To Build a Kingdom...

Why am I here???  What is my purpose?  What does/will God want me to do?

I've heard the song "To Count for Jesus" many times before, but several times this past week I've heard it again, and the phrase "to build a kingdom" has really jumped out at me!
That's what we're supposed to be doing.
But what are we doing???



Or listen here.  (music starts around 1:00)

♪ ♫ To Count For Jesus 

All want their lives to count for something;

To leave their mark when life is through.

But vain pursuits will count for nothing:

Time will erase what ‘ere we do.

I want my life to count for Jesus,

For earthly things will quickly fade.

No need to add to worldly riches;

I only seek eternal gain.

Inside my heart there burned a question,

What was I placed on earth here for?

It truly was to build a kingdom;

Not of my own but of the Lord’s.

I want my life to count for Jesus,

For earthly things will quickly fade.

No need to add to worldly riches;
I only seek eternal gain.

Matthew 6: 19-21
"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
"But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
"For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."


I've been reading in Ezra and Nehemiah about God's people who were carried away captive to Babylon and later returned to Jerusalem.  Under much opposition and accusations, they re-built the temple.  And then began re-building the walls and gates of Jerusalem.  Again, more opposition!
One thing that spoke to me was when the men were building the walls, knowing there were enemies trying to stop them, that "one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon."  (Nehemiah 4:17)
Sometimes we are so busy trying to keep the enemy out, that we aren't really doing God's work.
We dress right outwardly, talk right, don't watch ungodly movies, go to the right places, help in activities, and as far as anyone knows, we are generally good people.

But do we tell others about Jesus?
We are here to build a kingdom for Him!

Mark 16:15
"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."

At a revival service last night, "To Count for Jesus" was one of the songs sung.  There was a lot of testifying, and one man said, "Why wait for somebody else to do it when God can use you?"

I have three more years homeschooling my children.  I may not know where I will be after that, or exactly what God wants me to do then, but one thing I know -- He wants me to win souls, now and always.

Apologia Physical Science, Module 2 - Air

•What we did 2010
•Videos for this module

Air takes up space!  I mean, it really does!
Just look at these pics of kids trying to blow up a balloon inside a 2-liter bottle.
Since the opening of the bottle is sealed with the balloon, and the bottle is full of air, there is no room for the balloon to expand.

But Look!  What is this???
Why can JohnDavid blow up his balloon???





We all had a good laugh over that one!  =)



In Experiment 2.2, Oxygen and Fire, I also added Carbon Dioxide.  I wanted them to remember that oxygen feeds fire, and that the heavier carbon dioxide displaces the oxygen-containing air around the candle, suffocating the fire.
(Here is a neat way to pour CO2 onto a lit candle and extinguish it!  With a bit more explanation about displacing oxygen.)

Hydrogen peroxide and yeast produce oxygen.
Vinegar and baking soda produce carbon dioxide.

But first, an overflow!  Woopsie! =D



Okay, here we go...
CO2 in the yellow balloon; oxygen in the white balloon.



They always have fun when we make a mess!

sMiLeS,

I Have a Goodly Heritage ♪♫

Chick-fil-A, after a revival service.
(my girls are the ones in the purple and green sweaters)




sMiLeS,

I have prepared with all my might...

King David had wanted to build the LORD a temple, but God chose David's son Solomon to build it.

I Chronicles 28
2. "Then David the king stood up upon his feet, and said, Hear me, my brethren, and my people: As for me, I had in mine heart to build an house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and for the footstool of our God, and had made ready for the building:
3. "But God said unto me, Thou shalt not build an house for my name, because thou hast been a man of war, and hast shed blood."
5. "...he hath chosen Solomon."

How many times do we feel slighted if we are passed over and someone else is chosen?
Do we sit down and pout and say, "Well then, I just won't do anything."
David didn't sit down and give up.  He got busy preparing for the work of the temple!  Even though he himself wouldn't be able to do the work, he wanted to do what he could.

I Chronicles 29
2.  "Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for things to be made of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and the brass for things of brass, the iron for things of iron, and wood for things of wood; onyx stones, and stones to be set, glistering stones, and of divers colours, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance."

I love that phrase, "I have prepared with all my might..."  
Do we do that?  Even though we're not able to be in the limelight, or get to do a job we like, do we do the background work with all our might?
Maybe we need to do a job we even dislike, but if it is for the Lord, do we do our best?  Or are we half-hearted because we feel we should be chosen to do something more "important."  Do you presume any work of the Lord unimportant?

What was the result of David's preparation and his willingness to also give his own offering?

I Chronicles 29:9
"Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the LORD: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy."

The next time you're cleaning toilets at the church, or staying behind to do cleanup after everyone else has left, and maybe no one even notices, just remember that you should be doing it for the Lord.  If you're disgruntled because no one notices, you're doing it for man's approval; for self-gratification.
What you do in the background may not seem important, but it isn't done for man; it is for the Lord.

I Chronicles 29:1
"... the work is great; for the palace is not for man, but for the LORD God."

sMiLeS,


P.S.  Homeschool moms, and stay-at-home-moms, there was once a time when I felt so useless.  I felt like a candle burning at both ends.  My Mom told me that I was a candle.  And I was being used.  And I should be letting my light shine in my little area for my kids, because I was doing a work with them in preparing them.
You never know what your kids can become if you just let His light shine through you!

But... a confession... I didn't do that.  I was the disgruntled person.  My husband took my kids to multiple youth meetings and various revivals for years, and they eventually began reading their Bibles on their own.  They began to want to go to other church meetings.  So much so, that I never kept a calendar for I knew they'd remind us when a meeting was coming up.
I didn't always go with them, and that almost became a costly mistake.  I noticed that only one of my children always wanted to go; the other two varied, and sometimes wanted to stay home with me.  One more than the others.  I got worried and decided I'd better go with my family as much as I could, even though I like being at home.  But I began to love going as well!  The Lord has something in every sermon for me, and sometimes I'm sure it's not what the preacher intended, but I get something I need!
He does always know what we need, doesn't He?  =)

Colossians 3:23
And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men. 

I Corinthians 10:31
Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

Apologia Physical Science, Module 1, The Basics

•What we did 2010
•Videos for this module

This is my second time around with Physical Science!  And I think I like it the best.  (But I also said that about Biology, and some modules of General Science, haha.)

Exp. 1.1, Atoms and Molecules
A 9V battery and copper wire in water w/ baking soda... bubbles coming from the ends of the wires...
Copper atoms were able to link together with oxygen atoms, hydrogen atoms, and carbon atoms to form molecules of copper hydroxycarbonate on the end of one of the wires.

Basically atoms and elements are the same thing. 

But an atom is just the smallest amount of an element.

Read this ice cream analogy.

We talked about how atoms link together to make molecules, and how formulas for molecules were written to indicate how many of each atom actually made up a particular molecule.  H2O means that there are 2 atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen in a molecule of water.
I had written out several chemical formulas and assigned colors to each element (atom).  The kids used Legos to "build" the molecules.  They used a variety of ways to put them together, haha, but I only cared that they knew how to read a chemical formula, and that individual atoms were what made up a molecule.

From left to right:  JohnDavid (my son), Caleb (my nephew), Bethany (my daughter
and JohnDavid's twin), Sarah (who is new this year!), and Courtney her sister.  =)

As you can see by the grins in these pics, my son keeps us laughing.  =)

We also did Exp. 1.3, Concentration, with the Tums and vinegar, and we did some conversions between units using the factor/label method.  It was pretty simple once they got the hang of it.  And they could watch the videos at home for review (in section 4).


sMiLeS,

Update on the Dead Body!

Read the first post if you haven't already.


Update:
Upon posting about this on facebook and getting feedback and (hindsight) advice from my friends, we have determined that there WAS a dead body, and the "surveyors" had to keep up their deception so we wouldn't suspect anything.
And the police were here to set up a sting, but when the surveyors got here, my son and I walked out and ruined it.
But a couple of weeks later, the surveyors came back!  We figured they thought the coast was clear!  We hid inside and pretended no one was home.  We purposely didn't look out the windows so that we wouldn't be witnesses.
Since it has been 3 more weeks, and they haven't been back, we've concluded they're not coming back because they did indeed do away with the body.
Whew!  So relieved.  I could not stand being the Witness Protection Program!  I like the name Marty, and no way I could give up homeschooling and blogging.
They'd find us in no time!

P.S.  Should I delete the facebook post?  hee hee! =D


sMiLeS,