Have a Recycled Crafty Christmas: Week 1

Welcome to our first week of our month long blog meme. Each week families will be showing and sharing ideas for making decorations and ornaments out of household items that have been recycled into festive items for the Holiday season! Show us what your kids made or what you have made with your kids!You can also participate by sharing Holiday memories of keepsakes that have been passed down to you

Plans for December

This year we are going to be celebrating Advent (the First Christmas: the birth of baby Jesus). In years past, we have spent time on themes like the Polar Express, Snow and Winter and Christmas around the World but my heart desires that my sons learn more about Christ and why we celebrate Christmas. It is more than presents and food.This will be a learning experience for me because it will be the

God Loves Josiah.....he is the Apple of His Eye.

He pulls himself around the floor on both hands.   Happily he drifts from one room to another as he tries to keep up with his brothers and sister. They all enjoy normal mobilty and accept Josiah as if he does also. One brother is his twin. I wonder if he ever considers that he may have been the one with the handicap? Perhaps he doesn't realise the extent of his brothers disability. After all, he is only nine years old.

Love hugs and smiles abound in a God filled environment. Help is given as the norm and not as a burden.   Chris, Josiah's father left working, not long after his son's birth, to remain at home and help with the daily care.
Frances, his mother laughs all the time, happy and appreciative of her wonderful family and friends. They experience many trials; however the family pray and stick close together surrounded by Gods reassurance.

I was privileged last week to be invited to a 'Fundraiser' for Josiah.   The family desperately need a van to transport them collectively with their son's special wheelchair.   So far they have raised only a small amount. There is a long way to go, but in their faith they believe, for their miracle.

Isaiah 55:11  "So shall my Word be, that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto me void...and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I send it."

Josiah was born with Large Frontal Encepepholocoale (removed 2002)
Diagnosis: Semi Lobar Holopresencephaly, Gross Neuro Migrational D/O and Dysplastic Cerebellum.
Cerebral Palsy with Hearing and Visual Impairment.
Treatment: Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt implanted at 7 months of age.
So far, seven (7) revisions and bi-lateral grommets.

Happy Thanksgiving

Our family is enjoying a day at home and will be having Thanksgiving dinner later today. The phone rings with kind sentiment from family and friends. Each year we have our "family Turkey Hot line" between my mom, me and my sisters discussing what time we each woke up, what's done and what's not done. This year I took the laid back approach and we will taking a steady pace to prepare our

Oh Lamb of God I Come...........and Build an Altar to Thee.

Retiring to bed last night nothing intentional was on my mind. As soon as my head hit the pillow I began to lift God up in Praise. It was as if it all, just burst forth...a spring of Heavenly Praise.

Rising from deep within my spirit, reaching out to His......and I feel it again as I write these words.
Praise you Lord, Thank you Father, Glory to God in the highest, Praise your Holy Name, Blessed be God forever and ever, Thank you Lord my God and my Redeemer. I give you all the thanks and praise,. Thou art worthy, worthy is the lamb, blessed be God forever. Oh praise you Jesus, Lord of Lords and King of Kings. Thou art worthy to be praised.

My God, my soul, I lift you higher....
Mighty King, Prince of peace.....
My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savour! Blessed be...


This is the secret to everything, Praising Our Creator God!  
There has been so much on my mind lately, so much that I have come before Him about in conversation, talking to Him, praying to Him. Now He is showing me there is no need to voice my concerns  any more. 

All I have to do, is simply "Praise Him!" and the gates of Heaven open wide.
Suddenly I am before the throne, on my knees before my God and he is right here. There is just us, but I am different. I am young again, fresh and pure...unaffected by the filth of this world. And His great love Embraces me.  Just as I am I come....without one plea.....
Just as I am...Blessed be...

Thankfulness

This week we are preparing for Thanksgiving and it gives us an opportunity to reflect on the things in our lives that we are thankful for. As a Christian, I am thankful each day for my blessings and for my trials that I have on my journey with Christ.This week our hearts are grateful that I have both my parents and that my sons have a bond with them. I have a large number of siblings and nieces

Six Joyful Blessings Moulded by the Potters Hand.

Every Parent wants the best for their child and the decision to send children to a state school or home school is a challenge. The Christian parent considers Biblical principals such as The Creation described in Genesis and the belief that God created everything.
In comparison, the world teaches away from that to evolution and the big bang theory.
God tells us to "Bring a child up the way he is to go and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
So we want our children to inherit the earth, full of Gods Word and Gods goodness. Faith means trust and although a parent may desire to totally dedicate their life to instilling Godly principles within their offspring, ultimately when you serve God, He is in control and all will be cared for.

The parents of the children in this photo are a wonderful example of commitment to nurturing their children's Faith, Belief and Well being. They are completely dedicated.
Two of the boys are missing from the group. One is older and in high school and one younger still at home.
I cannot imagine caring for eight young lives under one roof. Yes! these parents are to be commended. By the happy smiling faces it is easy to see each child is safe in the knowledge they are loved and belong.
Each one is treated as a special individual and they thrive in their environment. After years of Home Education they have recently begun attending a small rural school.
Sitting on a bench they sit proudly displaying their new uniforms. May God bless this family.