A nugget of God's truth...

I haven't posted my "Nugget of God's Truth" in awhile, but I am actually moved on to a new book of the Bible in my personal time with the Lord..... But before I share things from somewhere else in the Bible I wanted to make one last observation in Hebrews.

I have come to realize that I have a tendacy to be bitter and not able to let go and forgive. Some of it I have to admit is being in the ministry. Bryan being a pastor I take everything personal. That is not good and God wants to change me. God revealed this to me through Hebrews Chapter 12: 14-15....

Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;

God has truely brought me along way over the past 14 years but I know that He is still working on me. I need to realize that any root of bitterness will just cause me trouble. God is not a God of bitterness and my goal should be to be an imitator of the Almighty Savior I serve. God has redeemed me by His blood and through Him I will no longer be the same! Now did you catch the first part of verse 14? Pursue peace with all people (Not that you will always get it but we should pursue it) and holiness (we should strive everyday to be holy as He is holy 1 Peter 1:15-16). I am so capable of falling short of God's righteousness but the truth is He doesn't give up on me. One of those areas that I fall short on is bitterness but my prayer is that God will continue to reveal His truth to me through His Word and that I will be broken and repentant as He changes me!

Next, I have to admit that sometimes that bitterness is toward God. When I get stuck in my finite mind that something should be in my time and my way it is not necessarily God's way or His time. I am constantly reminded that God sees the BIG picture and He knows what is best and I need to just trust Him and follow Him. Two examples in our home (I am sure there are more but for times sake) is when it took 5 years for us to have our first child. I was just so sure that we were ready to have a family as soon as we got married, but God knew we weren't. I was so bitter that all these people who appeared not to need a child was getting pregnant and here we were trying to serve and follow the Lord the best we knew how and He had closed up my womb. God did some great works in my heart and life over those 5 years and I look back now and see that He knew best. The second example is Our only girl wants a Sister so bad and doesn't understand why God hasn't given her one yet. We are trying to teach her that it is God who knows what we need and He is soverign. My prayer is that this will be the beginning of her understanding of her Heavenly Father.

So now you know one of my weaknesses, I ask that you pray for me. God is so good, all the time. He has brought me so far in overcoming my bitterness and I look forward to Him still working to remove that weakness in my life. May God be lifted up in my weaknesses (2 Corinthians 12:10).

Cantina

Timothy is....

Can you believe it, Timothy started sitting up this week. Actually last week at the beach he sit up some but not very good. This week he has gotten better every day! It is so amazing how fast he has been growing up. I can't take my eyes off of him or blink, if I do I will miss something. He will be six months old next month and that seems impossible. So is it just me or do you all think he is growing up fast?

The Beach!

Our Family!

Isaac loves the ocean!

Elijah and Bryan building sand castles!

Paw and Maw enjoy watching the kids play!

Sarah and Mommy being twins!

Timothy asleep on Joyce.

Feeding seagulls!

Ready to head home....

A stop on the way home...

Home at last!!

So did you figure out from my picture, that could speak a thousand words, that we were at the beach? We left last Monday morning and headed to Orange beach! It was great! This is our 5th year going to the beach with my parents. We have always gone to Panama City but this year we wanted to do something different. It was real nice and very enhoyable. It is nice to go with my parents to have a couple of extra hands! We had thought the weather would be yucky but it ended up being really nice. We did have a few sprinkles but no storms! Isaac, Bryan and my Dad went to the Gulf State Park Pier and fished some. That was a really neat pier and they had a fun time! On Thursday a cousin of my Dad's who lives in Mobile came to spend some time with us. She is the one in the pictures holding Timothy while he is asleep. It was nice to get to see her because we don't get to see her often. All my kiddos loved the sand and the ocean. The pool was also a big hit! Sarah is our social bug so of coarse she had found a friend to play with some. Looking at pictures of Timothy at the beach is amazing because it was when we went to the beach last year that we announced to our families that we were expecting. It is amazing how time flies. God's creations are so awesome and I am so very grateful that He allows me opportunities to enjoy them. We are looking forward to next years trip!! Thanks Dad and Mom for the great memories of the trips to the beach....what a blessing!

Pictures are worth a thousand words....

Soccer season has begun!

This past Saturday our two oldest started Soccer. We play Upwards soccer and love the fact that our games and practices are at the same time each week!! The first game is always crazy for me, I am trying to figure out what field we are on and what is Elijah and Timothy doing! I am so thankful to my parents who so graciously come and help me out! Thanks Dad and Mom! I took a few pictures and wanted to share them with you. I know I will be sharing lots more in the next 7 weeks! Hope you enjoy!

Cantina

A Day of Homeschool...

Isaac working on Math.

Sarah is learning to write in cursive.

Elijah is learning his colors and how to do puzzles.

Timothy is learning to walk!

The kids learned about a mosaic in History and this is ours we made.

I saw on a lady's blog that she posted, what a "Typical Homeschool Day" looks like at her house and I thought it was neat! So I wanted to share with our family and friends what a Homeschool Day looks like at our house.

First of all I would like to say the biggest reason we homeschool is for spiritual reasons. We used to be homeschooling to give our kids a solid foundation and would eventually send them to public school but God has changed our hearts! God has showed us that we are the ones He has called to "Train up our children in the way they should go" (Proverbs 22:6). We see it as training our children for a battle and they must know how to fight before we send them out.

This is our 5th year of homeschooling, if you want to count Isaac's K4 learning. This year I have a 3rd grader, 1st grader, a 2 year old and to date a 5 month old. Our family is early risers so the kids are ready to read to Daddy before he goes off to work. The first thing the kids and I do is Bible. We memorize scripture, learn important things from the Bible (10 Commandments, fruit of the Spirit, books of the Bible, etc.) and play bible games. While Elijah is watching an educational video and Timothy is taking a morning nap the older two and I are learning and reviewing phonics. Both of the older children have a time to spend with Elijah while the other is doing Language. Then as I am tending to Timothy and Elijah, Isaac and Sarah are writing and working on spelling. Isaac gets a chance to "play" with Timothy while Sarah, Elijah and I are preparing lunch. After lunch it is time for Mommy to read and to do science and history. After reading Elijah and Timothy is ready for a nap and Isaac and Sarah get a rest time. Lastly our school day winds down as we learn Math. Learning is never over in the Camp house, we are always learning character traits, how to cook, how to clean, how to tend to others, etc. Doing all this together as a family makes it so much fun and enjoyable.

I will admit not eveyday looks like this. Like today we are in the potty training process with Elijah and Timothy didn't take a good nap this morning. Even I am leaning things and God is working on me to change me.

Lastly I have included below a video from Voddie Bauchum. His book Family Driven Faith is what God used to speak to Bryan and I about the education of our children. I highly recommend the book.

This is my heart,

Cantina