Ecclesiastes 10:20
"...be sure your sin will find you out."
Numbers 32:23
Monday, November 26, 2012
A little bird told me...
"Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter."
Ecclesiastes 10:20
"...be sure your sin will find you out."
Numbers 32:23
Ecclesiastes 10:20
"...be sure your sin will find you out."
Numbers 32:23
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Por aquí pasó un caballo/The Learnables
The Learnables - books with no writing, only pictures.
Basic Structures - has pictures with sentences
I must say first, that I really do not recommend the students looking at how the Spanish word is spelled until waaayy after they really have the pronunciation down pat. (I mean, we teach babies how to talk long before we teach them to read, lol.) 😄
Basic Structures - has pictures with sentences
I must say first, that I really do not recommend the students looking at how the Spanish word is spelled until waaayy after they really have the pronunciation down pat. (I mean, we teach babies how to talk long before we teach them to read, lol.) 😄
Update: Looking at the computer versions on The Learnables website, however, I am not sure if they are adding in the written sentences now, or if the samples shown are to go along with the second book, Basic Structures.
You may contact them for current information.
You may contact them for current information.
I recommend caution here... I know that for some people, (this is from experience) seeing the spelling can actually make them start mispronouncing words, after they had already learned them correctly.
It may be better to do as I accidentally ended up doing, not even showing them anything until well into Lesson 4 - nearly eight weeks in. 🙂
►Possibly a better option, if you have good pronunciation yourself, is to simply pronounce each individual word when introduced in The Learnables.
It may be better to do as I accidentally ended up doing, not even showing them anything until well into Lesson 4 - nearly eight weeks in. 🙂
It did work out fine, even though they had some misconceptions early on. But pronunciation was great, especially for one kid, lol.
►Possibly a better option, if you have good pronunciation yourself, is to simply pronounce each individual word when introduced in The Learnables.
I'm talking about the verbs in sentences that are not introduced individually in the lesson. (You can look in the second book, Basic Structures, if you are having trouble catching all the words.)
The main vocabulary words are spoken alone and should present no trouble for students, but verbs and connecting words are added into the sentences and sometimes consist of more than one word, and are run together, just like we do in the English language.
A real-life example is how I learned this little rhyme as a teenager, and did not know until well into adulthood when I decided to google it one day, that I had some things wrong, lol.
► Watch here
Por aquí pasó un caballo, (A horse passed by here)
con las patas al revés. (with his feet backwards)
Si me dices cuántos tiene, (If you ask me how many he has)
te diré que diez y seis. (I will say 16)
uno, dos, tres, cuatro, (1, 2, 3, 4)
cinco, seis, siete, ocho, (5, 6, 7, 8)
nueve, diez, once, doce, (9, 10, 11, 12)
trese, catorce, quince, diez y seis! (13, 14, 15, 16!)
This is a hand-clapping game I learned as a young teenager from my best friend and her sisters. Their dad, a native Spanish speaker, was my Spanish teacher in high school.
I learned this rhyme by sound, not knowing how anything was spelled, or even what most of the individual words were. I did know what the rhyme was about, but it was like one long string of sounds with pauses at the ends of each phrase.
The other day I was around two cute little Spanish girls that knew no English, and I wanted to teach this to them! (It would also have been fun if they already knew it!) But because it had been well over 20 years since I had learned it, I was unsure whether I had it right, and didn't want to accidentally say something bad!
So I called my best friend, and YES! I did know it! Mostly. I had an e and i reversed (saying ti dere instead of te diré), and left off the s from dices in the third line.
I also didn't realize al revés was not arre bes, and that Por aquí pasó un caballo was not pora kipa sun caballo. Which is how I had been thinking of it all this time. (I have no idea if those are even real words, so I hope they're not bad!) Pasó un is run together so that the o is barely or not even heard.
Even though having learned it well, I am now having a hard time wrapping my mind around the individual words I see written! But other than about four words, I already knew what each word meant (although I didn't realize it until I saw them all written out). But in my mind, I still see the "old" words I had formed in my head long ago.
A real-life example is how I learned this little rhyme as a teenager, and did not know until well into adulthood when I decided to google it one day, that I had some things wrong, lol.
► Watch here
Por aquí pasó un caballo, (A horse passed by here)
con las patas al revés. (with his feet backwards)
Si me dices cuántos tiene, (If you ask me how many he has)
te diré que diez y seis. (I will say 16)
uno, dos, tres, cuatro, (1, 2, 3, 4)
cinco, seis, siete, ocho, (5, 6, 7, 8)
nueve, diez, once, doce, (9, 10, 11, 12)
trese, catorce, quince, diez y seis! (13, 14, 15, 16!)
This is a hand-clapping game I learned as a young teenager from my best friend and her sisters. Their dad, a native Spanish speaker, was my Spanish teacher in high school.
I learned this rhyme by sound, not knowing how anything was spelled, or even what most of the individual words were. I did know what the rhyme was about, but it was like one long string of sounds with pauses at the ends of each phrase.
The other day I was around two cute little Spanish girls that knew no English, and I wanted to teach this to them! (It would also have been fun if they already knew it!) But because it had been well over 20 years since I had learned it, I was unsure whether I had it right, and didn't want to accidentally say something bad!
So I called my best friend, and YES! I did know it! Mostly. I had an e and i reversed (saying ti dere instead of te diré), and left off the s from dices in the third line.
I also didn't realize al revés was not arre bes, and that Por aquí pasó un caballo was not pora kipa sun caballo. Which is how I had been thinking of it all this time. (I have no idea if those are even real words, so I hope they're not bad!) Pasó un is run together so that the o is barely or not even heard.
Even though having learned it well, I am now having a hard time wrapping my mind around the individual words I see written! But other than about four words, I already knew what each word meant (although I didn't realize it until I saw them all written out). But in my mind, I still see the "old" words I had formed in my head long ago.
If I had been told each individual word, that would have helped greatly.
Which brings me to The Learnables.
(Click ↑ to see my review, and video of a partial lesson.)
About three days into the first lesson (usually a lesson can take about 2 weeks to learn), my son came through the door spouting an entire sentence in Spanish with a perfect accent! La señora está comiendo la manzana. Sounded perfect to me! 😊
So I was pretty pleased.
But recently, my daughter wanted to know how to say a phrase in Spanish that had words we hadn't yet learned. We talked about how to say several other things as well, and I discovered that she had really misunderstood some of the words from the native Spanish speaker on The Learnables CD. 😯
(Similar to when my oldest daughter was small and wrote "cow" as "cal." LOL! Okay, sounds the same! But actually not even close.)
This was a little dismaying to me since we are already in Lesson 4! Nearly eight weeks!
With The Learnables, you learn one word at a time, then put them together in phrases, then sentences.
I told them how a rolled r sounds kind of like t or d. Otto and aro sound very similar, except for slight difference in the ending o's.
Since they knew how to pronounce the numbers 1-10, I then went over the spelling of those and we sounded them out according to what we had learned about vowel pronunciation. I also wrote down several made up words to see if they could read them according to what we had learned about vowels.
We then went over orally come (com-eh) and comiendo (eats, eating) and bebe and bebiendo (drinks, drinking) since they had learned both of those forms separately, and may not have connected them.
The kids do fine at listening and knowing what is being said, but still were not quite catching all the words, and sometimes were making 2 words in their head where there should be one, and vice versa.
So I'm making some changes, but first we will be going back over all the words they've learned in the previous lessons.
We will have actual objects (when possible), and they will be doing things I say. Drink, drinking; eat, eating; bring, put, etc, different objects. We'll spend a few days reading some things aloud, like the numbers 1-10 and some short words I make up, working on vowel pronunciation.
I'll spend as much time as needed before jumping back into Lesson 4, and then we will start my new plan.
After letting the kids listen to a new lesson for a couple of days, we will take a day to go over aloud the individual words, such as action words, etc, that are in the sentences but are not pronounced alone in the lesson.
After a week (or more?), I may let them see the written words... I will just read aloud from the Basic Structures book while they read along silently, and they can try it when they're ready. I will also make up some of my own sentences with those words.
If things go well, we will review briefly for a couple more days (with them continuing the CD) just to head off any misconceptions.
Learn to hear the difference.
Sometimes the I, you, he, they, part of the sentence will have different forms. For example, one sentence may say, The man is eating. (El hombre está comiendo). The next sentence with the same picture may say, He is eating. (El está comiendo) The verb form will be the same in both sentences.
Hearing the endings of the verb will help you understand who/how many is laughing, eating, etc.
traer - to bring
Again, if seeing the spelling starts to cause a problem, just orally explain the differences in conjugating a few verbs as you come to them (and only in the forms learned so far), and practice them so that they can get the pattern.
The next verb form introduced is plural. The verbs usually end in the letter n.
Students really do not need to know the spelling at this point. They just need to listen for the differences, and will begin to catch them more easily as they repeat the lessons. 🙂
sMiLeS,
(Click ↑ to see my review, and video of a partial lesson.)
About three days into the first lesson (usually a lesson can take about 2 weeks to learn), my son came through the door spouting an entire sentence in Spanish with a perfect accent! La señora está comiendo la manzana. Sounded perfect to me! 😊
So I was pretty pleased.
But recently, my daughter wanted to know how to say a phrase in Spanish that had words we hadn't yet learned. We talked about how to say several other things as well, and I discovered that she had really misunderstood some of the words from the native Spanish speaker on The Learnables CD. 😯
(Similar to when my oldest daughter was small and wrote "cow" as "cal." LOL! Okay, sounds the same! But actually not even close.)
This was a little dismaying to me since we are already in Lesson 4! Nearly eight weeks!
With The Learnables, you learn one word at a time, then put them together in phrases, then sentences.
But I discovered that my son thought of "está comiendo" (is eating) as "estaco miendo." Hmph.
But even if the purpose of not seeing the words is so that you won't mispronounce them, your mind still will think of how they are spelled. Maybe not actually spelling them out in your head, but it hears the sounds and interprets this as letters. Cow and cal. 😄
So I let them look at the first couple of pages in the Basic Structures book (2nd book in the series), which has pictures and sentences that use words from the lessons in The Learnables. My daughter was amazed at how the words were spelled.
We also went over vowel sounds, and I gave them English words to help them remember how the vowel can sound in Spanish: a in father; e in bed; i in pita (pita bread); u in nuke. The Spanish o is tricky. With our Southern accent, I can tell them it sounds like the beginning of oil, but I have no idea how to get that across in written instructions. lol.
But even if the purpose of not seeing the words is so that you won't mispronounce them, your mind still will think of how they are spelled. Maybe not actually spelling them out in your head, but it hears the sounds and interprets this as letters. Cow and cal. 😄
So I let them look at the first couple of pages in the Basic Structures book (2nd book in the series), which has pictures and sentences that use words from the lessons in The Learnables. My daughter was amazed at how the words were spelled.
We also went over vowel sounds, and I gave them English words to help them remember how the vowel can sound in Spanish: a in father; e in bed; i in pita (pita bread); u in nuke. The Spanish o is tricky. With our Southern accent, I can tell them it sounds like the beginning of oil, but I have no idea how to get that across in written instructions. lol.
I told them how a rolled r sounds kind of like t or d. Otto and aro sound very similar, except for slight difference in the ending o's.
Since they knew how to pronounce the numbers 1-10, I then went over the spelling of those and we sounded them out according to what we had learned about vowel pronunciation. I also wrote down several made up words to see if they could read them according to what we had learned about vowels.
We then went over orally come (com-eh) and comiendo (eats, eating) and bebe and bebiendo (drinks, drinking) since they had learned both of those forms separately, and may not have connected them.
And that trae (trah-eh) is brings, and pone (po-neh) is puts. My daughter had said she was having a hard time catching whatever it was the waiter did, which was trae. El camarero trae más café. (The waiter brings more coffee.)
The sentences are getting longer now in Lesson 4. El camarero pone la taza de café sobre la mesa del hombre. (The waiter puts the cup of coffee on the table of the man, i.e, the man's table. De and el are joined as del.)
The sentences are getting longer now in Lesson 4. El camarero pone la taza de café sobre la mesa del hombre. (The waiter puts the cup of coffee on the table of the man, i.e, the man's table. De and el are joined as del.)
The kids do fine at listening and knowing what is being said, but still were not quite catching all the words, and sometimes were making 2 words in their head where there should be one, and vice versa.
So I'm making some changes, but first we will be going back over all the words they've learned in the previous lessons.
We will have actual objects (when possible), and they will be doing things I say. Drink, drinking; eat, eating; bring, put, etc, different objects. We'll spend a few days reading some things aloud, like the numbers 1-10 and some short words I make up, working on vowel pronunciation.
I'll spend as much time as needed before jumping back into Lesson 4, and then we will start my new plan.
After letting the kids listen to a new lesson for a couple of days, we will take a day to go over aloud the individual words, such as action words, etc, that are in the sentences but are not pronounced alone in the lesson.
After a week (or more?), I may let them see the written words... I will just read aloud from the Basic Structures book while they read along silently, and they can try it when they're ready. I will also make up some of my own sentences with those words.
►►If this creates a problem, we may just only do orally, no reading, with me pronouncing individual verbs or other words that are not introduced individually in the lesson.
If things go well, we will review briefly for a couple more days (with them continuing the CD) just to head off any misconceptions.
We will keep reviewing letter sounds so that eventually they will actually be able to read even unfamiliar Spanish words. This is my "starter" idea. I'll know more how to proceed as we get into it, since as usual, homeschool moms tweak as they go, adjusting to fit the needs of each child.
Some things I added:
The spelling of the words in each lesson is listed in the back of the Basic Structures book, but I wrote a few verbs (see at the bottom of this post) on my small dry erase board and let them copy them in their notebook. This helped them notice the endings of the verbs.
If you are having trouble with the verbs, for conjugation, I use SpanishDict.com/conjugate. (currently have to scroll way down to see it) I just use the first row down, which is present tense.
If I don't know what a verb means, I use the translate section of SpanishDict.com, find the "to ____" verb, then go back and type the Spanish word into the conjugate section of the website.
We aren't memorizing the conjugation, but after a few regular (not irregular) verbs, they saw the pattern. So each time a new verb is introduced, we go over the differences orally, and they will be able to hear the difference of se ríe and se ríen. (he laughs, they laugh)
Some things I added:
The spelling of the words in each lesson is listed in the back of the Basic Structures book, but I wrote a few verbs (see at the bottom of this post) on my small dry erase board and let them copy them in their notebook. This helped them notice the endings of the verbs.
If you are having trouble with the verbs, for conjugation, I use SpanishDict.com/conjugate. (currently have to scroll way down to see it) I just use the first row down, which is present tense.
If I don't know what a verb means, I use the translate section of SpanishDict.com, find the "to ____" verb, then go back and type the Spanish word into the conjugate section of the website.
We aren't memorizing the conjugation, but after a few regular (not irregular) verbs, they saw the pattern. So each time a new verb is introduced, we go over the differences orally, and they will be able to hear the difference of se ríe and se ríen. (he laughs, they laugh)
Learn to hear the difference.
Sometimes the I, you, he, they, part of the sentence will have different forms. For example, one sentence may say, The man is eating. (El hombre está comiendo). The next sentence with the same picture may say, He is eating. (El está comiendo) The verb form will be the same in both sentences.
Hearing the endings of the verb will help you understand who/how many is laughing, eating, etc.
Note the word endings below:
ríer - to laugh
I laugh -- yo río (REE-yo)you laugh -- tú ríes (REE-es)
he/she laughs -- él/ella ríe (REE-eh)
we laugh -- nosotros reímos (re-EE-mos)
they laugh -- ellos/ellas ríen (REE-en)
poner - to put
I laugh -- yo pongo
you laugh -- tú pones
he/she laughs -- él/ella pone
we laugh -- nosotros ponemos
they laugh -- ellos/ellas ponen
traer - to bring
I laugh -- yo traigo
you laugh -- tú traes
he/she laughs -- él/ella trae
we laugh -- nosotros traemos
they laugh -- ellos/ellas traen
Again, if seeing the spelling starts to cause a problem, just orally explain the differences in conjugating a few verbs as you come to them (and only in the forms learned so far), and practice them so that they can get the pattern.
The verb forms introduced first - is eating (está comiendo) and is drinking (está bebiendo).
Next is eats, drinks, puts, brings. (come, bebe, pone, trae).
At this time, point out the difference between está comeindo and come, and está bebiendo and bebe.
The next verb form introduced is plural. The verbs usually end in the letter n.
The man and the boy are eating. La señora y el nino están comeindo. (not está)
The firefighters come. Los bomberos vienen. (Also notice the plural form of el = los)
There are "feminine" and "masculine" words that have either la or el (the) in front of them, and when plural, are las or los. See the two sentences above.
Words ending in o are usually masculine, and words ending in a are usually feminine. (One exception is la mano.) Words ending in letters other than a or o will need to be learned as you go.
Students really do not need to know the spelling at this point. They just need to listen for the differences, and will begin to catch them more easily as they repeat the lessons. 🙂
sMiLeS,
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Thanksgiving!
 |
| Bethany (15½), Rebekah (almost 18), my niece Abigail (almost 17) |
 |
| Yumminess preparation in progress... |
 |
| Family football every Thanksgiving =) |
 |
| Great catch! |
sMiLeS,
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Physical Science, Module 3, The Atmosphere
•What we did 2010
•Videos for this module
In learning about the atmosphere, I wanted to do a few more things about air this time as well as the experiments we did in 2010. This post is only about the new ones. =)
Air presses on us from all sides. We don't feel it, but it is there. That is why if you take a large, thin board and wave it in the air, you feel resistance.
Flatten an Index Card
I had the kids fold an index card in half and flex it a few times, then place it on the table so that it made a low "tent." They could blow under it to make the tent flatten.
This was because blowing some air molecules from under the index card temporarily allowed the air above the card to have more pressure than the air under the card.
Rising Paper
I also had them place a short strip of paper on their chin and blow, causing air molecules above the strip to be temporarily displaced, making the strip of paper to rise. This is also like air blowing over the wing of a plane.
Straw Fountain
The boys loved this one!
And as you may have guessed by now, this is because of pushing air molecules out of the way, allowing the air pressure that is pushing down on the water in the cup to be temporarily greater than the air pressure pushing down at the top of the straw.
(We taped the inside straws in place before adding water.)
Rebellious Paper Wad (p. 14)
This works if you tell the kids to blow HARD! =D
We also did the can crusher experiment from the 2nd edition, but we're using the first edition and had no directions except for things I found online, so maybe that was why this one didn't work like it was intended?
No crushing.
But... the can did suck up the icy water.
How?
Since the molecules in the can were hot, they were more spread out.
When we inverted the can into icy water, this cooled the molecules in the can, causing them to take up less space. Since they took up less space, it drew the water up into the can.
LOL, the hot stove eye looks PINK! How funny.
►Video of how it is supposed to work.
(You'll see my name under a comment, but my comment was apparently deleted... In case you're wondering what my name is doing there!)
►Find more air pressure experiments here.
sMiLeS,
•Videos for this module
In learning about the atmosphere, I wanted to do a few more things about air this time as well as the experiments we did in 2010. This post is only about the new ones. =)
Air presses on us from all sides. We don't feel it, but it is there. That is why if you take a large, thin board and wave it in the air, you feel resistance.
Flatten an Index Card
I had the kids fold an index card in half and flex it a few times, then place it on the table so that it made a low "tent." They could blow under it to make the tent flatten.
This was because blowing some air molecules from under the index card temporarily allowed the air above the card to have more pressure than the air under the card.
Rising Paper
I also had them place a short strip of paper on their chin and blow, causing air molecules above the strip to be temporarily displaced, making the strip of paper to rise. This is also like air blowing over the wing of a plane.
Straw Fountain
The boys loved this one!
And as you may have guessed by now, this is because of pushing air molecules out of the way, allowing the air pressure that is pushing down on the water in the cup to be temporarily greater than the air pressure pushing down at the top of the straw.
(We taped the inside straws in place before adding water.)
Rebellious Paper Wad (p. 14)
This works if you tell the kids to blow HARD! =D
We also did the can crusher experiment from the 2nd edition, but we're using the first edition and had no directions except for things I found online, so maybe that was why this one didn't work like it was intended?
No crushing.
But... the can did suck up the icy water.
How?
Since the molecules in the can were hot, they were more spread out.
When we inverted the can into icy water, this cooled the molecules in the can, causing them to take up less space. Since they took up less space, it drew the water up into the can.
LOL, the hot stove eye looks PINK! How funny.
►Video of how it is supposed to work.
(You'll see my name under a comment, but my comment was apparently deleted... In case you're wondering what my name is doing there!)
►Find more air pressure experiments here.
sMiLeS,
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Hitting the Delete Button
A few weeks ago, the Lord dealt with me about deleting my facebook. I have let it take up too much of my time. Time I should be spending elsewhere. =(
I had felt nudges before in the preceding weeks but was hesitant. I can keep in contact with many people that I wouldn't easily be able to otherwise. But this time it felt so easy to yield. I had no qualms, no worries, no holding back. I felt I could do it.
But then… I started thinking. I even sent up a few little thought-prayers, God is this really what you want me to do? Should I wait to make a decision?
And I reasoned myself out of it. Or rather I let the devil put some thoughts into my head. =\ I reasoned that I could hide more fb friends (having already hidden quite a few), and only keep the ones visible that I cared most about. That way I would be browsing on there less often.
But when I get on fb, I click on this and that link, and find interesting articles to read, or good music to watch. There can be good things posted on facebook!
But then… I started thinking. I even sent up a few little thought-prayers, God is this really what you want me to do? Should I wait to make a decision?
And I reasoned myself out of it. Or rather I let the devil put some thoughts into my head. =\ I reasoned that I could hide more fb friends (having already hidden quite a few), and only keep the ones visible that I cared most about. That way I would be browsing on there less often.
But when I get on fb, I click on this and that link, and find interesting articles to read, or good music to watch. There can be good things posted on facebook!
Before I knew it, I would be on the computer 45 minutes or an hour! Often more than once a day. =(
And during these past weeks, I knew my strategy wasn't working.
"Give me a couple of weeks to pray about it.
If God has been dealing with you about it, you've prayed long enough!"
The quote above was from a sermon I heard yesterday at an all day youth meeting. There was such good preaching all day. I was getting blessed and/or convicted about something in every message! And I was feeling that nudge again. The theme recurring through each message was serving Him. Making a difference. Building a kingdom (my girls sang To Count for Jesus). Yielding my all to God…
I could feel myself beginning to let go.
As the day went on, I felt it more and more.
Finally, I think it had already been mentioned, but in the next-to-last message, the preacher said something about facebook. Or did he? He may have mentioned TV… but I heard “facebook.”
Again, it felt easy to yield. To give it up.
Again, it felt easy to yield. To give it up.
Knowing I couldn't take it back, this time I prayed and told God I would do it.
The last message was about King David needing Ornan's threshingfloor to build an altar for a burnt offering.
(I Chronicles 21) The key phrase that stood out was, “I give it all.” (v.23)
(I Chronicles 21) The key phrase that stood out was, “I give it all.” (v.23)
The preacher talked about King David stopping at Ornan's house, and asking him for something. “Jesus stopped at your heart tonight! He may not pass this way again.”
And I was very glad I’d already made the decision. Years ago when my children were still very small, the Lord had dealt with me about making reading an idol. I loved to read fiction. I treasured my books. I collected them and some I even read multiple times. On several occasions, he nudged me to give them up. But I just couldn't do it.
It was a long time before I felt that nudge again. And I have been miserable for so many years. Not because of the books, but because of letting other things come between me and God. You can’t be truly happy unless you are putting Him first in your life.
Finally, nearly a year and a half ago, again I felt He was telling me to give them up. I finally did it. I actually got rid of them. And when I told my Mom, she was so glad for me! She read fiction, too, but didn't let it come between her and God. She and my Dad had devotions every morning. First together, then they each read their Bibles separately. I knew not to call them too early, for they would just ask me to call later. =)
After my Mom passed away last August (2011), my Dad gave me a box of non-fiction Christian books. He told me Mama kept going to places that sold second-hand books and buying these for me! He asked her why she was buying all these books, and she replied, “I’m buying them for Marty!” =)
After my Mom passed away last August (2011), my Dad gave me a box of non-fiction Christian books. He told me Mama kept going to places that sold second-hand books and buying these for me! He asked her why she was buying all these books, and she replied, “I’m buying them for Marty!” =)
I realized not long afterwards that one reason it wasn't so hard to give up my books was that I had facebook. And TV. And Netflix. And plenty of things to do in my “spare” time. But I still wasn't reading my Bible like I should. I was doing some, but only worrying a little if I skipped days.
In April of this past year, I heard a preacher preach about vows, and how in the Bible, God wasn't blessing because of vows not kept. (Too long to go through the story here.)
I remembered when I was young, my Mom telling me it would be better to never make a vow at all, than to make one and not keep it. So I was very careful to never tell God something on which I wasn't planning to follow through!
But when I was a teenager, I did finally make one vow. I had told God I would read at least 3 chapters a day in my Bible. But I hadn't done that in a very long time. =(
In April, I started being sure to read my Bible every single day.
But when I was a teenager, I did finally make one vow. I had told God I would read at least 3 chapters a day in my Bible. But I hadn't done that in a very long time. =(
In April, I started being sure to read my Bible every single day.
At first I got a lot out of what I was reading. And I read more than three chapters, sometimes quite a few. Then gradually it became something I had to do so I could say I had done it. =( I tried not to do that! But I kept reading because I had made a vow. And I had come a ways from where I was, and I didn't want to go back! But I realized something was missing because I wasn't truly putting God first. Other things “had to be done” or, like facebook, things I wanted to do.
One preacher said yesterday that some of us read our Bible like it’s an aspirin. You swallow as quickly as you can, then turn on the TV. (translation in my mind: computer).
Another message was from James 4:4-10. Verse 8 says, “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.”
The preacher said, “Do you want to be closer to God? Are you getting closer? It doesn't say ‘Want to be close to God and he will be close to you.' -- You have to move in his direction!”
I have made a few other changes this past year, and honestly, each time it was something I was addicted to. Something I never thought I’d give up or get rid of.
But each time it seemed almost too easy!
Quite a few times lately in my Bible reading, I have read that a battle was won because of someone preparing their heart, and inquiring of the Lord what to do.
A preacher also said that you won’t surrender things unless you've already surrendered your heart.
James 4:8 says that in order for God to draw nigh to you, first you have to draw nigh to him!
When you get close to God, the temptations from before will be less tempting.
Get the things out of our lives that prohibit us from getting closer to God, then he will draw nigh to us.
A preacher said that when you give up something, it may hurt at first. But it gets easier! And each time you give up something for the Lord, you’re taking a step toward him, and he takes a step toward you. (And that is why it gets easier.) So I guess I've been making some steps, but not really thinking of it that way. And I think that giving up my books last year was a first small step, although an imperfect step. And I know I have lots more to go! But I sure am a lot closer to Him than I have been in a long time! And the more I surrender to Him, the better it gets! And each time it gets better, I can’t imagine it could get any better than the present time. But it does!
Why am I telling you all this?
Because of another message. This one was about doing whatever it took to get to Jesus. In Mark 5:21-34, Jairus asked for his daughter to be healed. On the way to Jairus’ house, a woman touched the hem of Jesus’ garment in order to be healed.
Because of another message. This one was about doing whatever it took to get to Jesus. In Mark 5:21-34, Jairus asked for his daughter to be healed. On the way to Jairus’ house, a woman touched the hem of Jesus’ garment in order to be healed.
“For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.”
When Jesus asked, “Who touched my clothes?” she came forward and “told him all the truth.”
She told, in front of everyone, why she had done it.
She witnessed that she knew he could heal her, and that she pressed through the crowd to get to him.
She witnessed that she knew he could heal her, and that she pressed through the crowd to get to him.
I don’t want my unspoken testimony to keep someone else from being encouraged!
I want to tell you that if you do whatever you can to get to Jesus, you’ll have something to tell!
And I do! And I want to tell what He’s done for me!
Most of what I've written here are things preachers have said (to the best of my memory and my notes) in eight different messages I heard yesterday.
They are not mentioned here in order of the sermons, but rather pieced together as I thought of them in writing each paragraph.
But it was so amazing how every message just “fit” together! Yes, there was a given theme for the conference – Making a Difference – but what I heard all day was Surrender. But in order to make a difference, you do have to surrender!
When looking up surrender in a thesaurus, one of the definitions/synonyms was “nonresistant.”
I want to be nonresistant to what God wants me to do. And that starts in the home. Doing what I know God wants me to be doing right now. He may have something else for me to do one day. Something that right now I would think is scary! (I had to lead in a prayer room tonight. All I had to do was kind of get it started and everyone went around and gave prayer requests, but that was scary for me!)
But maybe what I may do for God one day is something quiet and un-noticeable. =)
But right now… right now I have a family. A husband and three teenagers.
I need to hit the delete button and get the things out of my life that hinder me from getting closer to God. And I will get more out of my Bible reading. And I will slowly gain a bit of wisdom. (Proverbs is a wonderful book!) And I can become a better wife and mother.
That is what He wants me to do now.
Will you give your life to Him? ♫♪
August, 2013 - Many of you know I am back on facebook, but it's different now. I waited until I was sure God was leading me that way. I mainly use facebook now to share with others things I've read or preaching messages I've listened to, etc. I do post other things as well, but fb isn't my priority anymore.
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