While at home...

...I have been sooo blessed!!
Kristin and I are having so much fun with our families.
We have been able to relax and we have been able to eat a TON of good food.
We had a great thanksgiving day with Kristin's family down near Lancaster.
And we are looking forward to a thanksgiving celebration all day tomorrow with my family!

Looking forward to getting back to TN so we can figure out when we are going to have these diagnostic tests done with our nurologist...

That is all for now.

Be Thankful

Ok, so I could get on here and write a huge entry about the contractions that I had that came every 3 minutes and how i tried to combat them by staying hydrated and walking around...or how later i worried when the activity in my belly wasn't up to par with what I've come to expect...i could tell you about how we pulled into Sheetz and a car ran right into us and then sped away, and how we waited for the very nice police officers and got an hour break at Sheetz and had some Sheetz food and some Sheetz coffee (coffee that I knew would upset my stomach later...but for the time that i was sipping it...was so good I didn't even care)
I could write a whole lot about all of that, but i'm not going to.
TODAY, i am just so happy to be where we are, to "come home"...in the past 2 and 1/2 years, JBC has become our home, we feel so comfortable when we are just home on Old Orchard court, we've made some awesome friendships, people that we can sit and laugh with, people we can cry with, people who have gone out of their way to help us, people who we would do whatever we could for. (remember that, if you need something, don't hesitate to ask, if we can help, we will). We love our TN family.
But do you know that place that you go to, that no matter how long you've been away, it's home the moment you arrive...that's where we are. Driving down the roads, it's like we've never left. Of course things have changed since the last time we were here,...new things in the area...children have grown, and every single person that we come across has had something new in their lives since we last saw them. Change is a part of life, but even in the midst of these changes, the love is the same.
I am so looking forward to tonight, when we get to see more of our NIC family....when we reflect on Thankfulness and we get to experience love and thankfulness in such a great way.
I've noticed on Facebook that many people have been reflecting on thankfulness each day of November, while we have things to be extremely thankful for, we haven't always written about each and every thing.
What am I thankful for?
-I am thankful to my GOD who has provided for each and every moment, through each struggle, through each joy, through every need, through the moments that we see our needs and the moments when they are unnoticed by us.
-I am thankful that my husband is here with us, and that he is a hard worker, with a desire to provide for his family. I am thankful that he loves our children so much and he invests his time and energy in them. I am thankful that he loves me and that he strives to show me that love. I am thankful that my hubby can cook, and he chooses to do so from time to time as well as other things to give me a break.
-I am thankful for the family that I was born into, for the foundation that was created in my life, for each personality, for my parents who love me so much and have a desire to care for me even now as I am a married woman with children, for my cool older brother who chose times in our growing up to make me feel special from time to time in simple things like buying me a CD (my first "cool" music) for my birthday, allowing me to hang out with his friends, talking to me when we were alone in the car...and then even inviting me out to some of his college stuff, coming to hang out with me at my college...I am thankful for my little brother who has such a nature of being the protector, who might fight with me...but would fight for me without a second thought. i am thankful for both of my brothers and my father who were the men in my life and helped me to establish ideas of what to look for in a significant other. I am thankful for my mom who has been a hero to me, she is a great mom and a great noni!
-i am thankful for the family that I married into, for the foundation that was laid for my husband. For his parents who love him, and love us so much. For his Sister who cares so deeply for her family, and for his brother who has always been his best friend. I am thankful for the relationship that we have, and the ability to talk to them about the things of life and trust that they will continue to love me despite what I say :-) and to know that when we go to them for wisdom, they will be honest, and give us the counsel that we need.
-I am thankful for the family that is the Church, whether it's in Tennessee or Pennsylvania, the love of Christ that is shown through the church is amazing. We have received so many blessings through the love of Christ that our church families have extended to us. Even receiving notes of encouragement and prayer from people we've never met, but who have heard of us and our situation.
-I am thankful for my sister-in-laws. Having never had a sister growing up, to now have 4 is awesome. Wish that i could spend more time with each of them, but SO thankful each of them. I'm thankful for the SILs who have married my brothers (and BIL) and who bring joy and balance and love to their lives......
-I am also thankful for the brother-in-law who is about to join the family, I am thankful for the joy that he's brought to Jocie's life and how God has worked in both of their lives to bring them together. I am thankful for what we expect in their lives :-)
-I am thankful for my children. I am thankful for how God has used each of them in my life to point me toward him. i am thankful that they are healthy, and that they are so full of life! I am so thankful for getting to see them grow and how with each stage of life I can just sit and watch them for hours, how they make me laugh, and how they make me cry (mostly of pure joy) I am thankful for how I learn about my own nature and how I am convicted as I discipline them. I am thankful for each laugh, for each tear, for each joy, and for each teaching opportunity.
-i am thankful for my unborn baby, for being so close to delivery and meeting her, for each bump and hiccup that reassures me that she's healthly.
-I am thankful for having a roof over my head, food on my table, clothing my back, and that even beyond that, I have a washing and drying maching, a vehicle, the luxery of a couch and t.v. a computer. I receive medical care when I need it...I am so blessed.
-i am thankful for the time that we have to soak in family time
-i am thankful even beyond all of this....there is just so much to be thankful for, I am thankful that even if we don't take the time realize all that we have to be thankful for...there is a time of year when we are reminded that we need to reflect on these things.

Homeschooling kindergarten

i was looking up the areas of study for Kindergarten and i wanted to share what i found and ask, once again for input. i know that i have many friends who homeschool, or who have are teachers, I really do want your input (whatever it may be) to help me as I am exploring the world of homeschooling. i am new to this. There are a couple homeschool groups that i'm connected to, since my kids are still preschool aged I'm just trying to learn from others.

this is what I found reguarding areas of study for Kindergarten:
Social Studies
-meanings of holidays, traditions, and customs
-understanding and appreciating other cultures
-individual's roles in family, home, school and community
-relationship of the individual to the group
-work and jobs
-safety rules and symbols
-basic human needs
-self-respect and self-awareess
-awareness of others
-location of home and school
-diagram of home and school
Science
-observation of everyday, familiar things
-common animals and plants
-interrelationships of animals and plants
-classification of living things
-farm animals
-care of pets
-like and unlike plants
-indoor plants
-the sun: our principal source of energy
-weather and seasons
-light
-temperature
-colors
-senses
-earth, moon, stars, planets
-simple measurements
-beginning experimentation
Language Arts
-phonics
-Choral reading
-listening to literature, music and poetry
-nursery rhymes, fairy tales, fables
-social listening
-constructing visual images while listening
-oral communication skills
-role play
-following and giving directions
-paraphrasing and summarizing
-organizing ideas
-experience stories
-relating events and experiences using complete sentences
-listening for correct speech habits and word usage
-beginning writing process
-manuscript handwriting
Health and Safety
- personal hygiene
-good eating habits
-good grooming
-care of teeth
-major body parts
-physical fitness
-safety to and from school
Mathematics
-Simple counting to 20
-one to one relationship
-concept of more, less than and same
-sequence of events
-correspondence of quantities
-ordinal-cardinal relationship
-number-numeral relationship
-recognition of basic sets
-meaning of addition and subtraction
-introduction to number line
-estimation
-elementary geometry (shapes)
-calendar and clock
-denominations of money
-basic problem-solving strategies
-basic chart and graph concepts


So this is what I found, ANY INPUT IS WANTED! after reading this I'm thinking that we have already started kindergarten.
Also, for those of you who have homeschooled how do you track your time?

I never knew when I was a child...

...that there are homeless children.
And now that I am an adult sometimes I forget that there are homeless children.
A group of us got to go feed some of the homeless men and women of Knoxville today and while we were there we saw some children, some children who were the same ages and sizes as our own children...and I must say that sometimes the homeless population slips my mind as I live, worship, and interact here in the Johnson Bible College community.
I re-realized today how firmly I believe that God created us to live life in community. That He made us to live with the people around us and interact with them and care for them. That if we don't do life together there will be no dicipleship, no stewardship, and no growth. That we will become a people who are dead, who are blind to the lost around us, who are blind to the needs of those who have less than we do. I was reminded that Jesus never went to the the exclusively religious venues to serve the people who already believed in Him, he went to hang out with the tax collectors and the prostitutes and the people who really needed Him. I guess what I am saying is that I think that we as a church, collectively, should be more than willing - I would even say we should be honored - to sit with the homeless and share a little love with them. That those children should know that even thogh their earthly father is gone, there is a heavenly one who loves them and would never leave. That there is a man from down the road who goes to this church, and he wants nothing more than to hear about your day and give you something to eat. That even though their earthly mother is gone, there is a woman here on this earth who would love nothing more than to give them a hug and some warm food. That is what we should be about as a church...we should be out on the streets serving the least of these to the glory of our God; not so that they will praise us, but so that they will be pointed in some way to God.
This is one of the reasons I am excited about The Summit church's new impact center...this is going to be a place from which we can reach the lost in our community. A place where we won't be hidden behind closed doors one day a week as a group of religious people taking part in something uninviting and intimidating to the lost, but where we can worship together and change our community throughout the week. Where anyone who wants to enter, even if they just need some hot coffee and a place out of the cold, will be welcome. I want to do life with the lost, not as one of them, not living the same way they do, but living beside them so that they will see Jesus in me, so that they will see love on my face, so that they will know who I believe in. That is what I want and pray for each member of the Summit. That is what I want and pray for myself.

"We cry freedom from the chains that bind your children Lord,
Freedom from the chains that bind our praise to You,
Freedom from the lies of the enemy."

Seems like lately it has been easier to believe the lies of the enemy:

You are all alone...
You aren't any good...
You'll never finish school...
You can't do this, you don't have the strength...
Why are you even here...
You think that God loves you? Why would He let you go through all of this...
He has forgotten all about you...
Your wife and kids would be better off it you weren't around...
Even if you do finish school, you'll never become any kind of tool that He would want to use...

Sometimes I think that I need to remember some of the True promises of God:

"I will never leave you or forsake you." Joshua 1:5
"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you." Psalm 32:8
"I will sustain you and I will rescue you." Isaiah 46:4
"I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10
"I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go." Genesis 28:15
"I have engraved you on the palms of my hands." Isaiah 49:16
"I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people." Leviticus 26:12
"Commit your works unto the Lord, and your thoughts will be established." Proverbs 16:3
"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty." Psalm 91:1
"I am the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth...those who hope in Me will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40: 28, 31
"Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know" Jeremiah 33:3
"I am with you, I am mighty to save. I will take great delight in you. I will quiet you with my love. I will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17
"I am your hiding place, I will protect you from trouble and surround you with songs of deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you." Psalm 32:7-8
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you...plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11