Great Sale Tomorrow

I just found out that TOMORROW ONLY you can get an incredible ebook package from MoneySavingMom.com--over $100 worth of money-saving ebooks, homemaking helps, and encouragement for only $5.97!

She's offering such a great price and I'd highly recommend you run over here and check it out.

What makes this deal so good is that this ebook package includes the ecourse Supermarket Savings 101--this course alone is worth much more than $5.97 and will teach you how to drastically reduce your grocery bill. If high fuel and food costs are discouraging you and leaving you strapped for cash, you definitely need to buy this ecourse. You'll learn how to cut your grocery bill by up to 50%. Some of the other ebooks may not apply to you but some of them may. There are some on homeschooling, homemaking, singleness, starting your own business, and several other topics. But her tips on grocery budgeting are great for everyone.

Go here to read more about this huge sale! Hurry, though, the price goes up Wednesday--get this money-saving ebook package at low price while you can!

A much needed advisor :)

Over a year ago I met Cheryl. Her husband is a church planter and they have planted several churches in different cities. They are currently planting one in downtown Greenville. Our husbands had met and Stephen wanted me to meet his wife.

We have gotten to know their family over the past year and Stephen meets with John every few months. We attend their church plant from time to time (they currently only meet on Sunday evenings and our church only meets in the morning). John has been coaching Stephen about church planting and they get together also for fellowship. This couple has effected the lives of many people I know.

But one thing I love about them more than anything is the kind of parents they are. They have 6 kids ranging from 5-16. Their children really love the Lord and they have raised them in a way that is very "balanced". Their kids are able to be in the world yet stand for their faith at the same time. They are really intentional about developing their children into men and women who love God, are able to stand for Him in the culture, have a generous spirit, have a desire to reach out to the hurting, and have a good work ethic. Their children are respectful and obedient and they have great relationship with all of their children. This speaks volumes to me. Since I have known them I have found myself picking Cheryl's brain all the time on what she has done to raise her kids this way.

Now that I am having a baby I want advice more than ever. Not only on raising kids but on birth (Cheryl birthed all 6 of her children naturally!), breastfeeding, caring for a newborn, disciplining, balancing being a mom with time with the Lord and my husband, etc. So I am grateful that Cheryl has carved several hours out of her life this week to meet with me and pray for me as I make this transition. Her advice to me is invaluable and I love the whole concept of Titus 2:4-5; older women teaching younger women. I am thankful for older women who are willing to give their time and advice to younger wives and mothers.

Cheapest Milk in Town

If you live in the Greenville area the cheapest milk in town, hands down, is Sav-More in Wade Hampton. (Across from K-mart). It is $2.98 a gallon which beats even Aldi by at least $0.20 (maybe more) and other grocery stores by about a dollar.

It is not organic. But if your family drinks regular milk it may be worth it to pick it up there if you are on that side of town. You also could pick up some other deals inside the store if you look for the sales. They also will take coupons there but not ones printed from the Internet.

I also saw gas by my home for $3.61 a gallon. Did you ever think you would be kind of happy to see gas for that price? :)

Tree Sap

A couple of weeks ago I bought some really comfortable maternity capri pants from Target. They are black and mare made of a stretchy material and they can go with lots of things. I love them and have already worn them several times.

Saturday I was at church all day watching 2 year olds and a baby for a marriage conference. After lunch the kids went outside with the older kids to do the "slip-and-slide". Since there were other volunteers there I decided to just sit with the baby under a tree and watch. But I sat down on a tree stump and did not realize until I got up that it had sap on it and that it had gotten on my new pants.

So I had no idea if it would come out. I came home and immediately washed them and it did not come out. Then I read online that hand sanitizer works to get it out. I put some on it (I don't know if I left it on there long enough) and washed them again and nothing happened. I repeated this step and again, nothing. Then I read online that rubbing alcohol works so I tried that and nothing happened. Finally I put it on there again put I left it on there for 2 hours (it seemed that time to break up the sap) then I rubbed detergent in it and washed them again. I think this time that most of it came out. I will be able to tell for sure when it dries.

I have never even thought about how to get tree sap out until this little adventure, but thanks to the world wide web there is lots of advice at your finger tips for almost any subject. There were other tips too that I didn't try. Does anyone have a great tip for getting out a particular stain?

8 O 'Clock Coffee

Over the past few years I have become a little of a "coffee snob". What I mean is that once you really get the taste for fresh or better quality coffee it is card to drink regular Folgers, Maxwell House, or brands like that anymore. They taste stale.

But buying good quality coffee is expensive and can really add up over time. About a year ago a co-worker of mine told me how good 8 O' Clock coffee is (especially if you buy the beans and grind it fresh). This brand has been around for a long time, but it is almost as good as some of the best known quality brands but it is several dollars cheaper per bag. (Wal-Mart is the cheapest with it being only 3 something a bag and the regular stores have it for 5 something.)

So I tried it and I agree that it is great for the price.

I am not drinking a lot of coffee right now being pregnant but I can't wait to have a couple of cups of this every morning again. Anyway I thought I would just pass along this tip for all of you coffee lovers out there who maybe didn't know about this brand. I hope you all have a great weekend!

My Bloom Shopping Trip

I tried going to "Bloom" tonight to see if it was worth it to use the $10.00 off coupon. With some of the sales they had and some coupons it wasn't too bad. This is what I got.

1 pkg "8 O' Clock" coffee -5.84

Bananas - . 65

Scott 4 Mega Roll extra soft 3.69 (1.00 off coupon) - 2.69

Quart of 2% milk - 1.59

Quart of 1% choc milk - 1.59

1 bag of granny smith apples (3 lbs) 3.99

4 Bags of Trail Mix - Normally $3.79 a bag on sale for $1.89 a bag (7.56 total) (Stephen is going camping this weekend and I thought this would be a good snack)

2 pkgs Pillsbury Chocolate Chunk cookie dough (normally 2.99 a pkg on sale for 2/5.00) plus $ 1.00 off coupon - 4.00

Kraft Mayo with Olive Oil - 4.19 ( 1 dollar off coupon) - 3.19

32 oz Stoneybrook Organic Vanilla Yogurt - 3.39

1.06 lb of angus stew beef normally 4.87 on sale for - 3.12

1.94 lb of country style pork ribs normally 5.41 on sale for - 3.86

Honey Nut Cheerios 3 boxes - $6.00 after a sale and a $1.00 off coupon.

2 Bags of Salad - buy one get one FREE - 3.69

Bloom deli sliced sharp cheese - 3.49

A Box of Nature's Valley Granolla Bars - 2.92

Then I had coupon for "$10.00 off a 45.00 purchase" or more.

So after tax it came out to $47.38

I saved about $24.00 with sales and coupons.

I will need to go to the Farmer's Market this weekend and get some more vegtables and beans, and swing by Aldi for a couple of things. But hopefully I can keep it around $70.00 for the week.

7 months pregnant

I had my latest baby appointment yesterday. I am about 7 months pregnant and everything looks good so far. I was measuring right at 28 inches. Yesterday she was checking the baby's heartrate and it was 130. But when she started pressing on my stomach to feel the baby he started pushing back:) And it made his heartrate go up to 160. He was moving all around and then slowed down and the heartrate went back down again. She said this was a sign that he is really healthy, (when he is moving a lot for his heartrate to go up and then go back down when he stops). I had never heard that before but I am thankful.

It's getting harder to sleep but thankfully I slept better last night. I got another bottle of these great calcium suppliments they sell at my appointment yesterday and when I take them before bed they help me sleep better and they are really good for the baby. I had been out of them for a week or so.

But I get so thirsty at night! So I have to make sure I drink a lot of water before bed, but that makes me use the bathroom. It is an endless cycle:) Oh well.

We had our neighbors over for dinner last night. They are a young married couple with a 4 year old and a baby.

(Here is a picture of their kids)

It was good to be able to minister to them and talk to them about the Lord. They were so appreciative. It always takes me awhile to work up the nerve to do something like this then when I do I wonder why I don't do it more often. I hope we are able to build our relationship with them. Stephen has already had the opportunity to pray with the husband and share the gospel with him. The mom actually gave me a huge box of baby boy clothes. Someone had given them to her thinking she was having a boy but she had a girl. So that, along with what other people have given me has me pretty much set for the first 3 months of clothes. And I haven't even had a baby shower yet!

I am being Discipled!

By my husband:) Let me explain:

My husband is discipling several guys every week with a discipleship program that he wrote.

Right now they are going through some of the attributes of God in detail, learning how to practically apply them to their lives, and then having prayer and accountability time.

A few weeks ago he said, "hey, do you want me to go through these lessons with you too?"

I was like "sure!" So we have been doing this one night a week for several weeks as our family devotions. I have been learning some great things and am encouraged to do this with Stephen. We usually sing some, then have this lesson and then pray together about things.

Last night the lesson was on the "Goodness of God." One of the verses we looked at was Psalm 34:8 "O taste and see that the Lord is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him."

He said that if you had to describe to someone how honey tastes, who had never had anything sweet before, it would be really hard. No matter how hard you tried to explain it they just wouldn't understood until they tasted it.

It is like that with God. We can know so much about him intellectually but that doesn't matter if we don't experience him with all of our hearts.

Have you tasted, and seen that the Lord is good recently? If you are in Christ then the Lord has nothing but love and favor towards you. Has the reality of that filled your heart with comfort, thankfulness, and joy this week? If not, then why not pray for that today?

Back to School Savings

Those those of you with kiddos in school, http://www.moneysavingmom.com/ is reporting some great sales this week at Office Depot and some semi great sales at Staples on certain school supplies. To see what they are click here.

Anything to save money right? I really have been able to tell the increase in food prices. This weekend I noticed Aldi had gone up on their milk again. I think they have gone up $0.30 in the past few weeks and even the Farmer's Market has gone up in produce.

Bloom did send out some coupon's for the next month of getting $10.00 when you spend $50.00. I don't shop there much because it is more expensive but I am going to try to use this deal with some coupons and see how it turns out. I will let you know.

Does anyone have any good deals they know of this week?

I believe Sav-More is having their sidewalk sale this Saturday. See this post. Unfortunately I will not be able to go. I am signed up to watch kids all day in the nursery for a marriage conference at church. It could be a really long day. But I know that soon I will appreciate people being willing to provide good childcare when I have one of my own. :)

Documentaries

My husband and I are dorks. Recently we have been watching all kinds of historical documentaries. We both like history and the fact that you can learn so much from history.

Some of them we get from our blockbuster.com account and others we have seen on TV, bought, or someone bought for us or let us borrow.

And I have learned so much! Really it is fascinating to see how we have gotten to where we are and why certain events happened. It makes your world view bigger.

So in the past few months we have watched things like:
1. The true History behind the story of "Braveheart", William Wallace
2. A History Channel series that goes through all of the United States Presidents and tells the highs and lows of each. This also gives you a great overview of the history of America.
3. A documentary on the bombing of Peal Harbor. (Even when those guys were first being bombed by the Japanese they still didn't know what was happening and thought it was a drill!)
4. "Fire on the mountain" - how in WWII the USA created a battalion to fight in cold weather conditions. These men were professional skiers, rock climbers, and outdoorsmen. They sent them to fight the Germans in the mountains of Italy and then when the war was over many of these men came home and started the ski resorts that we have today and one of them started the company, "Nike"
5. The True story of the Gladiators - this was interesting because it did cover the time of when Christians were persecuted under Nero
6. Great Commanders of the Civil War

These are just a few. There were others, like one on the Roman Empire. It is amazing how much history repeats itself and how we make the same mistakes again and again. It also is interesting to see the finger of God throughout history working in spite of the fact that many do not realize He is. Anyway this is just another little tidbit into our lives right now:) Like I said, we're dorks!:)

A Good Helper

This is something I was not for my husband yesterday. Let me backtrack:

I had gotten home from work (around 3:00pm) and was feeling pretty tired. Lately I have had some energy but yesterday I just wanted to take a nap. And it was really hot and I think that drained me too. Anyway when I got home I had a task ahead of me of transferring everything from the old desk we had to the "new" (new to us) desk that my parents had brought over the night before. In my mind I had my whole afternoon planned. I would take an hour to arrange the new desk and clean up the room, then take an hour nap, then cook dinner, and then Stephen's friend was going to come over that evening.

Then about 4:15pm my husband called me and said, "Mike is going to eat dinner with us". Well for some reason this just threw me for a loop and I took it out on him. I didn't have enough of what we were having for 3 people, I would have to go to the grocery store, go out in the heat, miss my nap, ...etc...etc... I was majoring thinking only about myself. I was full of self-pity. He told me to calm down, pray, and call him back and let him know what I wanted to do. That for some reason made me even madder.:) I told him, "no, I will do it".

When I got off the phone and had time to think about it and pray I realized I had been such a bad wife. Stephen had been WORKING in the hot sun all day and he doesn't even have air in his truck for the drive home. He had two pieces of equipment break that day and had spent hours trying to fix them and ended up just having to order the parts. He had had a really bad day and instead of helping I just made it worse. To top it all of the guy who was coming over was coming to help Stephen with something, not just purely a social call.

Anyway I felt convicted and called and apologized and got my act together. I sat down, clipped some coupons for some things I would have bought this weekend anyway, planned my dinner and few other meals for next week, and headed off to the store. I had plenty of time to get everything ready. I tried a new recipe; this black bean wrap recipe but I did add a little chicken to it to have a little meat. It was healthy, filling, and really tasted good.

And I probably fell asleep faster last night because I did not take a nap. It is amazing how one minute I can be doing good with my walk with God and the next minute completely blow it. I am so thankful for God's grace and that I have such a sweet husband who is so patient with me.

Encouragement From Daniel

Like many of you, once I found out I was having a baby (and then a boy) I have been praying for this child to love the Lord. I have many things that I pray for him but most of all that he would be a warrior for the Kingdom of God.

Over the 4th of July weekend I read through the whole book of Daniel and the Lord really used it to speak to me and I found myself praying that my son would be like Daniel and his friends.

I think this book is an encouragement for any mother raising their children in an ungodly culture. And this is why:

When Daniel was just a teenager he was taken from his parents and put into a completely secular setting. He was schooled in this setting and surrounded by all of the things from this culture that would appeal to the flesh. He was totally "in the world."

But he was not "of it" because it says that Daniel made up his mind not to be defiled by these things. What amazing parents these young men must have had! What amazing faith these teenagers had in the Lord.

We cannot keep our kids from everything in this world. They are surrounded by it everyday and eventually will not have us there to guide them anymore. But if we can build into their young hearts a love for Jesus and wisdom that comes from God they can have a filter for these things and can stand against the culture. It is possible with God's help. Babylon was one of the most pagan cultures ever and if these men can do it so can our children.

Not only this, but God gave these men great intelligence and favor. They learned the literature and knowledge of the day. They had wisdom. Then they went into service for a pagan king and Daniel served many different pagan kings all the days of his life. But he never was influenced by them. This to me is almost a greater miracle then his one night in the lion's den.

They also stood their ground in the midst of persecution. As a mom, you would never want to see your child suffer....ever. But it is through the trials and persecutions of this life that our children grow character and a depthness in their faith. I can only pray that my son would have the faith of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego when faced with the furnace, or Daniel when faced with the lions. These young men had resolved to love the one true and living God, even unto death. Like the young men in the furnace, we can be comforted that when our children go through trials, Jesus will be right there with them as the fourth man "walking in the midst of the fire." Then they will bring glory to God and as a godless culture watches them and sees their resolve, they may say like the king, "there is no other god who is able to deliver this way."

In conclusion, I pray for my son to be like Daniel. But I desperately pray that I will be a mom like the one I believe Daniel's was. I know (although I know I really don't have a clue yet) it is very hard and time consuming to really train your children well in the Lord. I only pray God will give me the grace, discipline, faith, and resolve to do it. I think that would be the greatest accomplishment I could have in this life.

New Glasses

Ta-Dah.....Here they are! Do you think I look smarter? :)

2 Great Posts by JD Greear - New glasses

Occasionally I will read JD Greear's blog. He is a pastor in Raleigh, NC. I really love his insights.

Today I happened to look at his sight and saw two great posts from him:

This One

and

This One


Click on them and read them if you get a chance.

In other news: Can you believe it has been about 8 years since I have had a new pair of glasses? I wear contacts everyday and only wear the glasses at home. But because of that my glasses were really really getting out of date and then a few months ago part of them broke. They are still "usable" but not practical at all and I would never wear them out anywhere. Well with the baby coming I decided I needed a new pair of glasses. (Can we say late night feedings?) Plus (Bonus!) if they were cute I could actually wear them out sometimes and not have to use as many contacts. So I ordered a pair last week and I think I will be able to pick them up today. I am kind of excited. I will post a picture when I get them:)

Summer Televison

I told you this post would be lighter. Summer television stinks. Even more than normal. We don't have cable so we only get the basic channels: ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CW, PBS, and ETV and a few others. Anyway tonight I was flipping through channels and seeing things like "I survived a Japanese Game Show" (how lame is that?) "America's got Talent", "Big Brother" (I know some people like this show, I can't stand it), a baseball game (I would rather watch grass grow), &"Reaper" ( a show about a guy whose parents sold his soul to the devil before he was born - I haven't seen this I just looked it up on the Internet to see what it was about) How horrible is that???

Anyway I was gone most of the day today and I watched the nursery tonight with about 15 small children for a ministry fundraiser. So when I got home I was tired. Stephen was at the Rescue Mission and after I cleaned up some I just didn't feel like doing anything but watching TV for about an hour. But alas, my efforts were futile. I ended up just watching part of a DVD I had and then writing this blog entry:)

In baby news, I am feeling lots more kicking now and it is so fun. I love sitting there and seeing my stomach move. And I feel great. I have had so much energy these past few weeks and I am enjoying this stage of the pregnancy. Only about 3 more months to go!

Hosea 10:1-2

Hosea 10:1-2
"1 How prosperous Israel is— a luxuriant vine loaded with fruit. But the richer the people get, the more pagan altars they build. The more bountiful their harvests, the more beautiful their sacred pillars." NLT

Same verse, different version.

"1Israel is a luxuriant vine; He produces fruit for himself . The more his fruit, The more altars he made; The richer his land, The better he made the sacred pillars." NASB

Some thoughts by Matthew Henry on those verses:

Note, it is a great affront to God, and an abuse of his goodness, when the more mercies we receive from him the more sins we commit against him, and when the more wealth men have the more mischief they do. Should not we be thus abundant in the service of our God, as they were in the service of their idols? As we find our estates increasing, we should proportionally abound the more in works of piety and charity.”

Note, Worldly prosperity, when it feeds men's pride, makes them forgetful of God; for they remember him only when they want him. When Israel was filled, what more could the Almighty do for them? And therefore they said to him, Depart from us, Job 22:17. It is sad that those favors which ought to make us mindful of God, and studious what we shall render to him, should make us unmindful of him, and regardless what we do against him.

Some good food for thought today. I know it is kind of a heavy topic but this is something God has been convicting me and teaching me about as I have been reading through the minor prophets. I promise a lighter post soon:) !

I almost got scammed

Today I almost got scammed, but thankfully my instincts and a little common sense saved me from losing money. I am trying to sell my wedding dress online and I have had a couple of people inquire about it. Today I had someone inquire for the second time and say they wanted to buy it for their daughter and have it shipped to her. They told me they would do the online payment either through Paypal or through Merchant Express. Both of these are real companies. So we set it up for them to do it through Merchant Express. I even got all of the confirmation e-mails. But something told me that something just wasn't right. So I decided I wouldn't go through with it until I called the company and heard from them that everything was legitimate. I am glad I did because when I described to them the situation they told me that it was a scam and that these people had ripped off their letterhead to make it look like they were really using Merchant Express but they weren't.

It is amazing how many people their are out there just trying to scam you and take your money. I am glad that God does give us wisdom for these situations.

Weekly Grocery Budget

I am only beginning to learn about the world of grocery budgeting and couponing. I have learned a lot from Money Saving Mom and other blogs like it on the Internet. (She is a pro and keeps her budget to $40.00 a week! ) But one thing I have learned is that just a little planning and preparation each week can really add up to savings when I comes to food.

Summary for this week: $65.42 – 8 extra bucks = $57.42 total.

At CVS I had 33.26 worth of stuff but I got $8.00 off in coupons and then I earned $8.00 in extra bucks. So it is really like getting it for $17.26.

At Wal-Mart I got 29.25 worth of things and had 2.10 off in coupons. So my total was 27.15

Then at Aldi I spent 13.01.

Bringing my weekly grocery budget (which includes toiletries, cleaning supplies and one jumbo pack of baby wipes) to 57.42 after extra bucks. I do already have a few things on hand at home to add with these things to make my meals for the week.

So while this isn't the best I have ever done it isn't the worst. Did you find any good deals this week?

I have been tagged!

My friend Jeni tagged me in her blog entitled "What's in your bag?" I don't have my camera cable right now to post a picture so I will list what is currently in my purse. I am sure you are just dying to know:)

1. Wallet
2. Keys
3. Camera
4. Phone
5. Pens
6. Chap-stick
7. Coupons
8. Tim Keller's book "The Reason for God"
9. Pocket Bible
10. Receipts
11. Lotion
12. Check book
13. Hand Sanitizer

I do realize that this is about to drastically change once the baby comes:) I will be carrying around all kinds of stuff that I never even thought about having with me before.

On another note: Has anyone seen this? I saw this in the CVS/pharmacy ads for this month. Aparently you can take your digital pictures and make a type of photo/scrapbook with them on the computer. You can make choose all of the backgrounds and the sizes of the pictures. This week it is only $9.99 but it says it is normally $12.99. This seems like a great idea. I have done scrapbooking and it takes so much time and space. This also would be a good present idea. Has anyone done this? I hope you have a great weekend!

Thankfulness

But being thankful is something the Lord has really reminded me about over the past year. There is no better way to lift your spirit, give glory to God, and remove self-pity when you are thankful. We have so much to be thankful for. God has given us so much grace. So today here a few of the many things I have to be thankful for:)

1. I payed my car off today!
2. The little baby growing inside of me. :)
3. My loving husband.
4. The Cross
5. Meals planned out (and bought) for the week.
6. Pretty much all of our bills are payed for the month.
7. The rain we got yesterday
8. Good health
9. Friends
10. Answered prayers - I have seen him really answer some specific prayers lately.

I hope no matter what you are dealing with today, that you will take a few moments to be thankful for all that the Lord has done in your life. :)

Quick Update from Sunday's Prayer Request

Thank you if you prayed for Stephen Sunday. His time at the Rescue Mission went very well. The Lord was really with him and seemed to use him with the men there.

Also his eye has gotten better. It is still bothering him some but not bad enough yet to go to the doctor for the prescription drops. Hopefully his immune system will be able to fight this bout off.

With that, I wish you all a good night!

Does it matter what others think?

I read a great devotion on this subject a few weeks ago in John Piper's book, "Life is a Vapor" . I will post of exerts from it here:

"Some biblical texts seem to say it matters what others think. Others seem to say is doesn't"

For example Jesus warned us: "26 Woe to you[a] when all[b] men speak well of you, For so did their fathers to the false prophets." Luke 6:26

Some other verses:
"10 For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ." Galatians 1:10

"4 But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts." 1 Thessalonians 2:4

On the other hand: "1 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, Loving favor rather than silver and gold." Proverbs 22:1

"1 We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification." Romans 15:1-2

"12 having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation." 1 Peter 2:12

"Question: How can the tension between these two groups of passages be resolved?

We must care what others think about Christ. Their salvation hangs on what they think about Christ. And our lives are to display his truth and beauty. So we must care what other think of us as representatives of Christ.

But we out not to care much what other think of us for our own sake. Our concern is ultimately for Christ's reputation, not ours. Does Christ get a good reputation because of the way we live ? Is the excellence of Christ displayed in our lives? That should matter to us, not whether we ourselves are praised.

Yes we want people to look on us with approval when we are displaying that Jesus is infinitely valuable to us. But we date not make the opinion of others the measure of our faithfulness. They may be blind and resistant to the truth. Then the reproach we bear is no sign of our faithfulness of lack of love. "

From: Life is a Vapor by John Piper

July 4th Weekend

I hope everyone had a great long weekend. It was nice to have a day off of work. Friday we relaxed most of the day and then went to my parent's house that night for a cookout. Saturday we went to Caesar's Head and then stopped here at Bald Rock on the way home. We weren't able to hike a lot because it was rainy but we had a good time and enjoyed being in the mountains. If you read this post today pray for Stephen. He is preaching at the chapel service for the Greenville Rescue Mission tonight. Pray the Lord would use him, save men there, and draw others closer to himself. But also pray for Stephen. He is a little sick this morning. He has a virus (kind of like a cold sore) that sometimes will flare up on his eye. Last night it started hurting and getting red. He is hoping he can fight it off and not have to go to the doctor. Pray it will get better and he will feel better by tonight so he can effectively minister. Thank you!

Introduction to the Declaration of Independence

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.

It may have been awhile since you read this, and on July 4, I thought you mind find it interesting. I hope you have a great 4th of July!

The Jesus Storybook Bible - Every Story Whispers His Name

(Written by Sally Lloyd-Jones)

You may have seen the picture for this book on my blog for a few weeks and I wanted to write a little bit about it.

I first heard about his book several years ago on a blog I was reading. I knew that when I had kids one day that is was definitely one I wanted in our library.

Although I have been a Christian most of my life it hasn't been until the last 8 years or so that I have begun to really understand the plan of redemption. Meaning, from the fall of man in Genesis 3, God had a plan in place to one day restore his people back to himself through Jesus. And throughout the entire bible you see this plan growing. He promises Abraham that through his seed all the nations will be blessed (pointing to the coming of Jesus) and through the nation of Israel He gives us the picture of a Spiritual Israel that he will one day call from every tribe tongue and nation.

While reading the whole entire Old Testament we see all of the types and shadows pointing to Jesus, and this is the way we should read the Old Testament. It is not just a collection of stories of good people doing cool things for God, but The Story of a good God sending his son as the real Hero of the story to redeem man.

Then the New Testament is set up as follows:

Gospels: Jesus revealed

Acts: Jesus preached

Epistles: Jesus explained and applied

Book of Revelation: Consummation of Jesus Christ

Jesus himself confirms this. In talking to the Pharisees he says, "John 5:39 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me."

Then in Luke 24:27 - after the resurrection on the road to Emmaus it says "Then (Jesus) beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the scriptures"

So this is what this children's bible attempts to do. It wants to show children from a small age that every story in the bible whispers the name of Jesus and that these stories are all a part of a bigger love story redeeming God's people from sin.

Therefore from a young age your children can really understand and see the Old Testament and New Testament in light of the cross. I think it is pretty cool. Of course this book isn't perfect and leaves out stories or part of stories for the sake of time and point it is making, but is a great book to have in your collection of other books to teach your kids the bible.