CTI June - There's No Place Like Home

Man, this is a crazy, wonderful time of clarification and direction. I've said before (and have been saying for about a year) that the time we spent in CTI (School of Ministry) has been the best for our marriage.

I am still seeing more and more reasons for why that is true.

Month after month, we've had new challenges, new things happening that stretch us and that bless us as well.

The latest has been regarding the imporatance of building a solid foundation at home, for our children. I see even more clearly, after the past few months, that there is no place like home!

I realize that there are things each of us will be shown and will be convicted of and I never want to push my convictions on anyone else, so if you're reading this, know that it is me sharing what I have learned and how I will apply it -- but at the same time it is important for you to examine the scriptures and see it for what it is.

There is no place like home. What does that really mean? And if I believe that is true, what am I going to do about it? I'll tell you about my quest. You can be a Berean and sort it out as well.

There's no place like worship at home. Worship and Bible Study are important and are necessary. It is important for us to worship corporately and to assemble together with others, but the most imporant worship and modeling should take place at home. This is something Jeoff and I have recommitted to and have developed a very strong passion for, culminating with the completion of CTI. I don't think it's coincidental at all. We are to be equipped to do the work of the ministry and our equipping was done to carry it out here. It was designed to happen this way. Our true passion, our call to ministry is to raise up these soldiers, here, in our house and to model the roles of priest and nurturer before them, so they don't have to search for those answers outside of our walls. Father is called to teach his children the word of God at home and to carry out worship there. That is so much clearer to us now. Those are the qualifications of the Elder. (I Timothy 3). He is able to teach at home. He manages his household. He leads us in worship. This training we have received, will be applied at home first. Before we set off on any other journey, or mission, or meeting. When (and as) it's done right in here; we can be qualified to do so, even better out there. Some of the resources that have solidified that can be found at www.TriviumPursuit.com, specifically the audio on Family Worship.

There's no place like having home on my mind. I am so much more convicted and passionate about focusing my mind on the things of my household. Keeping my home, taking care of my husband and my children well. And not as just a duty or as something to fit in. But making it my first priority! Titus 2 - to love my husband, love my children, and be a worker at home, so that the word of God will not be dishonored. One of the resources that has solidified that, is the Mother's Day message from Dr. Tony Evans on May 13, 2007.

There's no place like teaching at home. I am so much more convicted now, to teach at home. Convicted to bring my children up in the ways of the Lord. To mold their character. To direct them with the rod of discipline. Deuteronomy 6: "You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up." It will be very difficult for me to do that and do it well, if I continue to get up early in the morning and leave my house and come back to my house in the evening with only a few hours to fit all that in. I realize that doesn't read "thou shalt homeschool." But if we are to teach them, I believe we can pray to Him for a plan and for the provision to be their primary teachers. There's more I can say on this, but in making this decision, we also researched how "state school" came about, in our culture and the trends that have come about as a result. It all points us back to, what is the primary responsibility (Biblically) for the parent and for the home. One of the resources I found helpful - www.HeartofWisdom.com.

So, that's where I am right now and where we're headed, and it's so much more clear. I look forward to the rest of the journey!

Make Your Statement

What You Believe about Life & Marriage?

After a friend asked me some questions, specifically realted to some of the intimate issues in marriage, I wrote the proclamations below when to remind me of the standard that I believe God wants me to have. They help me when situations come up in marriage and in life in general.

I encourage you to write something similar for yourself, and if you don't mind, let me know if you did.


Each of the 4 points, a through d (listed below), build on each other so please read all of them to understand how it relates to intimacy in marriage and meeting needs.


The statements in a proclamation solidify who you are - and it's important to have them written somewhere. It's interesting to go back and read it after you've written it. Especially years later. (You may have already done this. If not, considering doing it. If you have maybe it's time to review and update it.)

Feel free to comment on what I wrote, if you want, and share yours with me when you write it!

I will be updating, editing, and improving mine from time to time..............................

___________________________________

This is what I wrote to my friend

Thank you for even thinking to ask me these questions. I need to hear them as much as possible because they challenge me as well, to look at my own relationship and solidify my convictions and motivations.


So before I comment on the questions, let me first say that there are some general principles that I find helpful in marriage and as a Christian which when I really think about it, can be applied to any situation. Here they are, and mind you, I'm not writing this from an attitude of one who always does this. These are proclamations to remind me of the standard that I believe God wants me to have and I have to work hard daily to press toward it; and attain it!! After you read it, and after you read my comments to the questions, I encourage you to write something similar for yourself. And reread it and rewrite it from time to time, to keep it renewed in your heart and in your spirit. They will help you when almost any situation comes up that you find to be difficult in your marriage, and perhaps in your life as a whole.


a. What is my life for?
As a Christian my life is to be modeled after the life of Jesus Christ. What did Jesus do and what does He want us to do? He served others, He drew strength from the Word and from the Father. He forgave and always sought for others to be healed. He stood for righteousness and truth, and did not waver or compromise those things. In doing all these things, his needs were met, He was fulfilled, he was given the honor that he was due (side note: the honor was given to him by those who were walking in line with the kingdom; he didn't receive honor from those who were not walking in line with the kingdom; but his actions didn't change because of that; He did what He did based on his character, not based on anyone else's actions)


b. What principle of giving do I believe in?

I believe that the Lord desires that I am a giver. A giver of my time, my resources, and my affections. When I give: I should not do it, in order to receive something in return. I should not do it in order to receive thanks or praise. I should not do it because I feel it is a duty or obligation. I should give out of love. If I am finding it difficult to do this out of love, I need to pray and read what the Lord says in the Word about giving and ask Him to give me a change of heart. Just like financial giving, giving in any other area should be done freely and not of necessity. And it should also be done cheerfully.


c. Why am I married?
(If you're not married change this to why do I want to be married or whatever fits your situation. If you're not married and you desire to be, it's important to solidify your expectations and commitments to it)


I am married for several reasons. 1) I "fell in love" with the man I believe God prepared for me. 2) I was destined to be with him and serve him for life 3) We were placed together to accomplish things for the Kingdom of God and to raise Godly children. 4) God uses our marriage to make us holy, not to make us happy 5) Now that we, as husband and wife, have children, our marriage is also designed to be a model before our children, to raise them up in the way of the Lord and to become mature Christians, themselves, to assist them in finding their calling, following their passions, and building strong families in their own right.



d. What is my commitment in my marriage?
(If you're not married change this to what will be my commitment in marriage or whatever fits your situation; or completely omit this section and add a different one which expresses the importance of your role in life, as a Christian)


I am committed to my marriage. That means I am committed to the vow that I have made to the Lord in this Covenant called marriage. That vow to the Lord, includes my vow to my husband to honor and respect him. I honor both the Lord and my husband by fulfilling what the Lord has written in his word about my role as a wife and as a mother. If anything, even a job, is getting in the way of me fulfilling those roles, I need to seek the Lord about ways to remove that which is in the way. If your job outside of the home is in the way, does it need to be removed? For me, that is the case. (More on that, if you're interested in hearing about it).


When I made the covenant of marriage, I became one in the Spirit with God and my husband. Not just with my husband. I understand the God is the only part of the oneness who is perfect. I still got some flesh in me. And my husband still has some flesh in him. The Lord is perfect and he is not wanting, he has no lack. My husband and I are not perfect. We do have lack, we have needs we have to have each other to make up for our imperfections in character (by praying for each another, holding each other accountable, supporting each other, encouraging each other, etc.). We also have to meet the needs that we are designed to meet, for each other - sex, affection, conversation, recreation, financial support, domestic support, etc.


Regardless of where we are lacking, regardless of whatever other stresses and responsibilities that we face in the other areas of our life - whether it's work, children, church, bills, parents, etc - we still have to meet each other's needs.


It's the largest commitment that I will ever make in my life, other than the commitment I made to Jesus Christ, to accept him in my life and walk as his disciple.

CTI - Importance of Family

About this time we are really seeing just how important family is, in carrying out ministry to others. How badly do I want to be used of God to minister to others? How badly do I want to share the gospel of Jesus and the love of God with others who don't know Him?

Really really bad. I want to share with women, mothers, wives, young ladies, older ladies who I can provide an answer or hope to, marriages to-be, homeschool families, those seeking to homeschool, mothers seeking to stay home with their chidren, unreached people groups in far away countries, unbelievers in my neighborhood, youth, and more.

But:

1) I don't wait until I'm in an official position to do that. I do some now, and I think about it at various times throughout my day and night. I (we) am (are) passionate about sharing and ministering to others. And we will continue to do it.

2) I don't want the percentage of outside ministry to outweigh inside ministry. Ministry inside my home. Four things have stood out regarding this. a) I have heard Pastor Hayes mention several times about one prominent Pastor in another country who has a church of hundreds of thousands of people (one of the largest in the world) but his children do not serve the Lord. b) I also heard recently, an author on the radio, who read the following quote from Nelson Mandela. "To be the father of a nation is a great honor, but to be the father of family is a greater joy." - Nelson Mandela, Autobiography of Nelson Mandela. In his autobiography, Nelson Mandela shared that his children believed that, when he was released from prison, they would get their father back. Unfortunately, that did not happen. The majority of his time was still spent in running the affairs of the country and leading the nation. c) a friend recently sent me an article by Audrey Broggi, where she spoke of the importance of women understanding that we should view what we do at home as ministry (rocking, changing diapers, first-aid, discipline, molding, nurturing, hugging, cleaning, teaching them the word of God, how to live in Christ, how to exhibit the fruit of the spirit, etc.), instead of saying that once we get through that stage of motherhood, and lastly d) An audio message from Harvey Bluedorn regarding the importance of Fathers leading worship at home, and the qualification of an Elder which include mangaging his own household.

These all have helped us as we solidy our family foundation!

I talked to some of the students in CORE today and received their feedback on this, the importance of family, as they read the words of the songs they wrote, and thought of someone in their own family that they could minister that message to. I shared with them, our personal story of how we have had to balance our family life with our ministry work through these last two years and how, in this final year, we have been convinced that, while we will minister in the areas of evangelism, marriage, music, and more --- ministry will start at home first.then we can do real ministry. and lastly d) We heard in an audio message from Harvey Bluedorn regarding the importance of Fathers leading worship at home, and the Biblical qualifications of an Elder which include mangaging his own household, by carrying out the duties that God has outlined for Fathers in the home.

These all have helped us as we solidify our family foundation!

I talked to some of the students in CORE today and received their feedback on this, the importance of family, as they read the words of the songs they wrote, and thought of someone in their own family that they could minister that message to. I shared with them, our personal story of how we have had to balance our family life with our ministry work through these last two years and how, in this final year, we have been convinced that, while we will minister in the areas of evangelism, marriage, music, and more --- ministry will start at home first.

Happy Birthday - "Cakes"!!!

Happy Birthday!

Fun in the sand

Hanging out with the fam, at the park. Don't we all love wiggling our toes in the sand!!!???