New Year . . . New Books

 Carry On Mr. Bowditch

by Jean Lee Latham

This book I read to the kids and it took a few chapters to get into it but once into it it was AMAZING!!!!! We loved it!!!! It is the true story of Nathaniel Bowditch and his life from childhood into adulthood. Life wasn't smooth sailing for Nathaniel but this story tells of this young man's character, perserverence, and generosity of sharing the gift he had been given to change others lives. SOOOO GOOD and a must read!!!! Amongst the hardship it has GREAT humor!! Nat (as the book refers to him) is an incredibly gifted boy and with that comes blessings and challenges. Here is an excerpt from the book:

"How do you want to surprise your father?" 
"With a present. He always brings me something." Elizabeth's eyes danced. "This time I want to give him a present. Something he can use."
"Hmmm. How much can you pay for it?"
"Oh, that doesn't matter. Mother said I could get anything I wanted to."
Nat studied. "Parallel rulers might be nice."
"Do you suppose Father has them already?"
Nat exploded. "Of course! What sort of sailing master do you think he is?" Then he apologized quickly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bark at you."
"I know. I'm just like a chair you stumble over in the dark," Elizabeth said. "It isn't the chair's fault, but you kick it anyhow."
Nat blinked. "What are you talking about?"
"Your brain. It's too fast. So you stumble on other people's dumbness. And-you want to kick something."
Nat felt his face get hot. "But I shouldn't."
Elizabeth agreed. "No, you shouldn't, because even if people are dumb, they aren't chairs, are they? They do have feelings."
"Lizza, was right," Nat said. "You have eyes in the back of your heart."
*********************************
Wow, pointed words and good ones at that!

My FAVORITE humorous part I will not type all out but if you read the book the kids and I got a BIG kick when Lupe came one night to ask Nat to teach him navigation. It is just so funny and so great!!


**********************************
The book Natheniel Bowditch wrote, The American Practical Navigator, it said at the beginning of the book is still "a standard text in the U.S. Naval Academy." This book was published awhile back so I don't know if that is still true but still amazing. Nat never went to a day of college in his life! Again, Amazing!


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I'd Be Your Hero

A Tale of Godly Character

by Katheryn O'Brien

Some people might be critical of this book but I thought it was cute. I know in today's world that the word "hero" is to easily used but I think for Mommies with little boys all into going into being heroic this has good thoughts. It is about a little boy talking to his Mommy about how he imagines himself and his Mommy in medieval times and the grand things he will do. She always brings what he says back to a character trait and a Bible verse. The biggest bummer is the verses aren't in KJV but that is easily remedied. This book was perfect for my Carson. I wish I had thought of writing it!

January

For a number of years now I haven't really relished January. I don't think it is the whole holidays are over thing. I don't think that really bothers me. I just always feel like January DRAGS on for so long! Maybe, it is the fast paced days of December are gone and January puts on the brakes. Who knows, whatever it is I need to not dread it. I did do better this year!!

January this year was an extremely interesting and eventful month. On the lighter side . . . Annalina and Ross started new classes (More on Ross's class later). Aside from morning family devotions Annalina and I started Mommy/Daughter devotions at night before bed with a one year mommy/daughter devotional that has already touched Annalina's and I's life. Babe started Father/Son Devotions at night with Gabers and Ross. It is written military style and they all enjoy it. Funny the devotional book was written by people out of Colorado Springs! Jedidiah cut 2 teeth. We had friends over for lefse making and eating! They wanted Babe to tutor their family in the art of lefse making! Very fun! Get memories and laughter.

The heavier events of the months are not for writing but needless to say so much joy and tears of sadness. Our Lord works in so many ways and more often then not contrary to the way we'd work things out because His ways are so much better. As my friend M. N. said it is like the disciples getting scared when they saw something coming towards them on the water and then in their fear they realized it was Christ and he spoke to them! Oh, now it is all better Christ is in this and then peace comes! I love that picture. A book (Guns of Thunder-Douglas Bond) I am reading the kids right now said it so well. The grandfather was speaking to his grandson and said "Ay, no ye cannot, and so ye must learn to wait upon the Lord, lad. Ye'll find it easier to put fear aside and wait upon God the more ye come to love God's sovereignty, to know his goodness, to hope in his gracious power to save."

February will continue in fun. My sister-in-law and her two daughters are coming to spend some time hanging out and then our BIG plans are to go to a castle (Glen Eerie) for a tour and then all of us girls are going to a REAL tea party at the castle!  The castle is run by a Christian organization. I really look forward to this! We've been wanting to do this for awhile! We are also going to our friends home this month where they are going to teach us how to make fried ice cream (funny story as to why). That will be so fun. Babe will be winding down in his current job and in March starting to train to go on watch which is shift work with 6 days on, so many days off, etc. Our schedule for family life will really be changing.  We've got some big decisions to make too this month. Also, I've been reading a book about Bonhoeffer and have been challenged to start memorizing the Sermon on the Mount with the kids. A bit intimidating, but slow and easy wins the race. I have no idea how long it will take. As Christians, my family and I need the attributes preached about in those 3 chapters and what better way to learn to live them then by memorizing and meditating on them. Wait, how can I forget it's my BIRTHDAY this month too!!

I love how God is continually teaching me to rest in His sovereignty. I don't always enjoy the journey but the destination is worth it.

" . . . and I did not speak out."

"First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a Jew
And then they came for me--
and there was no one left to speak for me." ---Niemoller


Here is another way of saying this in short:

When they came to take away the right to own high capacity magazines for guns I did not speak out--
because I didn't have a need for high capacity magazines.
And then they told me I could no longer homeschool or buy Christian curricula for my kids--
and there was no longer weight behind my words or anyone else words. No one left to stand because our liberties are gone.

The legislation that liberals are trying to bring up may not effect tons of people but that is not the point. What will it be next? Will it be one of the rights I hold dear? Read the except from the article below. Here is what got my attention  "Yarmuth says this measure is one of the least controversial attempts at gun control to prevent future massacres." That's how they do it  . . . start with the stuff that won't ruffle so many peoples feathers! We have to make sure we're not sleeping through all this. What will it be next or 30 years from now?

Excerpt taken from:
Article: wfpl.org

Congressman John Yarmuth Backs Bill to Ban High-Capacity Ammo Magazines

By Phillip M. Bailey

"The measure would ban the sale or transfer of firearms that hold more than 10 rounds. Supporters point out that some gun magazines have 100 or more rounds.
Yarmuth says this measure is one of the least controversial attempts at gun control to prevent future massacres.
'These magazines serve no legitimate sporting purpose or even self-defense purpose. They are only there for mass killing,' he says."
  
Can't help it . . . have to requote one of the stanza's of The God's of the Copybook Headings by Rudyard Kipling.

"When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.
They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.
But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: 'Stick to the Devil you know.'"

The kids and I quoted this stanza to our chiropractor the other day because it fit with our conversation. He really liked it. 

If you want to read a book that speaks of some of the techniques the Nazi's used to take over the rights of the German people read Eric Metaxas book Bonhoeffer . Extraordinary biography. I wish I could remember what chapter it was specifically that speaks of the underhandedness but it is in the first half of the book that writes of the way they changed laws, etc. I'm still reading the book and when completed I'll write about it. The book reaches deep into you. 


Eric Metaxas says of Bonhoeffer "He seemed to want to warn everyone to wake up and stop playing church. They were all sleepwalking toward a terrible precipice! But few took him seriously. For many, Bonhoeffer was only one of those bespectacled and over serious academic types, with a good dose of religious fanaticism in the bargain."





Ahhh, no more tonight. My thoughts are down, now rest.
 

A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words

 My older brother took these pictures of Carson when he was here at Christmas. I absolutely LOVE

them because they capture Carson so well. I started to feel emotional looking at them. How nice that

years from now I can look at these and they'll take me right back to him at 3 yrs. old. Carson at this point wants to be a paratrooper. Jumping out of an airplane with a gun and parachute is pretty attractive to him.

While Ross and I do school he is usually right in the room with us and playing and playing and playing. Every once in awhile he'll make a comment about what he hears us talking about. Like today he heard us going over spelling words and we were spelling it again and he told us the last letter as he played in the corner of the room. I have been working with Ross and Carson during Ross's school Bible time to memorize the O.T. books of the Bible. I LOVE it when we come to Ecclesiastes and he in his toddler vocabulary says "Ecclesinasties". TOOO Cute! The other day we went to Olive Garden to eat and he wanted me to taste his mac-n-cheese. I told him I couldn't because I had to eat gluten free. So cute, he picked up a grape and handed it to me and said "here is a gluten grape". He wanted to give something to mommy she could have maybe he even thought since he was giving me the grape it was "free". Anyway, he is a ruff and tumble sweetie and he loves to tell me he loves me and that I am "my mommy" and he is "my Carson". I'll miss it when there are not more toddlers in the house. I love their thought processing and hilarious conversations!!

I often tell Carson "You're so cute!" He often responds "No I'm not! Jedidiah is cute!"

What a sweetie.

He got this gun from his uncle and cousin. FAVORITE.

Another cuter than words picture!

"Young Love", My Love

No anniversary, birthday, valentine, etc. just that lately I am so incredibly grateful for my love. I am more in love with him than ever. I was watching him the other day and just thought how incredibly handsome he is. Twelve years and I am still smitten. Babe and I are very different people which means we don't always see eye to eye but we say when it comes to the big stuff in life like the direction our family should go or following the Lord basically we seek truth so we are completely in tune.

 I dog ear and highlight my books and to him that is a TRAVESTY. I go to craft stores and he plays war games and neither of us wants to participate in the other but our favorite time of day is when we are together. Our first tiff after we were married was on our honeymoon and we were driving into Los Angeles during rush hour (before GPS) and I didn't know how to read maps well. In fact, if that wasn't the first time it was close to the first. Poor Babe!! But being the guy he is he let it go realizing I did my best! :-)We are best friends despite our differences. I could not possibly have a better earthly friend. He is devoted to the kids and I and I adore him. This song I love and wanted to post it out of my love for my hubby. Love you Babe. You're amazing.

I often think wives miss out on so much when they compare their husbands with other husbands! How much more special when your husband does his own thing and doesn't fall into the norm. Someone asked me the other day about flowers from Babe. I said "That isn't Brian's thing". No, instead he would make a special trip to a store on the way home and buy me special gluten free flour and mix just cuz he wants to make sure I am taken care of. Oh, and he will make something out of the stuff. Tonight he brought home haagan daaz ice cream for the two of us. It's not always food . . . he got me a beautiful bracelet when he was away recently. I love the way he loves me. Oh, one time he sent me flowers and they were potted! That's my Babe. :-)

Small Hearts with Big Thoughts

New Year's Eve night I had one of my sons come to me with things that have been heavy on his mind. What a kid. He knows TRUTH and truth is important to him. After working through some of his concerns he said to me "I thought generations were supposed to teach the next generation and then that generation gets better? America is getting worse." This was not a simple statement but a heartfelt ache. Wow, where did that come from? I was a bit surprised it was a little off topic. I reassured him of what I know he already knew . . . I wanted to just state that Christ had not let down the generations the generations are letting down Christ. Being a parent is such serious business. Our kids must be equipped with the armour of God. I pray for my kids to grow up to love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, and minds. May Christ empower Babe and I as we seek to raise children that love and serve their Lord.

As I was talking to the one son another came in and said he needed to talk to me. I said I would when I was finished with the conversation I was in. That son later came in and cried. He missed family that had just left, he was sad about a family member (not even close to us) that is going to go home to be with the Lord this year but what he was REALLY REALLY sad about was his Great Grandmother who does not know Christ as her Saviour and he prayers for her and he wept and wept. He feels time is running out (and it is, she is in her 90's) and the thought of losing her forever was more than his heart could bear. He said still emotional "There are so many things I could do when I grow up but I can only do one! I think I want to bring people to Christ." I don't know what Christ has in his plans for him but bringing the lost to Christ is always on the list, huh?! He went on to tell me how he loves people and even people he may see in the grocery story he may pray for.

After talking to my children and hearing their hearts mine felt solemn. Their hearts are so tender. Please Lord let the heart stay tender. Life has a way of jading. What is in store for my children's generation? God holds the future and it is my and my hubby's job to nurture them so it is easy to choose a relationship with their Saviour and that that relationship permeates their lives.

No, it is not all the time I have conversations like that! It was a unique night. Often, their is laughing and playing and noise but I guess their little minds and hearts were in overdrive.

Excellent Thoughts For Beginning the New Year

     I got the following from the Vision Forum email and thought it was GREAT!! I am going to print this out and keep it. We met as a family last night and talked over our blessings from the year and the things we need to work on both individually and as a family. I want to start a notebook that we keep year after year.

This year really has been an especially unusual year for Babe and I with the conclusions of some things yet to be made. I am excited for what the New Year holds. God the Father is in the future and what a peace that is!


Dear Friends:

Life moves fast. If we don’t take the time to chronicle the providences of God, we forget them. If we don’t take the time to say “Thank you” to those who have invested in our lives, we actually cultivate a spirit of ingratitude in our own hearts. If we don’t stop and make sure that we have a spirit of forgiveness toward others, we grow bitter, we lose the capacity to move victoriously into the future, and our prayers are hindered.

Here is a little practice that I was taught and would like to share with you. Each year, during the last week of December, I encourage you to do the following things.

I. Outline and Chronicle the
Many Providences of God

Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. (Hab. 2:2)
First, using simple bullet points, outline the key events for every week of every month of the year. Take the time to do the research which will help jog your memory and allow you to make an accurate record. I find that reviewing bills, blogs, journals, newspaper headlines, letters, and even organizing my photographs chronologically are enormously helpful tools. Those individuals who were faithful to journal or keep a diary will have little problem reconstructing key events. Give yourself a good week to reconstruct your own outline of the year. Also, by making this a family project, you will not only build your list with greater speed and precision, but (in the hands of a loving patriarch) the very act of chronicling the providences of God in your life is a blessed tool for family discipleship.

Every family will have a different set of priorities directing what they should record. In addition to recording the key events and providences of the year chronologically, I try to take the time with my family to record some of the following information on separate bullet lists:

Where did I/we travel?
What were the most important sermons I heard this year?
What books/articles did I write?
What significant household projects did we accomplish in 2012?
What were the most important meetings of the year?
What special friendships were made this year?
Which children lost teeth, and how many?
Who grew in physical stature, and how much did they grow?
Who learned to read this year?
What diet and physical exercise regimen did I maintain to honor "my temple"?
What books did I read? Did we read as a family? Did my children read?
What Scriptures did my family memorize?
What loved ones died this year?
What were the great personal/ministry/national tragedies and losses of the year?
What were the great personal/ministry/national blessings of the year?
What were my most significant failures/sins for the year 2012?
What commitments have I made to overcome sin in 2013?
What significant spiritual and practical victories did I experience?
In what tangible ways did I communicate gratitude to those who have blessed me and invested in my life?
What were the top ten themes of 2012 for my family?
II. Say ‘Thank You’ to
Those Who Have Invested in Your Life

[I] cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. (Eph. 1:16)
Whatever happened to the man who first opened to you the words of life from the Scripture? Where is the comrade, coach, or instructor who believed in you and helped you to accomplish a great goal? What about the Bible teacher whose careful handling of the Word opened up new vistas of understanding? Where is the friend who stood with you through thick and thin? Most importantly, what have you communicated to the mother who carried you in her womb, loved and nurtured you, or the father who labored to provide for and shepherd you?

When was the last time you responded to their investment in your life with gratitude, blessings, and even money? Jesus reminds us of those ungrateful recipients of blessing who simply went their way without demonstrating gratitude (Luke 17).

Before the year ends, make a list of two types of people: The first list are the names of people whose life, ministry, or personal investment in you have deeply touched you and changed your life. (In my case, the list includes parents, pastors, and even some teachers from the early years of my Christian walk that I did not meet until much later in my life, but whose books and tapes were crucial to my personal discipleship as a young Christian.) The second list should include those people who played the most significant role in your life in 2012.

Write a brief, meaningful letter to each of them. Be specific in your gratitude. Explain what they did for you and why it was important to you. Show them how they were God’s instrument of blessing in your own life. Pray over each letter, asking God to grant you rich insights on the character qualities of each individual and on the way those qualities changed your own life. Where appropriate, include a check or special token of appreciation that reflects your desire to show them, tangibly, that you recognize that you are in their debt. You cannot imagine the joy this will give to someone from your past who may think you have forgotten them. Give generously and without concern for getting a tax deduction. I strongly recommend sending money to your parents. Keep in mind that you will never be able to return their personal and financial investment in your life, except through your testimony of faithfulness, covenant keeping, and honor to the Lord.

Also, your children need to know the people who have blessed their parents. They need to see that Mom and Dad are grateful and generous. Share your letters with them. In our household, we ask our children to write to some of the people who have blessed Mommy and Daddy, because our children are the indirect recipients of these blessings on their parents.

This will take a day or two to complete. You may have twenty letters to write, but you will never regret saying “Thank you.”

One last thought: One reason why Christians are often limited in vision, energy, and blessings is that, contrary to the Lord’s command, we are ungrateful, unforgiving, and bitter. Far too many who profess the name of Christ spend more time obsessing on those who have wronged them than rejoicing in those who have blessed them. Letters and tangible expressions of gratitude are not only pleasing to Christ, but an antidote to heart-sickness.

III. Forgive Those Who Have Wronged You

Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:19-21)
In the course of a year, it is possible to build up many offenses and personal grievances at others. Left unaddressed, these grievances fester and grow. They turn the heart black and the body weak. They foster a spirit of vengeance and misguided self-righteousness. The short of it is this: Unforgiveness leads to bitterness. Bitterness curdles the mind and the spirit.

Fresh starts and new years should begin with forgiveness for others. Having a genuine spirit of forgiveness towards those who have wronged us is a mark of biblical Christianity. It is an evidence that we have been redeemed, and that we are praying lawfully: “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12).

Successful Christians are men and women who are free from bitterness. They have learned the principle modeled by our Lord Jesus Christ who, while suffering death at the hands of people he had never wronged, was able to say, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:24).

I have a dear preacher friend with a sterling reputation who was once grievously slandered. When asked about the wicked actions of the slanderers, he replied something to this effect:

Oh you don’t understand — I am far, far worse than my detractors realize. They may have gotten a lot of the specific facts wrong, but I am just thankful they don't know how bad my heart truly is. God have mercy on me a sinner
This man had victory over bitterness.

My father is another man who always appeared to have victory over bitterness. In fact, from my earliest days to the present, I have watched lesser men “twist the truths [he’s] spoken to make a trap for fools.” [i]

Early in my life when I was still in government schools, I would listen to my own teachers criticize before my class the work my father was doing for the President to dismantle a government agency which was at war with the family. I read untruthful articles and saw derogatory comics on the pages of the Washington Post picturing him as a caveman for his “prehistoric” views. When my father was a leader in the Republican Party in Massachusetts, a gangster repeatedly threatened the life of his family. I remember being a boy and having my father shield me from homosexual picketers and protesters that would follow him and our family around at public locations.

Most painful and difficult for many to forgive is betrayal and dishonor. But that is a mistake. Betrayal and dishonor probably exist in the lives of most men. And why should any Christian be denied in their lives what past generations of Christians — and our Lord and Savior Himself — patiently endured? To our shame, most of us have been on both sides of that coin. From a son’s perspective, however, it is highly instructive to watch a father act honorably in the midst of such conflict. It has been a great blessing in my own life to observe my father nobly respond even in the face of barbs from former allies and friends, once loved and nurtured by him.

Eternally optimistic, Dad would always say: “Never be bitter. Life is too short. Thank God for your blessings. Press on!”

Bitterness comes from being unwilling to forgive. Bitter people are small people. They are unsuccessful people. They are people who cannot move forward. They are people who believe that the personal wrongs against them are so great that they — the offended — are entitled to do to their offenders what they pray the Lord Jesus Christ will never do to them: refuse to forgive.

Here is my recommendation: Think through every grief, minor and major, caused by others to you in the year 2012. Now add to the list any other personal offenses that continue to linger from past years. Write these down as bullets on a sheet of paper.

The first thing you will likely realize is just how many offenses are polluting your thought life and, probably, your spirit. This is a sign of latent bitterness. Bitterness will kill you. It renders you completely ineffective.

Now prayerfully walk through the list — bullet by bullet. With each offense, remind yourself that the most despicable action taken against you by another utterly (and infinitely) pales in comparison to the least of your offenses against the Lord Jesus Christ.

And yet He has forgiven you.

Before 2013 begins, adopt a spirit of forgiveness towards your insensitive friends as well as your hateful enemies. Forgive your imperfect father for whatever it is you need to forgive him for (and pray to the Lord that your own children someday forgive you for your failures). Quit devoting untold precious hours to commiseration, mental replay of the wrongs done, and thoughts about just how badly you were wronged. Stop blaming everybody but yourself for your problems. Look to yourself. Once you start chronicling your own sinful attitudes and crimes against God and man, you simply won’t have time to worry about the wrongs done to you. You will stop being bitter, and you will start being thankful.

Wipe the slate clean. “Press on.” Forgive.

Conclusion

As 2012 comes to a close, take time to remember and to say “thank you.” Take time to examine yourself for bitterness. Forgive others. Finally, as you love God with all your heart, soul and might, trust Him, too. Really trust him. Trust God with all your heart, your soul and might. You and I cannot solve every problem. What we can do is be kind, forgiving, and patient before the Lord. We can not “fix” everything that is broken. Only God can do that. In His time and His way, the Lord cannot only bring peace, but He can give you the very desires of your heart as you seek Him with integrity. He can redeem the years the locusts have eaten, and He delights in blessing His faithful children. “The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it” (Proverbs 10:22).

It is appropriate that we stop and thank God at the birth of a new year. Remember that God gave man the stars on Day Four in part so that he could order and structure his life based on a clock/calendar system of days, seasons, and years (Genesis 1). He tells us to “remember” acts and to “number” our days. In Scripture, the formal act of remembering providences of God in our life is linked to hope, honor, and generational success (e.g., Psalms 44, 78, etc.). By February 2013, the year 2012 will be a distant memory. Strike now while the iron is hot. The opportunity to remember and to say “thank you” may never come again. And can you afford even one more day in which your prayers are hindered — because you were refusing to forgive? Trust the Lord. He is in charge: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:5).

With love and gratitude,

    
    
Douglas Phillips,
President, Vision Forum Ministries