God answers prayer

Yes, Our Heavenly Father always hears our prayers. He sometimes answers them with a yes. The more we align our lives with His will, the more yes answers we'll get. That is a worthy goal for us flesh tethered folk here on Earth. But, often enough our desires are in His will.

It seems that God answers my prayers in a most obvious way when I reach a point of hopelessness. He can see that I am unable to accomplish a thing on my own, but He knows I must see that. When I reach that place where I am humble enough to let Him have the entire problem, willing to accept whatever He feels I need, that is when He allows me to see how He answers my prayer.

Recently I have been slothful in my duties as mother, teacher, homemaker, family accountant, and all the other jobs I have. It really all hinges on my waking early enough to get some things done before beginning our school day. It is just as much about bad habits, and that feeling of lostness I often get in the afternoon that causes me to miss opportunities to do important tasks.

Of course, I pray about these problems all the time, wondering what do I need to do. Finally I admitted to my God that I don't know what to do, and I give up trying. I asked Him to make me get up early and do my jobs. Then I backpedalled; saying He didn't need to make me (I was imagining Him allowing some terrible think to happen that would require me to do everything and more!) but I admitted failure, and the absolute need for Him.

One or two days later, He confronts me. He uses my husband to point out my faults. Andy is very tactful, and I accept the constructive criticism with some hurt feelings, but unable to deny that he's right. I acknowledge his feelings in the matter, and let him know that he has every right to feel that way. He tells me that if I could be fired for not doing these jobs, I would work harder at them. He was right on. He told me the same things I have been telling myself for months. Why did it have to come from his mouth? Why couldn't I take it to heart from my own chastising thought. Maybe my husband is more loving about my faults than I am. I am certainly my worst critic, and can make myself feel very bad about my mistakes. Andy can recognise them without making me feel so hopeless.

I had to let Andy know that God had used him to answer my prayers. God knew that my love for, and desire to please my husband was a source of powerful motivation for me. He knew how to meet my needs when I could not.

In Isaiah 55:8 & 9 the Lord tells us, "My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," He also says "For {as} the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts."

Of course, if His ways and thoughts can be compared to a universe with outermost parts we cannot even see with our most powerful telescopes. And our ways are compared with the small spec of dust we live on. No wonder He is able to clearly see how to meet our needs. We need only to be willing to accept whatever He chooses for us. Why is it so hard to trust the Creator of the Universe who died for our freedom? It must be this flesh that keeps us bound to the Earth and sin. Freedom is Christ if we let Him be.

Keeping the kids room clean: Part 2

It's not happening! I have removed all but 4 stuffed animals and the outside toys (balls, jump ropes, etc.). Their room is still a mess! They refuse to put away dirty laundry, or put books back in the office. They keep their bed unmade, and ignore me when I speak. (Okay, that last one goes beyond a clean room, but I feel better having stated it.) The problem is bad habits. Charlotte Mason educators are very familiar with the idea of habits. My previous post about Character Training has my answer. I must commit to do my part in growing good family and individual habits in our house.

Speaking from experience, and a love for the Fly Lady, I can say that creating lasting good habits is vital to a happy life. God created us so that we could run on autopilot. When properly programmed we are getting the necessary things done without thinking about them. But when we run on autopilot with poor programming, that is where the problems begin. Old habits die hard. It is so much easier to start with a good habit than it is to have to change a bad one. But in order to give my children a strong habitual foundation, I must have good habits myself! The changes have to start with me.

Okay, I am going to pray harder, and submit more. I know I cannot do this myself. I need divine guidance. As for keeping the room clean: hopefully the girls and I can create habits that will make that a reality. Until then, the toys will stay held up in the attic to be earned back one at a time.

Cloe quote

Today's assignment was to write sentences with prepositional phrases. We then diagrammed the prepositional phrases to better see the parts of speech. For Cloe and me this was quite fun. One sentence she came up with impressed me much:

"Life among a thousand dead is joyful because he will see the streets of gold."

Her explanation of the sentence was deep for such a young one. She explained that those who are saved are like life, but those who are lost are already dead.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Psalm 23:4

Fishing under the I-75 bridge in Atlanta

The water was very murky because of recent rains. It was lots clearer this past Sunday, but I have no pictures of that. It is a whole different world in the river, below the interstate compared with the high-rises that line the highway when you're driving. We fish upstream of the poo plant, but I am still glad that I have a layer of neoprene between me and the water!

The birds that fly by are awesome to watch and listen to. Huge and beautiful water birds (some have pelican like beaks), geese, ducks,and even some little tweetys swoop, swim and fly right near by as if I weren't there. It's fun to try and identify the trillium and herbs on the trail. Heck, I love going! And to top it all off, I am with the love of my life. It really doesn't get much better.

I did catch a litte sunfish, but I never got a trout in hand. I had two that self-released before I could get my hands on them. Better luck next time.

Keeping the kids room clean

Andy's fishing, and I am cleaning brass and the girls' room. Whew! It is a mess. Wish it were an easier task. It has been out of hand since before Christmas, with a few mock cleanings mingled in. Our new plan is to remove all but a small container of stuffed animals. Everything else is getting put out of sight. After 2 weeks of having a clean room the girls will be able to choose one toy or small container of related toys to return to their room. Then they again must show that they are willing to keep their room clean for 2 weeks. After 2 weeks of a clean room, they may again choose a toy to bring out. I hope to find that they forget about the toys that aren't important to them and they can be removed from the house. De-cluttering at its finest. Now I can't get this job done typing in my blog. Tune in later for an update on our cleaning adventure.

Lila quote

Just a quick quote from Lila:
Out of the blue, I hear:
"It's sweet being little!"
"Oh, yeah?"I ask.
"Yeah, you can fit in tiny spaces where big people can't fit."
How true that is. I can't even fit into my old jeans!

Mary and Martha Teach me Freedom!

This morning's In Touch with Charles Stanley devotional email reminds me that all I do in Christ (which should be everything from cleaning my floors to teaching Sunday School) can be done with the fuel of the Holy Spirit. How freeing! And it fits with part of the Preacher's sermon Sunday about experiencing the Joy of my salvation. (Psalm 51:12)



This lesson is gleaned from Luke 10 :38-42. Martha is the doer, and Mary is the worshiper. We all must be doers and we all need to be worshipers. The issue in this passage is the timing. Ecclesiastes tells us that there is "a time to every purpose under heaven." There is a time to worship and a time to get things done. Martha's doing was important, but her timing was a little off. Mary on the other hand had her timing right. What Dr. Stanley pointed out to me this morning was that the time of worship can be used to seek the fuel that is the Holy Spirit. Thus eliminating the need for us to accomplish everything within our own power. Happy day, I am not alone! I have the strength of God within me, if only I will seek it and allow Him to work through me.



I struggle with getting it all done sometimes. If I spend some time in the morning getting my focus on my Creator, then I should feel empowered all day long. This also makes me wonder. If something I am doing is draining me, maybe its because it is not part of God's plan for my life. Instead it is something that I think I should be doing. Or maybe I am trying to do it within my own power instead of letting Him do it through me as an empty vessel. Here I must submit, and let go of the things that are outside of His will for my life, or let Him be in charge of all parts of my life. This is just what I needed today!