Changed By Love

I Will Be Their God

Oct.23,2012

By Gary Wilkerson, son of David Wilkerson

Oct. 22, 2012

“And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul” (Jeremiah 32:38-41, ESV).

Do you remember when you raised your hand in third grade and asked, “Teacher, can I go to the bathroom?” What did the teacher reply?

“Of course you can, but the correct question is, MAY I go to the bathroom?”

In this verse God uses the words, “may not.” It is a declarative statement: “You may not do it!” He is saying, “I am going to put My law in you that you may not break covenant with Me.”

I love that He calls this an everlasting covenant. If I could impart one thing into your life, it would be this message of understanding, walking in and enjoying the reality that God’s covenant with us is an everlasting covenant.

Can this New Covenant be broken? God says through the prophet Jeremiah: “Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar — the LORD of hosts is his name. If this fixed order departs from before me, declares the LORD, then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever” (Jeremiah 31:35-36, ESV).

When will the New Covenant promise be broken? When the stars refuse to shine, when there is no longer a sun, and when man can go down to the depths of the core of the earth and measure the stars and the universe. So God is saying, “The New Covenant is an everlasting covenant!”

Warriors In Training!

Oct.21,2012

Trying out some techniques for deflecting punches

Stretching and limbering up for conditioning

Conditioning – wow, that looked painful!

This is Aaron, the sensei.

This young man trains with Aaron, too. As we talked a little bit, I found out that he was from Ohio, too. That’s where I was born and raised. Gary and the kids were born and raised there, too, until we left in 2005. I asked him where in Ohio he was from. He said near Miamisburg. I couldn’t believe it, because that town is really close to the little town that I grew up in. Then he mentioned Germantown and Farmersville. My jaw dropped. I said, “You know about Germantown and Farmersville?” That is the exact school district I went to and graduated from and then taught first grade in. He said, “Yeah, I’m from Farmersville.” I almost ran over and hugged him. He suddenly felt like family! Farmersville and Germantown combined into one school district (Valley View) when I was in First Grade. I taught at Germantown Elem. for 3 years, then at Farmersville Elem. for 2.5 years. He was in First Grade at the time I was teaching there. But he was living in Houston until his 4th grade year. Then he went to live with his dad in Farmersville in 4th grade. He knew many of the kids that I taught in First Grade! Do you believe it’s a coincidence that I met him here in Houston last week training with my sons? I don’t think so. God is up to something. I’m not sure what, but I know He’s up to something.

Now time for some fun stuff!

They got kind of intense at times.

My boys loved it. They came home sweaty and tired, but Aaron took them to a Vietnamese noodle shop afterwards, so they were full and happy. They are getting quite an education from Aaron. What a blessing he has been to our family!

My Thoughts on Tattoos

Oct.18,2012

I think that if a person really wants a tattoo, s/he should wait until they’re married. The reason is that once you are married, the husband’s body belongs to his wife and vice versa. If you have put a tattoo on your body before you even met your future spouse, you may have spoiled your body for them. I am glad that my husband doesn’t have a tattoo. I don’t like them. I don’t like how they look, and they spoil God’s creation for me. That’s my personal opinion, and I’m sure there are other people who feel the same way. They have become so popular now that I feel that people should really consider this before getting one. I don’t think it is fair or wise to get one before you are married. If you still want one after getting married (to the one that God has chosen for you) and your spouse doesn’t have a problem with it and even likes the idea, and you have checked with God, then go ahead.

That’s just what I think. I know God does different things with different people. But if you have a desire to get married in the future and you think that God is preparing you for that, then wait on the tattoo until after marriage.

God’s Curriculum for Your Children

Oct.17,2012

I was recently asked how I let God give me His curriculum for my children.

I have learned to pray and ask the Lord what I need to teach the younger ones and how I need to teach each one. He speaks to me in my spirit and lets me know what I need to do. He has reminded me at times when one of them is ready for Phonics when I may not have been aware of it. He helps me to know the kind of book to get or what subject that they need to learn. He gives me ideas of how to teach certain concepts.

For example, early this morning I woke up before I was ready to get up. I was praying and thinking. I started thinking about teaching fractions. Yes, I really did start thinking about that. I realized that an easy way to help the twins understand fractions would be to use measuring cups and let them stack them and fill them with water and pour them into equivalent fraction cups, etc. That way, they will understand that 4/3 equals 1 and 1/3, and 2/4 = 1/2, things like that. I intend to do that soon. Probably the next time I bake cookies or something with them. I believe God was giving me a plan for the best way to teach the twins the basics about fractions.

The Spirit nudges me when one of the younger ones is ready to learn to recognize letters or numbers. Sometimes He lets me know when they already have a concept mastered, and I need to help them move on to the next step, like teaching them about how letters go together to make words. And then sentences. And then paragraphs. And then more difficult words. And so on.

I use materials we have on hand to start out:

-Paper and pencil or crayon
-Alphabet books
-Early reader books
-Letter magnets
-Letter flash cards

I teach them to write their name. They start to ask me how to spell certain words. I help them write what they want. I believe in doing what comes naturally in most things. When I try to force things on them that are artificial or contrived, they often rebel and don’t really learn what I wanted them to learn. I go to the library and get lots of books that have simple but interesting stories and beautiful pictures. I love picture books and read lots of them to my little ones.

In some ways, the kids help me direct their learning by asking questions or trying new things and asking for help. But behind it all, I can sense the leading of the Holy Spirit. Recently, I was led to buy manipulatives like Pattern Blocks and Teddy Bear counters. We’re still in the fun, play-with-them phase, but I plan to teach concepts with them soon. I have idea books for how to use them to teach different concepts.

We have done plays that the Lord helped me to write. We have done unit studies that I suddenly found in my files on my computer or from ideas that just came to me of things that we should study about.

I go to the library and peruse the titles on the shelves. Sometimes a particular title jumps out at me, and I check out that book and read it aloud to the kids. Many times those books lead to further study on related topics. The kids will research and find out more on their own.

We have studied the Old Testament very thoroughly. I understand the whole story of the Bible so much better now than I did before I started homeschooling my children. We are just starting to dive into the New Testament. I believe the Lord led me to lay a firm foundation in the Old Testament first so that my children can understand the culture of the Jews, which Jesus was part of, and the prophecies that He fulfilled and the background of all of the writers and stories and teachings of the Bible. We have used several different curriculum to cover our study of the Old Testament. We have used:

Heart of Wisdom by Robin Sampson

Ancient Civilizations and the Bible by Diana Waring

The Daily Bible by F. LaGard Smith

Historical fiction based on stories and books and people of the Bible

– The Heavens Before and the whole Genesis Trilogy by Kacy Barnett-Gramckow

This trilogy covers Noah, Shem, Ham and Japheth and Nimrod and the Tower of Babel up to Abraham. It is fantastic!

When we landed in Kansas City after the traveling (homeless) part of our Journey of Fire, I asked Shawn what he wanted to study. He said he just wanted to study his Bible! I was floored. I was happy, but I also wanted him to do some Math and other subjects, too. So I asked him to do some Math and to write about what he was learning in the Bible. He agreed to that. He has studied many other subjects, too, but his main area of study really was the Bible. He was 15 years old.

I went through the library catalog and found historical fiction about Abraham, Jacob, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, etc. and read to the kids so that they would be able to relate to the people and situations in the Old Testament. I found some through book lists such as Sonlight catalog’s history and readers book lists for different history periods. In this catalog, you can also find books at all levels from before preschool and up that will teach some Bible and history to even very young children.

We are loosely following Diana Waring’s curriculum Romans, Reformers and Revolutionaries for Early Church History through 1799 AD.

I have taught my children to pray and ask the Lord what He wants them to learn.

I believe that God will show you the books to use, the subjects your children need to learn, the skills they need to learn, and the best way for them to learn them if you will just ask Him.

As your children get older, they will start to learn because they want to know a certain thing. It is really hard to keep a child from learning! If you have encouraged them to explore and discover, they will continue to do this as they grow and mature. And the Lord will lead them into the thing that He created them to do.

I have linked this post to Big Family Friday at Holy Spirit-led Homeschooling

Teenagers Pouring Out Blessings

Oct.17,2012

I’m listening to Shawn tell Anna that he is doing some things that God has told him to do even though he really doesn’t want to do them – at all. He said he contended with God about it. He chose to do God’s will over his own even though it’s a death to himself every time he does it. He has peace now that he settled with God that he will do His will no matter what.

He sat down yesterday and the day before and learned how to figure out square roots of numbers without a calculator. He continues his self-education and his spiritual growth and helps guide the younger children to the Lord and His ways.

Anna took her books with us to the library and did as much as she could do in an hour. Yesterday she finished all of her subjects before we went and did errands. All without a word from me. Not unusual for her, just noting it here because she mentioned to her daddy that she finished all her schoolwork in the early part of the day. Then she went with me to get what we needed at Walmart. This is not unusual for her, either. She has been my “shopping buddy” for many years now.

Patrick walked around with his Math book most of the day yesterday. He was working on some conversion problems that would have been rather difficult for me. He kept working until he got it done. I was very proud of his persistence. He often organizes chores and clean-up.

Kelsey quietly goes through all of her work and accomplishes a lot without fanfare. She takes up the slack when she sees the younger ones doing things they shouldn’t and redirects them or cleans up the mess.

Morgan is getting better at grabbing his books and getting them done so that he can do other things that are more entertaining. He likes to serve the family when he knows what needs to be done.

Shawn and I have spent a great deal of time catching up on what happened to each of us over the weekend. He was in Kentucky at a Quinceanera. He also had the special honor and privilege of reuniting with his best friend after 7 years of absence. I had a lot to share with him, too. We prayed a lot together about this nation and about friends of Anna who have been battling fibromyalgia.

The older kids often make special time to just talk with a particular younger sibling. They set a good example for me, and then I think to do the same thing. This helps me to remember to treat each child as special and unique and not just part of the herd. This helps me to not experience guilt about not spending enough time or giving enough attention to each child. Sometimes I worry about that. But I take it to the Lord and ask for His help and guidance. And then I trust Him to make sure that each child gets what they need.

It used to be so difficult to get errands done when all of the children were young. Now that I have teenagers in the house, I have a whole different lifestyle. I can get out alone if I want to. I hardly ever want to do that, but I could if I wanted to. I can go with Gary after he gets home from work. We can go out for a date without worrying about getting a babysitter. I am so freed up now. I really noticed it when all of my teenagers were gone over the weekend, and I had sole care and responsibility for my 4-year-old and 5-year-old. Wow, they about wore me out! I had to take them everywhere I went, and they had to go whether they wanted to or not. They weren’t used to that, and neither was I. I didn’t go very many places, but it brought back memories of when I had to load up 5 or 6 young children every time I wanted to leave the house.

All this to say, TEENAGERS ARE A BLESSING. I am so grateful for my older children and all the help they give. They have blessed our family in so many ways. Sometimes I grumble about having to do the dishes more than my fair share and almost all of the cooking of dinner. But there are so many other things that just wouldn’t get done if my older kids didn’t do them.

So, if any of you, my children, read my blog, I want to say Thank You, and I’m sorry about the grumbling.

And for anybody else reading, maybe this would be a good time to reflect on what your older kids are actually doing instead of focusing on what they don’t do. Maybe others don’t have that problem. But if you do, take this opportunity to thank your teenagers!

And for those who are just starting out with only younger children and no helpful teenagers yet. This is to encourage you that they do grow up! They do mature and become helpers and may become your best friends. If you are considering letting God decide how many children you have, remember that it gets easier as the first ones grow up if you raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And teach them to bless their family; that they have purpose and an important place in the family.

I’ve linked this post to Big Family Friday at Holy Spirit-led Homeschooling

And at “A Wise Woman Builds Her Home”