A Life of Gratitude

Recently, in addition to our History curriculum,  Dylan has begun typing reports about important Historical figures. He is a huge History buff anyway, but he has also been learning to type correctly,  so he really enjoys this assignment.  Yesterday he was typing a report on Eli Whitney. (He's the man who invented the cotton gin.) As Dylan typed I heard him say, "Wow, this man sure did accomplish a lot in his life!"  After hearing Dylan say that, I expected to see several typed pages of information about Mr. Whitney but when I looked at the computer screen, this is what I saw.  Mr. Whitney's life was summed up in one long paragraph written by my son, who considers this a lot of typing. (He's in for a real shock in middle and high school! Hahaha)  I haven't been able to get this picture out of my mind. It really struck me. Eli Whitney lived 59 years. He was a husband, had two children, went to Yale for his college education, was an eng

Yesterday I heard the news that Reverend Billy Graham had passed away. My heart was tempted to be a little sad at the news but I just couldn't be too upset. I can only imagine the glorious welcome he must have received as he entered the gates of Heaven---the same Heaven he told so many people about! The picture above is from Billy Graham's Crusade in Charlotte in 1996. Believe it or not, I am somewhere in that stadium, at that crusade. Bryan's youth group attended the event and he invited me to come along. For the first time ever, I truly heard the gospel and I decided to give my heart to Jesus. Reverend Graham asked those who wanted to surrender their lives to come forward onto the field so I asked Bryan to go with me, and he did. It was an incredible experience! So many people, so much excitement, so much love for Jesus.  Today I am grateful for the life Billy Graham lead. He was such a godly man, on a mission to tell as many people as he could about Jesus. I

Bryan and I have been reading a book by Bill Gillham called Lifetime Guarantee . I'm only half way through the book but I have already learned so much. One thing that has really stood out to me is the concept of Earthsuits. I know that sounds a little crazy but hear me out.  We often think of ourselves as physical people with a spirit but in reality, we are spiritual people with a body.  Once our bodies pass away, our spirit goes to Heaven. Only the earthly body dies. So, why do we spend so much more time focusing on our earthly bodies than our spirit? These bodies we have are just our earthsuits. It sounds funny but its really an amazing change in perspective. I have always, for 35 years, put so much emphasis on my earthsuit. Worrying too much about how much it weighs, what clothes to dress it in, what its hair looks like, and so on. What if I spent that much time concerned with my spirit...with who I am spiritually. Now don't get me wrong, I do believe we should

Words cannot adequately express how happy my heart has been today! God has been stirring something up within me over the past few months and it came to life this morning! Today we began a new homeschool co-op at HopeCity. Our group is called the Students of the Spirit. 1 John 2:27a --But you have received the Holy Spirit, and He lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true . For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know . I've been working alongside the Children's director and one of the Pastors at HopeCity to organize and plan this co-op.  They have supported my vision and my crazy ideas and it couldn't have gone better! 2 Tuesdays per month we'll have a time of worship, a Bible lesson for the students, a "mom-time" for the all the Mommas, someone sharing a gift that God has given them, the opportunity to participate in that gift, and then we'll eat lunch together.  Our worship time Bible lesson for

Today my boys and I celebrated the 100th day of school!!! Yes, homeschoolers have to keep track of their school days too! I planned several fun activities for today and the boys really had a great time!  Our "Counting the Days" pocket chart This is what "Aging Booth" says we'll look like when we're 100 years old! Dylan and Evan had to find 10 sets of 10 things to make 100 items on our table. Racing to 100 by rolling the dice. If I had $100.... I wish I could eat 100..... I would wish for 100.....I can do 100.... 100 Exercises They 10 sets of different exercises Counting 100 fruit loops Making a 100th Day necklace They wanted me to wear the necklaces =) Today I am over-the-top grateful for the ability to homeschool my kiddos! It's not always easy, in fact a lot of times its really hard, but I love it! I don't get to have much alone time or run errands by myself but I do get to spend all da