Marsha's Musings: Getting Paid for Chores

I put a new chore on my kid's lists this week...prune a rose bush. My youngest asked me what he would get paid for doing it and I said, "Room and board." He said, "You mean the pay is to sit in my room and be bored?" LOL!

Frugal Friday:10 Strategies to Lower My Grocery Bill - Part 2

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10 Strategies to Lower My Grocery Bill - Part 2
Feb 11th, 2008 by Mary Frances



This is the second in a two part post on minimizing your grocery bill while eating a gluten free diet. If you’d like to share your best grocery shopping tips, or commiserate on the price of groceries, please leave a comment and join in the discussion.

6. Set a maximum $/pound.
When I shop I try to only buy food that is less than $1.99/lb. For me this has been a pretty easy strategy because I tend to shop around the edges of the grocery store, where most products are sold by the pound. Think produce and meat (well not meat for us, but you get the idea). If I find a great deal on a food that will store well (like potatoes) I stock up. Otherwise I just try to keep in mind the foods that are usually under my price limit and plan meals around them.

7. Shop from your pantry.
Before I even sit down to plan my weekly menu, I peruse the pantry, refrigerator and freezer to see what foods I have on hand. Usually I find that there is some sort of produce that needs to be used, or a pantry staple that has been lingering in the cupboard. These items become the foundation of of my menu for the week to ensure that I’m using what we have and not buying food we don’t need.

8. Do your own food prep.
In short, the more that fresh foods are processed the more they cost - boneless, skinless chicken breasts cost more per pound than a whole chicken. So, if you want to reduce your grocery costs, start prepping your own food.

Before we switched to a vegetarian diet I would often buy large packs of bone-in chicken breasts and then spend 30 minutes or so deboning all of them and packaging them for the freezer. It’s not a fun job, but it’s not really that difficult and it saves money.

Produce, on the other hand is something that I don’t mind prepping. In fact it’s sometimes fun to whack a big chef’s knife into a head of cabbage. Food prep is a learned skill, and the more you practice the faster you’ll get. Check the Lessons Index for a few lessons on veggie prep.

9. Drink more water; eat healthier snacks.
Okay, this one may be tough. Stop spending money on food that is bad for you. My philosophy on this is that my grocery dollars are precious and they need to provide as much nutrition as possible. We have almost completely eliminated junk foods and sweets from our diets. If we do have them, we make them at home.

Not eating junk food is a habit that we worked on over time. If you try to cut it out overnight you’ll probably feel deprived and discouraged. Instead we eliminated things from our diet as we were ready to give them up. For instance I stopped eating ice cream when dairy foods started causing a lot of tummy issues. Other items fell out of our diet when we went gluten free or vegetarian and we’ve just never bothered to replace them.

We are currently working towards reducing our chip and beer consumption. Instead of chips we are using more fresh veggies for dipping and we’re trying to figure out how to bake tortilla chips in the oven.

10. Eat less meat and dairy.
I have to admit that before we switched to a vegetarian diet, I wouldn’t have liked this idea. I associated vegetarian meals, especially those filled with beans, with poverty. I also couldn’t imagine that beans could taste good since they never had in my experience.

Now that we’ve been vegetarian for almost 18 months I completely disagree with myself. The main reason that we decided to stick with a vegetarian diet after we completed a 30-day trial was that the food was so much more flavorful than what we were accustomed to.

All that said, beans and tofu are much cheaper than meat. Even if you just eat vegetarian for a few days a week you should see some cost savings. Be adventurous and explore some new recipes and you might just surprise yourself.

I should caveat this by saying that soy and rice based dairy products are usually more expensive than cow based. We still eat cow cheese and sour cream, but we have greatly reduce the amount of these foods in our diet. Over time our taste buds have adjusted and we find it easier to use smaller amounts.

Marsha's Musings: Wisdom

I've been reading through Proverbs, the book of wisdom. It stresses the importance of getting wisdom and applying that wisdom to your life. What does wisdom look like? James 3:17 tells us:

The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and
easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruit, without partiality and
without hypocrisy.

How do you measure up? I have a long ways to go!

John Ploughman Talks by Spurgeon

...idle folks never know what leisure means; they are always in a hurry and a mess, and by neglecting to work in the proper time, they always have a lot to do...

Winners & Losers by Sydney J. Harris

A Winner
pace themselves
A Loser
has only two speeds
hysterical and lethargic

Marsha's Musing: Mizpah Friendship Necklaces

I find it amusing as I think about the Mizpah necklaces that are sold in Christian book stores...you know the ones that are two halves of a circle with the following printed on it..."The Lord watch between you and me while we are apart from one another."?

Have you ever read the Scripture where this comes from?

It's in Genesis 31:48-50. It's about Laban and Jacob. They were having some disagreements and when they said "The Lord watch between you and me while we are apart from one another", it was not because they were friendly and trusting of each other. On the contrary they didn't trust each other and so they said this indicating that if one did wrong against the other, the Lord would see it.

So these Mizpah necklaces we see in Christian bookstores are really kind of silly when you think about it....unless the two people taking the halves to wear really don't trust each other. Hmmm.

Devotional: Nothing Happens Apart from Your Father's Will

Matthew 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

In the past I remembered pastors and others putting the emphasis on verses 30-31 in the scripture above. They have failed to point out in verse 31, what the therefore is there for.

When you look back, you see that the "therefore" is referring to this: "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father." The New King James renders it this way, "And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will". This clarifies it. This is why we are not to fear.

What this says to me is that hardships will come into my life. The sparrow will fall and we too will have hardships. It is just a part of life. However, not one hardship or difficulty will come into my life that isn't a part of God's will for me. God is in control of all things, good and bad. Therefore, I should not fear.

I know this is easier said than done. I often fear that something will happen and God will take me before I want to go. I have a husband who needs me, children to raise, things I want to accomplish and I find myself fearing that I won't get to live to see all this through.

When you get right down to it, my fear stems from wanting to order and run my life how I deem best, rather than submitting to what God's will and plan might be for me. I am afraid God's will and plan may not match my will and plan. The Bible says in 1 John 4:18, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." So, I guess the question is, how much do I love God? Can I trust Him with my life? Can I trust that He knows what is best for me and those I love? If not, then I am fearful and this means I am not perfected in my love for Him. Ouch!

Can you trust God's will for you? Nothing happens outside of His will. Do you love Him enough to not be fearful? These are hard questions for me, yet I really don't have need to be fearful. If God should choose to take me before I want to go, I can say with the Apostle Paul, "Absent from the body, present with the Lord."

Marsha's Musings: Thoughts about Joseph

I've been reading in Genesis lately about the story of Joseph. I am amazed at the integrity of this young man. He did have his faults when he was young and immature. After all, he kept bragging about his dreams to his family where his brothers and parents bowed down to him. He had a lack of humility and discretion then, but he learned a lot of lessons later, otherwise I don't think he would have acted with such integrity later in Egypt. Here are some lessons I have learned from Joseph, so far:

• Humility keeps you out of trouble
• Joseph refused to stay in the way of temptation...he would not be alone with his master's wife if at all possible
• Joseph fled temptation when his master's wife propositioned him
• Joseph did right and continued to do right regardless of the consequences
• Joseph never gave up or allowed discouragement to affect his performance
• Joseph trusted God
• Joseph showed respect for authority...he shaved and put on clean clothes to meet with Pharoah
• Joseph strove for excellence
• Joseph gave glory to God for his abilities
• Joseph was tenderhearted
• Joseph was forgiving & didn't let bitterness cloud his relationship with his brothers
• Joseph saw God's Providence even in the face of affliction and ill-treatment by his brothers

What an example for us to follow! I fall so short!

Frugal Friday:10 Strategies to Lower My Grocery Bill - Part 1

It's Frugal Friday!

If you would like some frugal tips click on the icon above. It will take you to a website dedicated to Frugal Tips.

10 Strategies to Lower My Grocery Bill - Part 1

Feb 3rd, 2008 by Mary Frances

Our Story: A gluten free diet can be hard on the pocketbook. Wheat is cheap and it’s in almost every single processed food that I used to buy to keep our grocery bill under control. Back in our college days (pre-GF), John and I used to cook all of our suppers for one month with $40 worth of groceries. If you extrapolate that out, we were spending about $120 a month to provide three meals a day for two people. Of course, we didn’t eat very healthfully. Pasta, white rice, and frozen meals were a staple in those days.
$900+ for groceries: Fast forward to 2006 and our grocery bill had climbed to an average of $900 a month. That’s for two gluten free adults, one gluten free, dairy free infant, and two omnivorous dogs. Anything that we buy at Wal-mart is included in that total, so there are probably some clothes hidden in there somewhere. But still! $900 a month is way to much to spend on groceries.
Tightening the Belt: Sometime during the first few months of 2007 I decided that I had to take control of the grocery budget. My goal was $600/month. During the year I tried several strategies to reduce the amount I’m spending on groceries, but I haven’t consistently applied all of them at the same time. Even so, I’ve spent less than $600 during four months, and the spending in the remaining months has decreased considerably. The chart below will give you an idea of how I’m doing. It starts in January of 2006 and goes through December 12th, 2007 (when I started writing this post…groan).

A New Year, A New Goal: My goal for 2008 is $400/month. I’ll be applying all 10 strategies that I used this year, but this year I’ll do them all simultaneously. If you’d like to give it a go too, here’s my list:
10 Strategies to Slash Your Grocery Bill
1. Plan your menus.The first step to smart grocery shopping is to plan what you are going to eat for the week. Check your calendar to see what events you have during the coming week and count how many breakfasts, lunches, and dinners you will need.
Now, take a sheet of paper and make a column for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Brainstorm ideas for each meal. If you’re stumped, thumb through your cookbooks, check out your favorite gluten free blogs, or ask your family. Be sure to stick this list on your refrigerator so that you have a quick reference of what you’re planning to cook each day.
I’m going to do my best to post my weekly menu on the blog, and also submit it to the Gluten Free Menu Swap, so be sure to check back every Monday for our new menu.
2. Shop with a list.Shopping from a list is a building block strategy for reducing your grocery spending. The goal is to make a list of ingredients for the meals you’ve just planned, and then only buy the things on the list. I’ve tweaked this a bit and shop from a “pantry list” instead of a regular grocery list.
A pantry list is a pre-printed list of foods that you want to have on hand all the time. I use it as a checklist and go through my pantry and refrigerator every week to make sure I still have everything on the list. If I don’t have something, I mark down how many I want to buy. Once this is done, I add any additional ingredients that I need for the week’s menus, and I’m ready to shop. This strategy alone will keep you from buying item’s you don’t need because you can’t remember whether you have them or not.
3. Set a weekly budget.My budget for 2007 was $600/month. This amount was allocated out by week - $100 a week for Weeks 1 and 2, and $150 a week for Weeks 3 and 4. This was doable as long as I planned to buy dog food, diapers, and toiletries during the second half of the month. The real problem with sticking to the budget was that I was not good at judging how many $ worth of groceries I had put into my cart. I often got to the checkout counter and discovered (to my horror) that I had bought $200 worth of groceries instead of $150.
My solution to this problem was to bring a calculator and pencil along on the shopping trip. When something goes into the cart I write the price down on the back of my pantry list. At the end of every aisle I find a spot where I won’t be run over and tally up my total. By keeping a running list, I’m better able to determine whether I can buy things that aren’t necessities (like hot chocolate and marshmallows…mmm).
I’ve also started highlighting the items on my list that I don’t have to have and I put these groceries into the top part of the cart (where David would be if he were with me). If I get to the end of my shopping trip and realize that I need to put some things back, they are, at least, easy to find.
4. Track prices.When I find a pantry item at a good price, I like to stock up. However between blogging, work, and home I can’t keep up with all of the prices in my head. My pantry shopping list can though.
Here’s how it works. The first time that you shop with the list, jot down the price of each pantry item that you purchase in the price column. When you get home, type that price into the spreadsheet so that it will print out on next week’s list. Every time that you shop, check the prices again. When you find a lower price, just mark through the old one, write down the new price and update your list when you get home. Within a few weeks you’ll have figured out the rock-bottom prices at your grocery store and you’ll know a good price when you see one.
5. Monitor “in-between” trips.Trips to the store during the week are my budgeting downfall. I never save any money for these trips, so pretty much anything we have to buy between big shopping trips is outside of our budget. And we always buy more than we on into the store for.
The only solution that I see to this problem is to do a better job of planning meals and making my grocery list. This year I’ll be saving the receipts from my in-between shopping trips so that I can analyze what I’m buying. I think that I’ll find that I need to add some more items to the pantry shopping list. I probably also need to do a better job of anticipating how much snack food we’ll need. And there may be additional issues that I’m not aware of. Monitoring the receipts should give me some answers, and possible some new strategies for saving.
Feedback:As I shared earlier this week, I’ve got a lot to learn about grocery shopping. I’m convinced that I can get better and I’m sure that there are people out there in the blogosphere that can give me good advice. I’d love to hear your thoughts on my strategies; let me know in the comments whether you think these will work and what you do go lower your grocery budget. Also, if you’re not shy about sharing, how much do you spend on groceries each month?

Junk Mail/Porn Spam etc.

I have had an increasing problem with junk and porn email getting past our Postini junk mail account and I am hoping I have finally solved my problems with it. This afternoon I have not received any porn email, so something I have done has definitely improved the situation. Here's what I did.
We have Microsoft Outlook...the most recent edition. Each junk/porn email that came in I adding to my blocked senders list, but the problem just persisted. So I went into my blocked sender's list and deleted all the sender's information to the left of the @ sign so all that was left was the @ sign and the domain name from where it came from. I only did this to domain names I did not recognize and knew that no one I know sends from those. This has greatly reduced and I hope nearly eliminated the junk/porn email I was receiving. The real test will be tomorrow morning...that's when I routinely get 25 to 50 of them. Every time I brought in email during the day I'd get one or two, but this afternoon after several hours I do not have any!

The Lord Provides

God has blessed me with food this week!

I showed up at teen teams on Tuesday, where my kids play sports with other homeschooled kids, and one of the moms was passing out Craisens by the gallon bags and Granny Smith apples by the produce bag. Her son in law works at Ocean Spray and they had a break down in the plant and had to get rid of all the fruit, so her son in law brought her 50 lbs of Craisens and several boxes of apples to give away.

Then last night I showed up to pick up my kids from their youth group and the youth leaders told me they had some food for me in the back of their car...they gave me three huge Alaskan salmon fillets they had caught, a package of Elk sausage from an Elk they had shot, half a gallon of raw milk and two pkges of ground beef from a cow they had to butcher recently.

I've just been amazed...I just show up places and people are filling my arms with food! What a blessing for our budget!!! The Lord provides.

Looking for Baked Salmon Fillet Recipe...

I was given three huge Alaskan Salmon fillets last night. They are vacuum packed and frozen. I am looking for a really good, gluten free recipe for baking them in the oven. If you have a favorite salmon fillet recipe please share it with me in the comments section of this post.

Law and Grace, Old Covenant and New Covenant

I read this devotional the other day and it was so helpful in helping me to see simply the relationship between the Old Testament and the New Testament. So many Christians seem to think the Old Testament isn't relevant to today and focus only on the New. Simply put, by R.C. Sproul, the Bible is the Old and New Testament together. One without the other is not the Bible. I hope you find this devotional enlightening.

Day By Day By Grace
Bob Hoekstra
January 19th

Law and Grace, Old Covenant and New Covenant

The LORD gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant... For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ... This cup is the new covenant in My blood. (Deuteronomy 9:11; John 1:17; Luke 22:20)

In our meditations upon law and grace, we have also been considering (though not yet mentioning) the principal characteristics of the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. When the Lord wrote the message of His law upon stone tablets for Moses, He was prescribing the terms of the Old Covenant. "The LORD gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant." When Jesus came into the world to die on the cross, the Lord was establishing a New Covenant. "This cup is the new covenant in My blood."

These two covenants of law and grace present one of the major contrasting themes in the word of God. "For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ..." Understanding the differences between these two covenants is of utmost importance for living the Christian life as God intends.

God's law tells us that He desires holiness to characterize the way we live. Only God's grace can provide such righteousness in our lives. God's law tells us that He wants Christlike love to permeate our attitudes and relationships. Only God's grace can develop such love in us. God's law tells us that He desires the perfections of the Father to be growing in us. Only God's grace is sufficient to carry out such a process of transformation.

The law of God is the what; the grace of God is the how. The law of God reveals sin; the grace of God forgives sin. The law of God indicates man's problem; the grace of God provides God's remedy. The law of God demands performance by man; the grace of God offers provision from God.

The law of God is the standard; the grace of God is the means. The law of God is the spiritual measuring rod that evaluates lives; the grace of God is the nurturing resource that produces spiritual life. The law of God tells us of the character of God; the grace of God reproduces that character in us. The law of God is the effect God wants to see; the grace of God is the cause that brings forth that effect.

Lord God of Truth, help me to rightly divide Your truth. Enlighten my spiritual understanding that I might increasingly grasp the differences between law and grace. Show me the full implications of the old covenant and the new covenant.Your word impresses me with the enormous significance of these issues. Thank You for Your patience concerning my negligence or confusion on these matters. O Lord, I earnestly desire to live a righteous and holy life. Teach me the path of humble dependence upon Your glorious grace, through Jesus, my Lord and my life, Amen.

Marsha's Musings:Wisdom from a 98 year old lady

Last night I went to the Nursing to help put make up on some of the ladies there. (I know, it's strange that I would put it on others but not use it myself! See the post below about painting the barn.)

I sat down and visited with one lady to see if I could glean some wisdom from her years of living. She told me how one day when she was at home, some children were climbing on the mailboxes by the street. So she went out and asked them, "Do you have a stamp on you?". The kids looked confused. She told them, "The mailman won't take you if you don't have a stamp on you!" She said they began to laugh together then. Then she says to me, "That's how you get along with the neighborhood kids...you have to joke with them instead of being stern with them all the time. Then they will listen to you!"

Biblical Help for Illness of Any Kind, but Mostly Conditions of the Bones

Disclaimer: In posting this, I am in no way casting shadow on those who are not healed of their illness. As evidenced by the Apostle Paul, God doesn't always choose to heal us, but rather, He has other purposes in mind. But the principles I have drawn here are good principles to follow regardless of whether or not God heals us as a result of following them.

Job 4:14 Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.
Fear causes shaking of the bones.
Luke 12:6 Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? 7 But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Job 20:11 His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust.
Unconfessed sins of youth affect the bones.

Ps 6:2 Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed.
We need the Lord's mercy when our bones are vexed and we are weak. Ask for God's mercy.

Ps 32:3 When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.
Holding bitterness within our hearts affects the bones. When we are dealing with difficult situations, holding it all in and not confiding in the Lord and godly friends to help us deal with it, can cause bitterness to brew in our hearts.

Ps 38:3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.
Unconfessed sin can give us unrest within our bones.

Ps 51:8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
Hearing joyful and glad things can bring healing to the bones. Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. {honest: or, venerable} (KJV)


Ps 102:5 By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin. {skin: or, flesh}
When we are in distress it affects our bones, can cause us to lose weight and make us malnourished making our bones cleave to our skin.

Pr 3:8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.
The verses prior to this indicate the following:
Trusting in the Lord.
Leaning not on my own understanding
Acknowledging the Lord in all my ways
Don't be wise in your own eyes
Fear the Lord
Depart from evil
Doing these things will bring health to the navel and marrow (life) to the bones.

Pr 14:30 ¶ A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.
Envy brings rottenness to the bones. Envy is another form of discontent. Philippians 4:11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. 1 Timothy 6:8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. Hebrews 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee


Pr 15:30 ¶ The light of the eyes rejoiceth the heart: and a good report maketh the bones fat.
Listen for good news. It has a positive affect on the bones.
Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. {honest: or, venerable} (KJV)

Pr 16:24 ¶ Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.
Give pleasant words to others and savor pleasant words others give to you. It helps the bones.Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. {honest: or, venerable} (KJV)


Pr 17:22 ¶ A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. {like: or, to}
When your are depressed and broken, it dries up the bones. Being happy and merry is like medicine.

The principles to follow:

1. Do not fear
2. Keep short accounts with God...don't allow sin to go unconfessed
3. Seek the Lord's mercy
4. Seek wisdom and help from a godly friend & the Lord when in a vexing situation. Don't hold things in and allow bitterness to develop
5. Focus on joyful, happy news, listen to uplifting music, read uplifting material
6. When in distress, be sure to eat nurishing food & drink plenty of fluids.
7. Trust in the Lord.
8. Lean not on my your understanding
9. Acknowledge the Lord in all your ways
10. Don't be wise in your own eyes
11. Fear the Lord
12. Depart from evil
13. Cultivate contentment (thankfulness)
14. Savour the pleasant words spoken to you & be generous to give pleasant words to others
15. Cultivate a happy spirit...look for things to smile and laugh about.

Devotional: Tongue Cleaner

James 3:8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

I was decluttering the bathroom junk drawer and came across two tongue cleaners that the dentist had given us. I put them in the "to keep" sack and didn't really think another thing of them. I went to bed and during the night while I was sleeping, God gave me this devotional. Strange how God works.

A tongue cleaner is a plastic implement that has a handle and has a thin rounded piece of plastic at the bottom with another rounded piece of plastic inside the half circle created by the first. They have nobbies on them. You put this near the back of your tongue as far as you can stand, and drag it forward along your tongue down the middle, then on each side. It scrapes all the debris off your tongue. It's really not a pretty sight.

We can clean our tongues physically with the tongue cleaner, but as we see from the verse above, it is full of deadly poison that can't be cleaned off with a tongue cleaner. That's not a pretty sight either.

There is another part of our body that needs to be cleaned before our tongue can be cleaned up. Luke 6:45 tells us, " A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh." Our hearts need to be cleaned up because what is in our hearts will eventually come rolling off our tongues if we are not very careful.

There are those who are able to hold back quite well from revealing what is in their hearts, but this is no different than the Pharisees to whom Jesus said, "Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness." (Luke 11:39 )

In Proverbs we are told that there are those who think they can make their own hearts clean. "Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?" (Proverbs 20:9). The answer to this question is that no one can make their own heart clean from sin. All the good works in the world and religious service to church can not acquit a person of their sin and make their heart clean before God. Isaiah 64:6 tells us, "we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags". When we try to make our hearts pure from sin by offering righteous, good works to God in exchange for His forgiveness, it's as if we are trying to pay for our sin and buy God's forgiveness by giving Him dirty rags. How repugnant!

The only way we can obtain forgiveness for our sin and have our hearts clean before God is through the shed blood and work of Jesus Christ on the cross for us. He offered the perfect payment on our behalf to God. Scripture says, " In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; (Ephesians 1:7) In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:" (Colossians 1:14)

Our only hope to have a clean tongue is to have a clean heart. We must fall on our knees and pray like David did: "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." (Psalm 51:10)

Humor: Not Planning to Paint the Barn

I was invited to a Mary Kay party. I am not going. I told my husband, "It seems silly for me to attend a party where I am not interested in the product. I don't wear makeup and never will, so why go?"

He said, "The barn doesn't need painting?"

I said, "I'm going to let it age naturally. Cheddar cheese gets better with age."

He said, "Hmmm, that's an interesting analogy. It also gets moldy with age."

Ok, he got me there! LOL! But that was sure a low blow! ha! He thought he was pretty smart and was chuckling that he got a rise out of me.

Welcome to All My Facebook friends!

If you came here because of my facebook status, I want to welcome you! I hope you will find some encouragement, some useful information and maybe a laugh or two along the way!

Homeschool: Ever Have One of Those Days?

Ever have one of those days when your pre-teen digs his/her heels in and refuses to work on a particular assignment and doesn't really care what privileges you take away or if he/she gets an F for not completing it? I have had those days lately...4 of them to be exact.


I began to wonder what it was going to take to motivate the child. Privileges were taken, the option of taking an F was revoked. He was told he would do the assignment, period! We dealt with this for four days without any progress.


I was in tears, crying out to God for help and wisdom. I had to run an errand and was contemplating not even going back home, but instead going to Starbucks to drown my frustrations in a Green Tea Latte. I resisted the temptation. It was a blessing, later, to go to the homeschool group meeting and find other moms deal with the same thing sometimes. I was in good company!


The good news is that we finally had a break through. After going through probably 50 story ideas and none of them were good enough, I gave him a story idea and said this was it. He was going to use this since he couldn't come up with his own and none of the others were "good enough". He didn't like my idea either. It wasn't "good enough", but I said, "That's too bad. No story idea will be good enough for you because you just don't want to do this assignment. So you are going to take this story idea and you are going to work with it and come up with a story from it whether you like it or not." He did.

You, see, I think he was testing me, to see just how far he could push me before I'd cave in and let him get away without doing what he didn't want to do. So, I won the battle. I am just praying that I will win the war in the long run and he will come out a better kid for it.

Parenting isn't for cowards, it's for warriors! It'll either make you or break you. It will drive you to your knees, crying out to God for help. But in between the battles, life is sweet. I love my kids. I want them to grow up to be responsible adults, and God wants to change me and grow me up into a Christlike, sanctified saint. So He uses my children to grow me up while He uses me to grow my children up. It's boot camp all around and boot camp is hard.

Frugal Friday!

It's Frugal Friday!

If you would like some frugal tips click on the icon above. It will take you to a website dedicated to Frugal Tips.

I do a lot of internet orders from websites. Some time ago I recommended http://retailmenot.com/ for a source of coupon codes where you might find discounts and special offers from the websites you order from. I have discovered that there are a number of sites similar to this where you can get discount and special off coupon codes. Here are a few I have found:

http://www.everydaysale.com/

http://couponcodes4u.com/

http://www.mycoupons.com/

http://www.mycoupons.com/

Marsha's Musings: When the Holy Spirit Prompts

Last week I had written a devotional dealing with death. I had planned to send it out to my email group and post it at Beyond Surviving Home School message boards. It was also planned to post here. I had printed a copy and was going to take it to my physical therapist too.

Somehow, I just couldn't publish it. There was nothing really wrong with it. But I just had an uneasiness about using it. It didn't really make sense, but instead of shrugging it off, I "listened". I just wasn't supposed to use that devotional for some reason.

So, Sunday morning, I came here...it had already posted an hour before, but I deleted it and put up the one I intended for next week and sent it out to my email list.

Sunday night, I opened my email to find an email from a lady on my list that I had not heard from in maybe a year or more. She poured her heart out to me about the circumstance she was in and told me how much she appreciated the devotional. She said it was just what she needed to hear.

Now I know why the Holy Spirit put that uneasiness in my heart that made me pull that other devotional off and send the other one instead. Thank you, Lord!

Homeschool: Growing in Favor with God and Man

I was reading my Bible in Proverbs the other day and read the verse below:

Proverbs 3:1 ¶ My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: 2 For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. 3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: 4 So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

Immediately, after I read this last part that I put in bold print, I thought, I've heard that part about favour in the sight of God and man before. It was in Luke 2:52 where it says, "Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man."

In the reading I've done on homeschooling, there is a lot of emphasis put on having a vision or goal for your children in your homeschooling. That goal should not be just getting through the academics, although that is a big part of homeschooling, it should be that our children increase in wisdom, grow up and increase in favour with God and man just as Jesus did.

How do we accomplish this task? First of all, we need to realize that dependence on God as parents is essential. We need to be in the Word regularly, daily preferably, seeking out God's will for us as parents and spouses and living out what God teaches us. Our example to our children will teach them volumes.

Secondly, we need to schedule regular times where the family comes to together to read the Bible and pray. Our family does this each evening around 8:15 or 8:30 depending on which day of the week it is. Once in a while we have to miss if there are holiday activities that go late or we are staying with grandparents etc., but if we are at home we make this a priority. Wisdom comes from the reading of the Bible and understanding what God wants of us.

Thirdly, plan curriculum into the children's school that point them toward God each day during their studies.

Fourthly, when I observe godly character traits in others, I point that out to my children. If I find them exhibiting godly character, then I make sure I let them know that I noticed.

Fifthly, make sure you attend a church that makes the teaching and preaching of the Bible its main priority. So many churches these days make entertainment or music the priority and the preaching and teaching of the deep truths of the Bible are relegated to the backseat almost as an afterthought. God speaks to us through His Word, the Bible and if it is not taught, then God does not speak to his people. Hosea 4:6 tells us, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children."(KJV)

There are times when I wonder if any of this is getting through to my children, and then there are other times when I "catch" them doing something that is an obvious outgrowth of the teaching they are getting from the Bible. That is encouraging to me.

When we and our children spend time learning what God has to say in the Bible about how we should live our lives, we and our children will be changed by it.

I must put a disclaimer here, however, there are parents who have faithfully done all this and yet their children have rejected Christ and gone their own ways. The parents have taken on a tremendous load of guilt thinking they did something wrong along the way. I want to say to these parents that if they have done what God has wanted them to do, they have no need to feel guilty if their children rebel. It is the child's responsibility to respond to God and obey Him. We parents have no control over how our kids are going to live their lives once they are out of our care. Our only responsibility is to lead and guide them toward Christ and God's Word. The rest if up to them. Remember too, that God is in control. He knows what He is doing. We may not understand His working even in this life, but He does have a plan and a purpose. So take heart.

A Politically Incorrect Quote--and I love it!

Of all the tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely expressed for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent ideological busybodies.---C.S. Lewis

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If you aren't as close to God as you once were, make no mistake about who moved.

Devotional: My Disappointments are God's Appointments

My Disappointments are God's Appointments

by Marsha Iddings

2 Corinthians 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Genesis 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

I was feeling a little discouraged and disappointed because I was down sick again for the third time in five weeks. I had all these plans of what I was going to accomplish during the school Christmas break, but I wasn't feeling like doing a whole lot anything. As I was sitting on my pity pot, I began to think about recent devotionals I had written on being a good steward of the circumstances I find myself in, be they good or bad and the thought popped into my head that my disappointments and God's appointments. I don't know if I had heard this somewhere else in the past or if it is a new idea that came to me, but it makes sense. In past devotionals I've written how that the good and the bad comes from God's hand. Satan may have a hand in it, but only in so far as God gives him leash. So, as I think of my disappointments, they really are God's appointments.

Think of the Apostle Paul. He had a thorn in the flesh that tormented him and he prayed three times asking God to remove it. God chose not too, but instead promised that His grace would be sufficient and His strength would be made perfect in Paul's weakness. God used Paul in a mighty way in spite of his physical ailment. Paul's disappointment was God's appointment.

Think of Joseph, tossed into the pit and then sold by his brothers to slave traders, taken to a foreign country and made to serve Potiphar there. Then to top it all off he was falsely accused and thrown into prison. Eventually, God intervened and he became second in command in the whole land of Egypt and was able to save his family from starvation. Joseph's disappointments were God's appointments.

What circumstance do you find yourself in today? Is it disappointing to you? God knows all about it. God has engineered the circumstances and your disappointment is God's appointment. God can and will use your disappointment for good in some way either in your own life or in the lives of others around you. Just watch and wait for Him to work.

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Every evening turn your worries over to God--He's going to be up all night anyway.

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Put everything in God's hand and eventually you will see God's hand in everything.

Frugal Friday

It's Frugal Friday!

Here is a TV clip on how to save money by organizing your mail. I wanted to embed the video here so you wouldn't have to go to the website, but their link for embeding the video seems to be broken...or at least that's the error message I kept getting when I tried to save it. So go to the website and watch the video. It's short and to the point. You'll have to endure some adverstisements since it is a TV news clip.

Ok, so it looks like when you go to the link, the video will not just start up for you...wait a minute and in the right hand column there will come up a list of videos for you to choose from. Choose "Ways to Save: Organize...". if it doesn't show, then type it in the video search box at the top of the video list. I hope this will work for you!

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If God sends a storm, He will also steer the vessel.

Marsha's Musings:The Prudent shall Keep Silence

Amos 5:13 Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.

I wondered why the prudent would keep silence in an evil time. We live in an evil time and there are many wicked things going on. After reading this, I understand better the rationale behind this verse. I can see where there is wisdom in keeping silence in some instances with those that would pervert morality and pervert the Bible. Many times they are bent on lashing out at any who would oppose them and will not repent of their wickedness no matter what is said to them. They only trample under foot what you try to show them from Scripture...so rather than have one's pearls trampled by swine, as the Bible puts it, better to keep silent and wait for God's judgment to come. So much for my commentary....read what the commentary below has to say:

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary:
shall keep silence--not mere silence of tongue, but the prudent shall keep himself quiet from taking part in any public or private affairs which he can avoid: as it is "an evil time," and one in which all law is set at naught. Eph 5:16 refers to this. Instead of impatiently agitating against irremediable evils, the godly wise will not cast pearls before swine, who would trample these, and rend the offerers (Mt 7:6), but will patiently wait for God's time of deliverance in silent submission (Ps 39:9).
Amos 5:13

Marsha's Musings: Preparing for the big Party

My daughter is having a dozen kids over to celebrate her recent 16th birthday tomorrow night. I sure hope everything comes off as planned.

I have been rescued by the moms of two of the boys who are part of a band that will play for her celebration and I didn't even know I was headed for trouble! They knew that my basement was too small for that much equipment and kids too and they also knew it was too small for that much noise from the amps. But I was blissfully heading into trouble not realizing any of this.

One of them called me up and told me she was really concerned about it and she and the other mom had talked and they had a solution. They would truck all the kids over to her garage where the boys have their stuff set up all the time and where they practice and the kids can have their concert there and then come back to our house for the food and games. Boy, it's nice to have friends like that who will rescue you when you don't even know you're headed for trouble! Thank you Lord!

Quiet Time Reflections: Jan. 8, 2009

Genesis 15:6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

It's interesting to me that all Abram had to do was to believe in the Lord and God counted it to him for righteousness. This agrees with the New Testament when it says, " (Act 16:31) And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.(KJV) So many try to add their good works to this. They get the cart in front of the horse when they do this. The good works don't count for anything when it comes to salvation. God doesn't save us on account of our good works. They are all tainted by sin. He saves us on account of our faith in Him. It's only after God saves us, that the good works mean anything at all.

Genesis 16:2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.

Abram's mistake was listening to his wife and doing as she asked. His wife should never have suggested such a thing. She was not acting in submission to God or her husband. Abram did not take the spiritual leadership as he should have and said, "no". The same thing happened with Adam and Eve.
We wives have great potential for influence. Do I use my influence with my husband for evil or for good? Am I acting in submission to God and to my husband?

Matthew 6:25 ¶ Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.(KJV)

I don't need to worry about the basic necessities of life. God will see that I have what I need if I seek His kingdom and His righteousness first. Of course this doesn't mean that I sit back and do nothing but read my Bible and pray because even the Bible says a man should not eat if he will not work.

2 Thessalonians 3:10 For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

2 Thessalonians 3:12 Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.(KJV)

God expects us to be hard workers and to earn our bread.

There's no need to fret about the future. Today has plenty of issues and trouble to deal with. No use adding tomorrow's troubles on top of today's trouble and making the pile insurmountable. Of course this doesn't mean we should not set some plans in motion to help make tomorrow better. It just means we should not fret and worry. Worry just paralyzes us so we can't do the things we should.

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Life involves tearing up one rough draft after another.

I can identify with this one! LOL!

Devotional: Joseph on the Providence of God

Genesis 41:52 And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.

I love Joseph. Here he was a teen age boy, thrown into a pit by his jealous brothers, sold to slave traders and taken to Egypt-- a strange country, framed by his boss's wife, thrown into prison and forgotten there for several years and then God gives him the interpretation of Pharaoh's dream and he is elevated to second in command of the whole land. He gives praise to God when he says, "God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction." Somehow, he had developed a perspective that caused him to see the hand of God in all his troubles. Take a look at the following verses:

Genesis 45:5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.

Genesis 45:7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

Genesis 45:8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

Genesis 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

Do you see the pattern of Joseph's thinking? God has caused me; God did send me;God sent me;it was not you that sent me...but God. God is the first cause of all things in Joseph's life and he knew it. Oh, how I want to develop this same mind set! Imagine what an impact it would have on our society if a generation of teenagers were raised up to have this mindset and the integrity of Joseph?!

Quiet Time Reflections: Jan. 7, 2008

A Promise:
Matthew 6:3,6,18 ...your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.

A Command to Obey:
Psalm 4:4-5 Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness.
Matthew 6:1...do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them.
Matthew 6:7...when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.

A Timeless Principle:
Psalm 4:8 I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
Matthew 6:8 Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.

How does this apply to my life?

1. Don't do charitable deeds for men to see.
2. Don't pray to be seen or heard by men.
3. Forgive those who wrong you.
4. Don't fast so others will know you are fasting.

Why? Your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly, otherwise you will have no reward from Him.

On understanding the fear of the Lord and finding the knowledge of God:

Proverbs 2:1-5 Wisdom is personified here.When it says "my" it is wisdom talking.

1. Recieve my words
2. Treasure my commands
3. Incline your ear to wisdom
4. Apply your heart to understanding
5. Cry out for discernment
6. Lift your voice for understanding
7. Seek her as silver
8. Search for her as for hidden treasure

THEN you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.

I can't expect to understand the fear of the Lord or find the knowledge of God unless I am very diligent in studying the Bibe and seeking it. Looking at the list above shows me that it takes WORK...hard work.

Marsha's Musings: Jesus' Temptation

In my Bible reading, I read something from the Old Testament, Psalms, Proverbs and from the New Testament. Recently I read the account of the temptation of Jesus in Matthew 4-1-25. I discovered three things here that are comforting to me. In 1 John 2:16, it says, "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."(KJV) It also says in Hebrews 4:15, "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." I will put some notes within the scripture quoted below that shows what God taught me from this.

Matthew 4:1 ¶ Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. Jesus was tempted in the area of the lust of the flesh. His flesh desired food.
4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus was tempted in the area of the pride of life. A proud person would take a dare.
7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.Jesus was tempted in the area of the lust of the eyes. He was offered something desirable but resisted it.
10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
11 Then the devil leaveth him,and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

So we see here that Jesus was tempted in all points such as we are and He is qualified to be a sympathetic high priest before the Father on our behalf. We need no other go-between or mediator between us and Father-God.

1Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

Daily Quiet Time Reflections: Jan. 6, 2009

Matthew 5:37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

Matthew 5:43 ¶ Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

From my Journal:
In the area of parenting, if my yes was yes and my no, no, there would be a lot less trouble perhaps.

God pours out His temporal blessings on both the good and the evil person. Therefore, if I am going to be conformed to His image, it follows that I should treat the evil person as good as I do the good person.
The question is, are there boundaries around this? I think of 2 John 1:9, "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. 10 ¶ If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: 11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds." I believe I can still treat this person in a civil manner, with kindness, but I need to let him know where he is departing from the Bible in his doctrine. I wonder too, when it says receive him not into your house, if this should be taken to mean under any circumstance or can one invite them into the house for the purposes of discussing where their doctrine does not line up with the Bible? Just some questions in my mind. I suppose it would be safer to meet them in a public place if further discussion seems to be in order. Since Scripture doesn't specify, perhaps the prudent thing would be to obey it literally in this instance.

Daily Quiet Time Reflections: Jan. 5, 2009

Proverbs 1:23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

Matthew 5:13 ¶ Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

My Journal:
Repentance is required for God to pour out His spirit on me and make His Word known to me (give me understanding of His revealed Word NOT give new revelation). This is my relation to God.

My relation to others is to be salt and light. How might my salt lose its flavor? By tolerating respectable sins in my life, such as complaining, discontentment, drawing attention to myself instead of pointing to God. My attitude and actions are key to being salt and light in the world.

Daily Quiet Time Reflections: Jan. 4, 2009

I started reading through the Bible again when the New Year started and as I read I write down any promises, commands and timeless principles I find, as well as any questions that come up in my mind about what I am reading. I also write down how my reading applies to my life and I write out my prayer each day.

I am reading in Genesis and a some questions for further study came to my mind concerning the following verses:

Genesis 1:26 ¶ And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Genesis 3:22 ¶ And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

Genesis 5:1 ¶ This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;

Genesis 5:3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:

These are the questions and conclusions I came to about these verses:What does it mean when it says, God created man in His image? It can't mean physical image since God is not a man.

(Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.)

It has been said man was created in the moral image of God being pure and not knowing good and evil until he ate of the fruit--yet when man sinned then God said he became "like one of Us to know good and evil". If knowing good and evil is what constitutes the image of God, then how were Adam and Eve in the image of God before they knew good and evil? If man wasn't created knowing good and evil, but we know he was morally pure, perhaps this is the image of God...God is pure and He created man morally pure. God does know good and evil but yet He is pure and all his works are righteous.

(Daniel 9:14 "Therefore the LORD has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice.)

When man sinned, he acquired the knowledge of good and evil, but his morally pure nature, the image of God, was corrupted. When God said that man had become like Us knowing good and evil, that was all God was referring to in that statement...the knowledge of good and evil..only one aspect of God's nature. God knew that man would not be able to remain pure and know good and evil at the same time. So, the image of God in man was corrupted, only to be restored by Jesus Christ through His death, burial and resurrection when we believe on Him for salvation.

( Romans 5:9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
Romans 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Ephesians 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Colossians 3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
Ephesians 4:22,24-25 10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:)

I see in these verses that the image of God is restored when we are given a new nature when we are saved. .However, we are not perfected in this life. We still have the sin nature to do battle with. Our pastor said, that when it comes to Christians, God is not in a building project, He is in a restoration project, restoring us back to His image and likeness. That takes time and won't be completed until the Day of Jesus Christ when He takes us home to heaven.

The verse that says "Adam...begat a son in his own likeness, after his image;" confused me because it comes just a couple verses down from where it says, "In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;".It would be easy for one to conclude that these two verses taken together mean literally that God must be like man since Adam's son was in his own likeness and it says that Adam was in the likeness of God, then it must follow that God must be a man, but just a little higher in rank than the rest of us. However, as we saw above, God is not a man, man was made in the image of God in that he was created morally pure, so it follows, the son that Adam begat was in his likeness after his image in that he was morally corrupt.

A definition from the American Tract Society Dictionary was helpful to me:

IMAGE An exact and complete copy or counterpart of any thing. Christ is called "the image of God," 2 Cor. 4:4; Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:3, as being the same in nature and attributes. The image of God in which man was created, Gen. 1:27 was in his spiritual, intellectual, and moral nature, in righteousness and true holiness. The posterity of Adam were born in his fallen, sinful likeness, Gen. 5:3; and as we have borne the image of sinful Adam, so we should be molded into the moral image of the heavenly man Christ, 1 Cor 15:47-49; 2 Cor 3:18.

I hope my the process I went through to understand is helpful to you if you have ever questioned these things too.

Marsha's Musings: Sarah's 16th Birthday Today

Sarah is my first-born. Today she is sixteen years old. Hard to believe. We never thought we would have any children. Sarah was born after we had been married ten years. Here are some thoughts I found in my journals from before I became pregnant with her.

November 6, 1989
Psalm 143:7 ¶ Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. 8 Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.

November 9, 1989
I never finished the above entry except to write out the Scripture. I was so depressed, so discouraged; I spent the whole evening in tears. I was teary the whole day. I just was feeling as if we will never have any babies to call our own whether adopted or natural. I felt as if my prayers were never getting any higher than the ceiling. Holidays are getting more and more difficult because they center around children. So many things center around children and it has really been getting me down.

June 15, 1990
I heard Chuck Swindoll speaking on John 21:15-25 where Jesus asks Peter three times, "Do you love me? Fee my lambs."
Peter then saw John and said, "What about him?"
Jesus said, "What is that to you? Follow me!"
Chuck Swindoll applied it in a number of ways, but the hardest one he used was, "Lord, my neighbor has five kids already and is pregnant with one! What about that Lord?"
And Jesus answers, "What is that to you? Follow me!"
Jesus wants me to get my eyes off the others who have what I want, who get "better lots" in life and keep my eyes on Him and follow Him. He will lead me to the place He wants me. I need to be content in His will.

May 16, 1992
God is a God of surprises! I am pregnant!

So now we fast forward sixteen years and nine months ahead and that brings us to Sarah's sixteenth birthday. What a blessing she has been to us! Happy Birthday, Sarah!

Devotional: Complacency

Zephaniah 1:12 And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil. (KJV)

The New King James Version renders the verse above like this:

"And it shall come to pass at that time That I will search Jerusalem with lamps, And punish the men Who are settled in complacency, Who say in their heart, 'The LORD will not do good, Nor will He do evil.' (NKJV)

This verse stood out to me as I was reading my Bible recently. Complacency is an offence to Almighty God. I looked the word up in the dictionary. This is what it said:

"excessively pleased with oneself; contented; self-satisfied"

I see complacency as being prideful, contented with one's own self. Complacency says, "God is not involved in my life, I am the captain of my own fate." It is feeling smug about one's own accomplishments and not giving glory to God.

In reading Jerry Bridges' book, "Respectable Sins", I find the chapter on pride to fit in nicely with this devotional that I started writing several weeks ago. Although he doesn't mention the word complacency, I see that what he talks about is a form of complacency. He touches on the following in his book.

Complacency can come in the form of the Pharisee who said, "God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican." (Luke 18:11) Jesus related this story to those who "trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others". (Luke 18:9) It's a self-righteousness that looks down it's bony nose at others who are not as "righteous" as we are.

Oh, how easy it is to be like this! How often have we sat around in our group of church friends and smugly talked about the sins of society and how thankful we are to have "seen the light" and are not like that? This is complacency. In reality we are all capable of the gross sins of society, it's only by the grace of God that we aren't involved in them. That is nothing to be proud of, but rather a humbling thought as it brings home the fact of our sinful natures.

How often do we live our lives like this, either proud of our accomplishments or proud that we are more righteous than others? I am ashamed to admit that I have done this very thing and God is not pleased. May we seek to honor Him in the attitudes of our hearts and lives.

Quote

It's possible to own too much. A man with one watch knows what time it is, while a man with two watches is never quite sure.---Lee Segall

Homeschool: Career Fair

If you hear of a school in your area hosting a Career Fair, I would highly recommend that you inquire to see if you can bring your kids to it.  This past week, I took my kids to a two day Career Fair Event at a local middle school.  It was very educational for both of them.  To my son's dismay, he learned that math and science are very important subjects to work at.  Almost every professional we approached, we asked what subjects would be most important to be good at to work in their line of work.  Nearly all of them said math or science or both.  

A physics professor from a college gave us a really good piece of advice.  He said when a child is in Junior high and high school he/she should take all the math and science they can get.  The more they take before high school graduation, the less they will have to take in college.  This will save them time and money in the long run.  He said that if most kids would do this one thing, it can easily save them up to two years of college time taking general requirements.  That is a huge cost savings when you think of college tuition, books and room and board.

My daughter got to talk to a professional photographer and he said we can arrange for her to job shadow him for a period of time if we like.  She really wants to do this because she is really interested in photography.

We talked to gal that didn't look a day over 25 years old who is a funeral director.  She did a good job of making it look like an attractive career.  My kids went away unconvinced, however.

The biggest point of curiosity, however, was the local forensic artist.  He is with the Sheriff's Office and is only one of 12 forensic artists in the United States.  What fascinated us was that he can draw a picture of a criminal from a person's description and hit it dead on 66% of the time.  He had a drawing there he did before he ever saw a photo of the person and clipped to the photo was a photograph taken after the man was caught.  They were nearly identical.  He said if I were to ask him to draw a picture of me he couldn't do it.  But if I were to be closed up in a closet and someone described to him what I looked like, he could draw a picture of me that would be very accurate.  Amazing.

I say all of this to encourage you to keep your eyes and ears open for Career Fairs near you if you homeschool.  You never know what might pique your child's interest, so it's good to expose them to a lot of different career opportunities.

Homeschool: Standardized Testing

Do you have your children tested each year using a standardized test such as the Iowa Test of Basic Skills?

The state that I live in, Washington, requires this each year of homeschoolers. It's kind of silly we are required to do this since nobody ever asks to see the results. We just file it away in a notebook each year.

Even though it is silly we are required to do it when on one ever asks to see it, I still think it is a good idea even if I were not required to do it. It gives me as a homeschooling parent, a general idea of where my kids are at in their studies. It helps me identify weak areas that we need to spend more time on and it shows me where they are strong. It has been a valuable aid to planning their studies.

Of course one has to remember that these tests are not always accurate. If your child is having a bad day on test day, it will be reflected in how well they do. If you child accidentally turns two pages or skips a row of dots, of course this will make it look like she/he has failed miserably on that section when in fact they may have had all the answers correct, but mistakenly got them recorded on the wrong dots. This is an area where I as a parent/proctor comes in...I need to be alert to where my child is marking his answers so he gets them in the right place on the answer book. Since I sit right next to my child during testing, I can be alert to problems he has during testing and take that into account when the results come back.

I would encourage homeschoolers to all take a standardized test regularly just to see where they are and to identify weak areas and strong areas. It's worth it.

Frugal Friday

It's Frugal Friday!

If you would like some frugal tips click on the icon above. It will take you to a website dedicated to Frugal Tips.

What better way to start the New Year then with a budget to help you save money and spend your money wisely? Go to http://www.budget5000.com/ and set up a budget. I use it and love it.

Marsha's Musings: Happy New Year's Day!

Here's my well-wishes for all my readers to have a Happy New Year!

My New Year's Day was spent being quite lazy. Well, I guess I have an excuse of sorts. I am sick, trying to rest and drinking lots of liquids and taking naps. Outside of not feeling really great, it's been a very nice New Year's Day for me. I needed the rest. God is good to give me days like this where I can relax and catch up on needed rest. Thank you, Lord!