By His Grace

Current State of the Mission

The Lord is opening all kinds of doors for me with my writing to reach people for Jesus Christ, and I am excited to share everything that I am working on with you!

The biggest undertaking by far has been completing the Bible study the Lord has put on my heart. It is a study about what advice the Bible has for the overcomer in Christ Jesus. I now have a new appreciation for every single Bible study that I have ever done over the years. This project is truly a labor of love! I have about 6 or 7 weeks to finish the study, so that I can teach it to a small group women’s Bible study, “The Bible Babes.”

In addition to keeping up with my blog, I am also a monthly contributor for A Beautiful Life Ministry blogging. I also write  devotions for the Biblical-Literacy Class prayer points devotions.

I recently started writing reviews for Faith Filled Family Magazine. This is a monthly digital Christian Magazine with a goal of helping families live victoriously in Christ and to impact marriages and families for the Kingdom. They have an international readership of around 150,000 readers a month.

Last week, I did my first movie review for The Atheist Delusion. I highly recommend this movie. The pre-release digital download is available now, and will be given away for free on You Tube on September 30, 2016. Ray Comfort bravely engages Atheists on the street in a kind and loving way that challenges their beliefs without being confrontational. He does this through sound, logical arguments and non-threatening questions.

I wanted my blog followers to know everything that I am doing, and I want to ask you all to please pray for these endeavors. It is my heart and my mission in life to see the world come to know Jesus Christ. Thank you for helping me to further the kingdom!

God’s Faithfulness in Transitions

God’s Faithfulness in Transitions

We all experience transitions, and it is important to remember God’s faithfulness to us in those times and seasons of our lives. With the new school year approaching, like many families, my family is in a major transitional period. We are leaving behind the relaxing days of summer and looking ahead to new routines and schedules.

My husband will be doing some traveling with his job, and I am transitioning from being a full-time homeschool mom to launching a writing, blogging and speaking ministry. My boys are all growing up and heading off in new directions.

Change can be exciting, but change can also be scary. Click To Tweet

We all experience transition periods when we start a new job, send our kids to off to school, get married, have a baby, or move to a new city.

We all fear the unknown, but we should not be afraid.

Our God is with us wherever we go.In Joshua 1:9, it says

Have I not commanded you? 

Be strong and courageous. 

Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed,

for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

We have no reason to fear. Our God is with us, and He has good plans for our lives. From these verses, we learn that we are to be strong and courageous and to not be afraid. We can face the days ahead in faith, instead of fear—not looking to our circumstances, but looking to our God who is faithful.

A prayer journal serves as a reminder of God\’s faithfulness in answering my prayers!

During times of transition, one way I keep my focus on God is through prayer. I like to keep a prayer journal. It serves as a reminder of God’s faithfulness in answering my prayers. God has been faithful to us in the past, and will continue to be faithful in the future!

In Philippians 4:6 ESV we learn that should not be anxious, but in everything, we should pray:

Do not be anxious about anything, 

but in everything by prayer and supplication 

with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”  

Let us approach the transitions of life through prayer. Knowing that the Lord loves us and wants us to be strong and courageous; knowing He has good plans for us!

 

 

Give Your Child The World

It is back to school time!! And I am going to do something a little different on my blog this week to kick off back to school. This week I would like to review and giveaway a copy of a book by Jamie C. Martin.

Give Your Child the World: Raising Globally Minded Kids One Book at a Time  

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The back cover of the book expresses my exact sentiments,

“A love of books. A love of reading. A love of the world.”

Anyone who knows our family very well knows that we love books! When I first started homeschooling, my husband Peter said, “I will never tell you no to books.” Well, that is a very dangerous thing to say a homeschool mom! Within a couple of years of homeschooling, we quickly ran out of room on our bookshelves and began building our closets out to house the vast library we were building. My homeschooling philosophy is taught your child to read well, teach them to love books, and then they can teach themselves anything!

Another thing that I am passionate about is raising globally minded kids. As a part of my children’s homeschool program, we join the World Affairs Council here in Houston. Their number one goal, as stated on their website is, “Connect students to global leaders of our time, and provide them the opportunity to become culturally sensitive, globally competent citizens.” My children have learned so much through the World Affairs Council. Through their programs, my boys have learned a lot about world cultures, and have had the opportunity to sit down with several world leaders, like Condoleezza Rice, Robert Gates, and many others. For more information about the Council, visit https://www.wachouston.org.

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Jacob Phillip pictured with Condoleezza Rice.

IMG_5119Jacob Phillip pictured with Robert Gates.

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Jacob Phillip and Ian Phillip at a World Affairs Council event with Wesley Clark.

Another activity that is a special part of our homeschooling is Model United Nations. According to Wikipedia, “Model United Nations, also known as Model UN or MUN, is an educational simulation and academic competition in which students can learn about diplomacy, international relations, and the United Nations.”

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Jacob Phillip pictured at Colleyville MUN.

Now you know that we love books, and raising globally minded kids is important to our family, I want you to know that I wish that I would have had a copy of, Give Your Child the World: Raising Globally Minded Kids One Book at a Time, when my kids were younger. I love the heart of Jamie C. Martin and her beautiful family!

I highly recommend this book. The book is beautifully broken into two parts. Part One: Falling in Love with the World and Part Two: Read the World. In part one, Jamie shares her personal story of building a global family, and then gives practical examples of how you can introduce your children to the world. It concludes with the power of story, and lessons that we can learn from stories.

Part two is a book list of lists! Jamie shows you how to share the world with your children one book at a time. She does a beautiful job of categorizing her book by geographic region. Then each chapter is broken down further into age ranges. There is something in this book for children of all ages. Jamie includes books geared toward kids of all ages. There is a section for 4-6, 6-8, 8-10, and 10-12-year-olds.

One of my favorite parts included in each chapter is a section entitled global perspective, which is a collection of quotes from various people answering the question:

How do you give your children the world in your home?

What a great question! How do you give your children the world in your home? I encourage you to add Give your Child the World: Raising Globally Minded Kids One Book at a Time to your home library and begin this school year by exploring the world from the comfort of your home. Please leave a comment below answering the question, How do you give your children the world in your home?

For a chance to win a copy of this fantastic book for yourself, follow the link below.
Book giveaway (Raffle begins at midnight tonight and runs through 8/15)

A special thank you to The Blog About Network, The Blythe Daniel Agency and publishers for providing a copy of this book for review and one to giveaway.

Leave me a comment and let me know how you give your children the world in your home?

 

The World is Loud

Our world has gotten so loud! My husband remarked how quiet our home was not too long ago when we lost power in the middle of the night. There was no hum of electronics, no noise from the television, or music. No movement or noise outside. Just peace and quiet.

It is hard to find a quiet spot anywhere in the world!

We are bombarded with noise everywhere we go. We walk out the door, and there is the sound of dogs barking, lawn mowers and blowers, construction, and cars. We get in the car to go somewhere, and the road is loud with cars and trucks. We are bombarded with noise everywhere we go. Modern technology has created so much noise, that is is hard to find solace. There are even television screens with infomercials playing at the gas pump.

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It is not just audible noise, but the visual noise that distracts us. I stand at the checkout counter at the grocery store, and I am bombarded with magazine images of perfect homes, and perfect people, with perfect bodies and perfect clothes. Happiness is not found in the noise. True fulfillment comes in the quiet time. I recently wrote a blog post on the importance of quiet time, you can read it Here.

Our world is busy and loud and absent in silence. When we find silence, it is in the quiet places that we can shut the world out and hear from God.

I really enjoyed my time away at She Speaks, because I had a hotel room to myself. So I had a lot of quiet time alone with the Lord. As a busy mom, it is hard to find quiet time. I live in a house full of boys, and it can be wild and loud, and silence is hard to come by.

God can speak to us in many ways. There is one place in scripture that talks about hearing from God, as the “the still small voice” in the KJV or the low whisper in the ESV.

1 Kings 19:11-13, says “And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.  And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?””

The Lord spoke to Elijah, not in the wind, or the earthquake, or the fire. But the Lord spoke to Elijah in the sound of a low whisper. There are other places in scripture that the Lord speaks through the whirlwind, the earthquake, or with a voice like thunder. And in the last days, Hebrews says that God speaks to us through his Son. So, why did he speak to Elijah in a whisper? The ESV Study Bible says, “God reveals himself in quietness.”

So as the world grows louder, my prayer for you and for me is that we will find time for quiet, find time for solitude, find time to be by yourself so that you can listen for and hear the still small voice of God.

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