100 Verses ~ Week 5

I cannot believe how fast the week has flown by and that we are already working on our 9th and 10th verses of the year!

This week I came across a beautiful post written by Ann Voscamp on her blog, A Holy Experience about scripture memorization.  I'm keeping my post short this week but I'd encourage you to check her's out.  She also includes some links to good scripture memory resources as well.

Also, Marcy at Ben and Me is offering a 100 Verses link up for anyone who his blogging through this amazing journey.  Check it out and be inspired! 

This Week's Verses

Romans 10:10    "For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."

2 Timothy 3:16    "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness," Pin It Now!

100 Verses ~ Week 4

Can I tell you a secret?

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed with dirty diapers, dirty dishes, and dirty kids.  Sometimes I have days when I have to force myself out of bed and then I have to battle my desire to not climb right back in all. day. long.  Sometimes I feel like nothing ever goes my way.

Sometimes in my world of many, many people I feel very alone. 

This past week, I was having one of those days.  And in my lonely moment, I cried out to God and this is what I said to Him.

"Oh, Lord.  I know that your word says that you love me, but I'm not feeling very loved right now.  I'm just feeling exhausted and weary. I want Your love to fill my cup to overflowing so that it can spill out on those around me, but how God?  How do I feel your love in the midst of the chaos, and mundane tasks, and disappointments?  And how do I know you love me if I can't feel it?"

And do you know what He did?  He whispered the words of a verse I have been memorizing...

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

Oh yes!  That is exactly what I needed.  I needed the truth of God's word to shine through the darkness of the lies that I was believing.  How could I feel anything but love when I was confronted with this truth...While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Yes, I am loved...I am loved by the One who loves so deeply that his love for me led him to the suffering of the cross.  I am loved by the One who gently reminds me of this truth when I selfishly and ungratefully forget it.

 And this is the beauty of scripture memorization.  It allows the opportunity for truth to be spoken to our hearts when we most need it. 

This week's verses:

Romans 5:8  "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 10:9   "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

  I hope that you are enjoying this journey of memorizing 100 Bible Verses in 2013.  This week marks a full four weeks of scripture memory!  If you are reading about this for the first time and would like to jump in, please feel free!  Click on the 100 Bible Verses tab at the top of my blog for more info.

Pin It Now!

Pregnancy Journal ~ Week 19~ Gender Reveal

 Ultrasound Day.  One of the most exciting days of pregnancy and in our house this is certainly no exception!  We decided that it would be fun to have a small gender reveal party with the kids and even invited our Facebook friends to join in the fun in the days leading up to the big announcement.  Friends voted as to whether they thought Baby #9 would be a girl or a boy.

THE FINAL TALLY:

GIRL-34

BOY-20

We even performed a couple of those wive tale gender reveal tests.  The wedding band dangling over the palm/belly....both said BOY.  The Chinese birth chart said...BOY.

But what did the ultrasound say...

 Well, we arrived bright and early to see this sweet little one.  Chad and I both looked away at the appropriate time, so that we could be surprised later at the reveal as well.  The ultrasound tech put the "reveal photo" in an envelope and our midwife reviewed it and sent an email to a sweet friend who was baking a cake for us hiding our "secret" inside.

 This little guy got to tag along with us at our ultrasound and then we made a mad dash to the ENT.  That's because J1 had decided to stuff 7 pieces of corn up his nose the night before.  We had successfully removed 6 on our own, but saw another one waaaay up there.  Sadly, the ENT could not see it so we are waiting to see if an infection develops for further treatment.  I do love being a mom.  I do.  I do.  I do.

 A little bit later it was time to pick up our cake!

 We arrived back to our children to see the wonderful decorations the girls had created while we were gone.

 Above, is the decorating committee (my two girls in the middle along with a couple of their friends).  They choose to be on TEAM GIRL, and so wore pink and posed in front of the pink tablecloth with their pink bows.

 These two cuties also were on TEAM GIRL.

TEAM BOY members posed in front of a blue tablecloth with mustaches...

Finally, it came time for the cake-cutting reveal....

 (Video was made possible thanks to our awesome son, E9)

This is exciting...

Wait for it...

Complete surprise!...

 A pretty pink layer revealed that Baby #9 is a GIRL!!!  

Linking up to the pregnancy link-up at My Joy-Filled Life!

Pin It Now!

100 Verses ~ Week 3

Congratulations to everyone who have been working through these memory verses the past two weeks!  God has already been bringing these verses to my mind in my quiet moments...and my chaotic moments (which are far more frequent!)

This week, we are moving on to the The Romans Road.  These verses were among the first verses I memorized many years ago.  Having these scriptures in your memory will be an incredible tool for sharing the gospel at moments notice.  1 Peter 3:15 says "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.  Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have."  Knowing the Romans Road verses will help to prepare you to do just that!

This week's verses are:

Romans 3:23  "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

Romans 6:23  "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

If you are memorizing from a different translation, feel free to click on links of the verse references to find these scriptures in your preferred bible translation.

Memorization Tool of the Week

When working on a new verse, say it out loud without looking FIVE times in a row.  Here's the kicker, if you mess up...even if it's the fifth time you've said it... you have to start all over.  You want to say it five times correctly in a row. Pin It Now!

A Look Back at 2012 ~ Part 3

Well, I had to take a break from this series for a couple of days...organizing a year's worth of photos is exhausting!  I'm sure that the fact that I have 1,372 photos on my iphone alone has nothing to do with it...

 I started blogging again in July which means my picture taking took a dramatic increase.  In an attempt at keeping this post at a readable length, I'll just focus on July and August.

July

 My niece celebrated her 1st birthday in July and J1 showed her how to properly eat a cake.

 Remember that little pup we brought home in February?  Yeah, he seriously quickly turned into an 80-pound pup.

 The Color Run....appropriately named the Happiest 5K on Earth!!!

 Chad's sister, Amber, talked us into this fun craziness!

 The next time the kids will go with us!

 Just hanging out at Grandma's!

Some Summer movie fun!

 We appreciate a year-round school approach and begin the new school year in July.

 This was a special school year because we teamed up with great family friends to do history and science together once a week.

 We also had our first field trip of the year to the Falls of the Ohio for fossil exploration.

August

 Our big boys signed up for a Kid's Triathlon in August.

 E8 heading out for his swim.

 At the finish!

 G11 getting marked up.

 They both did an amazing job!

 Yes, I was a proud mama. :)

 G11 even won a super cool doorprize for free running shoes!

The best part about homeschooling is going on field trips with friends!

 I'm sure you won't be surprised...but we did some more hiking in August.

 So independent!  I'm super blessed to be the mama who gets to run after this boy!

 L2 decided to do some acrobatics that landed us in the ER for staples on his head.  Despite the staples, he still announced "This is SO MUCH fun!" since he got to watch Cars 2 and have a blue slushy at the Children's Hospital.

 The girl's got super-cute hair cuts!

I crashed the guy party and did the Rugged Maniac 5K mud run with Chad and some of his friends.

 This was by far the most fun of all the obstacles...a huge waterslide.  Other obstacles included scaling 8 foot walls, crawling through mud under barbed wire, and climbing up ski slopes.

 August always means a trip to the State Fair.

 It also means celebrating the birthday of my sweet L3!  This year it was a go-cart trip!

 Also, in honor of L3 we collect homemade preemie blankets and hats to donate to the families staying at the NICU that L3 spent 11 days at as a newborn.

 L3 handing over the first blanket/hat set.

 A10 giving one that she made herself.

 The whole crew plus over 40 blanket sets.

 Our girls spent a fun day being pampered with manicures and pedicures to help with a friend's adoption.

 We concluded August and our first 9 weeks of school with an Egyptian Feast to wrap up our Egypt studies.

Pin It Now!