Scripture Stickies Giveaway Winner!

Thank you to everyone who entered the Scripture Stickies giveaway and helped to share this fabulous small business with others.  Prayerfully, because of you, their business will continue to grow and bless others!

Now, onto the winner as chosen by random.org.

And the winner is…

RestInHisLove with this comment:

restinhislove | December 12, 2013 at 4:25 pm | Reply | Edit

I like Yes They are All Mine on FB.

Congratulations!!

If you didn’t win, you can still get your own Scripture Stickies by visiting their store and checking out the variety of lessons they offer.

All for God’s glory,

~Rhen

Find me on:

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Scripture Stickies ~A Review and Giveaway~

THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED!

As a mom who has been educating her kids around the dining room table for more than 12 years now, I have learned the value of teaching through constant small reminders.  Some time ago, I began using the little sticky note method to help them learn different subjects and concepts easier.

I have found great success in being able to teach foreign language, spelling, and vocabulary using sticky notes that I write either the word, definition, or translation on the sticky note and put them around the house.  Constantly seeing the little lessons throughout the day helps our children to remember and really learn each lesson.

When Scripture Stickies, who follows that same concept by putting verses on little sticky notes that you then place throughout the house, asked me to review their product, I knew they would be a huge blessing for our family.

What a great idea!  Every time the kids see one of the Scripture Stickies, not only is it encouraging to their hearts, but it helps them to learn and memorize God’s word.  It is wonderful to hear the kids quoting the scriptures that are on the Scripture Stickies.

I have experienced numerous times when the first scripture that I read in the morning ends up being a theme for my whole day or God uses it as an encouraging word that I need during a difficult moment.

With so many girls in the house, the first place that I put the stickies was around the bathroom mirrors.  Those are the most often read and remembered Scripture Stickies of all of them!  *grin*

They are also in the kitchen, by the front and back doors, and on the door to the pantry.  Where else would you put them when you have teenagers?!

Scripture Stickies make a great gift, and they are a wonderful way of encouraging and sharing the word of God with someone who needs it!  They even have a Scripture of the Month Club that blesses you with a new pack of Scripture Stickies each month all year long.  (Also an awesome gift idea!!)

Enter in to win your own set of Scripture Stickies to keep or share!

How?  You know I like to make this easy!

Initial Entry:

• Pop over and check out the different products and stickies categories they offer.   Leave a comment on this giveaway post telling me which product you would enjoy using to learn and share God’s word.   That’s it!

Additional Entries:

• “Like” Scripture Stickies on Facebook and leave a comment here telling me you did.  1 entry
• “Like” Yes, They Are All Mine on Facebook and leave a comment here telling me you did/ do.  1 entry
• Share this giveaway on your FB page (preferably tagging Yes, They Are All Mine and Scripture Stickies FB pages in the post).   Leave a comment here telling me you did.  1 entry per day
• Tweet about this giveaway with a link to the giveaway (preferably mentioning @ContentedRhen)  Leave a link to the tweet in the comments.  1 entry per day
• Pin this giveaway on Pinterest.  Leave a link in the comments to the pin.  1 entry per day

Rules:

• You must do the initial entry before you can earn additional entries.
• Some additional entries can be done once each day for the length of the giveaway.
• Winner will be chosen via Random.org
• Winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen
• Giveaway closes Monday (Dec 16th) at midnight (12 am CST)

Thank you for entering this giveaway and helping out a small business!

All for God’s glory,

~Rhen

Find me on:

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Homeschool Classroom ~Christian Studies

One area of our older kids’ high school curriculum is their Christian Studies.

Some of what Christian Studies includes studying is God’s word and taking opportunities to serve in our community.  I have previously shared one of their assignments, and you can check it out here.  Today, I want to share one of my absolutely favorite assignments for this class.

Once a month each one of our oldest four students presents a teaching (aka sermon) on a topic they choose.  This gives them a different method of studying God’s word than the verse by verse method we use for our morning Bible study.

The requirements for this assignment:

• minimum of 5 minutes in length
• must contain 3 different verse references
• 1 Greek definition
• 1 Hebrew definition
• 1 story to illustrate the teaching

How I score this assignment:

• time length of teaching- 10 points
• 3 verses- 5 points each
• definitions- 5 points each
• story- 10 points
• overall presentation- 5 points
• = 50 point assignment.

Though this is a part of our high school curriculum, Emily Grace (13- 8th grade) and Hannah (11- 6th grade) also participate to expand their knowledge of God’s word and be better prepared for the more difficult topics and higher expectations of their high school years.

Each of them get to choose their own topic, but they have to clear it with me before they get started.  Sometimes the topics they choose can be too broad and need to be a little more focused.

A few of the chosen topics so far:

• Biblical Courtship vs. Worldly Dating
• Drawing Strength from God
• Intentionally Be An Encouraging Person
• Having a Thankful Heart

I greatly enjoy listening to their presentations and hearing what they have discovered.

What are some other topics do you suggest?

All for God’s glory,

~Rhen

Find me on:

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Starting the school day strongly

In order to begin our days with a good attitude and a godly focus, our first subject of the day is Bible study.

After enjoying breakfast and the cleaning up the dining room, everyone grabs their Bibles and gathers around the table.  I have shared with you before how we study our Bibles each morning, but that is not what this particular post is about.

Recently I started giving a weekly Bible challenge.  Most mornings our studies inspire some fantastic conversations and I wanted to make the most of those.

What are the conversation-inspired Bible challenges I give?   I am so glad you asked! *wink*

Each week holds a challenge with a chosen topic given on Monday morning.  Our oldest four (ages 10, 12, 14, and 16) then have until Friday morning to discover and write down a specified number of verses pertaining to that week’s chosen topic.

Let me give you an example.  Last week they were to find twenty separate verses that identified the character traits of a godly friend.   What qualities does God reveal to us that we should look for and embody as a true friend?

On Friday morning after our Bible study the kids present their lists.  A randomly chosen child will share the verses that they found.  The other kids highlight or put a check mark next any verses of theirs that match up with someone else’s.  They then share verses no one else has yet to name.  (They record the name of the book, the chapter, the verse, and they actually write out the verse)

Some of my favorite points about the challenge exercise:

• It encourages them to read their Bibles independently more often and not just during Bible study with me.
• The children learn and understand more of God’s word on their own and not just through what I am telling them.
• It helps them to remember more scripture.
• It helps them to more easily find particular verses when they need them.
• It helps them to learn and, prayerfully, apply the godly qualities they read and wrote down.
• It helps them to remember the follies of and negative consequences of behavior that is not godly.

Here are some of the challenge topics:

• Qualities of a godly friend
• Qualities of a godly young lady
• Qualities of a godly young man
• Directives (commandments) for fathers
• Directives for mothers
• Directives for the elderly
• Directives for children
• Qualities of a future spouse
• The benefits of hard work
• The consequences of being lazy
• The consequences of being greedy
• The benefits of being generous
• Directives about knowledge and wisdom
• The focus of a godly person contrasted to the focus of a worldly person
• Examples of the fruit of the Spirit
• Examples of the gifts of the Spirit

What challenge topics would add to this list?

All for the glory of God,

~Rhen

Find me on:

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

My Favorite Conversations

A recent discussion between my kids and myself during Bible study greatly changed their perspectives on prayer.  *Awesomeness*  Not only was it a blessing to them, but it helped me to refocus my own heart and reclaim parts of my prayer life that I had allowed to slip away.

My goal has been to help our kids grow in their prayer lives and, in turn, grow their personal relationships with God.

“But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door,pray to your Father who [is] in the secret [place]; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”  Matthew 6:6

Our first step was to look at some of the different kinds (or purposes) of prayer.  The list we put together is:

• thanksgiving
• healing- spiritual, emotional, and physical
• protection
• provision
• guidance
• confession

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;”  Philippians 4:6

Our discussion took us through Jesus’ example of how we ought to pray (Matthew 6:9-13), when to pray (before reading our Bibles, before we go to sleep, when we don’t understand something, etc…), and the importance of praying for forgiveness and for others before our own needs and wants.

All good lessons, yes, but prayer is so much more than that.

Prayer is a conversation with God.

This lead me to ask them a couple of questions.  Do you ignore the people in your life that you love and who hold a special place in your heart?  Do you only call when you need something?  NO!

We call to catch up, share blessings that have happened, share the triumphs in our lives, to seek advice, to vent, and just to let them know that we love them and are thinking of them.  And those are just a handful of the reasons we call.

It is far too easy to make God so big in our own minds that we forget that we have a personal and intimate relationship with our Saviour.

“Blessed [be] God, Who has not turned away my prayer, Nor His mercy from me!”  Psalm 66:20

We must always be on guard and not allow ourselves to fall into the trap of limiting our prayers, our conversations with God, to please’s, thank you’s, and forgive me’s and think that God is too big, too busy, and not interested in every detail of our lives.  He is incredibly interested!

“Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, And He shall hear my voice.”  Psalm 55:17

In my own prayer life, there are so many thing that I work through during my conversations with God.  I lean heavily on His influence and guidance in my life, from the big stuff to the tiny details.

I ask Him for inspiration when I sit down to write.  I talk to Him about my struggles.  I cry on His shoulder when I am feeling frustrated and my heart is hurting.  I share with Him the blessings that made my day, though I know He already knows about them.  He is the one who orchestrated them in the first place!  *grin*

I don’t want to hold back even one small part of my life from Him in our conversations.

“And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment,”  Philippians 1:9

Though I pray for and plan out these daily lessons for our kids during our morning Bible studies, God takes those lessons and teaches me just as much, if not more, than them!

I, sadly, was allowing my prayer life to become less and less important.  That should never be!  This lesson was exactly what I needed at the moment I needed it.  God just works that way, and I am truly thankful that He does.  Why?  Our prayers lives are indicative of the health of our relationship with God.  I never want my personal relationship with God to ever be less than all-encompassing in my life.

Now, I am going to ask you the question that I felt on my own heart that day.  How often do you share your life, your thoughts, your hopes, your fears, and your needs with God?

To God be the glory,

~Rhen

Thankful, For He Gives Me Such Freedom!

I have heard faith in God described as confining and binding, but, in my relationship with God, He doesn’t hold me back or keep me down.  He gives me such freedom!

God sets me free from…

…the bondage of sin.   Though I sin, I know that not only will He forgive me and wash away those sins, but He will also help me to walk away from temptations to sin again.

…the weight of worry.  Things are crazy in the world.  Watching the news, reading the articles:  they can easily get me focused on worrying, but God sets me free from that.  All I have to do is trust in Him, and He has NEVER let me down.

…the weight of other peoples’ opinions.  I have turned everything in my life over to God.  It is through His word and His guidance that I make the choices that I do, and those choices are because I am following Him.  As long as I continue to focus on God, He will never take His eyes off of me!  I don’t have to let the negative opinions of others drag me down!

God gives me the freedom to…

…be exactly who He intentionally and lovingly created me to be.  Every day He teaches me and helps me to learn and understand more about who I am and what I can do through Him.

…grow and learn through love and service, just as He has demonstrated. Through the daily blessings He provides, the people He brings into my life, the situations that are set before me, and the challenges that come my way, I step out of my comfort zone to do more than just talk about who God is.

Click for image credit

There are so many more freedoms that God has blessed me with that I could share with you, but I want to hear yours.  What would you add?  What has God freed you from?   What has God given you the freedom to do or to be?

I am ever so thankful for the freedom God gives me to be a child of the King!

God bless,

~Rhen

The Pitcher and the Stones

Do you remember Aesop’s fable about The Crow and The Pitcher?

Not long ago, that fable inspired a fantastic learning moment with the kids during our morning Bible study.  It was one of those times when God blesses you with an absolutely engaging and eye-opening lesson, for both the children and yourself!

Click photo for credit

Each of us is a pitcher that God fill up with His Spirit, His love, His grace, and His mercies.  Reading and studying our Bibles, sharing His word and His love with others all help us to keep our pitchers at overflowing.  Applying His word, serving others, and spending quiet time in prayer are also all things we need to remain steadfast in so that we continue to be at the point of overflowing.

All of this is necessary to keep the worldly influences from robbing us of our blessings and weakening our relationship with God.  The compromises that people make on a daily basis slowly but surely drain our lives and empty our pitchers of God’s holy influence.

Imagine you are a pitcher filled to the top and overflowing with water.  The water is the Holy Spirit, God Himself.  Around the pitcher are a variety of small stones, and each of them represent the compromises that you make.  One stone represents you watching a tv show that you know is full of foul language, inappropriately dressed people, and immoral lessons.  You pick up that one stone and drop it into the pitcher.  A small amount of water is displaced.  It seems like no big deal, after all the pitcher is still almost completely full.

What happens when we start putting in a stone for each compromise?  Compromises like:  forgoing time in prayer to watch tv, not reading God’s word because our schedule is “too full”, watching a movie that promotes ideas and situations that God’s word warns us of, seeking man’s approval rather than God’s, listening to songs that focus our hearts on worldly things rather than God, gossiping, “little white lies”, reading a book that fills our heads and our hearts with things that God tells us to avoid, coming up with excuses as to why you think God really doesn’t mind the compromises because they are “no big deal”, pretending and fooling ourselves into believing something is about God when it isn’t, applying the phrase” it’s just a game or book or movie and all made up” to whatever it is that you want to engage in, and using the actions of the people around you to attempt to justify a compromise, just to name a few.

Pretty soon we have completely filled ourselves with worldly compromises and emptied ourselves of God’s Holy Spirit.  How can we then stand strong against the attacks the enemy is so adept at throwing our way?  How can we share God’s love with others when our pitchers are empty?  How can we shine for God when the light has been doused?  All we have left to give to the people around us are stones.  

This brings to mind the children’s song, Be Careful Little Ears What You Hear.

This lesson continues to ring in my ears.  I find myself checking to see what I am filling my “pitcher” up with.  Does what I am watching/ reading/ listening to/ engaging in focus my heart on God?  Will other people see God through my life?

When we face a moment of decision, I ask my children these same questions.  It is amazing how often we are confronted with a situation that would be so easy to compromise about, but we must stand strong and fix our eyes on God.

What is your pitcher filled with?

All for God’s glory,

~Rhen

So tell me, do you ever “get” God’s lessons that are for your children but speak oh-so-loudly to you?

Click picture for link!!

Click picture for Link!!!

Click picture for Linky!

Click picture for Linky

Teaching and Revealing Character

As parents, we focus a great deal of our time and energy on our children’s educations.  We spend hours pouring over proper grammar, reading comprehension, engaging science experiments, unrevised history, math, social studies, and more.  We invest so much to make sure they have a solid education.

That being said, how much more important is it to teach character to our children?

One of my favorite Bible studies with my children has been of 2 Peter, specifically 2 Peter 1:5-12.  It propelled us into a study on the character traits that God wants to see in our lives, and a challenge to our family to demonstrate those traits on a daily basis.

That lead me to research more about what those character traits are and how we can put them into play in our walk with God, individually and as a family.

Brotherly kindness – we are called to love and cherish each other as brethren, a family in God.  Will they show brotherly kindness and reach out to someone who is struggling?

Perseverance- being patient and steadfast, enduring all that the world has to throw at us, yet still focusing on God.   When the answers and direction they seek from God seem to take forever, will they wait until they receive His guidance?

Charity- love, affection, and good will.  When confronted with people who hold completely opposite views, will they show charity and respond in love?

Temperance- self-control.  When confronted with worldly temptations, will they be able to exert self-control and turn away from the temptations?

Forgiveness- letting go of sins as if they had never been commited: remission of penalty.  Will they remember just how much God forgives them of on a DAILY BASIS, and, in turn, show that same forgiveness when someone wrongs them.  Will they share God’s love through forgiveness?

Faithful-  the character of one who can be relied on.  Will they be faithful to God, to their family, to studying His word, to keeping their word to others?

Diligence- working or endeavoring with earnestness and zeal.  When they set out to do something, will they work diligently as to God and not to men?  (Col. 3:23 “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.”)

Virtue- moral excellence, as modesty, purity.  In a world that parades men and women around with very little clothing on, will they choose to dress with modesty?  In a world of “if it feels good, do it”, will they remember God’s word as to what is wrong and right?

Knowledge- studying God’s word to gain intelligence and understanding.  Will they remember to study God’s word daily to learn, to be guided, and to gain understanding, so that when they are called to give an answer or to share His word with someone, they will be able to?

Godliness- the revealing of gratitude, submission, dependence, and respect because of your relationship with Jesus.  Do their manners, responses, language, and actions reflect their relationship with God?  Can others see their gratitude?  Can others “see” God in their lives without the use of words?

This is by no means an exhaustive list of character traits or examples of revealing them.  This is our starting point in our family.

Learning these traits and trying our hardest to exemplify them is not just a challenge to our children, but it is also a challenge Mr. Muscles and I have committed ourselves to.

Every day we learn more about God.  Every day we get more opportunities to reveal God and His love to others.  Every day I want keep this goal in mind.  I can’t just tell my kids how they should act and respond.  I have to show them.

What other character traits that you focus on should we add to our list?

In God’s mighty hands,

~Rhen

~~Join us on Yes, They Are All Mine’s FB page!~~

Sing It Out Sunday

How sweet the sound…

Thank you, dear God, for the unending and unfathomable grace that you have poured out onto us.

Gone, Gone, Baby, Its Gone!

Do you know why there are 23 newly emptied tubs stacked in our garage?

Just a few of our empty tubs

Simply put, we are passing the blessings on.

We have many great reasons to purge this house.

• We will not be having any more babies, which means all of the baby stuff and the clothing Little Man (9 mo) outgrows can go.
• Ms. Dimples (2) is the last of our little girls, so all of the clothing and toys she has outgrown can go.
• We just have too much.
• But, the biggest and most important reason is that I have been feeling God pull on my heart for weeks now.

My original intention was to sell the purged items in yard sales, consignment shops, and on Craigslist, and then donate what we did not sell.  There a few things that we need, and I wanted to use the money we made to get the items my budget just wouldn’t be able to take on.

Even though my plan made great financial sense, God kept calling for me to give.  Just give.  Don’t sell it all.  Just give.

This is where I argued just a wee bit with God.  *hangs head in shame*

I kept trying to convince Him how I was being a good steward by purging, selling at a very fair price, and then using that money to buy items we need instead of using our budget money.

He kept showing me that He wanted me to give.

Over and over again, I could hear Him remind me that I cannot out-give God.

Finally, after talking about it with Mr. Muscles, I told God, “Okay, you want us to give it all away, then we will give it all away, and I will just trust You to provide that which we are in need of.”

That, my dear friends, is what has been taking up so much of my time over the past three weeks that I have not been able to blog.  I very little “free” time as it is. You know!

This house is lighter by 8 contractor size garbage bags of sheets, blankets, towels, curtains, pillow cases, table cloths, men’s and women’s clothing, kids’ clothing, coats, jackets, hat, gloves, shoes, and baby clothes.   Not to mention the 4 regular size garbage bags of kids’ clothing, 6 boxes of miscellaneous household items, lots of toys, a trunk full of miscellaneous large items, and 5 boxes of curriculum.

We are far from done.

Our family purposed to reduce our belongings by about half, and we are well on our way down the path to reach that goal.

It feels so freeing not only to get so much out of this house, but also to donate it.

Most of it has gone to a local church that steps up to help families who lose their homes, or are going through hard times.

The 5 boxes of curriculum went to a local thrift store that supports several missionary families.  Love it!

I challenged our children to go through their belongings and ask themselves a few questions.

• Is this something that brings me joy?  If not, will donating it bring someone else joy?
• Is this broken or missing pieces?  Let’s get rid of the garbage!
• Have you outgrown it and not even touched it for the past year?  Time for it to have a new home!

I provided two boxes for each bedroom.  One held the items that could  not be salvaged/ repaired (garbage), and the other was for the items they wanted to donate.  Let me tell you, they did an awesome job.  

Not only is the upstairs significantly cleaner and less cluttered, the kids are having a much easier time cleaning up and finding what they are looking for.  The bonus?  They are recognizing the benefits without me pointing them out!  

Over the past 3 weeks, some hard decisions have been made by each one of us, but the heart-fulls of blessings, the joy of giving, and the lessons learned have greatly outweighed and overcome any apprehension or difficult moments.

Everyone’s willingness to purge is a whole lot easier than me having to sneak things out of the house in the middle of the night.  *wink*  Just kidding!  Maybe.

Always in God’s hands,

~Rhen 

***Join us on Yes, They Are All Mine’s FB page!***

Keep your eyes open for the upcoming giveaway I promised you!