Take a minute and enjoy his notes. It will bless you.

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I read this verse today in my daily reading and it hit home for me. Pretty much sums up my situation I’m facing from my brothers and sisters in a nutshell. Telling me after the funeral how they’ve resented Dad’s love for me all my life and we never had a true relationship–I feel They’ve hidden hatred against me in their heart’s for so long. Guess I was the only one living a Fantasy that I had brothers & sisters. They’re good–to smile and hug me and pretend they cared when around me, but hidden inside is pure hatred. I feel sorry for them living that way. I believed our love and relationship to be real, so to face this new reality of theirs is Mind-shattering. My sister Robin feels its her obligation to tell the siblings I’m always a problem (slandering me)–heard her myself as she turned to family right in front of my face at the funeral–instead of seeing me as a sister loving mom and honoring her wishes. Just because I wanted to verify mom’s true wishes about an issue that affected my family, I’m now an outsider to the siblings and mother too backing the craziness. Crazy stuff.

*sharing my shattered heart trying to understand in love. now I understand why the Lord will let go of us and allow us to turn to a reprobate heart– if we reject him. times like these you have to let go if all people see is evil from you when its love and can’t see the good that is honestly in you–what choice do you have? Let Go! Lord, I give this issue to you again. Forgive me for anything I’ve done and I forgive them for not realizing what they are doing.

Try the Love Dare! It challenges you to do specific things each day and journal about it and the affect on yourself and your spouse. You can pickup the movie, love dare journals, and other study resources at your local Family Christian Store for individual couple use or to facilitate a couples study group.

The Love Dare can help you evaluate your motives and intentions in your marriage. It will guide you to and through verses in the Bible about what God says our roles are in marriage. Discusses how Respect to a man is real Love, but to a woman Love means caring, listening, and being kind. Men and Women are different and God made us that way on purpose….learning the differences and honoring those differences as the Lord desires us to is what builds your marriage up.

This is the first couples study that Russ has personally took an interest in, searched out, and pursued for us to do together. I’m excited to see where the Lord leads our marriage. Thanks mom and dad for sharing the movie with us and planting the seeds.

I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and that the Lord has a plan for good to come from this. So I find myself trying to see where the Lord’s hand is within this crazy up and down situation we’re facing.

Not knowing what counseling to turn to and seeking help from Christian resources, our Youth Pastor, Brian Berry referred us to Family Focus Christian Counseling as a place to start. Counseling hasn’t been a success story for Russ and I in the past, but I’m hoping this will become a positive thing at this time in our lives.

Family Focus Christian Counseling has been a huge resource for us. They not only work with families and individuals for a regular fee, but they do offer a sliding scale option if your income is the only issue in the way of getting help you need. I have to thank the Lord for helping us discover this place and I recommend anyone needing these services to call them up and see what they can do to help your unique situation.

The only thing I personally can’t stand about counseling is that it forces you to face the harsh reality of who you may be, who your spouse my be, and your dysfunctions that need to be worked on. I just hope hashing out the problems don’t make things worse at home.

If you find that it’s just READING in general that you don’t like doing, at the least download the FREE podcast to listen to the Word each day. Subscribe to the daily audio bible on itunes or even subscribe to in through your favorite pod-cast catcher.

The 1-Year Daily Audio Bible has been a wonderful blessing to me. I’ve downloaded the whole selection on my itunes podcast section to access anytime. I also like keeping the current week’s daily verses available on my iPhones iPod section to take along with me anywhere. Keeping the Lord’s Word in your mind is critical to daily living. Believe it or not, the Lord brings opportunities your way daily that seem to relate to what you read or listened to.

This shouldn’t be drudgery to do. The Lord talks to you through His Word. It reaches your deepest parts in ways you won’t understand until you read the Word. Your faith will increase greatly hearing about what Jesus did for us and how much he Loves us. Your heart will be touched…Let Jesus speak to your heart through hearing the Word and/or Reading the Word. It becomes life changing.

“In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?”- Psalm 56:4

This verse has been one of my personal favorite verses since the Lord changed my life in 1986. It carries a deep Truth that can sustain you in any situation. To me, this truth is that God is the only one I should be afraid of, not man or anything for that matter. So if I keep my heart right with the Lord, spiritually walk with Jesus every day of my life, recognizing his hand and guidance in my life every moment, honoring him and living the life he desires me to live according to his word, then there is nothing to be afraid of that Man can dish out at me. Ultimately, the Lord is the one in control of it all. Boy, Satan sure can torment you so subtly through people, but it’s what you do with the knowledge of knowing that it’s not the people you are accountable to ….it’s God/Jesus/Holy Spirit that you are truly accountable to. Remembering that truth…helps us make better choices than our natural instincts just taking over. None of us are perfect, but the Lord expects us to keep practicing doing what is right. It’s when we stop practicing living for the Lord is when the enemy creeps into our lives and has his manipulated way with us.

My prayer for today:

Lord, today I ask that you protect my heart, mind, and soul from the grueling challenges that may come my way. Please keep me tender towards you and keep you close to my every decision and choice I make. Help me to honor you and please you and recognize opportunities that you put before me to share your love in. Make me aware of where I go wrong and help me to understand how you desire me to be. Help me Lord to be the woman you desire me to be, not getting trapped in my own ways, but relying on you for comfort, provision, and peace. Thank you Lord. In Jesus name I pray, AMEN.

Pacific Justice Institute has just received word that the court ruling which declared most forms of homeschooling unlawful in California has been vacated. This means the Rachel L. decision, which has sparked a nationwide uproar, will not go into effect as it is currently written. The Second District Court of Appeal has instead decided to re-hear the case, with a new round of briefings due in late April. It would likely take the court several additional months to schedule oral argument and issue another decision.

Today’s announcement by the court that it will re-hear the case reinforces PJI’s position that homeschooling families should continue their current programs without fear of governmental interference. PJI will be actively involved in the upcoming briefs and will continue to post updates and special bulletins on this vital issue.

Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute, commented, “We are pleased that the Court of Appeal has decided to re-hear the Rachel L. case, and we are hopeful that the fundamental rights of these parents, our clients Sunland Christian School, and the tens of thousands of homeschooling families in California will be honored. Homeschooling parents should be treated as heroes—not hunted down or harassed by their own government.”

It amazes me that even after knowing the true statistics of home schooled children succeeding in life and making something of themselves, how someone would try to sabotage the homeschooling option.

Even crazier to me is how the Public Education system is getting away with destroying children’s lives and only playing favorites with a few select pupils. Why some Teachers label students and then play GOD with a child’s life. Instead of realizing every student can learn, dealing with a child’s need, actually teach concepts, and have realistic boundaries in a classroom.

Today’s Teachers can find three reasons to give a child a referral and the child is kicked from their classroom. So something as simple as talking to their friend in class can get a referral. Unless a parent challenges the referrals and attempts to stop the teacher, the child is hungout to dry and becomes labelled as a defiant unteachable student.

In the Public schools, you are robbed of your individuality. You are forced to conform to one learning style (unless you are privileged to have a Real Teacher–which is very rare today), if you have an opinion other than the teacher’s you are labeled a defiant person. If you question values, morality, racial or religious differences, again you become a problem child. The teachers today can hide behind group work, group correcting, and not have to take time for any individual child’s learning need to help them succeed. Teachers don’t even have to correct assignments and give grades according to a child’s academic ability; a child is now graded on effort in the classroom which is basically their behavior–not based upon academic criteria. Also a grade determination is based on their absences. So if a child is out ill for a few days, they may have had an “A” in the class, but because of this rule the grade has to be lowered if they’re out of school more than 3-5 days a semester. Legally, a child can be absent from school for 15 days. I realize the school system is trying to curb absenteeism, but come on. So far most kids like going to public school, if you’re too social or creative watch out though.

Well, that’s my opinions what are yours? make a comment.

So for California, set your clocks FORWARD one hour before you go to bed tonight. More sunshine for everyone. My brother in AZ is sure lucky to not have to remember to do this. His clock never adjusts.

How about in your state?
Do you adjust your clocks for daylight saving time?
Leave a comment and let me know.

Don’t be late to church tomorrow!