle, whine, tear, late night waking, joy and trouble. My babies are just on loan to me and truly belong to the Lord. I want to take advantage of the most precious gifts that I have for the time that I have them.

Thank you Jesus for my babies, and all the love that they come with. Help me to live in the moment and maintain an eternal perspective. Let me not take a minute for granted. Amen.

Too Funny

Today while doing our school work (did I mention we have been homeschooling since the fall?) Landon and Jayelyn and I were going over Bible doctrine. So today I said, "God is made up of three parts but is still just one God. There is God the Father, God the Son - who is Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit. Three parts but only one God." Then it was time to see if they understood.

"Landon, can you tell me one of the parts of God?" He thought about it for about 10 seconds and said, "Uh... his legs."

It was really hard not to laugh! :D I love that kid and am so glad God has given him to ME!

So Unprepared

We knew the snow was coming. We had been anticipating it for days. But when if finally came we realized just how unprepared we were. Our beanies didn't fit, we didn't have matching gloves (or gloves the right sizes), we had to play in our rain boots, and our clothes were totally not waterproof. But you know what? No one seemed to mind.... ... alright, well Marcus did a little.

Christmas Cards

Jeff and I spent Friday afternoon trying to get the kids to cooperate for Christmas card photos. They all just wanted to do their own thing. Grrrrr. :P.

Here are a few of them just being them. They didn't make the cut for the cards, but I sure liked them.

Hot Chocolate - We Got It!

The Polar Express movie ushered in the Christmas season for us on Thanksgiving night. Today we decorated the house inside and out. Since our first married Christmas Jeff and I have saved all of our cards we have received and written the year on the back. We spent the morning hanging up the cards as a family and then went outside to put up the lights.

Since Jayelyn was "fweezing" we came in and made some homemade cocoa! Delicious.

4 tsp baker's cocoa

8 teaspoons sugar

1 1/2 cups marshmallows

4 cups milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix the first four ingredients in a pot until the marshmallows are melted. Take off heat, add the vanilla, stir and ladle into cups.

Enjoy!

Today’s Thoughts

Choose to be cheerful

“A cheerful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”
Proverbs 17:22

By acting in love

“Jesus replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Matthew 22:37-39

By being like-minded with Christ

“I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.”
Romans 7:18b

“You however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you.”
Romans 8:9

“If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”
Philippians 2:1-3

In order to walk in peace and joy
“And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”
Romans 5:2-5

A New Start (part 2)

Where to begin in my endeavor to recommit – at the beginning. There has been a gradual priority shift in my life and a restructuring was long overdue.

So in order to start making the corrections necessary I had to get down on my knees and ask the Lord for his help and guidance. I have to daily submit to him and release my desires and my will and strive towards aligning my heart with God's. That means spending TIME in the word. Not just reading to say it has been done, like another check on my to-do list, but for growth. To spend time discerning what God wants to say to me through his word, to be still and to listen. Also, spending time in prayer. So often my prayers go something like this, "Lord, thank you for this day and all I have. Help me to be more like you. Help me to serve you and seek you in all I do. In Jesus name, Amen." Now there is nothing wrong with that if it wasn't what the extent of my prayer life had become, but sadly it had – and usually as I was drifting off to sleep.

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:6

Words cannot express the impact that having that continual dialogue with the Lord can do to help change my heart and my perspective. Leading me to the second part of my transformation, submission and service to my husband and my children. I had been practicing this whole heartedly at the beginning of the year. But honestly the outcome I had expected did not IMMEDIATELY take place and I lost heart. In my efforts to speak softly to my husband, anticipate his needs (thirsty, hungry, tired) and act on them, allow his answer to stand without argument, things along those lines – I had hoped to win my husband over and motivate him to deepen his walk with the Lord. In the beginning these sincere changes in my mindset and attitude led to peace and happiness in our homes (surprisingly with no bitterness from me). I stopped asking him to pick up after himself, stopped asking him to do things and you know what happened? He started doing them without being asked! He started taking the initiative to help on his own because he wanted to help me. Eventually the new behaviors of mine became expected and caused friction if I didn't live up to them at all times. I know now that this was Satan trying to discourage me because it was working and I needed to push through. But slowly though I gave up.

So – back to what worked. Knowing full well that Satan will try to sabotage my good efforts, and to anticipate and prepare for that.

"Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives." 1 Peter 3:1-2

Next on the list, my children. They have been severely lacking discipline and correction and positive attention. I have not been consistent with them and had been paying for it. Now I am prayerfully moving things in the right direction, with the full support and help of Jeff. We are putting practice "tomato staking" and it has made an amazing difference in my children in a matter of a few days. I look forward to seeing it through.

"Discipline your son, for in that there is hope; do not be a willing party to his death." Proverbs 19:18

"Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God." Titus 2:3-5

That's all for now. I believe I might need to conclude with a part 3 soon. J

Mastering Your Emotions

by: Martha Matthews

"How dare he tell me I'm blowing things out of proportion? They are my feelings. No one is going to tell me how I should feel!"

Does this sound familiar? The wife gets her feelings hurt and she lets her husband know in no uncertain terms all about it. She feels justified in her actions because she doesn't think it is wrong to express how she feels. Of course her husband has no idea where all the emotion came from. He is puzzled because he didn't even realize that he hurt his wife's feelings. He wonders what he did that upset her so much.

Emotion--it is something we all struggle with as women. Sometimes we feel trapped by our emotions, unable to express how we feel, and other times we feel out of control and unable to keep our feelings inside. We say and do things because of our emotions that later we wish we could take back. Our emotions are complicated and definitely a challenge to control.

As Christians we want to do what pleases the Lord but our emotions are always right there pulling us in a direction we don't want to go. As the Apostle Paul said in Romans 7:15, "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." (NIV)

If you could use some help controlling your emotions in a godly way, then read on for some biblical guidance and encouragement.

Get the Big Picture
Genesis 1:26 "Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.'" (NIV)

God created us in His image. That doesn't mean we were created to be physically like Him. Instead God created us to be spiritually like Him. His desire is that we would imitate His heart and His character in every way. He gave us a soul so that we could connect with Him spiritually and He gave us emotions so that we could understand how He feels about things.

God also gave us emotions so that we could experience life in all its beauty and fullness. Our emotions allow us to experience feelings such as love, joy, peace, hope, compassion and gratitude.Yet, because we live in a fallen world we can't always trust our emotions to guide us. Just as Satan deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden, he plays on our emotions to distort the truth and cloud our judgment.

Get a Clue
1 Peter 5:8 "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." (NIV)

So how do we master our emotions so that we are not lead into sin as Eve was? One way is to be aware of how we react in our flesh. We need to understand our own sinful nature in order to be able to recognize how and when Satan will attack us. When we feel an intense emotion, such as we might in the middle of a heated discussion with our husband, we need to pay careful attention to how our flesh is reacting. It is precisely at times like this that Satan can get a foothold in our heart. We have a choice to make. We can be weak-willed woman that are swayed by all kinds of evil desires (2 Timothy 3:6) or be spiritually strong woman who are clued-in to Satan's schemes.

Get a Grip
2 Corinthians 10:5 "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." (NIV)

Satan is the Father of lies (John 8:44). He rejoices when we believe the negative thoughts he plants in our minds. Get a grip on your emotions by taking captive every negative and ungodly thought that Satan throws at you and make them obedient to Christ.

Get Prepared
Feelings do not always equal truth. We may have feelings of hopelessness, jealousy or anger which are clearly not what God desires. That is why it is so important to have a deep knowledge of the Bible. Let God's Word guide you, not your feelings.If you struggle with a particular emotion, study it out in the Bible. Then memorize scriptures that will help you to fight off Satan's attacks. Jesus fought off Satan with scripture (Matthew 4:1-11). God's truths are our weapons against Satan's arrow. It worked for Jesus and it will work for you also.

Get Real
Philippians 4:6-7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (NIV)

When you are overcome with emotion, be open with God about how you feel. Go to him first, before you say or do anything. If you do this you will be in very good company. Consider the prayers of King David, the Apostle Paul and Jesus. They all poured their hearts out to the Lord in times of great difficulty. Jesus poured out his heart to God with loud cries and tears (Hebrews 5:7).

Getting your emotions out in the open before the Lord will help you get the healing you need (Psalm 55). Often our first thought is to go to a friend to discuss things under the guise of "getting things off our chest". A friend may give good advice but the Lord is the only one with the power to change a situation. Let us not make the same mistake as Judah did (Jeremiah 17:5). We must rely on the Lord first and foremost.

Get a Life
John 10:10 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (NIV)

Jesus came so that we could have life to the full. God wants us to rely on Him, not on our feelings. Through faith in Him, prayer, Bible study and an honest appraisal of our sinful nature we can master our emotions. All things are possible with God.

Heart Challenges
How do I usually handle my emotions?
Do I pray to the Lord first or go to a friend first?
What are the emotions I struggle with the most? For example: anger, hopelessness, distrust.
What are some scriptures that I can memorize to help me fight against Satan's attack on my emotions?

The Issues that Really Matter

So I subscribe to Nancy Leigh DeMoss' devotionals. She is an amazingly wise woman who gives great insight into Biblical truth. If you would like to find out more about her and her ministry click HERE.

Today this came into my inbox and it was exactly what I needed.

Where do you stand on the issues? I'm not talking about the presidential race, as important as that is. I'm talking about your relationship with God. Are you a candidate for revival? Can God trust your deepest beliefs and record?
For instance, you may oppose abortion, but do you foster hate in your heart toward anyone? Do you protect yourself against hurt and bitterness that leads to anger and murder in your heart?
How about the issue of marriage? Are you committed to the permanence of marriage? Do you treat your own marriage as sacred, caring less about personal happiness and more about reflecting the love of Christ?
And when it comes to judicial restraint, are you seeking to understand God's laws with an eagerness to apply and obey them? Or do you alter them to fit your own preferences?
As the political rhetoric heats up this season, spend some time evaluating your own positions on important spiritual issues. Are you a candidate for revival?

Tis the Season

For baking! At least it is for me. I do some but not much baking in the spring and summer (in a state where homes are built with no AC I get too hot with the oven on). Fall ushers in all the excitement of being at home. I love to be cozied up with the kiddos (when they are not sick :P) in the house playing games, baking, and snuggling. (When they are sick I feel more trapped in the house than I do excited to be here - bad mom I know!)

My friend Jenn introduced me to The Joy of Cooking. I have a vintage copy that has become my cooking/baking bible!

Quick Oatmeal Cookies

Sift and place in a bowl:

1/2 cup brown sugar

Sift and add:

1 cup all purpose flour

Add:

6 tablespoons soft butter

3/4 cup rolled oats

1 beaten egg

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tspn cinnamon

Once well blended add:

2 Tabelspoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Chill the dough until easy to handle. Then rolled into 1" balls and flatten in the palm of your hand. Place on lightly greased and floured tin. Bake at 375 degrees for about 10-15 minutes.

A New start (Part 1)

The Reason:

… well how about a recommitment instead? At the beginning of the year I made a new commitment to the Lord to put to practice things I had learned about being a godly woman, wife, mother and friend. I started off the year strong but unfortunately allowed the busyness of life to dull down my commitment. Once again I am living in state of contentment because of memories of stronger days.

While reading my bible the other day I unintentionally came across a verse that I had committed as my life verse in the beginning of the year and have since let slip.

"Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads, teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the Lord swore to give your forefathers as many as the days that the havens are above the earth. "

~Deuteronomy 11:18-21

These are strong commands. It is my responsibility (especially as a homemaker and mother) to be forever mindful of the ways of the Lord, to introduce my children to Him in all things, to be in constant dialogue with the Lord throughout the day. My every breath should be for him. It sounds radical but when I was committed to faithfully practicing these verses I was able to walk in peace and love; two things that I severely lack when I am running things on my own.

The Blessings Promised:

"If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow-to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways and to hold fast to nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you. Every place where you set your foot will be yours… . No man will be able to stand against you."

~Deuteronomy 11:22-25a

So – if I commit myself to these things then the Lord will bless me. He will allow me to make a lasting footprint in the name of the Lord on this world. He will remove obstacles that Satan puts in my way and pour his love and grace on me. It is important to him that I understand that His ways do not change and we are to hold onto the purity, morals, and convictions of generations past.

The Consequence of Disobedience:

The verses preceding these commands make clear the consequences of going about things our own way.

"Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. Then the Lord's anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you."

~Deuteronomy 11:16-17

Of course this is so true. When I am not in constant fellowship (not constantly communicating with God throughout the day) I begin to bow down to other gods - idleness, discontentment, selfishness, anger, impatience. While I am not looking for rain to produce good produce I view this statement to mean that my fellowship with the Lord will be severed by my disobedience and his blessings will cease. Since I am no good on my own, without the grace of God flowing through my life, I will not be able to glorify him as he desires.

Coming to California for Christmas

Check out my website
www.beforeitsgonephotography.com
if you are interested in having some pictures done. Click on enter blog! See you all soon!

The BIG 05!

That's right. My boy is turning 5 in two weeks and I am soooo not ready!!! So today I thought I would put together some pictures of his past birthdays.

The day he was born:

Had to spend 10 days in the NICU:

Going Home: 1st Birthday: 2nd Birthday:
3rd Birthday:4th Birthay: This past week:

If Only (This one really hit home for me!)

Sometimes we fuel our discontent by playing the "if only" game.
"If only we didn't have to move . . ."
"If we lived closer to my parents . . ."
"If we had a bigger house, I wouldn't be so cranky."
"If I were married, I wouldn't look at those magazines."
"If I wasn't married, I'd start to give to the church."

We get deceived into thinking we'd be happier with a different set of circumstances.
"If he was the spiritual leader he was supposed to be, I probably wouldn't be leaving him."

The truth is, if we're not content in our present situation, we probably won't be happy with another set of circumstances. Joy comes when we focus on the love and faithfulness of God. He'll be with us no matter what else is going on. That's why the apostle Paul could say, "I've learned to be content whatever the circumstance."

No matter what you're facing, you can choose the pathway of contentment. Choose to trust God, and find His joy and peace.

By Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Pumpkin Patch Kids

A House Full of Sickies

Coughing, sneezing, whining, crying, sleepless nights, more whining – that has been my life for the past month now. We here at the Bonner house seem to be passing the same germs around and around and around. Just when I think we are all better we get it again. We have missed out on so many fun things and the gorgeous colors of fall because we have been stuck in the house trying to recover.

Finally I decided it was time to take Marcus to the doctor, he has had the hardest time getting better and has been consistently sick the entire time. Just when I thought he was getting better last week he seemed to be worse by the start of this week. So we went to the clinic on base and spent 2 hours there having chest x-rays, monitoring and breathing treatments. Turns out the little guy caught RSV this last go around. So he is on an inhaler through the weekend and we have to keep a close watch on him. He is also being quarantined because he is highly contagious.

I think Landon and Jayelyn might go stir crazy. Jeff took them fishing last night to get them out of the house and yesterday I took them for a drive (oh how fun their life is with mom huh?). Jeff also seems to be pretty sick, but he has had a weak immune system since he got out of boot camp (where is caught pneumonia and got down to 117lbs). On top of being sick he had to get his nasal mist flu vaccination – yay just what we needed flu germs too! I don't see how introducing the flu to an already sick body builds immunity but then again I'm not a doctor :P.

Say a prayer that I stay healthy – I've had my share of sickness throughout, but God has given me the strength (although I've been lacking patience) to be able to care for everyone. Granted the house is a mess and I'm exhausted – but life is still good.

And because I can't blog without a picture here is the tree in our front yard. Oh how I love fall!

God at the Polls

By Nancy Leigh DeMoss
Imagine God going into a polling booth on election day. Instead of voting for a public official, God is looking for a candidate for revival. Would He vote for you? Consider these important issues:

How is your record on homeland security?

Have you set up necessary guardrails to avoid temptation?
Are you actively screening what comes into your home via the Internet and television?

What about foreign affairs?

Have you been active in communicating truth in order to reconcile people to the Lord?
Do you befriend and keep open dialogue with those who are unsaved in hopes they might become a part of God's kingdom?

What's your record on education?

Have you spent adequate time learning God's Word?
Are you intentional about equipping yourself for His service?

We have tough standards for someone running for the highest office in our land. Are you asking God to help you follow biblical standards as a candidate for revival?

Have You Missed Me?

Hi my blog stalkers ;)! I've been told by quite a few of you that I've been missed. Let me just say – I love that! The truth is that I've missed you too. Sadly you aren't the only one who has been seeing less of me so has housework, homework, and friends. Who is probably sick of me?– the computer. I think my bottom might actually fuse to the chair. Sad isn't it? It is the price I've had to pay for business. It has been such a blessing, my new photography venture, it is just a matter of balance.

Instead of running around with my camera snapping shots of my kids every chance I get I'm often photographing other people, editing their photos, working on my website, or learning new things! And I LOVE every minute of it. I think I know what I want to be when I grow up! I'm still getting a degree in Elementary Education, because I strongly value education. I just don't know if I will go to work in that right away.

If you have been worrying about the welfare of my children or that handsome man I'm married to, no need. They have been well taken care of and loved and remain my number one priority. What fun would life be if I neglected them. We still have time to get out and play, laugh, and take a few pictures to share.

(Isn't her haircut just wretched?)

I hope to figure out how to include blogging in my usual activities soon. Still trying to work out my new schedule. I hope that you are all blessed. Love and hugs!

Random Sunshine

I don't understand the weather in this state. Marcus has been sick for over a week now (hence the snot face), but we still ventured outside today to play in the front yard.

My Own Photoshoot!

So the one thing I have been asked for on my website (click here) is an about me page. Well the only problem with that was I did not have any pictures of myself because I am always the one on the other side of the camera. My buddy and neighbor (click here) who is an aspiring photographer agreed to take some photos of me. Didn't she do such a great job. I apologize for the last one, I do not feel as comfortable on the other side of the camera and had a hard time acting normal!

First Haircut

Today my little boy became a man, ok well not a man, but a my baby became a little boy. It was haircut day at the Bonner house because, to be quite honest, my children were starting to look a bit homeless. For me this was a heartbreaking time. My last baby lost those precious little baby curls off the nape of his neck. He did great! Gosh I love that face.