Scripture Memory Update

"I have treasured Thy words more than my necessary food." Job 23:12

Last summer I shared how our family felt led to begin memorizing large passages of Scripture, starting with the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5. Well, I thought I would give you a little update as to how things are going. I am happy to say that we have successfully completed the first 30 verses of chapter 5! (Our girls could have easily done more by now, but they've slowed down their pace so Jay and I can keep up!)

We typically add one verse a week. Each Saturday, we read and discuss the next verse to make sure we have a correct understanding of it. We then spend the rest of the week incorporating it into our main recital of the passage. Each of us recites the entire passage every day. (You might think this would get a bit much with all four of us reciting the Sermon on the Mount every day, but it actually is fun, and greatly helps the memorization process.) This has been a great spiritual project for our family that has brought us closer to the Lord and closer to one another.

However, I am ashamed to admit that about 5 verses (weeks) ago, I was starting to feel bogged down with it all. I was ready to call it quits and go back to memorizing verses by topic. (I don't do well with long term projects!) So I shared my feelings with our family expecting them to agree and move on to my next Scripture memory project. But to my amazement, they were totally opposed to us quitting. They have grown to love memorizing in large chunks and didn't want to quit. (Like I said, shame on me.) So with my family's encouragement, I now have my second wind and am purposing to finish the task. And boy am I glad they held my feet to the fire. I know it will be well worth it!

Brrrrrrr... (well, sort of)

How do you know you live in Florida? When it's 62 degrees out and your children are dressed like this!

Our Father, who art in Heaven...

For the past few Wednesday nights, our Program Director at the Salvation Army has been going over the Lord's Prayer with the children who attend our Corps. Last week, after reading the first line of the prayer, one little girl (age 9) turned around and quietly asked, "Miss Sherrie, what is Heaven?"

Amazing.

In the year 2010, in the United States of America, we have grade school children who have no idea what Heaven is, let alone the good news of how they can get there. But thankfully after last Wednesday night, there is now one more who does. :-)

Changes

Hello! It's been awhile since I've posted anything here on my blog, but be assured it's been for good reason. You see, over the past few months the Lord has been busy turning our family's world upside down. Oh not in a bad way, but rather in an amazingly wonderful way.

I've shared with you in previous posts how our family fellowships and serves at our local Salvation Army Corps. It's been our church home for the last 5 years. Well, much to our surprise, my husband and I were asked if we would consider coming on staff as Mission Specialists. This position is primarily evangelistic in nature, ministering God's Word to those residing in our social services facilities. In faith Jay and I have agreed to accept this awesome responsibility.

We are continuing to homeschool, so please pray for wisdom and endurance as we serve our family, our church body and our community. I look forward to sharing with you the wonderful (and challenging) things the Lord will bring into our lives.

God Bless!

Forever Young?

I have discovered yet another reason why I love teaching children's Sunday School. It is my students' inability to determine an adult's true age.
After class yesterday, one of my 3rd grade boys asked me, "Miss Sherrie, how old are you?"
"44," I responded.
With a puzzled look on his face he said, "Wow, I thought you were 26."
Gotta love it.

Hiding God's Word in our Hearts

For the past three years our family has been memorizing Scripture verses following the Simply Charlotte Mason Scripture Memory System, and what a blessing it has been. Recently however, the Lord has placed on my heart a strong desire to begin memorizing much larger portions of Scripture (books even) in their entirety. I was particularly inspired by Ryan Ferguson and others like him.

This upcoming homeschool year we will be studying the Gospels. So to coincide with these studies, we have decided to memorize Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7. (Actually, we started memorizing it this week to get a jump start on it!) Memorizing two verses a week, we hope to have it completed in a year.

Here's the interesting part, and what convinces me this is of the Lord...we have never been so excited about Scripture memory as we are with this project. In fact, we find ourselves practicing our verses throughout the day with real enthusiasm, and without any prompting. This has never happened before.

I truly believe this is a turning point in our lives that will draw us even closer to the Lord, and I am excited about it.

Another benefit to homeschooling...

floating libraries!