A new direction for my writing...

Most of my blogs in the past have been about my family, organizing, homeschool and such.  I will probably occasionally still make posts like that, but I feel like I need to take my blogging in a new direction.  I want to write more about being a pastor's wife and serving in ministry.  Describe what that life is like and just share more of a journal style of writing...  So here we go.

1 Samuel 26:8 "God has surely handed your enemy over to you this time!" Abishai whispered to David. "Let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I won't need to strike twice!"

Being in leadership there have been times that people have come to myself or my husband and said "Oh you should be doing youth ministry" "You should be in the mission field" "You should move and serve over in this city."  "You could be leading your own church instead of just being an assistant."  They mean well, just like Abishai meant well for David.  However David used real wisdom when he said, in his response... "No!" David said. "Dont kill him. For who can remain innocent after attacking the LORD's anointed one?"
Sometimes I hear these opinions and I wonder, am I in the wrong place, should I be doing something else...
It's not that we wouldn't want to lead our own church, or go and be a missionary in a foreign country, or work in youth, family or any other area of ministry than where we are serving.  It's that we are being obedient to what God has told us, not a friend or family member.  Be careful who you listen to.  Always take everything back to God.  I journal my questions to him so I can keep track.  Then when I sit in our church services, read devotionals, read my bible, listen to bible studies, pray, I wait.  I wait for him to answer my questions.  He always does... In His perfect timing He gives me the answers I am seeking.
"The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives." Psalm 37:23

It's not a feeling, it's an action.

Love is a choice.... In 10 minutes I will have been married for 17 years.  We haven't faced every imaginable storm of life together, but we have faced a lot of them, and worked through them all.  

I do still feel in love... I still feel butterflies and all those wonderful things you feel when you are in love.  I don't always feel them.  I don't feel them every day, and I certainly have had times where I thought I would never feel them again.... but despite my feelings, I still chose to love Rob every single day of our marriage, and I choose to love him every single day of my life.

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. ♥


Not just any kind of love, but with God's love.  A love that He gives me, because I first spend time with God and keep that relationship right, and He helps me keep all the rest of my relationships in my life right.
God first, husband second, children third, and all the rest just sort of balances in there... If I get it out of order... it is like that unbalanced washing machine that thumps, stops working and leaves me with a bunch of soggy towels.  The only way to fix it when I get out of whack is stop thinking its my husband, or my children or anything else and realize it's me.  Get on my knees, get things right with God and I, by re-submitting my life and my will to Him, and He brings everything else back in order.
Simple recipe, hard to do, so worth it.

Just a quick thought on a scripture I read....

2 Samuel 14:14

All of us must die eventually. Our lives are like water spilled out on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God does not just sweep life away; instead, he devises ways to bring us back when we have been separated from him.

I have been in church ministry since I was 3.  I have been married 17 years (well in 4 days it will be). I have heard lots of people say they have fallen out of love, they just can't love that person anymore, maybe they never did....  All kinds of marital problems can occur.  Yet... when I was reading in my bible this verse jumped out at me.  God doesn't just sweep life away.... He devises ways to bring us back.  I started to think of how my life is to emulate God, to be Christ-like.  I thought of hurting people in my life that maybe I might have just swept away, I started to think of my marriage and some of the different seasons we have gone through....  

When we were first dating and I was falling in love with Rob, I wanted to not only just love him, I wanted to be his best friend and to me that meant knowing him, knowing things he is interested in.  He loves sports, but even more than sports he loves all the stats about sports.... So without him knowing I went and bought a book on that years current baseball statistics....  The first time I threw out a stat in order to engage him in conversation... I botched it.  Totally said it wrong... but it made him laugh and he knew I cared about him and cared what he cared about... even baseball stats.  

When I went through a phase where I felt like HE wasn't the person I thought I married and I deserved better, I was really hurt by HIM.... I pouted, I cried, and I turned to God.  I learned a good lesson that it wasn't about him, it was about me.... I learned how to be a better wife, to love him more in ways that meant love to him, to remember and focus on the good points about him, to pray for him in ways I never had.  To focus all my changing power on me.... and let him be dealt with by God.  

I was thinking about that verse... and how in my life, God has shown me ways to bring love back into our marriage, to bring life back into our friendship, to bring laughter and joy back into our home when only stress and anger and frustration is there... God devises ways to bring us back.  He gives us as women that same wisdom to devise ways to bring back life....  

A wise woman builds her home, but the foolish tears it down with her own hands. - Proverbs 

The Big Giant Summer To Do List

Well the first day of summer vacation was yesterday.  We celebrated by sending Dad off for a 16 day trip in Israel.  Then we watched netflix, swam in the pool and mom BBQ'd since Dad was missing.  It was a simple chill day.

With the start of summer comes my Giant To Do List.... I make one every year.  I am so busy as a homeschool mom, full time women's ministry, pastor's wife, and all the other roles I take on that all my big projects, spring cleaning and such have to wait for summer.  This years list has a whopping 90 things on it, with a few spaces open to add other things.  Often as I am working on stuff I find other jobs I missed on my list and I do them, but I like to add them to my list so I can see all my accomplishments. There is everything on it.....  ranging from cleaning out closets to pulling weeds and making the backyard summer ready.  I am sure to put on a few things that I can't do, so that Rob will have to come to my rescue and do some of them.

On my list was to start blogging again... so I figured with the start of the list... I might as well blog about it.

I am trying to add a picture of it.... we will see how it works......

I quit! Ok not really :-)

Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am in distress.
Tears blur my eyes.
My body and soul are withering away. Psalm 31:9

Sounds a little dramatic doesn't it? Yet I could have said those very words myself today. What happened you wonder? Did my love one die, had my kids been hurt, did I just get my house foreclosed? No nothing that serious, just a hard day in mommy hood......

I woke 30 minutes after my alarm. Yep a late start never helps anyone. The 2 youngest kids who usually sleep through bible time with the older kids and dad, woke up. Olivia was screaming at David, David was screaming at Olivia, and they both were screaming at me (now I am not a screamer, so it upsets me easily). My daughter Abigail announced both by a grumpy face and by her voice that she didn't get enough sleep and she was in a bad mood. (Is that what I sound and look like?) Stephan worked really well, which is a big change from our rough year last year. I guess the incentive of drivers training in the summer after this grade is working. Robert and Abigail began to mess around and I had to repeat over and over to them, to stay focused...... Everybody wanted cereal for breakfast and of course there was no milk. I still haven't figured out how to get my grocery shopping done in the midst of this new school year and everything else I am doing. I said to Robert and Abigail "watch the littles and I will get some...." As I walk out to the car in my flip flops, capri style workout pants and an oversized shirt, I realize my hair isn't brushed and neither is my teeth... Did I wash the makeup off my face or was it smeared under my eye? As I was thinking about this, I realized my husband who had just left for work was still in the driveway in his car. He took one look at me, rolled down his window and said "Is milk all you need?" I nodded my head. He said "go back inside" I must look horrible I thought... Well either way I guess I should be grateful I am not going to the store.
I went back in, my coffee was now cold, the kids moods and fighting hadn't improved any despite my spanking, time outs and various other disciplines.... Nothing was working!
Fast forward a few hours, not much had changed with the kids, and now something at the office needed my immediate attention, and so we have to quickly dress and grab all school left to do and load into the car. That was it.... I was tired, my jeans I put on were too tight, I was losing my voice, and my head hurt among many other things.


I called my husband to tell him I quit. Not really, but yeah in this moment I feel like it. The thing I love about the Psalms, is that I can relate. Those highs of God is amazing, he is all I ever need and want.... to I have soaked my bed with my tears, everyone is against me......

Just another day in my life.... Praise God tomorrow is a new day. Rob is my rock and blessing from Jesus that always comforts me and keeps me sane.
Janet Cobb

- Psalm 37:4 Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart's desires.

Blogging by iPhone

Sitting in my office at MVCF, trying to figure out how to blog from my phone. Pretty sure thanks to Katie M. I did it!


- Psalm 37:4 Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart's desires.

Some of the ways I organize my school...

Well the pictures loaded out of order and since I don't want to reload them, I will just talk about them as they appear. :-) Gotta be flexible.

This first picture is the school schedules attached to the boys bedroom doors.

Each child has their own schedule. It lasts 3 weeks. Every day needs to be signed off by the parent that it all was completed. It includes their schoolwork, chores, hygiene, bible reading etc. It was very easy to make in word on my PC and now I make it in pages on my Mac. I have used one of these every year. Every 3 weeks I sit down at my computer and plan out what needs to be done. Some stuff stays the same and I cut and paste. It doesn't take long. Maybe 1 hour every 3 weeks. I use ACE paces, so they typically take 3 weeks to get through which is why I use the 3 week schedule.





This is part of my dining room where we do school. We have lined the walls with bookcases which hold all kinds of books, and inside the cabinets I have puzzles, flashcards, other school stuff. A small desk, my laptop and printer are new additions to this years layout.

This is a small bookcase that is next to my small desk. It holds the extra ACE paces that they will use throughout the year. I set a small amount of money aside every month so that I can buy all the curriculum for the year at one time, but then that means I need a place to store it. Also stored here is coloring books for Olivia, markers, crayons, and other supplies the kids might need. The case labeled school forms holds where I keep attendance, my grade book, forms that www.gracechristianschools.com requires.

We at one point had a bedroom that was a classroom and the kids had desks set up. However the minute I would need to leave the room, the play time would begin. So having them do school, right where I can be the entire time helps tremendously. However the problem of having them all work at the dining table is that they face each other. Well at lakeshore (a school supply store) they sell these lovely dividers. I can then post on the inside of them important things for the kids to see and remember, and they can't see each other.

Each child has their own basket which is where they keep their bibles, daily journals, school books, a small pencil case with a few pencils and pens in it. A slim dictionary I found at target and anything else that they might need for each 3 week session. They take it to their spot at the table, and then when they are done, clean up and back on the shelf it goes. I found silver duct tape to place across the bottom so that I could label them.

This is a calendar I make every year to show the kids what days they will have school. This year I added the local public school days their friends go to, so that they could see that they will have similar vacations.

This is a close up of Stephan's schedule. He has spanish this year. I hope I learn it too.

Well that is some of the ways I have organized my school. The number 1 thing I have learned in home schooling, organizing and scheduling... Is leave time for life. One of the blessings of home schooling is that we get to keep our own schedule. So when I schedule things to the very half hour, I am throwing away the very benefit of home school. So we have our lists and we get them done, but at our own daily pace and schedule.