Changed By Love

A Sign of Hope in Yellow Irises

Jun.1,2015

In May of 2005, I had a dream. In the dream my family was walking through an empty house in the afternoon. I knew it was our house, but it did not look like it. I knew that we had to leave the house before these certain people came. We had already cleared all the rooms. We walked out to the garage which was at the front of the house (possibly facing north?). My mom pulled in to the driveway in a car. I wondered how we were all going to fit in the car (it didn’t seem that it would fit our family, it wasn’t a van or a big vehicle). I walked over to the car and opened the back door. Then I saw yellow Irises between the front seat and the back seat. They were growing from the floor of the car. I said, “What pretty yellow Irises!”. They were tall and in full bloom. Then I said, “I’m so glad we can grow flowers in our cars now, it looks so pretty”. I wondered how we would fit among all the flowers. But we all fit in without any trouble. It ended with us all sitting in the car.

It has been 10 years almost exactly since I had that dream.

I have been keeping my eye out for yellow irises ever since.

Most of the irises I see are purple, not yellow.

I was talking to my mom on the phone the other day. She mentioned in passing that my sister had brought her some yellow irises that were so pretty. She said there were so many that she asked her if she had any left. The stalks were just covered in blooms and they were really impressive. She said that people stop by my sister’s house to look at the irises because they are so striking.

The wheels started turning. I remembered my dream about the yellow irises. The only part I remembered was saying, “What pretty yellow irises” and that they were growing from the floor of the car. I told my mom I had a dream a long time ago about yellow irises, and I asked her to send me a picture of those yellow irises. Fortunately, I had written the dream in a notebook, so I was able to look it up and get the rest of the details.

Here is the picture she sent.

She also sent this picture of Dad with the yellow irises.

(You might remember that my Dad had a stroke 2 months ago. Well, he has recovered very well and is able to do almost everything he could do before! Praise the Lord! God has been very faithful and merciful to us.)

At the time I had that dream, we had just been foreclosed and had left our house. It was a very scary, terrible time for us. We were feeling lost and devastated and very confused.

We wanted something good to happen to change everything and reverse all of our misfortunes right then.

Since then we have experienced some more trials and troubles, but also lots of wonderful things.

We have moved 5 times. We have lived in 4 different states since we left Ohio. We left behind everything and everybody that we knew.

For the last 3 years we have experienced very difficult times just trying to survive financially.

We have been praying fervently for a home and land of our own for the last 10 years, and especially since we got here in Texas 3 years ago. I started sowing into Kim Clement’s ministry with the prayer request that we would have our own home and land while we still lived in York, PA, so it has been more like 5 years.

Well, now I believe the sign of the yellow irises has come to pass.

I’m not sure what it means exactly, but I believe that it means that we are about to have a “suddenly”.

I do know that in dreams the color yellow signifies “hope or mind”. And flowers signify “a fresh beginning, passing of the old”. We get most of our dream interpretation help from John Paul Jackson because we know he was a true Christian and only got his information from God and the Bible and not other sources.

Perhaps the dream was to give me hope that a fresh beginning is about to happen for us.

And the timing of Mom and Dad getting those yellow irises is to tell me that it is going to happen now.

Of course, I hope the timing is now. With God, we know that our timing is different from His, but I believe that He is letting me know through the dream and its fulfillment and other words and happenings that the time is very soon that we will experience a big change in circumstance and will get our own land and our own home.

In the meantime, I’m praying in hope and expectation and excitement that God is going to answer our prayers very soon.

I am trusting Him and listening for His voice, renewing my mind and drawing close to Him.

I’m believing for the hundredfold since we left behind everything that we knew.

And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. Matthew 19:29

With great excitement and anticipation!

Think for Yourself

May.28,2015

We homeschoolers are very independent thinkers, most of us. We have learned to think for ourselves. Many of us think outside of the box. I believe this must be true or we wouldn’t be homeschooling in the first place.

But if you are a young mom and went to college in recent years, you might want to check the information you were given and the prevailing attitudes that may have been passed onto you while you were attending college.

I have met many young women in the past couple of years who were college graduates whose thinking has been affected by political correctness, and they are not even aware of it.

One of the main areas of concern to me has been the notion that the Founding Fathers had good intentions, but they were misguided. Not so!!!

I, personally, would question almost everything I was taught if I went to a secular college in the last 10 years. In case you are not aware of it, the Progressives have taken over the public education institutions, including the colleges and universities. Liberal ideas and ideals are prevalent, and their attitudes are taught and proliferated by professors. I wouldn’t even trust some of the Christian colleges. Liberalism is everywhere!

Today’s culture is saturated with celebrity worship and being hip and cool and getting your information from CNN, Huffington Post and movies and TV and from other hip young moms who know what you’re going through because they are going through it, too. At the same time. For the first time.

I don’t know about you, but I like to learn from those who are a little further along in the journey and can give me some pointers, tips and advice so that I may avoid some of the pitfalls and mistakes that homeschooling moms commonly make.

Here is a tip I would offer to new homeschooling moms:

Before you start teaching History to your little ones, read through some History books that are written by and for homeschoolers.

You might find that the History you were taught and whole courses you took in college are filled with liberal, Progressive, Socialist ideas that are not biblical or godly or even historically accurate.

These ideas may have already been fed to you in earlier grades and in high school and junior high. The historical revisionists have been busy for a long time. They have been “making” history for a long time. Literally. They have been changing the way history is viewed and who the “heroes” are that are studied. They have been changing textbooks. They have been writing about political issues from a liberal perspective.

If you get your information from the media and learned your history in public school, please do a check-up of the facts and read History from a Christian perspective written by Conservative authors who have researched original documents and writings. You may have to re-educate yourself.

These are some sources and authors that you might read to help you prepare:

American History

Hillsdale College has a free American Heritage course you can take HERE and other courses studying The Constitution and The Federalist Papers.

Heroes of History by Geoff and Janet Benge

Wallbuilders by David Barton

All-American History

Tons of American History resources are listed HERE!

Ancient History and World History

History Revealed by Diana Waring

Mystery of History

Beautiful Feet Books

Truthquest History

Honour of Kings by Ellen Gerwitz

If you didn’t like History when you studied it in high school and college, get ready for a big surprise!

When you study it by reading living books about it and read it with an eye toward seeing God’s hand in the events and people of the past, you may find that History is now your favorite subject!

Help for Depression

May.13,2015

Are you feeling unloved, unlovable, discouraged, or depressed?

Here are a few things you can do.

Ask the Lord to show you what He thinks of you.

Ask Him to show you how He feels about you.

And then stop and listen for a while. And keep listening and looking for little signs of Him showing you how He thinks and feels about you for the next couple of days. Stay alert for what He is trying to say to you.

Also, do this.

Say out loud: “Jesus, I love You.”

Or say, “Father, I love You.”

Then wait and listen for an answer back inside your spirit.

He will answer you. Just take the time and stay still long enough to listen.

These are simple ways to get your eyes lifted back up to where they belong.

And to get a true picture of who you are to your Creator, thus kicking out those nasty feelings that have been attacking you.

Blessings That May Help You Through Life’s Ups and Downs

May.13,2015

Arthur Burk speaks blessings over our spirit each day.

Here are samples of blessings that he prays.

Blessing 29

I bless you with victory over the enemy.
Spirit, I bless you with the joy of regularly seeing Satan’s plan to destroy people turned upside down and God bringing good out of painful circumstances. I bless you with seeing the problems Satan brings into the world used by God to reveal new wisdom, grace, strength, and freedom as God makes a public spectacle of His enemy and yours. I bless you with God’s perspective on pain and suffering. I bless you with partnering with God for His purposes using problems as a platform to see Him work in ways that are unmistakably God. I bless you in the name of the One who triumphed on the cross.

Blessing 20

I bless you with a focus on the prize.
Spirit, as much as you are loved you have experienced pain. You are part of a great battle against the enemy of the Most High God. I bless you with the ability to have joy that transcends pain. I bless you with a clear picture of what is before you, the things God has called you to do so you can endure pain to get there. The enemy will magnify the pain and cause you to focus on it but I bless you with being aware of the joy set before you. I bless you with sufficient understanding of that joy so you will not count the cost but will pay the price. I bless you in the name of Jesus who is the prize.

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I have needed these blessings lately as I continue to deal with life and health challenges.

I hope these blessings bless you, too!

Too Much Life

May.2,2015

There has been too much life going on in my life.

I recently read this line in a novel, “I trust God, but I don’t trust life.”

That’s how I feel right now.

I know that God works all things together for my good. But life can and does include warfare. We are in a war. There are two kingdoms. They are at war with each other.

We are caught in the middle.

And sometimes we catch an arrow.

I think I caught a few of them in the last couple of months.

I am fighting a physical battle.

I am taking some products to try to cleanse, heal and replenish what my body needs.

The cleansing process is making me tired.

I’m still praying and believing for healing from the residual effects of vertigo.

It seems that my health has been deteriorating ever since that happened 4 years ago.

I’ve been brought down to zero energy, but I believe the Lord is giving me wisdom and access to products that are bringing me back to life.

Things have been hectic in relationships in my family.

That has been very troubling to me.

Financially, things have still been tight.

That should start changing soon.

Storms, giants, war, trials, strained relationships.

In the middle of this, my dad had a stroke.

I went to help him during his recovery. It was a big trip with 7 of my children, driving about 10 hours a day for 2 days to get to Ohio from Texas.

That was no vacation. Lots of warfare.

Relationships have been a big priority lately.

And not going very well.

How honest are we really supposed to be? What if you discover that things in your family are not as peachy keen as you thought they were? How do you help someone who doesn’t want help? How do you get along with someone who doesn’t try to adjust to what you need them to do so that life with them can be pleasant and enjoyable?

I came face to face with these issues and more.

I didn’t handle some of these things very well.

I didn’t recognize attacks of the enemy.

I gave my mind over to some really negative, destructive thoughts.

I felt overwhelmed.

But through it all, God sustained me.

Now He is rebuilding me.

I keep hearing words like “the Holy Spirit is your helper”, “the same Spirit who raised Christ from the dead lives in you”, “David fought the giant and he won, and we serve the same God that he served”, and “we must praise Him in the storm – believe and not doubt”.

I’m recognizing attacks of the enemy sooner and taking thoughts captive that are totally against God’s will for my life, my marriage and my family.

Now things are getting clearer.

Have you ever been through a time like this?

When everything seemed so negative and impossible to fix.

When you didn’t really even care enough to try.

You feel like throwing in the towel.

Let me encourage you to keep trudging through it.

Let God carry you.

Let Him speak life to you through ministers.

Continue to listen to words of life through ministers of the gospel, at your church and elsewhere – wherever you can get fed.

You might be beyond caring or feel like your situation is impossible.

Everything might feel dark and hopeless, but hold on to the anchor of hope.

God is that anchor.

The Holy Spirit will help you hold on.

I know. He did it for me.

Things are still unsettled, but they’re getting better.

Things and people and circumstances are changing for the better.

God is doing a new thing.

Light is shining and chasing away the darkness.

I’m refusing to dwell on the negative thoughts, and I’m changing for the better.

Life can be hard.

It is a war. There are terrible enemies. Spiritual enemies that we can’t see. There are giants. There are storms.

People are flawed.

They are sinners.

They hurt us, many times unintentionally. Sometimes just because their will is totally against our will, and we see that they are hurting themselves. But they don’t see it that way.

Then the relationship is very strained.

But Jesus has promised us victory over all of those things.

If we hold onto Him, and believe His word and keep saying it, He will bring us through.

Then no matter what life throws at us, we will come out bearing a sweet fragrance before God.

2 Cor. 2:14-16 “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, 16 to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?

Out of the bitter comes the sweet.

Let the bitter things of life that come your way produce a sweet fragrance in you.

“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4