Who said the Christian life was boring???!

Life gets so busy sometimes.

Now that we have officially adopted Little Bud, he has begun his homeschooling adventure with the big kids at The School in the Back Room!!

He has taken to it so well. He loves it and asks to start if I take "too long" in my quiet time in a morning!!!

We have had his celebration hearing at the courthouse, where he shook the hands of all the attendees like he was an grown man!! (He's 7 next week!) 

We also baptized our eldest son, our second born, Haribo this past weekend!! He was radiant as he came out of the water and was richly blessed with cards and words of encouragement.

It made both Hubby and I think back on our own journey with Jesus. we would never have pictured then, 6 and 5 years ago respectively, when we were baptized, just how far the Lord would take us, and the adventure it would be. 

I am so thankful that I have Jesus in my life, making the difference. 

May I always ask "what can I do for You today Abba?"

We will NEVER forget...

As I sit here with Haribo, catching up on our programs while daddy is at work, as we settle in to watch the 9/11 documentaries that we taped, I am humbled.

I am humbled by the stories from so many who risked their own lives, who lost their loved ones and continued to search for other survivors, who saved lives.

I thank God for those willing to help. 

I thank God for the Brave.

The survivors will never forget.

Neither will we.

It's ALIVE!!!!!!

I'm very impressed!!

I've been making a Ginger bug for my fermented Ginger Beer and I think it's now ready!!!

I found the recipe Here and have been trying it out, having never tried fermenting before.

It looked like slush for days, but the recipe says that it is ready when it starts to bubble as you stir it.

It's BUBBLY!!!! 

I'm really looking forward to making this, as it is a healthy, probiotic soda, and I do have to say, I get a little bored of drinking just water.....

So another week of fermenting in the bottles, and we will be ready to taste.

I will let you know how it all goes....

True Worship

I am so glad that Jesus takes us through seasons and doesn't dump everything on you at once....

He has been taking me back to what worship is about. I have sung since i was 13 yrs old, and spent a long time working in the pubs and clubs in Northern England, notoriously some of the hardest crowds in the world. When I met Christ, I thought this would just translate to my calling in Him. 

Not so!!!!!

I love to sing, and I do believe I am called to lead God's church in worship, but my heart has had to be made right first. 

My biggest problem is pride. As a performer, I have always defined myself by my voice and my ability to sing. Everyone around me has always done the same. This doesn't wash with God. 

I am not accepted by him because of what I do, I'm accepted by Him because he loves me. Because he chose me before the foundation of time. 

I have had to be stripped of everything that I got my strength from, so that my strength comes from the Lord. I have had to learn AGAIN what true worship is, that it is not a performance on a stage, it is not to be done Just on a Sunday morning, but should be WHO WE ARE!!!! we should have an attitude of Worship, thanking the Lord at all times, working as unto the Lord, whether it is in church, or doing the dishes, or putting the 13 load of laundry on that day, or driving to work, or helping your neighbour with their groceries. 

All things done to the Lord are tiny acts of worship. It tells Him and the world that Jesus is Lord and THE Lord of your life. 

THAT is true worship, my friends, not singing a few songs on Sunday morning..... 

Thank you for that lesson again, Abba...

Weekend Links

Ahhhhh. I am finally sat down!! 

My lovely dogs decided it would be funny to destroy a 15kg bag of flour while we were at church today! Needless to say, I spent a while cleaning it up, and cleaning them up!

I had to laugh, or I would have cried. 

I chose to see it as an incentive to mop my floor, which has been on my to do list all week.

So this week, I have not had much time to peruse the blogosphere, but came up with these crackers:

The Boy tricks me down a rabbit hole @The Common Room - made me giggle, it's all in the tone....

Squash Comparison @ Domestic Serenity - Very VERY true! 

and 

A day in the life @ KOTH - I love this series, but this one especially spoke to me, as we have been waiting on God for our adoption of Little Bud!

Only a few, but worth the read.

My week got better

So I have been home schooling all 4 children for 1 full week and they are still alive and breathing!!!!! (you laugh, it was a close one!)

Actually, despite the stresses and strains of settling back into the school routine, the loss of our local weekly Home Ed group, and teaching a very particular boy the ropes, we have had a good week.

Learning how to teach a new child is hard. All my babies learn differently, and obviously have different needs, and Little bud in particular has very specific strengths and weaknesses, so it has been an eye-opening week. 

I know we can do this, despite my near atomic breakdown yesterday, sobbing to Jesus that I can't do it, that I'm not patient enough, and  all the 'not enough's' I could come up with. The scripture that got me off my sopping wet pillow was "i can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me" Phil. 4:13 

When Abba asked me to home school our children, He gave me the scripture 2 Corinthians 12:9, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness" 

It is this that I cling to now, when I feel overwhelmed. My Father told me to do this, and he would strengthen me. I trust in Him and Him alone. I have to, or every day would be spent sobbing on my pillow!!

I am a new creation, and my Abba loves me, and believes in me. 

That's all I need. 

And some coffee......

How hard can it be....?

Famous last words, eh! 

Why do I do it to myself???

If you have seen my weekend recommendations this week, you will have seen that I have been finding out about the effects of sugar on the body. 

You see, I have very soft teeth, bones and nails. I was reading a lot on the KOTH website about why soaking your grains is so important, and found that it can leech calcium and other essential nutrients from your body. 

This got me wondering......

Could this be my problem? I got to reading, through other sites, about sugar. Sugar doesn't rot ones teeth in the way we think it does. The way the body deals with too much sugar is to do very much the same thing as the un-soaked grains do. It leeches nutrients out of the bones and teeth.

Now anyone who knows me, knows that I have the BIGGEST sweet tooth EVER!!!! 

Not only has this lead to weight problems my entire life, but I am now starting to think this may be some of the reason my teeth break so very easily, despite my best oral hygiene efforts.

So....... I have tried to cut out sugar from my diet.

Yes, you heard me right, I am cutting out sugar. I had managed no sugar for 1 full week until I succumbed to a chocolate biscuit on Sunday at church, and after a very stressful day today, I have caved again and had a lolly after dinner, but I feel that is not too bad, considering I usually have something sugary sweet at every meal!!!

I have suffered a few headaches, but overall, I feel fine.

I have included fruit in my non sugar diet, as the natural sugars are dealt with slightly differently than commercial sugars, and I need the vitamins from the fruit too.

Today, as I said though, has been particularly stressful in a couple of ways, and tonight, even though I know it will only be a false high, and I will crash later, I have indulged. 
And I already feel a little ill. 

Habits are so hard to change. Anyone else struggled with sugar cravings?