More Memorizing Scripture

Deut 6:5
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy mind.

God's Faithfulness

1 Samuel 17:37 And David said, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”

I am so thankful for the reminder tonight that my God is that same God of David. The same God who has provided all my needs in the past is the same God who will continue to do so in AMAZING ways in the future. I am so excited to be along for the adventure!

Praying for those you disciple (Saturday)...

I have been preparing for discipleship and ran across this in the Word of Life Where Do I Go From Here - An Interactive Discipleship Course. It's entitled "A Critical Aspect of Discipleship - How to cover your discipleship in prayer."

Since it is broken down into days, I thought I would share each day in a different posting...

Saturday:

THAT THEY WILL "SHINE" IN THEIR WORLD BY LIVING WHAT THEY ARE LEARNING

Matthew 5:16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven."

Philippians 2:16 "That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world."

Nothing honors God so much as to have His children shining bright in the midst of the darkness. Christ has called us to be the "light of the world" and as such we are to shine!

Praying for those you disciple (Friday)....

I have been preparing for discipleship and ran across this in the Word of Life Where Do I Go From Here - An Interactive Discipleship Course. It's entitled "A Critical Aspect of Discipleship - How to cover your discipleship in prayer."

Since it is broken down into days, I thought I would share each day in a different posting...

Friday:

THAT THEY WILL NOT COMPARE THEMSELVES TO OTHERS

2 Corinthians 10:12, "For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise."

We all grow as individuals. The danger in comparison is that it can produce pride ("I've grown more than he has") or defeat ("I could never be like him/her").

Praying for those you disciple (Thursday)....

I have been preparing for discipleship and ran across this in the Word of Life Where Do I Go From Here - An Interactive Discipleship Course. It's entitled "A Critical Aspect of Discipleship - How to cover your discipleship in prayer."

Since it is broken down into days, I thought I would share each day in a different posting...

Thursday:

THAT THEY WILL CONFESS SIN IMMEDIATELY

1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Unconfessed sin damages one's fellowship with God and affects one's spiritual growth. To leave sin unconfessed will in time harden one's heart to the things of God. Confession of sin is of primary importance in the life of a believer.

Praying for those you disciple (Wednesday)....

I have been preparing for discipleship and ran across this in the Word of Life Where Do I Go From Here - An Interactive Discipleship Course. It's entitled "A Critical Aspect of Discipleship - How to cover your discipleship in prayer."

Since it is broken down into days, I thought I would share each day in a different posting...

Wednesday:

THAT EXCELLENCE WILL MARK THEIR WALK.

Philippians 1:9-10 "And this I pray that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; that ye may approve things which are excellent."

The idea of "approving" things which are excellent has to do with one's discernment. As a believer grows, the ability to discern between the good and excellent or between better and best is a mark of maturity. Such maturity is the aim of our discipleship.

Praying for those you disciple (Tuesday)....

I have been preparing for discipleship and ran across this in the Word of Life Where Do I Go From Here - An Interactive Discipleship Course. It's entitled "A Critical Aspect of Discipleship - How to cover your discipleship in prayer."

Since it is broken down into days, I thought I would share each day in a different posting....

Tuesday:

THAT THEY WILL GROW IN FAITH AND IN THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST

Hebrews 11:6 "But without faith it is impossible to please Him."

2 Peter 3:18 "But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and for ever, Amen."

It is God's desire that His children grow. A growing believer is an exciting believer!

Praying for those you disciple (Monday)....

I have been preparing for discipleship and ran across this in the Word of Life Where Do I Go From Here - An Interactive Discipleship Course. It's entitled "A Critical Aspect of Discipleship - How to cover your discipleship in prayer."

Since it is broken down into days, I thought I would share each day in a different posting....

Monday:

THAT THEY WILL BE CAUGHT WHEN GUILTY

Psalm 119:71 "It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes."

Oftentimes we have a desire to spare another from the consequences of their sin but God's purpose is for consequences to teach the sinner the folly of his/her way. When the one you are discipling gets caught, help him/her to acknowledge the sin, to understand a loving God disciplines His children, to seek His forgiveness and to move forward in his/her Christian walk. Remind your disciple that, "whom God loves He chastens" and we should not view that negatively. Life is all about correction. We need to understand that correction polishes us and turn our thinking towards the BENEFITS of correction.

Praying for those you disciple (Sunday)....

I have been preparing for discipleship and ran across this in the Word of Life Where Do I Go From Here - An Interactive Discipleship Course. It's entitled "A Critical Aspect of Discipleship - How to cover your discipleship in prayer."

Since it is broken down into days, I thought I would share each day in a different posting....

Sunday:

PRAY THAT THEY WILL HAVE A LOVE FOR GOD AND A HATRED FOR SIN

Psalm 97:10 - "Let those who love the LORD hate evil, for He guards the lives of His faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked."

As one's love for God grows, so grows a hatred for evil. To properly hate sin one must properly love God.

Simple Blessings

These are just a few simple blessings that make me feel God's love....

A cup of tea
Rainbows
Rain
Sunsets
Sleeping children
Holding babies
Sleeping in
Butterflies
Laughter of my children
Cuddles
Discovering nuggets in the Word of God
Watching the clouds
The ocean
The sound of crickets
The smell of fresh cut grass
Candle light

Memorizing Scripture

I have a love for the Word of God, and memorizing scripture is important to me! Also, as a youth leader, I feel that I don't have the right to expect more of my youth than I am willing to do myself, so I am committed to memorizing scripture with them. The tricky part is that I am a Jr Youth Leader AND a Sr Youth Leader - so that's twice as many verses!

I am going to try to remember to quote them here as an accountability for this discipline I'm striving toward. Here's the first lot for the year....

Genesis 2:7 And the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground and breathed into His nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul.

Genesis 1:27
So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him, male and female created He them.

Luke 2:52
And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

Proverbs 31:30
Favour is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.

LFL from 2010

Some Lessons For Life from 2010:

How do we truly know Him if we're not spending time in His Word?

The place we as Christians find refuge is in the Word of God.

Therefore fear AND serve (with sincerity and truth) AND put away other gods AND serve the Lord! Joshua 24

I have a new picture of Jesus as Lord, not just as Him being in control and bigger than all, but in light of a King or Lord here on earth - whatever He says MUST be obeyed! In light of that, He was also a servant. When have you seen an earthly king serve his servants? I need to serve all those around me no matter their position.

Therefore present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God which is your reasonable service - rational/spiritual service of worship!

God's comfort is everlasting and will strengthen your hearts.

The church is a place of protection, not perfection. Keep praying for ....

You will turn my mourning into dancing, Lord!

Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost.

1. Lay out clothes/Bible/Music, etc. on Saturday night.
2. Go to bed early on Sat.
3. Get up early on Sun.
4. Spend time in prayer for service, alone and as a family on Sat/Sun.

We ask "what about" - what about my job, what about my money, what about my rights - Don't you think Jesus already thought about that?

God EXPECTS us to bear fruit.

Abide in ME! Spend time in My Word! Spend time in prayer.

We are covered by blood - Ps 32:1. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

The Bible changes us, makes us different - My Word is truth!

My God is Faithful!!!!

Hannah cries out to the Lord and asks him for a child. She promises that if He gives her a child, she will give that child back to Him. I wonder if she really believed that He would answer her in the way that she desired?
This passage really touched me this week - this is Hannah's response to God giving her a child. She has found the Lord faithful and this is her response.
Sometimes, having found God faithful so often, it is my nature to expect answered prayer and not be in awe of it. Lord, please keep my heart tender to God's love toward me. I am but a sinner, saved by grace, and I want to shout to those around me, "My God is faithful!"


1 Samuel 2:1-2
Then Hannah prayed and said,
         "My heart exults in the LORD;
         My horn is exalted in the LORD,
         My mouth speaks boldly against my 
         enemies,
         Because I rejoice in Your salvation. 
    ²"There is no one holy like the LORD,
         Indeed, there is no one besides You,
         Nor is there any rock like our God. 

God's Creation, viewed in Kruger National Park

We spent the day in Kruger National Park. It covers roughly 7500 square miles, almost the size of the state of New Jersey! We were in the park from around 8h30 until 5h30, and hardly covered a portion of the park, but here are some pics of what we saw! Thank you, God, for an amazing day viewing your AMAZING creation!

A Giraffe sits down, on average, only 20 minutes a day. They even sleep standing up. This is a rare sight indeed! :)

Wildebeest & Impala

Hippos in the water.

Still nothing better than cuddling my babies while they sleep.

Leopard Tortoise

Elephant

Buffalo

Kudu

Impala

Lion

Rhino

Zebra

All in all an amazing day! 4 of the Big Five, with only the elusive leopard missing from the list. Best of all, a day together with family making memories.

True Valor

Took a book to read with me this week - I am a readaholic. I love to read! I don't get much of a chance to read fiction, so I am taking advantage of the holiday to veg a little with a good book in hand. :)

This is the book I am reading:

It is book 2 in the Uncommon Heroes series. I am enjoying them, but liked The O'Malley series even more! Great read - finished in just a few days, and that was with 3 little ones under foot! It was full of suspense. I would definitely recommend it to a friend.



Loot.co.za - Books: True Valor - Book Two Of Uncommon Heroes: Dee Henderson | Romance | Genre fiction | Fiction

Love is....

Love. Many of us are familiar with "The Love Chapter", I Corinthians 13. A long while ago I was challenged to put in the place of the word "love" my name as a test of how loving I am. Try it for yourself.... Then replace the word "love" with the word "God", and spend some time worshipping Him for who He is.

⁴Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not  arrogant,

 ⁵does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,

 ⁶does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;

 ⁷bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

 ⁸Love never fails; 

Heartache

My heart is aching for many of the children and teens in our church, and in our local community. Their burdens seem so heavy that they don't know how to deal with them. It is effecting them physically, and wisdom is needed to help them. Please pray for them, as well as the leadership that work with them. Help us point them to the Healer.

Leaders' Kick Off

Today was Leaders' Kick Off. We had around 90 people at the conference today which involved encouragement, training and fellowship. There was a lot of planning that went into the conference - choosing speakers, location, inviting leaders, and then the preparations of the speakers....
I was involved in planning food. You'll see that often my role in the ministry is different than what you may imagine. My job this weekend was to plan tea and lunch for 80-100 people. Instead of spending hours pouring over seminar notes, I spent a few minutes on the phone discussing how much lunch meat we would need, an hour in the grocery store, and many hours in the kitchen preparing potato salad, cole slaw, arranging meat trays and praying for results. And it's just as exciting to me to be involved in this way, if not more, than if I were standing in front teaching a seminar!
I'm excited to see leaders learning. I'm excited to see God using them to change the lives of hundreds of youth throughout South Africa. I love that over the last 9 years I have been able to build relationships with many of these leaders! I look forward to the opportunity to spend time together in fellowship. It is also exciting to see new leaders, a chance to reach more youth!
Thank you, God, for allowing me the opportunity to be involved with what You are doing in South Africa in any way possible!

Olympians

I have been helping with Olympians at church for a while now, and I enjoy it so much! Olympians is a Word of Life program for kids. We have around 40 in regular attendance ranging from Grade 0 (Kindergarten) to Grade 7, and meet on Fridays from 3 to 5 pm.

In my small group I have around 6 girls in Grades 5 & 6. It is so fun to see how willing they are to do what they can to please God! It's also sad to see the kind of pressures they face at so young an age. Please pray with me for these girls - for the choices they make that will effect their futures, that they make choices based on what God's Word has to say, rather than based on what they think will make them popular. They so desire to be liked by their friends and, of course, the boys. I pray that they see the big picture and yet take life one day at a time, trying make choices that are honoring to God.

Pics to come. :)

Observing God's Creation

Brad's parents, Brad and I had a get away. No children, just the adults. It was nice to be Mary for a while.  I absolutely LOVE being Mom, but being Mary has a nice ring to it now and then, just so I don't forget how. ;)

We went to the Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve and stayed overnight. It was amazing! I will share some of the pics with you....

Cheetah

Gemsbok

Eland

I love to think about the fact that God created everything from nothing. I feel so small in His infinite amazing presence! And to think that we were created in His image. Wow. 

If you want to see more pictures, check out my facebook album.

Blog Blues

I'm so sad. I loved my blogger background, and am experiencing technical difficulties. My blog was gray when I logged in. SOOOO I had to search for another background. I found one I liked, but it's the same as my friend's, so kept looking. It takes so long to look!!!!
I'm not sure that this one fits me. What do you think? Yea or Nay - please vote. ;)

Blessings

We have experienced so many blessings, and sometimes I forget to share, so I'm going to overflow on you a little. ;)

Community Baptist Church in Montoursville started a "Serving As Senders" ministry in their church a long while ago, allowing volunteers from the church to join a team of people to support and pray for missionaries on the field. Our team has been an amazing support to us, calling us, praying for us, sending birthday cards and Christmas gifts and care packages, getting to know our children, meeting with us while in the US, and among many other things, presenting our needs and prayer requests before the local church. We have been blessed beyond measure in this way!

Recently, they found out that there would be another missionary traveling through Joburg that was willing to bring us a suitcase and they asked what we needed! It was PERFECT timing, as I needed to order quite a few books for school and could ship them for free to any US address, but international shipping would be outrageously expensive.

So now my books are ordered and should be on their way soon! Thank you, Sending Team, and thank you, God, for blessing us through Your servants!

Dad's Mac & Cheese

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

3 Tbsp Butter
2 1/2 C uncooked Macaroni
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 lb. Sharp (Mature) Cheddar Cheese, grated
1 qt. Milk

Melt butter in baking pan. Stir macaroni until covered well with butter. Add salt and cheese. Stir in milk. Bake, uncovered at 325 for 1 hour. DO NOT STIR.

Tapestry of Grace Books

I have been searching for books for TOG Y4, and I thought I would share the free books I have found. I will update this list as I find more. At this point all of these books are on the Kindle. If you don't have a kindle, you can download a Kindle app for an iPhone, iPod or PC for free. Here is a link for a PC download!

I will update this list as I find more!

        

Feb 6

Today was a good day. Church this morning. I looked forward to fellowshipping with our Church family. That is such a good feeling! I am making close friends again - my closest friends left the country, and it's not easy to start over again. It takes some time and effort to build new relationships, but it's worth it. :)

I'm still playing the flute at church. And we had such good singing this morning! The church is growing, and it's exciting to see God at work, bringing new believers into fellowship, especially when it's a new Christian. I also enjoyed singing a duet with Kobus for a special. I love to sing and don't get the chance to do it too often as I play the flute for all the music.

We went to the market after church this morning and had lunch there - I had an excellent Vetkoek (pronounced Fetcook - Afrikaans for "Fat Cake") with mince (ground beef) and cheese. It is a deep fried roll with seasoned ground beef. The beef was seasoned with a touch of curry and cooked with carrots and topped with cheese. YUMMA! 

When we came home, I took a nap! The kids have at least a required FOB (flat on bed) every Sunday, and sometimes a required sleep. It gives us a break, and helps them start their week rested. So I took advantage of this time today and SLEPT. :)

Then church and back home again! All in all, an enjoyable day. :)

Pavers, Fabric, Teens and Choc Cake

The day started late today - stayed in bed until after 8!!! :) And I started right in on some prep for homeschool and working on the finances on the computer.

Brad, Jack (his dad) and I went shopping for paving stones to decorate a section in the front garden. There is a big flower garden (360x320 cm) that needs some work, so I am planning to use the pavers to do a checkerboard pattern and plant flowers and plants in every other square. We bought pavers and compost today and will get the plants later.

(Here's a later pic of the work in progress)

Then this afternoon I went with Marissa and Judy (Brad's mom) to Chamdor, a huge fabric shop. Judy is making some visual aids for a seminar that she is teaching next week at Word of Life's Leadership Conference. I found some nice blue bulls fabric, so I will take some swatches out from Brad's quilt and find a great centerpiece! I will be able to finish it before winter!!

Then music practice and Senior Youth at church. I think we had a fantastic night at youth! We tried to play a variation of kickball where you pair up with a partner and one of you is "blind". It was exceptionally funny seeing as most of the kids didn't know what baseball was, let alone kickball, but we had a blast anyway. :) The meeting went well, and I enjoyed the time of fellowship in our small groups. 

When I got home I had a spurt of energy so I made sloppy joes for dinner tomorrow and whipped up two square Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cakes - one for a fellowship after church and one for home. I pulled out the fridge to get a drawer out that needed cleaned, washed it and got it all put away, cakes are finished, and now I really should be heading to bed as it's 22h30. Goodnight!

Whew! That was another busy day! ;)

Feb 4

Another busy day in the Hawkins' household!! We started with homeschool - two extras in my class today as we were helping out some friends that were away at a Pastor's retreat by keeping their children for them. They are 12 and 16, and were SUCH a pleasure to keep. Thanks for the opportunity! :)

In the afternoon we went to Junior Youth. There are around 40 kids that come to Junior Youth - we use the Word of Life Olympians program. The kids were SOOOOO wound up yesterday that we didn't know what to do with them!!! But I was at least able to have a successful small group with my 6 girls in grades 5 & 6. WOW!

We left the church, went to the shop (craziness on a Friday night, but we managed), went home for 30 minutes and then off to the new "Inbetweeners" group at the church. The church had programs for children, teens, and senior citizens, so we decided that those of us that are in between also needed a fellowship. I'm so glad I went even though Brad couldn't make it! We had dinner together, and then we split up - the teens take care of the children, the men go one way and the ladies another.

We ladies decided to start "The Disciplines of a Godly Woman" by Barbara Hughes. If that sounds familiar to you, it's the same study I've been doing with Mandy & Anne. We read the first chapter together last night, as it was our first meeting since the books arrived and some people didn't have their books in time to read. I think we were all challenged to start throwing off weights and run the race with abandon. Looking forward to getting to know these ladies more personally!

Feb 3

Warning: my attempt at blogging every day through Feb may bore you. :)

I downloaded a new homeschool curriculum late last night while sleeping, and we are now officially Tapestry of Grace users. I am hoping this curriculum saves me research/planning time. I feel like God led me in this direction, and I am looking forward to the change!

I was in a mood to bake/cook today! Last night before I went to bed I put dough in the breadmaker and this morning I made the most amazing cinnamon rolls! They were SOOOO good. Then I made chili for lunch and lasagna for dinner.

I went to Bible Study today with the other ladies on the WOL South Africa staff. Love them! Just wish I had more time to spend with them.

And came home tonight to serve dinner to 4 extras around our table - Sbu & Muzi (WOL DTC Students) and Matthew and Desiree Frost, that we are "babysitting" for a couple of days. I couldn't have done it without my visiting mother-in-law, who babysat Mya while we were at Bible Study, and made salad and cake for dinner. Thanks, Mom H!

Now, I'm hoping I can stay awake long enough tonight to make some sense of my new digital curriculum.

Moses

I just got a great idea from a friend…let's post every day in February…it's the shortest month, after all! (Missed yesterday.... And I will be gone later this month, but will journal and update the blog when I get back.)


So here it goes....
I'm feeling so ill-equipped to do all that God is asking me to do. I have prayed for ministry opportunities and they are falling into my lap. Please pray that I am faithful to do all that I can and to lean on God for strength! I tend to procrastinate when it comes to doing things if I don't know EXACTLY how to do it, so pray for faithfulness to begin and follow through.


I guess I'm feeling and acting a bit like Moses! I guess that's why God had my pastor preach about Moses last Sunday. Three days before I realized it - is that too long? Wonder if God felt like smacking me in the back of the head and saying "WAKE UP!" :) So grateful for His patience.


God will not ask me to do something that He won't equip me for. I guess it's time to get to work!

God is looking for absolute surrender. We must have a willing heart to do whatever He asks, and then trust Him to enable us to do it.... God does love us enough to involve us in His work, and He refuses to leave us where we are when He knows we could be experiencing much more of Him. 

Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. 1 Thes 4:24