Hello! Thanks for visiting! My name is Keri and I am a Christian - saved by grace, I am a happily married, homeschooling mom of 10 wonderful children, living in the beautiful northwest corner of the US.
1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.[a]
3 We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; 5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit,[b] as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth; 7 as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, 8 who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.
9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood,[c] the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.
24 I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, 25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, 26 the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. 27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which[d] is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. 29 To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.
Well, summer has finally made it to the northwest (usa) and as a result, I'm not ..... inside much. I did want to direct you to two other wonderful posts. The first is my little sister's blog. She is a missionary in France. They have been living there for one year now, just completed their first year of language school. Jenn is a very thougthful kind of writer. Her post today is well worth the read. I hope you enjoy it!
And once again, I direct you to my daughter's blog. We celebrated our son Benjamin's graduation from high school this past weekend. She has written a post about it, so I will forego the typing and get back to the gardening!
We are getting sheep ready for the fair, fighting a bit of hoof rot, shearing and trying to fatten up a particularly small lamb. Hopefully, we'll have some great pictures/posts from that event!
The Twinkles have been celebrating their birthday w/ a dear friend for several years now. Yesterday, we celebrated their 6th birthday (which is officially Saturday - but more on that later) w/ a cowgirl birthday party! First stop was a barn in which they were led on a horse named Gris. Then off to their friend's house to celebrate w/ the other little girls from church. Here are some pics of the event.
I made the girls new dresses, and then we presented them w/ new (to them) cowgirl boots!
Meggie was a bit more of a model today. Here she is sporting her new dress and boots.
Madeline's melodious laugh filled the barn as she took her turn on horse back.
I thought Megan would be a bit shy (scared to death!) about the horse, but she hopped right up and enjoyed herself immensely!
Later at the party the girls decorated horse shoes. Quite a beautiful treasure from their day!
We have used these Scripture memory books for probably 15 years....Actually, it is our second set....we had the cassettes and books first, and then about 8 years ago purchased the set of books w/ cds. They are not flashy. They have a song, and then the chapter of Scripture (you know....where you hear a "ding" and turn the page - so non-readers can follow along and recognize the words that go w/ each picture!) and then at then end, the chapter is put to music; with the Scripture verbatim. (At least, I think mostly verbatim!) My kiddos (are supposed to) listen to them every morning. We have had good success using this resource.
This is the only product we have purchased from Thy Word Creations, (and we purchased them many years ago!) but they seem to have several other interesting options as well.
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Has not only mastered a body of knowledge pursuant to a secondary education, but has also demonstrated Godly wisdom and personal maturity based upon faith in Jesus Christ, we are pleased to announce his graduation from high school.
As our kiddos were getting gung-ho about the library reading program and whittling away countless hours (actually they were keeping track of the hours) reading, we decided that we needed a bit of time spent on "heart" work.....not just losing the summer in fictitious pursuits. Soooo, the children were given the task of memorizing chapters of Scripture between each library prize. Z is the first to complete a chapter. (We have these lovely little books for littles that have a cd that go w/ them......the type that reads a verse aloud and then "dings" to turn the page...and at the end, has the entire chapter put to music - helps these little, well, all of us- to memorize the words)
Z is doing the singing version of the chapter.
Psalm 91
1 "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.”
3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler
And from the perilous pestilence.
4 He shall cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you shall take refuge;
His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it shall not come near you.
8 Only with your eyes shall you look,
And see the reward of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
10 No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
11 For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
12 In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
