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| I had the priviedge of being alone with my eldest daughter the last few days. While she is a delight, it was a trying time for the both of us. She is no longer a child! She is 17!! How did that happen. I am the parent of a 17 year old now and I have no clue what I am doing! I am praying more and more now. When we first had kids my wife and I both knew that we were unable to raise them properly. We wanted to raise them up to love God more than anything or anyone else. This is different than the way we grew up. Our parents did their best. However, we are of the belief that this world is not our home. We belong to a heavenly kingdom. We live in this world but we are aliens here. This is our temporary dwelling place. Heaven is our home and I believe it is also now our childrens' home as well. We are in the world, but we are not of it. Jesus has changed everything. It is not our belief system that has changed anything; it's Jesus himself. So, anyways, when we first had kids we knew we could not raise them right. It was knowing this weakness in our abilities that forced us to our knees. We humbly asked our Creator to guide us because "we knew not what to do". Looking back, I think that God used our weakness as our greatest strength. My children are far from perfect and so are my wife and I, but we are doing our best to live in the truth that this world is not our home. We are destined for another world. It is not a theory; it is the truth according to the scriptures. Now back to Grace. She is no longer a child. She is in another season of her life. She is more like a peer now than a child. I once again have no clue what to do! Ya know, it occurs to me that I must have fallen for the fallacy that somewhere along the way I "knew" what to do, otherwise I wouldn't be so surprised that I don't know now! So I am left once again with praying, Lord; please give me guidance. Help me to hear your voice. Help me to simply love the woman my daughter is becoming. Help me to continue to provide for her in every way I can and come alongside her as she grows. It is a blessing to watch her become less and less dependent on me and more and more dependent upon you... AMEN.
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| We have arrived in Gainesville. It is a very nice place too! The whole family is helping unpack and get settled. What a blessed life I have. God is so good to me and my family. I pray that I would be a grateful man whether things went my way or not. Actually, very few things really go my way. I will be starting work on Monday and am nervous in my humanness. I will be meeting new people and a whole new setting, etc. etc. Thankfully the nursing is the same no matter where I go. All I must do is provide the best nursing care I can no matter where it is I am placed. I work for the Lord no matter where I go. Lord please remove my fear and help me to trust in you for our future. AMEN. | | |
| "Where God will choose to lead you and how God chooses to use your life cannot be predicted by how God has worked in the lives of others before you"......taken from page 37 of, "The Barbarian Way", by Erwin McManus
I enjoyed reading this book. It's an easy read and confirms in me the fact that God doesn't want us to be a bunch of wussy's!! That it is right and good to seek Him with a fervor. To be a zealot who doesn't settle for a mediocre life. This line struck me in particular. Perhaps because of the life we are leading. We are truly trusting the Lord in our walk as we never know where we will be for more than 6 months at a time; usually three months at a time! It has FORCED us to trust Him. Considering the alternative, God has placed us in a position where we can trust Him, or live a life full of fear. We are leaving soon from Naples FL. We have enjoyed our time here and hope and pray that where we go next will have more of Gods children to come along side of us as we journey through.........wherever we go. We hope and pray we have also been a blessing to others as we travel. We certainly do not want to take from people as we go through the country without giving as well. It's been an interesting journey so far. We look forward to meeting so many others. The joy is in the journey. I want to be where HE wants us to be..........wherever tat may be.
On a side note, I heard a man say the other day that 95% of evangelical youth who go off to college, lose their faith in those four years. Rather than get in a discussion of how Gods elect cannot "lose" their faith, I'd rather bring up the fact that church buildings can be a very dangerous place to set your children loose in. No parent should expect the church to train their child properly. You may have a good program but remember the good is often times the enemy of the best. It is my responsibility to train my children not someone else's. Which brings me to my point. When I heard that percentage quote I instantly thought to myself........stop makin them do church!! This is something I feel strongly about. We are to BE the church not GO to church. I love good teaching, and heck we can get it for free on the radio; but it is my responsibility to lead my family. If you go to a building and get taught or teach others, that's OK but please do not call that church! I am a member of Gods church. Nothing can take that from me. I surrender to my Creator every morning when I wake, then try and follow after the Holy Spirits leading. It is every mans responsibility to lead his family. In fact each man IS leading his tribe. The question is...........where are we leading them?
Daniel
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| I just finished reading a very small but powerful booklet called the Doctrines of Grace. I might as well have just underlined every sentence! There was a story in there about Mephibosheth. It blows me away. I agree with the book that I am a child of God and that I deserve that title just like he deserved what King David did for him. Mephibosheth wanted nothing to do with King David. But King David sought him out and honored him by having him eat at the Kings table regularly,............or as another translation says "continuously". It's just amazing! A story in the scripture that once again shows us clearly how it is all dependent on HIM and nothing from us. God is good. I am humbled to be one of His chosen. Thank you Lord. I pray to have the same gratitude that must have permeated Mephibosheths life, simply because of how the King raised him up.
Daniel | | |
| "The children I teach are indifferent to the adult world. This defies the experience of thousands of years. A close study of what big people were up to was always the most exciting occupation of youth..................." pg. 30 of "Dumbing us Down, by John Taylor Gatto, former teacher of the year in NY
I highly recommend this short book to all---student and parent alike. I see what he means with this quote I ca remember when we looked at older people and wanted to be like them! Nowadays we no longer seem to hold up people of integrity to be emulated by the young. Thousands of years of experience....wow! That says something. As I continued to read this small book, I have come to see that it is mainly the fault of our school "system". How anyone could place their children into the public school system voluntarily is beyond me. He basically confirmed to me that the system is actually worse than I thought. I pray all parents will consider home education or at the very least an honest evaluation of what the children are being taught, or not taught, in the "system". It really is destroying family unity. Any child that succeeds in today's department of education is in my opinion, succeeding despite the DOE and not because of it! It is frightening what is going on. When will people take a stand and admit that the DOE has no idea how to educate! I recall what a keynote speaker said years ago at a state homeschool conference.
"Even if you keep your kids at home and do no formal schooling at all, they will be better off at the end of that year than if you place them in the school system".
Harsh words, but I believe they are true.
Daniel | | |
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