Make Your Home a Haven: Friday

Today is my last day with the "Make Your Home a Haven" challenge.  I have had a great time journaling about my week and seeing what other ladies have been doing around their homes. I think we do so many things throughout the day without even thinking about how they impact our families for good....things that seem ordinary because we do them every day, like laundry,cooking, and cleaning. It is nice when we are able to do extra little things, but even on ordinary days, when we feel like we are just "getting by", we are doing important tasks that make our homes pleasant places to live! It is also refreshing to know that moms all over are doing the same things we are each day!  Thanks, Monica, for hosting the challenge this week! 

Friday was a chilly, rainy day here, which gave us time inside together. ( The photo above was taken by Peace earlier this week...I just had to include it! Again, I love that the Lord made flowers that will bloom even before Spring officially arrives! ) The big girls were both working on papers, which gave me some extra time to just sit down and play with Thunderbolt.  I am thankful that the Lord seems to build these little times in our schedule! 

My favorite part of Friday is always the time when we prepare the dining room for the weekend:  wheel out the school boxes, pick up stray papers, clean up the table, and put on a fresh table cloth. I love home schooling our children, but it is nice to have a few days of less clutter in the dining room :). Monica challenged us to plan a Fun Family Night for Friday evening.  The older girls had a chance to go do some English Country Dancing with a group in the community Friday evening, so we have saved Saturday evening for family time.  We are all looking forward to sharing Saturday evening with another family from church.

For a few months I have been filling in as a Sunday School teacher in the younger elementary class at church. As I was doing some prep work on Friday, I was again amazed at the "living and active" aspect of the Scriptures.  Our lesson this week is on David and Goliath.  This is Thunderbolt's all-time favorite Bible story and I think I have read it at least 2 million times :).  Yet, when I read, "The battle is the Lord's" ( I Sam. 17:47) it was almost as if I had never read that part before!  Think of how we could change the atmosphere of our homes ( and the world!) for the better if we really lived in that frame of mind. In thinking of the battles we face, do we believe that the Lord loves us enough to fight the battle for us, or are we trying to control and scheme...trying to muster up the necessary "fighting power" by ourselves? Are we taking our battles to Him in prayer and casting our burdens upon Him...or are we trying to solve everything on our own? Are we seeing our battles (and the outcomes) as being for our glory, or for His? These questions caused me to praise Him for being a mighty and able God, one who cares for us and lovingly gives us battles so we might know and see His "almighty-ness" in our own lives. Those who shy away from the battle in fear of their own inabilities, and those who try to fight the battle in their own strength, will never know the glory of seeing Him work. How thankful I am for Scripture!