Psalm 27:1, 3
The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid? Though an army should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; Though war should rise against me, in this I will be confident. Under all circumstances, trusting in our Maker and through His wisdom and beneficence to the great body of our people, we will not despair nor despond.”
– Abraham Lincoln

Heavenly Father, we are plagued on every side by troubling circumstances. It seems that our enemies are shooting poisonous darts from every angle, and stealing our peace. Forgive us for allowing the Enemy to create unrest in our homes, in our schools, in our places of business. Forgive us for allowing the government to kick You out of places where we desperately need Your peace to reign. As ungodliness increases in our country, there seems to be little room for hope. As Christians, we know that the Scriptures say You are our Great Hope. Through the blood of the Lamb, we have assurance that You are in control, and that You have not given us a spirit of fear but of sound mind. Therefore, we will not fear but place our trust in You, until the time of Your Son’s returning. For in You we have our being, and through You nothing is impossible. Lord, have mercy upon us and grant us Your peace that surpasses all understanding, that we might be able to stand against the Enemy and boldly proclaim, “I will not fear any evil, for Thou art with me.” In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Psalm 119:45
And I will walk at liberty, for I seek Your precepts. I will speak of Your testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed. And I will delight myself in Your commandments, which I love.

The Founding Fathers knew that America could only be a great nation if it was founded and sustained on Christian values:

“The Christian religion is the basis, or rather the source, of all genuine freedom in government. I am persuaded that no civil government of a republican form can exist and be durable in which the principles of Christianity have not a controlling influence.”
– Noah Webster, Founding Father, “Schoolmaster to America”

Lord, we often hear the call to “take America back.” As a nation, we need to once again embrace the wisdom You gave our Founding Fathers. May we implement the changes necessary to return to righteousness. We pray that our nation looks to You for guidance, the Chief Cornerstone. May we be the catalyst for change in our country, enabling us to once again place the Ten Commandments in our classrooms and courthouses and regain the necessary luxury of public prayer. We repent for our wrongdoings as a nation, so that we can return to our former glory as one nation under God. As we turn from our wicked ways, Your Word promises that you will begin to heal our land. In Jesus’ name, we ask for a great healing from top to bottom. May the revival to take back our land and our liberty spread like wildfire throughout our nation, and may it begin with me. May the freedom our country once knew reign supreme, that the God of Israel be glorified in all that we do. Amen.

Proverbs 14:12
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

“Those who pay no regard to religion and seriousness in the persons whom they send to the legislature of any state are guilty of the greatest absurdity and will soon pay dear for their folly.”
– John Witherspoon, Signer of the Declaration of Independence and President of Princeton University

Lord, over the past several decades we have departed from honoring our Creator. Instead, we have sought our own way which always leads to ultimate destruction. The Bible says to seek first the kingdom of God, and we have done everything else but put our faith in You. This departure from following Your commands has led to the election of government officials seeking the approval of man and not of God. As a nation, we have appointed unrighteous judges to set our standards. Father, we ask Your forgiveness for not following the steps outlined in Your Word to be godly stewards of this great country. We ask that You make us a people who genuinely reflect the character of Jesus Christ. As we practice good citizenship in voting the principles found in Your Word, may we fill every office in the nation with righteous people called according to Your purpose. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

www.jhm.org/Resources/FortyDaysOfPrayer

Various churches, individuals and organizations have signed up to commit prayer time for the next 40 days.  Prayer for our America. John Hagee  and many others are offering email reminders and prayers.  Our first prayer focuses on asking the Lord to forgive our Apathy.  I am guilty of this and often blame my fatigue and achy joints…I blame my busy schedule or that fact that I’m homeschooling.  So am I willing to let my country die because I’m not feeling  my best or my schedule is overbooked?  Forgive me Lord.
Father God, forgive us for allowing this great nation to slide through our fingers as we sat back in silence, never standing up for our Christian beliefs. We have been selfish and apathetic, caring more about pleasing men than pleasing You. We now humbly come before You, seeking Your unmerited mercy and limitless favor. In order to survive, we must rebuild our nation as one nation under God, serving no other gods but You. With You all things are possible, and it is through the power of the cross that we are able to do all things through Christ Jesus. We ask that your anointing blood flow over our nation, that it cleanse us from all unrighteousness, and that it wash us whiter than snow. May the sacred blood of the cross bring us to a place of renewal and revival, where You are once again pleased with the state of our union. May we do all things with excellence, bringing honor to the one true God, in whom we dwell and have our being. We ask that you saturate our homes with the attitude of gratitude, and renew a right spirit within us. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Folks across America are beginning a pre-election 40 days of fervent prayer. People are in prayer and also fasting because our America is in such deep trouble. This election is so important and many do not even realize what is at stake or what is taking place.

As you already know, we are declining in every way.  Morally, spiritually, financially…we are also divided in many ways.  Many of our politicians and leaders in both political parties have let us down.  Corruption, bribery, dishonesty, greed and waste reign. Our leaders hang out with Hollywood, elitists, communists,  and even members of terrorist organizations. They live immoral lifestyles and celebrate this as being cool, modern and progressive.  They are foul mouthed and gluttonous in their lifestyles. They live like kings and yet require each of us to lower our standard of living when they deny themselves nothing. They are poor examples for our children and we cannot count on good leadership from them.   Where are the men and women of integrity?   Where are those who applaud decency and a good work ethic.  Where are those who support the stay-at-home Mother instead of poking fun at her.  Read more...

Because this topic of sheltering is so important and still comes up now and then, even in homeschooling circles, I feel compelled to share a few thoughts.  The subject of sheltering or protecting one’s children,  may be subtly mentioned at a gathering of homeschool moms, a luncheon date, or even at church. Many folks these days….even some homeschoolers,  are quite proud of the fact that they do not believe in “over” sheltering their children. They confidently  declare, “I don’t believe in sheltering my children because I want them to know how to make it in the real world” or “I think children need to be given more freedom so that they can make mistakes while still under our roof. ” In the past, especially when our children were younger, folks have actually suggested that my husband and I are sheltering our children so much that when they are on their own they will turn completely wild; having no self-control whatsoever.

These ideas make me pause and wonder…where is the verse in the Bible that mentions: “Thou shalt expose thy children to plenty of wrongdoing , so that when they are older they will not partake any longer.”  Subtly or boldly…with a passing hint  or a declaration, folks  feel the need to  enlighten my husband and I to the fact that we are over-protective. Often times these are the same parents who are irritated by their own children, cannot stand to have them around too much…and have recently put them back in public school. But that’s another blog post for later.

My husband and I work at protecting our children from temptations and even though we are conscious of this all the time, sadly, we have sometimes failed.  No matter how careful we are, because we live in this world, we will be exposed….no matter what.  Yet, when  someone speaks ill of  the idea of sheltering children, I feel grieved and disappointed and begin to wonder what they want their children to be exposed to anyway.  Aren’t we all exposed enough just living in this world?  Do they want their children to watch R rated programs, hang out with neighbor kids at the liquor store, have access to the internet, go to dances, attend drinking parties, hang out with unbelievers…what? Not exactly.  It seems that for Christian families, it may sound more like….”I want my children to participate in sleep-overs, have plenty of unsupervised conversation with peers, and very limited time with family…especially mom and dad.”  “I want them to be very active in youth programs and church activities away from our own family.”  Maybe they won’t admit that…but that’s the way it plays out. One dear christian friend of mine who’s son began taking drugs, remarked “I don’t know what happened, he was in youth group at church all the time!”

Have you ever passed by a really stinky garbage can? You know it is so offensive and smelly that you walk around it, hopefully avoiding the awful stench. It may have dirty diapers, old chicken bones, moldy food, maybe even maggots crawling around in it. You can tell just by walking by, that it is something to be avoided. It never occurs to us that we should examine it closer…perhaps rummaging through the contents a bit.   We would never taste of its contents to see how awful and  unacceptable it is.   If we are exposed to the rotten food, and actually taste it…..would that be helpful and give us tools to survive in the real world?

I’m sure you get my sarcasm here and understand my point.  My husband and I are careful to discuss what’s going on in this world with our children as we don’t want them to be ignorant, naive and vulnerable.  Surely, they are going to know about the contents in that trash can. We are exposed all the time just by keeping up with current events on the news.  Even with careful gatekeeping and sheltering our children will see things that will make us cringe. It is impossible to protect them from everything because we live in such a wicked generation.  Although our children will know about the evil and sin in the world,  they will not need to hang out with it.

We believe in sheltering our children. My husband believes in sheltering me and I shelter him. Thankfully our Lord shelters us…and may He never stop. He shelters us like a good shepherd….He leads us beside the still waters.  He leads us in the paths of righteousness.  Praise be to God that He doesn’t send us to places where we will be vulnerable and tempted to sin. Thanks to the Lord that He reminds us to run from evil…even the appearances of evil.

May the Lord bless you as you train and disciple your children…protecting and sheltering them as the Lord shelters us. ~Anne

(Rom. 12:1-2), “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

(Isaiah 40:11) He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

(Mark 9:42) And whosoever shall offend one of [these] little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.

Psalm 23:1-4 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.  He restores my soul.  He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

The years have flown. It seems like only yesterday we set up our homeschool classroom complete with the Pledge of Allegiance adorned on our wall, desks full of new school supplies, and brand- new shiny workbooks and readers. I was so excited to begin teaching my children but had no idea what this homeschool journey would actually look like….I didn’t know how marvelous and fulfilling it would be or how much it would change our family. As an idealistic and very eager homeschool mom, I did not envision or understand that in addition to my children learning, I would also experience growth and change. The focus was on my children, but now I understand that biblical homeschooling requires the whole family to transform and learn together. In those early days , I heard someone describe homeschooling as a “lifestyle”. I was somewhat puzzled by this description, but now I understand completely.

Undoubtedly, I would be teaching my children reading, writing and arithmetic, but I also would spend a great deal of time praying for patience…. for wisdom and working on character issues…with my children…. and myself. In order to homeschool independently and biblically, the emphasis would have to be on training and discipleship because the Bible is clear on this calling for parents. If our dear children did not obey, how could we ever hope to teach them? We had to choose curriculum carefully making sure it reflected a biblical worldview, and my husband soon became a prayer partner and homeschool advocate as well. Even our dear Grandma joined in to help with some subjects.  Read more...