1000 gifts: teaching my children

Continuing my list of gifts, blessings that I write down to remember all the wonderful things that God gives me along life's journey. I write these down on my calendar, and when I get a chance I add them here to my blog. These are all blessings from February, 2013. 

580. My daughter taking notes in church.
Blaze is old enough, I guess, that she prefers sitting with us in church rather than going to children's church. I love having her with us, and I encouraged her to write down at least one thing that she learned from the message. This what she wrote one week:

"The greatest prayer a person can pray is to seek His face. It's about God's grace, he will give us the grace. The world is not our home, heaven is. Are we going to be found faithful? He saved us on purpose now its our turn to help others believe"

581. Psalm 78:6-7  
In my morning time in the Bible, these verses really struck me: 

He commanded them to teach their children so the next generation would know them [all that God did for his people], even the children yet to be born, and they would in turn tell their children - then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds, but would keep his commands.

Yet another instance, I think, of God's prompting me to homeschool my girls, which I'm planning to start in the fall; my husband still has some reservations but is willing to let me try. 

In the meantime though I need to make more effort to teach them beyond just helping them memorize their AWANA verses and ask them what they learned in children's church. I teach children's church for the 3 year old class every other Sunday, which is so much fun - lots of acting out the Bible stories and review games. With just slight modifications I could teach those same materials for my own kids, even though they are older (6 through 11 years). 

Challenging myself to list what we've done together in my next month's list!

 582. A lazy birthday
For my birthday, I took the day off from work, stayed home to write. See that picture above? That was me (except I somehow managed to fit a laptop on my lap too, along with the big quilt, the cup of tea and a good book).  Later in the week B took me out to dinner.  My two oldest daughters had lovely presents for me, too (Blaze made a clay wizard; Stars bought me yummy vanilla candles).

583. My girls cleaning the house
The twins picked everything up, Blaze vacuumed, Dreamer mopped the floors! Sweet!

584. Pocket horses 
The girls have an obsession with toy horses; over the years they've collected several dozen, all sizes. One day Dreamer made the comment, "wouldn't it be fun if we could take real horses and make them small enough to stick on our pockets."  But then you wouldn't be able to ride them anymore, I told her. "Oh, they'd grow back to regular size when ever you wanted them to."  Cool idea! I especially like it because miniature manure would be a lot easier to clean up!

585. Challenge to read the Word daily
From my Made to Crave devotional: 

One day we are satisfied with a large dinner, how long does the satisfaction last? The next day we need another large dinner.  In the same way the Word fills us up to satisfaction one day, but we can't expect one serving of truth to feed us for a lifetime, or even a week! We need the word daily. 

Why do I starve myself spiritually? Another challenge to myself: determined to read the Word every day, taking the verses listed in my devotional and reading the full chapter.  I haven't been in the Word daily since my last Bible read through a couple years ago.Will report progress here next month!
 
586. Elvis skits
My daughters had their annual school show, where all the grades sing two songs (the theme this year was Route 66), and the older kids narrate and do skits in between songs. Blaze is in 5th grade (the top grade at our elementary school), so she was one of the narrators and also one of the "fan girls" in the skits which were all related to Elvis some way or another.(Including Elvis getting chased by fan girls, and once by a kid in a gorilla suit!)

587. Psalm 62:11,12 
Have started my challenge to read the Word daily, at least one chapter. Here was one of my WT's (wonderful things from the Word, see Psalm 119:18). 

One thing God has spoken, two things I have heard: that you, Oh God, are strong, and that you, oh God, are loving.

588.  Starlet's great day
One day when the girls got off the school bus, Starlet raced in to find me with this announcement: "I had a great day!" - grinning and wiggling her hips. Considering that most mornings she clings to me and insists she doesn't want to go to school, it's nice to see that some days, at least, she loves it.

589. The power of His Name
From my Jesus Lives devotional, by Sarah Young:

There is great power in My Name: simply whispering "Jesus" can turn a hard day into a good one.

590. Taking time to talk about your goals with God
Another quote from Jesus Lives, by Sarah Young: 

The light of My presence illuminates your pursuit of your goal so you can see if from My perspective. As your perspective lines up with mine, you gain a growing desire to please Me. This desire produces benefits far beyond the task at hand. It deepens your relationship with me.  

This made me think about how I've been so, so, so focused and excited about getting through the 2nd draft of my novel, especially since the feedback from my critiquers (three of them) has been really positive (e.g. "can't stop reading, send me more!"). But is there an eternal benefit to this story I'm writing? It will last long after I am gone (even if it doesn't get published). I want to be remembered for a story that is worth while, but how much of it is driven by "I want" versus what God wants? Stuff to pray about, lining up my will with His.
 
591. Fun at the library with the girls
Lately I've been going to the library almost every week to pick up a book on hold (I might hold the library record for most inter-library loans). This week Dreamer checked out a kid's joke book (oh, the cheesy puns! I can't laugh at the jokes, but the girls laugh at them, so then that makes me laugh, so it's totally worth it). Blaze checked out the 2nd Harry Potter book (I was wondering when she's get hooked on HP - this Friday night she was up till 11pm reading it!). And in addition to my latest book discovery, Code Name Verity, I found a bonus:  a whole stack of free National Geographic magazines in the lobby - this geographer's favorite magazine! Which reminds me, my mom got me a subscription to National Geographic for my birthday, which should be starting soon.

592. Accomplishing mini-goals
From the Made to Crave devotional: 

Each mini-goal  you accomplish today is a victory. Victory = being in God's will. I Thess 5:16-18. Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Every time you look for something to rejoice about, be thankful for, or have a temptation or situation to pray about, that is a mini goal accomplished = victory. 

Frustrated about not losing any weight this month, even though I have been carefully following my eating and exercising plan. But trying to look at all the other things I've gained, including a sponsor at Overeaters Anonymous (someone committed to daily check-ins with each other). Truly it is miraculous that I no longer eat or binge to satisfy emotions.  So instead of focusing on my long term goal of losing another 25 pounds, I'm trying to teach myself to focus on mini-goals.  Accomplishing my healthy eating plan each day. Time to go for a walk. An encouraging verse. Exchanging texts or emails with my sponsor.