HOME Where They Belong

When we pray to our great God and Savior, we are having a conversation with the Lord of the universe.

Think about that! How privileged we are to be able to come before the throne in worship, to praise and to make our requests known. And the kindness of the Lord is what really gets me. No matter how much I fail, how many times I blow it, He is still there, arms outstretched.

Yes, He requires repentance. We serve a fierce and mighty God. But as awesome and terror-invoking as He is, He's just as loving, just as kind - to those who are His. We are literally His children.

You know how we love our kids? We listen to them, help them, bless them, right? How much more a parent GOD is to us! He is intimately involved in our every minute. He is not a faraway entity, something unintelligent or halfway aware of us. Oh, no. He knows His own more intimately than we can imagine. He's a doting Father, eyes on us at every moment. His hand is on our heads, sheltering us, training US up in the way we should go. I love that I am so protected, so sheltered. And I love His correction. I love the fact that as I seek to obey Him, I will be blessed. I can breathe freely because my very DAD is standing beside me, holding me closely to Him. Yes, I pray. I want to converse with the only Parent I have - the only Parent who could ever love me as perfectly as He does.

Lord, make me like David this week - make me chase after Your very Heart. That's my home, my safety.

- Gena

Homeschool Heart

The Power of Prayer

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Phil. 4:6-7

I've been through some difficult times. I know we all have. But at the time when we were going through a major family crisis with our extended family, my husband really stepped up to bat. He began praying for me aloud specifically about the issues we were facing. Every morning before he left for work, he'd lay his hand on me and pray for God to give me strength.

I was so blessed by the love he expressed for me in those prayers and for the faith that he held strong for our whole family. Not long after that, our boys started praying more aloud or specifically asking for us to pray for them for certain things. "Momma, I'm not feeling good. Will you pray for me?"

What a gift. Our kids know the power of prayer. They've seen it comfort and strengthen us through difficult times. They've heard the joy of praise and thanksgiving. And through it all God has grown us even closer together and closer to Him. Pray for your family, but also pray with your family. You'll be blessed.

- Nancy

Homeschool Freebies!

Do you know one of my favorite things to do with scripture? I like to pray scripture and substitute my kid's name wherever there is an "I" or "you". When I'm feeling discouraged myself, I insert my own name. For instance, Psalm 139 from The Message (MSG):

13-16 Oh yes, you shaped ~Alex~ first inside, then out; you formed ~Alex~ in my womb. I thank you, High God—you're breathtaking! Body and soul ~Alex is~ marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know ~Alex~ inside and out, you know every bone in ~Alex's~ body; You know exactly how ~she~ was made, bit by bit, how ~Alex~ was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched ~her~ grow from conception to birth; all the stages of ~her~ life ~are~ spread out before you, The days of ~Alex's~ life all prepared before ~she'd~ even lived one day.

Sure makes God's love letter to us that much more special. Try it sometime!

Here's a cool place to find some resources for praying with our kids.

Wanna win a horse? Enter the "I Love Horses Because..." Contest . This contest is open to all horse lovers ages 8 and up. Proceeds support Equine Therapy at Shalom Ranch.

* written essay
* painting
* sculpture
* video
* any medium can express your love

Contest Closes: June 15, 2007 and winners will be announced July 9, 2007.

Contact: Marie Sherwood at 306-728-2900, email Marie@ShalomRanch.org or enter online at www.shalomranch.org/contest.pdf

Schoolhouse Store Spotlight

Prayer. The most important activity we can engage in and one of the easiest to let slide. In our busy lives it is so easy to respond first to the constant and “urgent” needs surrounding us each day. That “still, small voice” will not compete. It is up to us to place ourselves before God where He can work with and in us. Simple, but not necessarily easy.

Momma’s Guide to Quiet Times in Loud is a guide to living the devotional lifestyle in the midst of chaos. This inspiring and encouraging book is also available in E-Book format for only $6.95. The Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach is for all homeschoolers that want to make the Bible the center of their school day. This giant 500+ page book provides you with the methods, program, and resources for a course of study where students spend half the school day studying God's Word and the other half studying God's world (academics). Also available in economical E-book format.

Learning that prayer is a way of life can’t start too early. Mathew Vol. 1 from Bible Story Songs has even your littlest ones singing Bible verses and includes the Lord’s Prayer. What better example to start with? A biblically based handwriting series from Christian Liberty Press includes Writing with Diligence, Grace, Power and Prayer. Our E-Book, Being A Good Friend by Miiko Gibson helps your daughter to prayerfully and carefully choose and make friendships in a Godly way. Corresponding Notebooking pages allow your daughter to create a keepsake Friendship Notebook.

We hope these resources are an encouragement in your walk with the Lord and a help in training your children in His ways.

-Dena

Jeneric Jeneralities

I have simply way too much to say on the subject of prayer, so in this installment of The Homeschool Minute, I am going to simply link to this article. It is a story of the profound amazing, miraculous effect of a sincere heart pleading with a personal God who loves His own.

– Jen Ig

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