Intentionally Focused week 5 sum up!

Week Five in the Intentionally Focused study is on friendship.

I think friends are so important because many times they provide fresh perspective. They hold our hands when we're hurting. They pray for us and laugh with us. They relate to us and love us unconditionally.

And thus its important that we take time to understand our individual roles in our friendships. It is so easy to say I want a good friend, a godly friend, an honest friend. However the question to pose to ourselves is: Are we the friend we want in others? We have to self access, are we a good friend? Are influential in a godly manner? Are we honest? Are we unconditional? Do we love in such a way that our friends would have no doubt in us? 

Let me put it this way, have you ever had a friend in which you only scratch the surface with? You know the one, you never get too deep or go too personal. That means that's an indication of your friendship with that person as you don't trust them to share with them. I have certain acquaintances in which I don't go very deep with, we talk but we never touch on heart to heart issues. Why does this happen? 

But then we all have that friend that no matter how frequent or infrequent you talk, we you do talk the floodgates open and you both share everything . There's a certain level of confidence in that friendship.

My point is not really for you to try to categorize your friendships BUT for you to see how do you measure up. What type of friend are you? Are you the friend YOU want to have in others?

I have been evaluating who I am as a friend. As I have noticed, I am a better friend to others than I am to my own husband at times and thus I am making a conscious effort to be the BEST friend I can be to my husband because he's the closest to me. 

Yes, I love my mom. Yes I love my friends. BUT they are NOT closer to me than my own husband. And thus he deserves the best of my friendship, the best of my time, the best of my love. It requires actual work to be a friend. It requires developing your listening skills as people want to be listened to.

Though one may be overpowered,
    two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:12)

Granted most people associate this verse almost instantaneously with marriage. It can also apply to friendship as many are not married and need friends to be there for them. And even in friendship, God is to be apart of that friendship. 

So where do you see you can improve yourself as a friend?

~Kris

This Mama's Favorite Homeschooling Websites!

I am sure you know by now that I am a proud homeschooling mama! I enjoy teaching my children and watching them learn.

So I decided to compile a list of websites I go to regularly. Why? Because I'm sure there are plenty of other mamas who do not make their own worksheets and would rather have PDF copies of worksheets so that other children can use the same worksheets and maybe to repeat a concept or lesson. I prefer to print out worksheets because actually...It's A LOT cheaper than buying workbooks and once I download the file I've got it for future use.

So first up is Jamerrill's website: Free Homeschool Deals I have been utilizing this website for the last two years. I absolutely love that she compiles freebies from all over the web. I have access to plenty of printables at this one website.

Next up is Carisa's website: 1+1+1=1. I love this website because Carisa puts together whole workbooks. And they are themed (i.e. Cars, Sofia the First, Daniel Tiger). What better way to get your child interested in doing school work than to have their favorite character on the page! (Some is free, some does cost)

Then there is Lauren's website: Mama's Learning Corner. She also have full workbooks and I love that she covers every subject including the Bible!

These are the main three websites I go to for homeschooling printables. There is always others, however I remain faithful to these ones. Of course I may venture out here and there to other websites if I'm looking for a specific printable. Perfect example: this morning I was looking for a money counting printable and I googled one instead of going to their websites because there's a certain format I wanted.

So tell me, what homeschooling websites/blogs do you like?

Intentionally Focused week 3 AND week 4 sum up

Whew!! So who would've thought that I would forget to do the week 3 sum up? lol! Mama's been busy with the kids and thoroughly enjoying the study, on top of that early contractions with swiss miss in the oven.

So one thing I can definitely say about week 3 is Paul delivers instruction and encouragement well. Much of what we read about being intentionally focused in our mind was written by Paul. And I enjoyed it. It was and still is a great reminder to keep our minds focused on Christ. In today's world it is so easy to get caught up in everything else, from TV to computers/smartphones. Our goals tend to get caught up in the things of this world (jobs, material possessions, relationships). And we need to take the time to get caught up in Jesus and what is important to HIM. This starts with being focused not only in our minds but also in our hearts. This is a day and age of busyness and loads of stimuli. Much more than our grandparents dealt with. Two passages that really spoke to me are: 

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)

What I love about these verses is the simplicity. They are easy to understand and require us to do something on our part. It requires me to do more than read or pray but to take hold of my mind.

Then there is week 4, being intentionally focused in our marriages! I know some of you are not married and so I say to you look at week 4 as preparation for the future. You may have a married friend come to you for advice. You may get married. It's best to be prepared beforehand then to have to wing it & learn as you go. I had to wing it, which is why I study so much  on marriage & family life because its what I live and a very integral part of my life. We often times do not realize just how applicable the bible really is. The Fall (Genesis 3) explains SO much of what we go through and the challenges we face. Especially as women because many of us have major control issues and guess what it was one of the curses pronounced over Eve. Men sometimes complain about having to work so hard but guess what that was one of the curse pronounced over Adam. It's not to brush it off but to say understand that this is apart of the flesh's many issues and thus we must work overtime against it.

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. (Genesis 3:6)

Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine,but to teach what is good. 4 Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. (Titus 2:3-5)

These passages remind me of the influence we have as women, as wives. It is not something to be taken lightly as what we do influences what our husbands do, it influences what younger women/wives do. We MUST be mindful of the choices we make as they will affect more than just us. Eve reminds me of this as her choice to disregard God's command prompted Adam to do the same thing (in the back of my head, I always wonder why didn't Adam stop her?). In Titus, Paul reminds us that we are examples to others. How we live our lives is a example to someone else on what they should do and thus we need to live as such.

So this is my wrap up!! If you're following along or would like to follow along, leave me a comment. This week we are studying being focused in our friendships.

~Kris

Restless: Because You Were Made For More

Whew!!! Hands down one of the best books I've EVER read. This was my first Jennie Allen book and it definitely will not be my last. This book covered way more than I thought it would be about and I am so glad I stuck through it beyond the first few chapters.

This is a VERY interactive book. Jennie Allen encourages you to journal your way through the book or use the book itself. I wrote in the margins and on the journal pages. I love that it really made me think and really consider that what I fear failure in doing is just exactly what I am called to do. She also reminds me, as a wife and mother, that there is nothing insignificant about staying home and caring for my family. This is just one thread of my life. Jennie Allen taps into the threads of our lives, she encourages us to see the threads of our lives and then to connect those threads to our passions (there are journal pages for this). 

One thing that Jennie encourages that has been hard for me is to step outside of my circle, outside of my little box to meet new people to share God with people. Dear Lord do I fear doing such a thing. BUT I want to. I want to share God with people who have no relationship with HIM. I want to reach the lost souls in need of God's love and grace. So I've got to get past me, so that I can reach them. 

I also learned that its okay to dream. It's okay to want to fill the restlessness. It means that we have something else we should be doing. So my job is to take my threads and allow God to make something absolutely wonderful of them, and them run with them. Run with reckless abandonment of sharing the gospel for God's glory and my joy to see light in dark eyes.

I am so looking forward to reading other Jennie Allen books, particularly Anything (she also has two published bible studies, Stuck & Chase)

So are you restless? Do you feel like there's something else you should be doing? What's your passion? What lights a fire in you? Write it down and see how what you have a passion for can be used to share God with others. And run with it.

~Kris

(p.s. I got this book from the publisher, Thomas Nelson, to give my HONEST review on.)

You can find this book for $12 on Christianbook.com

Intentionally Focused.....week 2 sum up!

If you have been following along then you know I'm doing an 8 week study on Good Morning Girls. And we just started week 3. 

However I want to sum up week 2 as it is having a major impact. Week 2 was about becoming intentionally focused in our spiritual walk with God. 

Whew! Think about it, how easy is it to become unfocused? As we go through life, things happen and we get distracted by stuff. But last week's reading reminded me quite well that everything I am and everything I have is because of Jesus. The reason I wake up each morning is because of Jesus so His praise should always be forthcoming from my mouth.

Because your love is better than life,

    my lips will glorify you.

I will praise you as long as I live,

    and in your name I will lift up my hands.

 I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;

    with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

(Psalm 63:3-5)

Another thing that I was reminded of was the importance of reading my bible every day. My bible does more than edify me and comfort me, it circumcises me. My bible is a double-edged sword and it points out those things that need to be cut off. It breaks me for what grieves the Lord. And that is one of the prime reasons to remain engrossed with the Word of God daily so that the things in us that do not look like Him can get the boot. So we can know better and do better.

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

In today's society we get caught up in what others are doing. We get caught up in trying to keep up with others in showing others just how "spiritual" we are but that's not what we are called to do. We are not called to only pray and go before God in front of others BUT to do so in solitude. Jesus has his time alone, away from everyone's eyes where He could sit before His Father. And we need that time away from everyone, away from even our spouses ,to just sit before Him and fellowship with Him.

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. (Mark 1:35)

But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. (Luke 5:16)

So now I look forward to each day to spend time before God in fellowship with Him alone, time spent in His Word and learning to praise Him in everything. Even if its only a few stolen moments while the kids are napping.

~Kris