Lately.....

Sorry I have not been posting. My kids have kept me very busy with schoolwork in the daytime. Rebekah has Algebra, and is having some trouble comprehending her elective, Music. Daniel is just not the best reader so I am trying to spend more time with him in that area, and "practicing nice and easy speech", as I just can't afford a speech therapist again right now.
My mind is still busy, and yet alot of the things I would like to talk about that are troubling my heart, I cant talk about here. So there you have it.
I still regularly check all my friends posts. I enjoy you all blogs!
Some day soon I will come up with something deep and amazing that will stun you all!! lol!!...Or I could just yell at Mark again...!!! (jk!)
Later!!

We talked about something interesting in Sunday School this morning. It was based on Romans 15:7

Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.
or the version they read said;
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

I do have alot of issue with alot of the holiness denominations, which I do belong to, as they do tend to be very rigid, and feel as if their way is the only way. Sometimes if others dont measure up to our standard of dress, we think they just cant be a Christian. Or if their doctrine just doesnt match up to our own, they are most certainly lost. It is a very unchristian attitude to have. We tend to forget where Christ brought us from, and forget some of areas we maybe didnt "line up" at times, yet we were still Christians. We forget that we hold up different preachers and teachers from the past as authorities of our doctrine--yet alot of them didnt "line up"! John Wesley had long hair, Samuel Bringle smoked a pipe, etc... And might I dare to go on and say some of the things preached against in holiness churches today, are NOT in the Bible! Yet so often we feel we are the ultimate authority on who is going to make it to Heaven or not!! This scripture tells us to recieve one another, or to accept.

Greek translation of recieve--

to take to, take in addition, to take to one's self
to take as one's companion
to take by the hand in order to lead aside
to take or receive into one's home, with the collateral idea of kindness
to receive, i.e. grant one access to one's heart
to take into friendship and intercourse
to take to one's self, to take: i.e. food

The point was made that Jesus did not go around saying, "you are wrong" continually. He did alot of loving and reaching out to others. He did alot of condemning those who were self righteous, that were basing their religon on their works, and rituals. He did alot of accepting. He did not straighten out the woman caught in adultery--frankly, he didnt care what she had done. He wanted her to quit sinning now, but he loved and wanted her. However, he did put to shame the pious church people that brought her in to Him. They left in shame. Jesus had arms outstretched to the unloveable and unwanted, and the ones that didnt "line up".

However, having said all that, there is times He did stand up for what he thought was right. There was times he did straighten people out. He loved the rich, young ruler, and yearned for him, but Jesus did set some ground rules for him. We can make it all easy and "let's accept everyone", but where are our ground rules supposed to be according to God's Word(not according to holiness people's rules)? I found this very concerning to me this morning--is this where some of the churches of today have become of little depth? Have they taken this too far? And yet, holiness people are not taking it serious enough. What is the answer? I dont know.....

Stay Home!!

I went out in this weather tonight to visit a nursing home friend, and when I went in the room her roommate asked me, "How is the weather outside?" I sang to her, "Oh the weather outside is frightful..." Crazy me going out in it!! I crept back to Lisbon at about 20 miles an hour--luckily noone followed me probably because most people were too smart to be out in it), or else they would have been complaining, "Why dont that poor old lady's family keep her home!!!"
Stay home--it's bad out!!

My Purpose

Do you ever think of all the things you were going to do when you grew up? How many did you accomplish? Me...not too many. I was sure I was going to be a nurse or doctor for a long time, which I am sure I would have enjoyed as I love home health care. .There is a satisfaction in leaving a client and knowing they are clean, smell good, and are comfortable. I am sure I would have enjoyed trying to make people better. Then, I was sure I was going to be a missionary. I can remember sitting on the sink next to Mom while she explained communism to me, and about the people in China that couldnt worship God freely. I also around this time went to a missionary service where the Lyons family ( who were missionaries to Taiwan) spoke--I cried through the service. I was then sure I was going to be a missionary to China. When I grew to be a teenager, I was sure I was going to be a writer. I filled notebooks with my stories, and a few articles were published by our denominational paper. I was also sure I would NEVER let myself get fat like some people I seen. Well sorry to say, I accomplished none of that.
I am just an ordinary mom and wife, a homeschooling mom to be exact. I can barely keep up with my house, and sometimes I just feel like pulling my hair out!! My hair is turning gray, I have arthritis in my joints, and I feel as if Old Lady Age is pulling me down a path that in my youth I never thought I would reach. I look back at my life and all the mistakes I have made, years of depression, and I could feel like a failure. However, I can honestly say that what I see is that God has not given up on me. I am embarassed at some of my mistakes, and I see lots of areas where I have failed, yet if He has not given up on me, then maybe, just maybe, He has a reason for me being here! It could be there is hope for Christa. Maybe I have touched a life, or maybe I will eventually. Maybe my kids will go on to do what I did not. And if He has not given up on me, why should I?

Check out a good discussion on another Blogger site--
http://thoughtsofasojourner.blogspot.com/
Interesting thoughts.

Mistaken ideas about breastfeeding

Breastfeeding

I have an acquaintance here on Blogger who brought up the subject that Facebook, due to Facebook regulations has removed pictures of woman breastfeeding from their site. They are removing the pictures where nipple or aerola are showing, and thousands of women are boycotting Facebook for this, etc... I agree with him on the point--why would woman want to post pictures of themselves in this manner, and I think Facebook was right in removing the pictures. On these points, I do agree with him, but he made other "points" that aggravated me, although he is someone I really like from what I know of him, and I enjoy allot of his dissertations.
Today Breastfeeding a choice--at one time it wasn't. Today we have decent formulas that do supply adequate nutrition for the baby, and I don't have a problem with that choice if that is what you prefer to do. I would like to point out that formula does not boost the baby's immune system. Breastfeeding is God's way, and his way is always best. Babies come into the world largely unprotected, facing organisms that their systems are not equipped to handle. If you are bottle feeding, you do need to be extra careful to keep your baby away from people who are sick, as babies can become much sicker than normal until they have time to build an immune system. Breast-feeding jump starts them much faster as you are sharing "lymphocytes and macrophages that produce antibodies and other immune factors" with your baby. Breastfed babies do not get sick as much, or spit up as much. Actually, even if you yourself are sick, you should not stay away from your baby, because your body "begins producing antibodies to fight the infection. Some of these antibodies are passed to your baby through your breastmilk so he or she can also fight the virus." Why? Because it is the God's way. Breast milk for our infants was designed BY GOD with the needs of our babies in mind, just as a cow's milk was designed with a calf in mind and gives that calf the stuff he needs to grow healthy on.
Breast feeding is easy--no sterilizing, no warming bottles in the middle of night, and it is free. Yes, it does take time to sit and nurse them, but no more time than sitting and sticking a bottle in their mouth--minus the preparation time! Contrary to some people's belief, if you miss a few feedings, you don't have to pump if you don't want to. I know that it can be difficult to find an appropriate time if you are away. You can express enough to make yourself comfortable, and keep on going. If you are a little short on milk the next day because of missed feedings, you just sit a little longer and let the baby nurse longer, and the amazing human body will learn to readjust to the amount the baby needs the next day. That is what happens each time the baby grows and requires more than your body is producing--you spend a little extra time nursing for a day. You know, what is really cool? When I was nursing my 2ND child, it was discovered that I had hydrocephalus, and they wanted to operate, and if I had let them, with the pain meds I would have been on, I wouldn't have been able to nurse for a couple weeks. Of course, my milk would have dried up, but did you know any woman can produce milk even if she never had a baby? Of course, it would be tiresome--you would need to sit with a pump at regular times for a couple weeks, but the stimulation will bring on the milk! If I had wanted to, I could have brought my milk back, and went on nursing. The human body is so amazing--and they try to say we evolved!!
My acquaintance mentioned it takes away the chance for the rest of the family to bond. First of all, if a mother is willing to take the time to nurse, I think it selfish for the rest of the family to be fretting too much about taking from the health of the baby. Second, I feel sorry for them if that is the only way they can find to bond. My kids loved my husband and knew him as little babies-- and I nursed exclusively the first couple months. They loved my mom and their uncles. They just spent time with them.
However, the "point" he made that aggravated me the most, is that woman should not nurse in public even if they are covered up. That upsets me. So we should hide away as if we are doing something wrong? I am not talking about indecent exposure, I am talking about being covered. I think the world has made such a big deal of a woman's chest, we think it is obscene anything to do with it outside of sex. Sorry! They are useful tools and made that way by God--and guess what? I just bet you Jesus nursed. Read pioneer books, those that mention it, talk of it being done in the open. It is not obscene. When we have to go and sit in a room by our self, we are teaching our kids that is shameful, and what young girl is going to want to make the better choice for her baby, if she has to sit in a room by herself if her baby is fussy.
Don't take me wrong. I am NOT putting down mothers that don't nurse. I know lots of mothers that the natural way is not a good choice for them, but they are every bit as good of a mother as I am. I just think allot of people are misinformed.

(And don't think I am mad at this person. I have often online in forums disagreed with him agreeably, but enjoyed debating him.)

When I was young I was sure of everything; in a few years, having been mistaken a thousand times, I was not half so sure of most things as I was before; at present, I am hardly sure of anything but what God has revealed to me. -John Wesley.


My favorite quote.
When I was young, I did think I knew it all. I knew who was a Christian and who wasnt, I knew which was the "right" way", I knew the rules, etc... I am so glad God did not give up on me and my little righteous mind! I am so much less judgmental than I was at one time, and so much more able to think outside the box!! All I know for sure is what God has showed me personally, and that is all I need to know!!