Mother/Daughter Carnival

Good Morning Ladies! Happy Friday!

I hope you are all planning on going to our Mother/Daughter carnival tomorrow morning. It is from 11-1 at Missio Dei Fellowship. It is going to be a great time, you won't want to miss it! I'll be posting some pictures from it next week.

Enjoy your Friday,

Nichole

Witty Wednesday

An elderly gentleman....
Had serious hearing problems for a number of years. He went to the doctor and the doctor was able to have him fitted for a set of hearing aids that allowed the gentleman to hear 100%.
The elderly gentleman went back in a month to the doctor and the doctor said, 'Your hearing is perfect.. Your family must be really pleased that you can hear again.'
The gentleman replied, 'Oh, I haven't told my family yet.

I just sit around and listen to the conversations. I've changed my will three times!'

A Blessing From 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17;3:16

As I was thinking and praying today for many hurting people in my church and family, I thought I would share this blessing we pray over our children before bed sometimes. I am praying this even now for some of you that may be reading this blog.


May the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who loves you and by His grace gives you eternal encouragement and hope, comfort and strengthen your heart in every good deed and word. May the Lord of peace give you peace continually and in every circumstance. And may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and forever. Amen!

God is so good!

Lately, I have been trying to do some Spring Cleaning. In a way it is a treat to be able to finally be able to do things that have had to be neglected due to my broken leg saga. But it is also hard work.

One area I have been dealing with is changing out our winter clothes for summer clothes. I have found it to be a bit overwhelming. Dan has so many t-shirts that I couldn't get them all in the drawer! He needed to determine which ones he wanted to keep and which ones to donate to Goodwill. For me, the issue is what I fit into and what I don't. I ended up donating lots of clothes that are the wrong size, some too big and some too small. (I enjoyed finding out that some things were too big!)

We also took some things to Goodwill that had just been sitting in the basement. There is a lot of things that we just don't need anymore now that we are empty nesters.

While we were cleaning things and organizing things, I realized how gracious God had been to us over the years. If He hadn't blessed us with so much, I wouldn't have had to spend time going through things. I also thought about housecleaning and cooking and laundry. For us they are chores and we don't usually enjoy doing them. But, if God hadn't been so gracious and blessed us with houses that need to be cleaned, food that we can cook and enjoy, and clothes to wear, we wouldn't have to spend time on these things at all.

I realized that my daily chores are really a time to be thanking God for all that He has provided for me. So, when you find yourself scrubbing the floor or toilets, take time out to thank Him for providing these things. It is proof that He keeps His promises and delights in giving us good things

Testimony of God's Graciousness

As some of you know, I had the opportunity last week to travel for work. I was gone Sunday night through Friday night and traveled back and forth between Franklin, MA and Apex, NC every day. It was a long trip, but a good one. The schedule made for a week of very little sleep and much stress but I was struck over and over again by the graciousness of God being poured out on me!

I am a Henry and as such, pretty much expect thing to go wrong in any undertaking, but especially when traveling. Most of you have heard tales of Henry camping trips. :) I was traveling with another person the first two days, but after that was on my own. I spent much time in prayer asking for God's grace as I negotiated my way through unfamiliar airports and car rental agencies and then finding my way to hotels and client locations. I get lost sooo easily!! By the way, the picture above is one of my first ever rental car...have you ever seen a dumber looking car?? At least it was a normal one, the next car was a hybrid that didn't have any keys; you had to go through a complicated button pushing routine to get the darn thing going.

I never got lost. The first night on my own the GPS brought me to a freeway that was closed down. Of course. But without any troubles I just went past the on-ramp and the GPS found me another freeway to take. I was never late - or even close to being late! Several times my flights landed early (!). Most of my flights I had a seat to myself or a quiet person sitting next to me. Twice, a flight attendant came up to me and asked if I cared to move to a different row that I could have to myself!

One night I had a layover and didn't have a chance to eat before my first flight. It would be midnight before I got my rental car and another hour or so after that before I got to my hotel. I had prepared myself to just deal with being hungry but that airline (Jet Blue, if anyone is wondering) gives free snacks. And since I had a layover I got everything double!! Ended up not being hungry at all!

My suitcase was always one of the first few to come out at the baggage check.

There were so many opportunities for things to go wrong and nothing ever did. I have never experienced a smoother trip. God showed me so much grace and mercy in countless little ways that I was in a state of absolute thankfulness and wonder each day. I wanted to share this testimony with all of you and also give a brief reminder to be on the lookout for gifts of God in every day life. He truly is so good to us!

Witty Wednesday

Why Women Live Longer Then Men

School At Our House

I thought I'd just give everyone a glimpse of a typical day at my house. Of course I have no picture of discipline, interruptions, and training session with Gabers! :-)















We do a lot of reading. I get to read enjoy good books with them, such as Black Beauty, Swiss
Family Robinson, Pilgrim's Progress and Chronicles of Narnia. They also get to read about baseball, history, nature, and report to me what they have read and learned.









Math is always fun.... not! haha! This is always the subject that reveals hearts all the way around. Many redemptive moments happen in my own life as well as my children's. Thankfully my friend Kendal comes and helps supervise math once a week. That is such a blessing. Of course now my children fight about who Kendal is going to help next time she comes.....





Calvin just loves Phonics! Now he does anyway. He has been the hardest so far to teach to read. But now, he is thriving and I praise God. I just had to keep telling him that he will be able to read God's word all by himself if he reads well.






Noelle working on her verses for the verse marathon coming up this Sunday.







The kids favorite thing since the weather turned nice,
is exploring. They take rulers and pencils and paper and sketch and measure all they observe and then write descriptions . This has really been helping Calvin improve his writing. And they are getting a chance to enjoy God's creation.




I am enjoying watching my kids grow, learn, and play!

My Dad

This coming Friday, April 23rd, marks the first anniversary of my Dad's death. Its been a very "different" year for me.

Before he died, I depended on him to always provide good advice. Whenever we ran into a problem with the house or the car or really anything, I would call him first. He seemed to be able to fix anything too. Over the years he taught Dan how to do many things. Dan said that my Dad was more of a Dad to him than his own Dad (Dan's Dad had divorced his Mom while he was in junior high and moved away.) This past year it was strange not to be able to just call him and know that by the time we hung up the phone, I would know just what to do.


Another thing that made this year so "different" was his absence whenever we went to visit my Mom. I still think that as soon as he hears our voices there, that he will be coming up in a few seconds from his downstairs workshop and greet us. But, then I realize that hes gone and that he won't be "right up". It a lonely, strange sensation.

Holidays were "different" this year too. It seemed like there was a hole in our family. I realized that he was the one who really held our family together and made family get-togethers fun. Now that he is gone, I don't enjoy holidays anymore. They are just like normal days and I am not interested in celebrating.

I have watched my Mom struggle through the loneliness and grief. She depended on my Dad so much that when it came time to mow the lawn and removing snow from the driveway, she really had no idea how to get the mower or snowblower going. But, for each new thing that she had to, she found a note there with step-by-step directions that my Dad had purposely left for her. It must have been so hard for him to realize that he wouldn't be there to help her. I think it really showed how much he loved her.

When he died, I couldn't cry for him. I guess I was just numb. I also thought about him being in Heaven with Jesus, full of joy. How could I be sad when I knew that he was happy? But, just since Easter, my grief has finally shown itself. Easter of 2009 was the last time I saw him and talked with him. Just days later I saw him in the hospital and he was so pale and was in and out of consciousness. He died within 3 days of being admitted to the hospital.

He was such a good and loving Dad to me. I miss him so much. I am looking forward to the day I will be with him in Heaven. These lyrics from an old hymn come to mind often: "when we all get to Heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be. When we all see Jesus, we'll sing and shout the victory" That will be a great day indeed!

Freedom From Sin's Power

"As long as I am stricken with the guilt of my sins, I will be captive to them, and will often find myself re-committing the very sins about which I feel most guilty. The Devil is well aware of this fact; he knows that if he can keep me tormented by sin's guilt, he can dominate me with sin's power.
The gospel, however, slays sin at this root point and thereby nullifies sin's power over me. The forgiveness of God, made known to me through the gospel, liberates me from sin's power because it liberates me first from its guilt' and preaching such forgiveness to myself is a practical way of putting the gospel into operation as a nullifier of sin's power in my life." Milton Vincent, The Gospel Primer

Witty Wednesday

Why Women Live Longer Then Men

Bedtime Blessings, Prayer and Singing

Before our 5 children go to bed for the night, we usually, Lord permitting, pray with them, bless them, and sing a song or two.

Desiring God Ministries has blessing cards that use scripture to pray a blessing over your children.

This has become a sweet time for our family. Rick and I do not always do this together. Some times we are both present and other times it depends on who is home when the kids go down to bed. Either way, if you try to put them to bed at our house without reading a blessing card, praying and singing, you will quickly and passionately be reminded. I prayed through a Psalm with the kids and blessed them while my husband was at the Library (Monday night); they were not sleeping when he got home and still asked their dad to bless them! I called them little blessing hogs! :-)

Through this little tradition and short time of worship with the kids, it has given me much to delight in God as I am consistently reminded of God's faithfulness, kindness and sufficiency as I read through these Bible blessings and pray and sing. Most every night I sing from 2 verses right out of Psalm 121. It is my children's favorite, must have song before bed and it one that I frequently go bed myself thinking about. Silas will cry out, "The moon doesn't hurt you Mom! God doesn't let it hurt you! Sing it!" Many years ago two people who used to attend my church wrote music to it. I truly wish I could find the tape with the song. Yes, that is how long ago it was, not a CD, a tape!

Psalm 121:5-6 The Lord watches over you, He is your defender, The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.

As I go to bed I thank you Father that you are guarding your people. You never cease from your sovereign care, even in the darkest night. You will never sleep nor slumber.

Who is on the throne of your life?

Have you ever found yourself in a position where you realize that you have been trying to live your life in your own strength? Are you scrambling to get everything you desire to accomplish done and done right? Have you ever told yourself that if you want it done right, you must do it yourself?

I have realized recently that I have been trying to live this way and failing miserably. Why have I taken God off of the throne of my life and placed myself up there? Especially, when I have repented of it before and know in my heart that things will turn out poorly and I will be unhappy and stressed out?

For me, I think that when my life seems to be going my way, I somehow think "OK, God. Things are going pretty well. I can take it from here". And I rely less and less on Him until I am in full blown sin and far from Him.

Then, its not long before trouble starts and I cry out to God for help. I realize that the only times that my life has been going well and I am not living in fear or stressed out, is when I make God the Lord of my life. It makes such a difference to have my focus on God and not myself.

When I bring my cares to God in prayer, I know that I can trust Him to take care of me and to allow only what is best for me to occur. I feel that the burden has been lifted and I don't need to stress over it anymore.

I admit that I am allowing myself to get upset and stressed about all of the changes that are going on in the US. The economy is bad yet the President is spending our country into bankruptcy. All while he and his croneys are thinking up all kinds of new taxes and regulations that will make it even harder to make ends meet. I am allowing myself to fear the future and trying to think of ways to protect myself so that all of these new rules and taxes won't effect me. Instead, I need to tell God about my fears and trust Him to provide and be content with what He provides. I need to also remember that God chooses the "kings" and that they are really His servants. The Bible says that the kings of the earth are like drops of water in the palm of His hand and He can move them however He wishes. This is a comforting thought to me.

Pastor Matt has told us that times of persecution will be coming. He told us in a recent sermon that the grace of God doesn't always remove hardship, but in many ways it brings it. These are sobering thoughts. But the truth is, God never promised us a smooth life on earth. But He does want us to persevere to the end, no matter what.

So, I encourage you to give God the throne of your life and bring all of your cares to Him. Trust in Him no matter what is ahead and remember Paul's words "I have fought the good fight, I have stayed the course and I have kept the faith" and strive to live as he did.

ANNOUNCEMENT

Good Morning Ladies and happy Thursday. I hope you've been enjoying the last few weeks where we have had several! Witty Wednesday posts in a row. I know they were cheesy...but they were posted by me...so this really shouldn't be a surprise! And I really liked a few of those 'bulletin bloopers!'

Unfortunately, I have given all I have to give in this area. I am not a funny person and I rarely receive funny material to share with others. Also unfortunately is that the other ladies contributing to this blog also seem to have a lack of funny ideas.

Therefore...I want to give all of you the chance to participate!!

Do you have funny stories to tell? Amusing pictures of your children (or yourselves, we aren't picky!) doing silly things? Are you one of those people that gets those funny email-chains (and no...this isn't me asking to be put on those email chains!!)

If you answered YES to any of the above questions and would like to have your story/pictures/jokes/etc. featured on the blog, please send them to me (Nichole) at:

henry.nichole@gmail.com

We would love to feature your silliness on Wednesdays, especially considering the overall poor job that we've done in this area ourselves. We will also give proper credit where it is due.

I hope to hear from you soon!!


note: Mom, don't even bother sending funny pictures of me...I am telling you now that I will "forget" to post them :)

Witty Wednesday

Why Women Live Longer Then Men

My Easter Celebrations

We had a great weekend celebrating Jesus' death, burial and Resurrection. From Friday on we had friends and family over to eat and remember that God in His rich mercy sent His only son to die in our place for our sins. On Friday we ate dinner and watched the Passion movie with friends. Saturday we dyed Easter eggs and watched an animated version of the Passion with the kids, read scripture from Isaiah, Romans and 1 Corinthians together, and talked much about Jesus' death and then ultimately His rising from the dead. Sunday we worshiped with our brothers and sisters purchased by the blood of the Lamb who was offered as a sacrifice once for all time. We came home with family and friends and ate ham and talked about the sermon. We did egg battles, egg hunts and relaxed. By the end of the weekend we were tired, but refreshed at the same time. Our savior is not dead! He lives and is seated at the right hand of the Father. My sins are forgiven. I belong to Jesus. I am God's child. Hallelujah! This is something worth celebrating, even without all the food and fun.


1Corinthians 15 :3-4 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

Take time for prayer

I don't know about you but, sometimes I have a hard time praying. I desire to talk with God about everything but sometimes my mind drifts away. I'm already on to the next thing in my mind instead of taking the time to be quiet before the Lord.

I think Americans are so busy that we can't stand to just take time out to rest our minds. Our culture says "don't just sit there, get going!" Sure, we plan vacations to "get away from it all", but when we get there, we want to see the sights or do fun things and we come back more exhausted than before we left.

As a housewife I think about all of the modern conveniences that we have today to help us do our jobs. Women of even 100 years ago would drool at the thought of how easy their life would be if they had washing machines, dishwashers, and microwaves, not to mention fast food places on almost every corner! So then why are we so busy and stressed out? Those women had the same 24 hours in a day and they did things by hand yet they didn't end up in stress reduction therapy.

Americans are also self-sufficient. Like they used to say in movies, "I don't want no charity". We think we can do anything if we put our minds to it. I think that is also a hinderance to our prayer lives. We ask God for things but then we go out and take matters into our own hands because we figure either God didn't hear us or that He is taking too long to answer us. We want it NOW.

In order to have a good prayer life, I think we need to slow down. We need to be willing to take some time and just spend it with the Lord. We need to have a less busy heart. In my case, I need to allow myself to take some quiet time each day. My world isn't going to crumble. When my boys were little, it seemed like I didn't have a sane moment ever. If I had a chance to do it over again (not that I want to though :) ) I may have tried to involve them in my quiet time somehow. It may have been a chance to show them that time with God is important and to make time for it each day no matter what type of chaos was taking place.

So, as the weather is getting nicer, I challenge you to take a break sometime each day and spend it with God. It will do your heart good and your relationship with your Heavenly Father will become even more precious

Happy Easter!

I love Easter! It is seriously one of my favorite holidays. It is one of the holidays that make me wish I was a much better poet than I am so that I could write songs in expression of the joy I have in my salvation. But, alas, I have not been particularly gifted in this area. Praise God that so many others are! Praise God for the gift of His Son!

John 19:30 "It is finished!"

Matthew 28:6 "He is not here, He has risen just as He said."

See What a Morning (Resurrection Hymn)
by Keith and Kristyn Getty

See what a morning, gloriously bright
with the dawning of hope in Jerusalem
Folded the grave clothes, tomb filled with light
As the angels announce, "Christ is risen!"
See God's salvation plan,
Wrought in love, borne in pain, paid in sacrifice,
Fulfilled in Christ, the Man,
For He lives; Christ is risen from the dead!

See Mary weeping, "Where is He laid?"
As in sorrow she turns from the empty tomb;
Hears a voice speaking, calling her name;
Its the Master, the Lord, raised to life again!
The voice that spans the years
Speaking life, stirring hope, bringing peace to us
Will sound til He appears,
For He lives; Christ is risen from the dead!

One with the Father, Ancient of Days,
Through the Spirit who clothes faith with certainty
Honor and blessing, glory and praise
To the King crowned with power and authority!
And we are raised with Him
Death is dead, love has won, Christ has conquered!
And we shall reign with Him
For He lives; Christ is risen from the dead!

Christ is Risen!

Christ is Risen
by Matt Maher (this may be my new favorite song!)

Let no one caught in sin remain
Inside the lie of inward shame
But fix our eyes upon the cross
And run to Him who showed great love
And bled for us
Freely you've bled for us

Christ is risen from the dead
Trampling over death by death
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave
Christ is risen from the dead
We are one with Him again
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave

Beneath the weight of all our sin
You bowed to none but heavens will
No scheme of hell, no scoffer's crown
No burden great can hold you down
In strength you reign
Forever let your church proclaim

O death, where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?
O church, come stand in the light
The glory of God has defeated the night!

O death, where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?
O church, come stand in the light,
Our God is not dead
He's alive! He's alive!

I Can Only Imagine

I Can Only Imagine

I can only imagine
What it will be like
When I walk
By your side

I can only imagine
What my eyes will see
When your face
Is before me
I can only imagine
I can only imagine

[Chorus:]
Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel
Will I dance for you Jesus or in awe of you be still
Will I stand in your presence or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all
I can only imagine
I can only imagine

I can only imagine
When that day comes
When I find myself
Standing in the Son

I can only imagine
When all I will do
Is forever
Forever worship You
I can only imagine
I can only imagine

I can only imagine
When all I will do
Is forever, forever worship you
I can only imagine

I really like this song. MercyMe sings it and I am pretty sure this is the only song of his that I like. What do I like about it? I'm so glad you asked! Because I am going to tell you.

First, I like it because it reminds me that one day I will be standing before God. It draws my mind to the inevitable end of my life and the inevitable goal of my faith.

Second, it makes me wonder, what will be like? I'm pretty sure I know what it will be like for me. In my imagination, I fall flat on my face in His presence, terrified into silence when confronted by the Holy God. Jesus will come down from the Father's side and pick me up. "She is mine, I have bought her with my blood," He will declare to the Father. "Why are you afraid? Do you doubt me even now?" He will say to me, one last rebuke before my sanctification is completed.

I don't think it will be like that for everyone though. When my friend, Willa Mae Hunter died, she had no knowledge of the gospel besides, "I am a sinner, Jesus died on the cross for my sins and one day I will be in heaven with Him." That was all she knew, but she loved it! It was her only hope! She was abused and taken advantage of her entire life by her father and her husband and her son. She worked hard all her life and died penniless. But she was loved by her Heavenly Father and she loved Him back. I imagine, that when she died, she stood before God with her tentative little smile on her face and was met by a loving Father, who came down and hugged her and said, "Welcome home, beloved daughter!" And I imagine that she cried with joy in her release from the horrors of sin.

When I picture those who have given their lives for the sake of the gospel, I imagine it a little differently. I imagine the men and women, tied to the stake, amazing the crowds as they lifted their voices in song to the praise of God even as they burned transitioning into even more joyous song and dance as they are suddenly out of the fire and with their Savior. "It was WORTH IT!" they cry, "Hallelujah, praise the LORD!!"

This is why I enjoy this song. It brings to mind my brothers and sisters, past and present, from all nations, tongues, and peoples who have been bought by Jesus. It reminds me that one day I will be with them in glory. It reminds me that there truly is an end in sight. It encourages me to run the race well. And it makes me cry in remembrance of the ones that I've lost, if only for a little while.