"Savor The Observable Presence"
I have the wonderful privilege of attending an 8-session study at our church entitled, "Blessings from the Heart, a Woman's Legacy." Tonight was the first session.
In a nutshell, this class will teach me how to leave a written legacy, through the form of letters, to those whom I love and wish to impart a special blessing.
Here is the description from the website: (http://www.graceproductscorp.com/blessingsfromtheheart/index.php?cPath=22)
I have the wonderful privilege of attending an 8-session study at our church entitled, "Blessings from the Heart, a Woman's Legacy." Tonight was the first session.
In a nutshell, this class will teach me how to leave a written legacy, through the form of letters, to those whom I love and wish to impart a special blessing.
Here is the description from the website: (http://www.graceproductscorp.com/blessingsfromtheheart/index.php?cPath=22)
"Every one leaves a legacy.
The question is: What kind of Legacy will You leave?
God has shown us the power of the written word…Now it is time to go and do likewise. You are cordially invited to join us on this incredible journey to learn to bless your world through the lost art of letter writing.
Greg Vaughn, founder of Letters from Dad, husband, father of seven, grandfather and Emmy Award winning film producer is taking women on this incredible adventure to bless OUR world! It doesn’t matter if you are single, married, divorced, or widowed. God desires you to be a blessing to those around you.
Blessings from the Heart will:
Teach you to leave a Legacy that really lasts.
Show you how to speak life into those you love.
Help you to encourage those that need a word of encouragement.
Forever change your life as you impact generations not yet born.
Let this be written for a future generation, that a people NOT YET created may praise the Lord
Psalm 102:18"
As a scrapbooker, journaler, memory-keeper, homeschooler and big-picture seeker, this class appeals to me on SO many levels! The primary motivation for signing up was to impart to my children in writing how special they are to me, how they bless me, why we choose to homeschool and to encourage and impart to them an "eternal vision" ~ hopefully inspiring them to seek the Lord with all their hearts and "to fan into flame the gift of God" and use it to His glory.
I hope to make it a priority to blog about the 8 sessions as time goes by, but for now . . . . todays' God STOP:
I had a rather hard time homeschooling today. I didn't feel well, the kids (& I) lacked focus - every minute seemed a struggle. I just wanted to be done! By 4:45, I was ready to "send the kids to public school and just be done with it." Maybe you've had those days too. I once again prayed that all-too-familiar prayer, "Lord, why is this so hard?"
Tonight, before the Blessings class began, I was standing with some "older" ladies waiting for the coffee to finish brewing, and the lady next to me asked nonchalantly, "Do you work?" Now, this has always been a hard question for me, since I usually respond with a trite, "No, I stay home with my children." To which the typical response is something like, "Well, that's a lot of work in itself." This year, I decided to change my answer to "Yes, I homeschool my children!" (Because we all know it is, in fact, a LOT of work.)
As God would have it, this lady homeschooled too (she must be in her 50's now, possibly older.) "In fact," she told me, "I was one of the first to have a Christian school in my home." I went on to learn that she not only taught her own 3 boys (who now have families and are homeschooling their own children,) but she taught over 100 kids over the years - when no one else was "homeschooling" and when many were trying to talk her out of it. (Some told her to her face that they "gave her one year" before she quit! Imagine that for encouragement.) She explained that she had been a teaching administrator and that God had blessed her with a special situation - the school district kept sending her children to teach! Wow, what an opportunity.
On and on, she kept affirming me and our conviction to homeschool, telling me how important it is, and reminding me to focus on what really matters. She took the time to ask WHY I homeschool and listened to my answers. I knew God had arranged this meeting for a reason. Out of the blue, she said, "But it is hard sometimes." That knowing statement allowed me to feel comfortable enough to tell her how frustrated I get some days (today in fact!) She knew about that all too well, of course, and told me that God often reminded her to just "chill out." A timely message for me, too.
As we ended our little chat, she turned to me, looked at me very seriously and said, "I want you to remember something. Promise me when the day gets hard and you're frustrated, that you'll stop and you'll think, ' How do you want your children to remember you?"
OUCH. And ahhh. Immediately called to mind was the passage: "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit." Prov. 18:21
The question is: What kind of Legacy will You leave?
God has shown us the power of the written word…Now it is time to go and do likewise. You are cordially invited to join us on this incredible journey to learn to bless your world through the lost art of letter writing.
Greg Vaughn, founder of Letters from Dad, husband, father of seven, grandfather and Emmy Award winning film producer is taking women on this incredible adventure to bless OUR world! It doesn’t matter if you are single, married, divorced, or widowed. God desires you to be a blessing to those around you.
Blessings from the Heart will:
Teach you to leave a Legacy that really lasts.
Show you how to speak life into those you love.
Help you to encourage those that need a word of encouragement.
Forever change your life as you impact generations not yet born.
Let this be written for a future generation, that a people NOT YET created may praise the Lord
Psalm 102:18"
As a scrapbooker, journaler, memory-keeper, homeschooler and big-picture seeker, this class appeals to me on SO many levels! The primary motivation for signing up was to impart to my children in writing how special they are to me, how they bless me, why we choose to homeschool and to encourage and impart to them an "eternal vision" ~ hopefully inspiring them to seek the Lord with all their hearts and "to fan into flame the gift of God" and use it to His glory.
I hope to make it a priority to blog about the 8 sessions as time goes by, but for now . . . . todays' God STOP:
I had a rather hard time homeschooling today. I didn't feel well, the kids (& I) lacked focus - every minute seemed a struggle. I just wanted to be done! By 4:45, I was ready to "send the kids to public school and just be done with it." Maybe you've had those days too. I once again prayed that all-too-familiar prayer, "Lord, why is this so hard?"
Tonight, before the Blessings class began, I was standing with some "older" ladies waiting for the coffee to finish brewing, and the lady next to me asked nonchalantly, "Do you work?" Now, this has always been a hard question for me, since I usually respond with a trite, "No, I stay home with my children." To which the typical response is something like, "Well, that's a lot of work in itself." This year, I decided to change my answer to "Yes, I homeschool my children!" (Because we all know it is, in fact, a LOT of work.)
As God would have it, this lady homeschooled too (she must be in her 50's now, possibly older.) "In fact," she told me, "I was one of the first to have a Christian school in my home." I went on to learn that she not only taught her own 3 boys (who now have families and are homeschooling their own children,) but she taught over 100 kids over the years - when no one else was "homeschooling" and when many were trying to talk her out of it. (Some told her to her face that they "gave her one year" before she quit! Imagine that for encouragement.) She explained that she had been a teaching administrator and that God had blessed her with a special situation - the school district kept sending her children to teach! Wow, what an opportunity.
On and on, she kept affirming me and our conviction to homeschool, telling me how important it is, and reminding me to focus on what really matters. She took the time to ask WHY I homeschool and listened to my answers. I knew God had arranged this meeting for a reason. Out of the blue, she said, "But it is hard sometimes." That knowing statement allowed me to feel comfortable enough to tell her how frustrated I get some days (today in fact!) She knew about that all too well, of course, and told me that God often reminded her to just "chill out." A timely message for me, too.
As we ended our little chat, she turned to me, looked at me very seriously and said, "I want you to remember something. Promise me when the day gets hard and you're frustrated, that you'll stop and you'll think, ' How do you want your children to remember you?"
OUCH. And ahhh. Immediately called to mind was the passage: "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit." Prov. 18:21
Convicting questions tumbled to mind as well:
Am I building my children up -or tearing them down? Am I imparting to them a big-picture vision - or nit-picking (and nagging) them over the not-so-important details? Am I showing them through my actions and speech that they are precious treasures, given to me by the Father himself, to love, nuture, train and mold? - Or am I not-so-sublety & continuously pointing out their faults and weaknesses, discouraging their little hearts and minds and leaving the impression that they really don't measure up?
A lot to chew on. I felt very convicted as I left tonight - yet also GREATLY encouraged. For the Lord cares so much about me, too, His daughter, that he actively corrects me, yet lovingly and with great patience, and shows me where I can be a better steward of the treasures He's entrusted to me.
Am I building my children up -or tearing them down? Am I imparting to them a big-picture vision - or nit-picking (and nagging) them over the not-so-important details? Am I showing them through my actions and speech that they are precious treasures, given to me by the Father himself, to love, nuture, train and mold? - Or am I not-so-sublety & continuously pointing out their faults and weaknesses, discouraging their little hearts and minds and leaving the impression that they really don't measure up?
A lot to chew on. I felt very convicted as I left tonight - yet also GREATLY encouraged. For the Lord cares so much about me, too, His daughter, that he actively corrects me, yet lovingly and with great patience, and shows me where I can be a better steward of the treasures He's entrusted to me.
Don't forget the big picture! And"Savor the Observable Presence." God is TRULY good.
sounds like a great class! Thanks for sharing your thoughts -- I'm gearing up to start back to schooling tomorrow and need to keep this in mind!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the reminder. Of course, I know all this, but I constantly need to be reminded that each minute with my kids is a treasure! There is a saying that is getting truer and truer as I look back. (I guess I'm getting old!) "Sometimes the days are long, but the years are short." Where have our little kids gone??
ReplyDeleteWe will press on building a legacy!
Thanks for your comments, ladies! (couldn't figure out how to post my own comment until tonight - LOL!) Juli - that is such a true statement! Oh how the years go by.
ReplyDeleteI'm learning too! I just started the "blog thing" a couple weeks ago. I think I just figured out how to subscribe to your blog. Before that I clicked that I wanted email updates, so maybe I'll get both. If I do, I'll probably unsubscribe from the email updates -- if I can figure it out. :)
ReplyDelete