BFS--Betcha Can't Eat Just One!

Memory Verse: 1 Corinthians 10:13No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
Introduction: Betcha’ Can’t Eat Just One (Lays Potato Chips)
This weeks topic deals with eating potato chips and how good they are. I love salty foods so I have a terrible time eating just one. Along with these chips that I can’t eat just one of, I cannot get enough of studying my Bible. I think it’s ironic that chips (salty foods) are such a temptation. In the Bible (Leviticus) it tells us that salt is regarded as a disinfectant and when babies were born the midwife covered the baby with salt to clean its body and also to ward away any evil spirits or demons.
Assignment: Tell us about something that you can’t get enough of and what scripture(s) in the Bible you cannot tear yourself away from.

I have serious issues with salty foods....I LOVE them, but usually not by themselves. I also have a weakness for cream cheese. Bad, bad, bad. My worst (and weirdest yet) weakness has to be dipping Spicy Guacamole Doritos in whipped cream cheese. I can eat a whole bag. It's awful. I end up with green fingers and funny looking cream cheese on my bagel the next morning! But OH, it's yummy. Yes, I actually did start that while I was pregnant (Dani's fault!), but it's a craving I kept after the preggo hormones died off! Funny thing is, I really don't like plain nacho Doritos, I only like the spicy ones like the Guacamole and (my most recent favorite find) Spicy Sweet Chili. OH my....did I just drool on the keyboard??

As far as Scriptures I can't tear myself away from, I tend to gravitate toward passages that instruct regarding daily living--the matters of the heart and the responsibility Christians have to live out our faith. Probably my favorite is:

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in th name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

~~Colossians 3:15-17

That passage has such strong wording! Phrases like "rule in your hearts", "dwell in you richly", teaching and admonishing in all wisdom", and especially "do everything"....that leads us to believe just how EXTREME God expects us to live for Him. There's just no allowance for mediocrity there! I love it!

BFS--Finger-Licking Good!

Memory Verse: Matthew 14:19…Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves.
Intro: Finger Lickin’ Good - You can read about Christ feeding the 5,000 in many places in the Bible (Matthew14:19;15:36; Luke 5:6;9:3-17). I am a fairly new Christian and one of the many things I love about reading the accounts of Jesus’ miracles, is that there was not a big drum roll, fireworks, a thousand dollar suit or an agent building up some big preview of what was about to happen. Jesus would calmly say things such as “have faith”, “believe”, “have them sit and pass out these loaves of bread”, and then the miracles began.
Assignment: Although I am not able to produce miracles, it sometimes feels like I need to when it comes to meal time. There are times when money is tight, groceries are few and I have to feed my family. During the holiday season, you might have so much going on that you need to make a meal quickly with as few ingredients as possible. This week post your favorite recipes that require six (6) ingredients or less. Can’t wait to see what you come up with!

How about a 4-ingredient dish? I'll admit, this is not my favorite thing to eat, and I'm not even sure why. My family loves it, though, and we usually have enough left over for Pete and one of the teens to fight over for lunch the next day! This is one of those dishes that I can always manage to have ingredients in the kitchen on reserve to fix, and it's easy enough that it was one of the first dishes my teens learned to make.

Easy Shepherd's Pie
2 lbs. ground beef or turkey (I do one of each because we like the flavor of beef)
1 box instant mashed potatoes
2 cans whole kernel corn
8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese

Prepare mashed potatoes according to the recipe on the box--you'll need approximately 10 servings for this recipe. Combine the cheese with the hot mashed potatoes and set aside. Brown and drain the ground meat, seasoning with garlic powder, salt, and pepper as you brown it. Place the drained meat in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish, then sprinkle the [drained] corn on top of that. Top with some pepper, then spread the potatoes evenly over the meat and corn. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes, till the top is just slightly golden. Simple!

Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Psalm 34:8

BFS--Spiritual Jell-O?

Memory Verse: Romans 10:17 - So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
Intro: America’s Favorite Dessert J-E-L-L-O - What we read affects what we believe. When we feed the Scriptures in our spirit, faith comes alive and becomes a living force within you.
Assignment: Write about your favorite ‘faith food’. Tell about the books of the Bible that you read that help to build your faith. Nurture the seeds of faith inside you. ex: Acorns become Oak trees.

I've always had what I consider to be a pretty strong faith. I have never doubted the existence of God or the promise of eternal life at His feet for those who wear the name of Christ. But then again....Saul had a pretty strong (albeit misguided) faith before he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, didn't he? Belief alone isn't enough, is it? When I read James 2:19 (You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder.) and Matthew 7:21 ( Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.), it humbles me straight to my core. I do NOT want to be counted among the 'religious' who stand before the throne of the Almighty God as a stranger after living what I thought to be a nice, fluffy, Christian life. I don't want to wear the blood of Christ as a cheap garment, to be shown off on Sunday morning and taken off with haste as soon as the church building is in my rearview mirror. I want to LIVE it.

The intro to this assignment was interesting to me. Why Jell-O? But as I got to thinking about it, the idea of being spiritual gelatin really does fit in with what's on my mind. While we were in Germany, we noticed an odd thing--there are a LOT of things in Europe that have gelatin in them. Meat in aspic or encased in some clear gelatin is pretty popular. Gelatins are used to thicken, to make a nifty presentation, and....well, they're used in ways that my palate could just not comprehend. See, gelatin is kind of like tofu--it takes on the flavors and smells of the foods it's combined with. Even though there are just a few fruity flavors of Jell-O on the market at any given time, you could pretty much make any flavor of your own homemade Jell-O by mixing gelatin with whatever you wanted. Got a hankering for strawberry mango Jell-O? Cranberry white chocolate Jell-O? Mince pie Jell-O? Fish Jell-O? Well, EWW, but totally do-able if that's what floats your boat.

Same goes for our faith. God created us to be free agents in this world, and unfortunately, a weak and ungrounded faith can easily become spiritual Jell-O, taking on the 'flavor' of whatever it's around. That's why most of these false doctrine 'movements' gain speed so quickly and take in as many people as they do--they appeal to those of weak faith who are looking toward the temporal, the seen, the here-and-now rather than looking toward God and finding their purpose, their lifeblood, their zeal in what He wills. Spiritual Jell-O is wobbly, it melts easily under the slightest bit of heat, and it really can't stand on its own; it takes the form of whatever it's placed in. The most ridiculous form of spiritual Jell-O is the watery type. No flavor at all; no zeal for anything. I believe Laodecia had a bunch of them--lukewarm Christians.

The book of James has been my antidote to the gelatin in my life. James is the "hard" book when it comes to training in godliness. It's the curriculum in the School of Hard Knocks. It's the....okay, one cheesy cliche was enough. James teaches that faith lived out is the ONLY type of faith worth having. He writes about the tough stuff--taming the tongue, having rock-solid convictions, living godly life to the extreme. Having a lived-out faith means God's will is intertwined into every (EVERY) aspect of your life, and that's really not as easy to do in reality as it is to talk about in theory. Real Christianity isn't a college course. It isn't a philosophy. It isn't a touchy-feely, warm-fuzzy, mushy-gushy thing. Faith requires work. Lots of it. Faith that will please God requires that you surrender everything. Got plans? They're hooey. God has bigger ones. Got opinions? Well good for you, but they won't get you anywhere. Got clout? I hope you're prepared to endure stricter judgment. Got earthly wisdom? James calls it demonic. This is tough stuff, y'all. Not for the faint of heart, or the weak of faith.

Then again, I suppose there are reasons that you don't serve steak to someone who's sick. You give them Jell-O. Steak is hard to chew and hard to digest. Personally, I need more steak in my diet! Bring it on, James! I'm ready to be challenged!

BFS--Computers Help People

Memory Verse: Ephesians 4:29
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
Please try to learn our memory verse this week. We will be sharing a new verse every week and hope that you will store them in your hearts and find a special joy in His words.
Intro: Computers Help People Help People(Marketing credit: IBM)
There are many ways computers help us. It is a wonderful way to stay in touch with family far away, “meet” other christian women around the globe, and it can be such a blessing with homeschooling.
Assignment: Share some of your favorite homeschooling sites. The only “rule” for this assignment is that you have to list at least one “free” site. Many homeschooling families have made the choice to live on very little income to do what they believe is best for their children and I want everyone to be able to benefit from this assignment. If you have other sites that are “paid” sites, feel free to include these also as it might be something someone would really appreciate. If you feel led, share your curriculum choices with us. I always love to learn what is out there that I don’t already know about. Please make sure to include links to the sites you share.

If it weren't for the internet, I'm not so sure we'd have ever begun homeschooling! We were stationed in Germany (first time) and knew of NO one in real life who homeschooled, much less anyone over there. I had no access to curriculum fairs, homeschool support groups, bookstores, or even a really good library. Everything I learned was on the internet--even my first contact with another homeschooler through Christian Woman Magazine's editor, who so graciously passed on a letter from me to a dear friend of hers...and with whom I still correspond, even now that her children have long moved on to adult life and mine have begun to!

Over the years, I must have accumulated thousands of web addresses in my list of favorites. I have been part of online support groups like Project Titus 2 on MSN Groups (which is shutting down in February), I've done tons of research using the experiences of others on Home School Reviews, checked out the laws and regulations of different states we've lived in at HSLDA's site, and found TONS of wonderful links on Furious Shepherd's Homeschool Page. In those early days, and even as we have re-started with our first-ever homeschooled kindergartener(s) this year, the internet was my life-line to information and encouragement.

Most recently, as Jon graduated, we utilized Homeschool Diploma.com to order the most beautiful printed diploma for our homeschool graduate, plus graduation announcements (that he never wanted to take pictures to send out with, I might add) and that totally necessary graduation tassle to hang from his rearview mirror! Jon didn't need the graudation ceremony, that was just too much 'fluff' for him...but that tassle--now THAT is important!

We've used a wide range of curriculum over our ten years of schooling our children at home, never really finding a good 'fit' till a few years ago. I've long been enamored with both the Charlotte Mason and Classical methods of education (go see Classical Christian Homeschooling and Trivium Pursuit, they're wonderful!)--but I could only admire at a distance, because I am the type of person who can't seem to put something together myself without including EVERYTHING...and thereby burning out both myself and my kids. I absolutely adore Tapestry Of Grace, but I know myself well enough to know that I'd try to implement every little suggestion, and TOG is just too meaty to do that! Maybe when the little girls are older. For now, though, now that I've finally bitten the rather pricey bullet and invested in Sonlight's curriculum, I'm more than happy. I've got my days planned for me, I don't have to try to fit everything in, and I feel like I'm giving my kids a great literature-based education that is leading them to love books as much as I do! Pete is pretty happy that we are able to re-use the books we're using this year for Morgan and Jamie when Danica and Shelby are old enough for it! Me too...

All that said, though, my all-time favorite internet resource has GOT to be DonnaYoung.org, because she has put all of the forms I could ever want all in one place--and they're FREE!!! She does have a site CD available for sale with even MORE resources, but I've not gotten around to ordering it yet--probably next school year, considering it's got a bunch of really nifty elementary-and-middle-school-age resources on it. I've copied and recopied her forms hundreds of times over the course of our home education journey, and I'm sure I'll be using them for years to come. We even printed out a bunch of planner forms last night for Kelsey to use, because she now wants to write out her own schedule for finishing her schoolwork this year (yay!!!) and she found exactly what she was looking for on Donna's site! If you are a list and organization junkie like I am (even if, like me, you're not the best at your follow-through!), you just absolutely must check out this amazing site! She even has several really nifty buttons to advertise with--I've got one on my sidebar, but here's another:

It may be silly, but when I look at my bookshelf, I smile. I just LOVE our curriculum choices for this year! Kelsey's got all of her books on the desk in her room, where she prefers to do her schoolwork now that she actually has a desk! However, the little girls' books sit right here next to me where I can access them easily. I just love all the titles, all the wonderful stories (hey, we're only doing Sonlight's pre-K program this year, with some kindergarten resources like Horizons Math K and Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons added in for good measure, so don't expect a ton of meatiness in the core stuff this year!) and oddly enough, there's something just all warm and fuzzy about those matching orange stickers that indicate the Core the books belong to! Ahhhhh.....

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. Hosea 4:6

BFS--Quality is Job #1

Memory Verse: I Timothy 4:12-13 - Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
Intro: Quality is Job #1 (Ford)
Assignment: My family and I rarely do anything apart from each other. We don’t really have quality time together because all our time is together. We feel like the more special moments are when we have dinner together or when we worship God together. For this assignment, tell how you and your family spend QUALITY time together.
Photo Op: Show pictures of you and your family spending time together or where you spend time together that means so much to you. Examples: vacation time and places, park, church picnics, family reunions.

That elusive "quality" time is hard to get now. It has been for about six months, really. Ever since we started gearing up for our big move from Germany, all of our time has been taken up by the necessary things instead of the truly important. Fun and togetherness sometimes have to take a back seat until the work of life is done. I guess that's one of the realities that hits military families hard. Oftentimes EVERYTHING has to take a back seat to a deployment, field exercise, or even a year of day-on, day-off 24-hour staff duty. This week has been one of "those" weeks. We thought things were going to be "slow", but they've turned out to be anything but! First, a surprise delivery of 20 boxes, then the surprise babysitting job of 3 kiddos we've never met, now all of us are sick again...well, what else could I say? One of "those" weeks! It's hard to find ANY time for family togetherness, it's hard enough to slow things down long enough to sit down and eat a meal together!

However, we do relish mealtimes, and we try to make everything of them that we can. It's a time of catching up, discussing spiritual battles, talking about political issues (and our kids are learning far more than they ever wanted to about what defines "moral"), and being silly.

The 'big' times of togetherness are few and far between. The last time we did anything really meaningful as a family was in March, when we took a camping trip to the Bavarian Alps and ended that week in a marriage retreat sponsored by Pete's unit, complete with paid rooms at the Armed Forces resort in Garmisch. It was HEAVENLY. The Alps were gorgeous, the kids enjoyed sledding and snowboarding (till the snow melted), we hiked and talked and took pictures....and the teeny little cabin we stayed in for five of those nights was perfect for pretty much forcing togetherness! The fact that we were camping took the pressure off of us to spend the big bucks in finding a great hotel, and honestly, we couldn't have cared less how we were dressed, because everywhere we went, we had to trudge through melting snow and mud! it was FUN though, and it was probably the last trip we will have without at least one of the kids missing. The girls are already talking about going camping again...this time in tents...maybe Gatlinburg? Talladega? Ooh, a beach campground in St. Augustine? The Keys? I can't wait!

BFS--Like There's No Tomorrow

Memory Verse: Ecclesiastes 1:13-14
I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men! I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
Intro: Imagine you’re standing before God. There’s no Tomorrow, you can’t go back and finish up what you had planned on getting to sometime in the future. What was that thing that you planned on getting to, that thing that now, you’re standing before God and thinking “I wish I had gotten to that…”
Assignment: We only have today. Should God take you today, have you accomplished everything that you wanted to, needed to. Have you said all the things that needed to be said? Let’s have no regrets, let’s make sure we get to those things, so that when we’re standing before the Lord, the only thing we need to do is to worship him.. and not regret not getting to that thing on our to do list. Stop - go take care of that thing…. then, come tell us what you choose to share. Don’t embarrass yourself or any of your loved ones
Picture ideas: Be creative, go photograph something that “REPRESENTS” tomorrow. We can’t photograph time.. but we have ways of “showing” time in images.. how do you see “tomorrow”. This might be the only thing you choose to share about if you can’t publicly share what you needed to get done, and that’s alright too. Some things are just to personal.
Share your favorite scripture in your post.

This was a toughie, I'll admit. And it's something I can't fully "do". For three and a half years now, I have struggled with bitterness--not every day, it's something that comes and goes. I've had to repeatedly forgive something that turned my life upside-down, and I'm not sure I'll ever be completely free of the possibility of bitterness and resentment popping up, because it's an offense I can't easily forget. However, over the last few weeks as it has finally sunk in that my marriage truly is healed, I've been trying to figure out just how much control I have over my memory. I wish sometimes that I had the ability to forgive and forget like God does, and I wonder on my bad days why He blessed us humans with such a good memory...clearly the ability to have bad memories called to the forefront of our minds is counterproductive to our battle with evil thoughts?

Pete and I were in the van on the way home from a late-night jaunt to Wal-Mart without the kids (a date?) and as we listened to the silence and the radio, both of us fell eerily quiet. The song we meditated on is Brandon Heath's "I'm Not Who I Was". The DJ on the Christian radio station had read off a quick devotional thought before the song came on about how our worship is just completely unacceptable to God when our hearts are marred by unforgiven offenses and grudges. I've heard that so many times that I hear it in my sleep...but that sentiment, along with the words of this song, really pricked my heart--and it all became very clear to me--that struggle with the thoughts of bitterness, they are WILLFUL. I have control over them, even though it feels as if I don't. I can CHOOSE to think about the things that fill my mind, and I can CHOOSE to eliminate those things that will endanger my soul by filling my heart with just a *little bit* of bitterness.

I can't very well approach the person who I need to forgive again and tell her that I'm just letting go of every thought, that I'm taking back my mind, because I don't have the slightest clue where she is. Okay, well maybe the state...but that's it. And then there's this nagging thought in the back of my mind that forgiveness needs to be given openly and that the person you forgive needs to KNOW they're forgiven. For that, I'm just going to have to trust God to give her that message. I can't do it. But there's the meat of my assignment this week--I am taking back my thoughts. I'm not going to allow my worship to be in danger of being found unacceptable to God any longer. I'm not going to allow myself to be unforgiven of my own sins just because I "toy" with thoughts of unforgiveness toward someone else.

[W]e do not wage war according to human standards; for the weapons of our warfare are not merely human, but they have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments 5 and every proud obstacle raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

As far as a photograph that represents "tomorrow" to me, I didn't have to go far to find it. I didn't even take this photo--it was one of the sample pictures already loaded on my computer's hard drive--but it's just beautiful and it pretty much sums up my feelings about my future. Do you see how brightly the sun is shining through the autumn leaves? Soon those leaves will turn brown, dry out, and fall off...but that sun will keep rising day after day after day. It's much like God's love for us--the foliage of our lives changes, but God's light is always the same.

BFS--Have It Your Way

Memory Verse: Isaiah 40: 1- Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

Intro: “Have It Your Way” (Burger King) - As cooler weather approaches and the winter eases into our doors I like to lounge by the fire after a hot shower. I love to make soups that are brimming with a rich and full flavor. In our home there’s nothing better than a hot bowl of soup or and a hot cup of coffee or cocoa on a cold winter night.

Assignment: Tell us all about how your have “your” relaxing time, more especially how during the cooler months you take time to curl up with your favorite movie, book, Bible study, and what your favorite warm drink would be.

I'm still getting used to the new house, a new town, and basically a whole new life, so "my" time is being redefined slowly. When we were in Germany, we had a HUGE bathtub, so it was a nightly ritual almost the entire three years for me to spend a good half hour soaking in bubbles after the girls were in bed. It was wonderful to just lay there and let all of the day's stress ooze into the water....but alas, the tub in this place is barely big enough for leg-shaving, much less relaxing, so I'm on a mission to find a new relaxation spot!

One thing that hasn't changed since we moved is that this time of year, in the little free mental time I have during the day, my mind wanders to those people I miss spending time with. Jill, you and I just haven't had "us" time in so long that it's pathetic! But you know what, best friends are best friends no matter how much distance is between them, and I'll just hold out for New Year's Eve! As the air cools, I'm reminded that the year is quickly drawing to a close, and there are still lots of things on my yearly to-do list that are screaming at me to be done...Christmas presents to make, closets to de-junk, homeschool items I've been meaning to sell for YEARS....and pretty soon we'll begin a new year with another list of things to do! I'd much rather just sit and focus on what "is" in the here and now and let God worry about the rest. That's what I'm reminded of when I see the leaves changing--there are blessings right there every day just like all of those green leaves, but I don't even notice them until it's obvious that they're not going to be around much longer. That fact really came crashing down on us this year as our oldest left home to begin his Army career. Life disappears right under your nose!

It's still not cold enough here for hot cocoa, but I think I could really use a Sonic mocha Java Chiller! YUMMY!!!!

BFS--Mmm-Mmm Good!

Intro: M’m M’m Good (Campbell’s Soup)The fall is such a wonderful time of year. The beautiful foliage and cool, crisp morning air is such a wonderful change from the hot summer. I also love the M’m M’m good smell of fall cooking and baking. The wonderful fall veggies, fruits and Thanksgiving foods.

Assignment: Post your favorite fall recipe/recipes to share. I love trying new recipes, do you? It can be baking, main dishes, veggies, dessert or anything else you can think of. There are no limits. Mmmmmm..I can’t wait to take a look at some of those recipes.

Picture ideas: Post a picture of your finished product, or you could just post a picture of the recipe. How about a picture of you cooking? The sky is the limit.

Now this is an easy assignment!! I'm a recipe junkie, and I just love making up my own! Oh, wait...there's a problem, WHICH ONE do I post? I actually made a feeble attempt at a recipe blog a few weeks back, but then deleted it when I realized I really didn't want to share a lot of those recipes I'd concocted over the years! We Southern cooks are funny that way. Not all of us are Paula Deen's who would tell the world their famous fried chicken recipe. Nope, sorry, not even my daughter gets that one! Nor will I share the years of hard work I've put into perfecting my clam chowder. You'll simply have to come over to my house and have a bowl here!

Okay, maybe I need to work on sharing. Here's my recipe for one of our family favorites (and a good one when I have to change dinner plans because I've forgotten to take something out of the freezer...kind of like last night!), my take on Green Eggs and Ham.

18 eggs (yes, EIGHTEEN....I have a big family, OK?)
16oz. package sliced deli ham
2 cups shredded cheese (I used a colby/jack blend in the pics below, but sharp cheddar is my fave)
3 medium-sized potatoes
1/2 medium onion
10 oz. 'brick' frozen chopped spinach, thawed
salt, pepper, and garlic powder as desired

Start by shredding the potatoes and onion in a food processor, then place in a colander with thawed spinach and press to remove excess water. Dice the sliced ham, and scramble the eggs. Mix everything together in a huge mixing bowl, then carefully (this stuff sloshes something terrible!) pour into greased extra-large skillet and bake, covered, in a 350-degree oven for 45 minutes or until the eggs are bubbling all the way into the center of the skillet. Remove cover and continue baking until the top is just slightly golden. I usually sprinkle just a wee bit of shredded cheese on the top after I take it out of the oven--it melts but doesn't brown!

Serve in wedges with salsa, ketchup (yuck IMO, but my girls love it), or my personal favorite must-have, chipotle Tabasco!

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Psalm 34:8

BFS--Don't Leave Home Without It!

In an attempt to streamline my blogging and give myself a tad more structure, I chose recently to be part of just a few select "fun" things within the blogosphere on a regular basis, and I just could not pass this one up--the Blogger Friend School looks like so much fun, and such an antidote to my occasional writer's block! So here goes!

Memory Verse: Matthew 28: 20 - Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. Amen.
Intro: Never Leave Home Without It (Marketing Credit: American Express) Diapers, bottles, wipes, bibs, pacifiers, extra clothing, cell phone, PDA, ipod, iphone, credit or debit cards … what would you never leave home without?
Assignment: In the memory verse Jesus tells us that He will never leave us, not even at the end of the world. He assures us in this verse that He will be with us and that means through everything we go through in life. I thought it would be interesting to write about the things we would never leave home without. For some it might be baby needs, others it might be a gym bag and bottle of water, and for some it might be your Bible and a notepad or small journal, maybe even your son or daughters favorite blankie! I’d like for you to write about something that you would never leave home without.

What would I never leave home without? With six kids, any outing nearly requires the use of a luggage rack, but some are a bit worse than others. For instance, not EVERY time we leave the house looks like this:(For reference, this was us in the Frankfurt International Airport on June 13th, toting 10 checked bags, 3 car seats, 6 carry-on's, a diaper bag, and a cat! You don't even want to know how tightly those bags were packed!)

No, most times it's just a short-trip thing, to the store or a church meeting of some sort. And inevitably, it takes me at least ten minutes to get my act together. Pete has told me I'd have made a great Boy Scout, because when it comes to outings, my motto is "Be prepared"...sometimes a little OVER prepared. I don't like getting stuck in a situation when I might need something that I didn't think to pack! So of course, my purse includes a DayRunner, checkbook, wallet, cell phone, gum, chap stick, and a small "girly necessities" pouch. I don't leave home with just my wallet and keys--ever! I just can't imagine it.

When I've got the littles with me, it gets more complicated. We have two in diapers, so the diaper bag is pretty full. Two sizes of cloth diapers, a wetbag, cloth wipes, a squirt bottle with wipes solution, at least two bottles, formula, pacifiers, a drooler bib, burp cloth, and a first aid kit. Overkill? Maybe, but if you knew my almost-two-year-old, you'd know why I felt the need to be uber-prepared!

There is one thing, however, that I can never leave home without--my military ID card. I can't get on base, and therefore HOME without it. I got used to that in Germany, we had to take our ID's everywhere, and losing it was a big, fat, HUGE deal (we know...Kelsey lost hers three times in six months, I thought the MP's were going to eat us alive that third time we reported it missing). Thing is, every time I put that ID card in my pocket, purse, or wallet, I remember something my great-grandmother said to me when I left home for adulthood:

"Remember whose you are."

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20