Reflections....

God is amazing. This time last year I was about to embark on a new adventure - the adventure of homeschooling my children! It is definitely a calling - a mission if you will. I was scared to death when I received the curriculm in the mail. I think that I could have sat down and cried over the books because I was so overwhelmed, and my kids were going into... well they were starting Kindergarten.

You have heard of the show "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" Well I wondered, and I wasn't sure I was going to make it past K-5! Now here we sit at the last day of our first year of school and with the help of God it was a huge success. I set big goals for the boys (and myself) and we reached every one of them! Now I am excited about next year and can't wait to get the books in!

I have learned a lot in Kindergaten, really I have! It is amazing all the stuff I am catching this time around that I didn't get when I was in school myself. Just like life and God and the Bible - we learn something new and exciting everytime we open His Word, even if it is something we have read 100 times before. There is always a fresh Word from Him! It is there for our taking - we just have to pick it up and partake of the blessings!

I was reading the devotional that we read everyday at the start of school' and at the end of each devotion it has a info box about our amazing world. One in particular talked about the moon having no light of it's own. The moon was like a mirror and it reflected the sun's light. A profound thought crossed my mind and I thought, "Wow, we are just like the moon".

We have no light of our own - we are all mirrors and made to reflect the Son's light. We are supposed to be a display of His splendor (Isaiah 61:3) Regardless of what we reflect we are still mirrors. We are reflecting something, and I can think of nothing more awesome than to reflect the love, mercy, grace, hope, and salvation of Jesus Christ to others!

Reflecting,
Jennifer

Be Holy, because I am Holy!

What a thought. Speaking of thoughts, are our thoughts holy? What does it even mean to be holy? Jerry Bridges in "The Pursuit of Holiness" says, "To live a holy life, then, is to live a life in conformity to the moral precepts of the Bible and in contrast to the sinful ways of the world. It is to live a life characterized by the '[putting] off of your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires... and [putting] on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness' (Ephesians 4:22-24).".

Do we do try to do that? Do we even want to do that? We are a new creation in Christ Jesus - but why is it that we (myself included) want to be a new creation with old habits? We are indeed a new creation instantly with our bodies being a temple in which the Holy Spirit indwells, but the act of being holy is a continual process that we must take responsibility for!

It is the least we can do - it is our reasonable act of service to be holy and pleasing to God (Romans 12:1). After all Christ DIED for us, can't we LIVE for Him?

Let us try it today - put off our old self, and put on the new!

Growing together,
Jennifer

Are We Impacting Our Culture Or Is Our Culture Impacting Us?

We are doing a family series at church. Part of it includes raising the next generation, and how it isn't just my responsibililty to only raise my children and you to raise yours. But as believers we have a joint responsibility to impact the children around us. The old saying: "it takes a village to raise a child", is true!

The culture is definitely making an impact on many many of those of us in the world and even in the church. Sadly, it's voice seems to be louder than most of the Christian's voices out there! I have written before about just taking a look around and we will see that there is much work to be done!

My heart has been breaking for our youth. They are surrounded with so many lies each and everyday. It is harder now for them than ever to take stands and do what is right. Where is the support and encouragement for doing right for them? Instead of encouraging they usually get made fun of, enticed more and just shunned. I hate it, it isn't right and even though it is an uphill battle I am trudging up the mountainside!

Jesus says in Luke 10:2 "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few." There is an abudance of work to do, are you ready to join me in impacting a culture that is seeking to destroy us?

Working Together For His Glory,
Jennifer

Blogging Series Coming Up!

Okay, I am so excited about a blogging experience coming up! I get emails from www.TrueWoman.com and the blogs that are posted on their site. I enjoy reading them and have the opportunity to read one of the books they have recently blogged about. The title is: "Voices of the True Woman Movement"! So over the summer I will be blogging about each of the chapters of this book!

Souled Out Ministries isn't just a ministry for women, so who knows maybe we can come up with a blog series specifically for men too!

I am looking forward to sharing thoughts with you!

In Christ,
Jennifer

Does the World have an Agenda?

I John 5:19 says that the whole world is under the control of the evil one! I agree...

Ok - I must admit to you that I am a little more than shocked as I look around and see what the world is doing. Does anyone else feel as irritated as I do? I look around and am totally sold on the fact that the world has an agenda. Advertisements everywhere have a sexual slant - and really it is time we stand up against this lean towards sexual immorality!

I received an ad in the mail - which had a $10.00 coupon in it. The ad displayed a woman with absolutely no clothes on, I threw it in the trash disregarding the coupon altogether! The next time I was in town I saw the same photograph hanging in the windows in the front of the store. It is IN OUR FACE...

It didn't happen overnight. A little bit here, a little bit there - then all the sudden here we are. We have been silent as the ball has rolled along. I shouldn't even be shocked, but I am. I for one am tired of being silent. This is not acceptable and nudity should not be common place in our lives.

I have small children, a husband, and male friends (and female friends) that should be able to go to town with out being exposed to such trash. I am doing my best to keep my children sheltered from such ungodliness. It is next to impossible, but I am still going to try and I hope that I have a lot of parents, grandparents, friends and relatives out there that are guarding their loved ones both young and old from the persuasion of the world.

Have any of you tried to shop for modest clothing lately? I have - it is hard to find - not impossible - don't give up trying. Somethings worth trying for are hard, and this is one of them. We as Godly men and women have to step up and speak up. We have been silent too long. Let's not let fall captive to Satan's traps - wake up and start doing something (2 Timothy2:26)! If you see something that is offensive, let us as Christian's speak up and out (in a Godly way) about how we feel.

I am ready - we are in a War! But PRAISE GOD we know who wins! Each battle is ours to fight - what are you doing?