A Book by Edgar Guest

"Now"- said a good book unto me -
"Open my pages and you shall see
Jewels of wisdom and treasures fine,
Gold and silver in every line,
And you may claim them if you but will
Open my pages and take your fill."

"Open my pages and run them o'er,
Take what you choose of my golden store.
Be you greedy, I shall not care-
All that you seize I shall gladly spare;
There is never a lock on my treasure doors,
Come - here are my jewels, make them yours! "

"I am just a book on your mantle shelf,
But I can be part of your living self;
If only you'll travel my pages through,
Then I will travel the world with you.
As two wines blended make better wine,
Blend your mind with these truths of mine."

"I'll make you fitter to talk with men,
I'll touch with silver the lines you pen,
I'll lead you nearer the truth you seek,
I'll strengthen you when your faith grows weak -
This place on your shelf is a prison cell,

Let me come into your mind to dwell!"

Count it all Joy...

One of my favorite books of the Bible is James, and that is where I read this morning in my devotions. What I read really encouraged me and I wanted to share it with you.

"My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." James 1:2-4

Sometimes I wonder why God allows us to be tempted as much as we are, but reading this I found that, when we are tempted and we overcome it, it strengthens us and our faith. It's not easy to resist temptation but when you do it makes you stronger.
Another important point made in chapter 1 is in verses 12-14.

"Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed."

First God says that the man that endureth temptation is blessed, and then he tells us that temptation is never of Him, but of our own lusts. So God cannot be tempted, nor does he tempt us. In Matthew 4:3 & 1Thessalonians 3:5 the devil is called the tempter, and he certainly does tempt us, but I think that more often than not, it is our own lusts that tempt us (James 1:14-15)
I want to clarify one more thing. I know that for a very long time I believed that temptation was bad, but it's not, it's only bad when we give in to it. Temptation makes us stronger in our faith, and helps us to grow in patience. And God promises us in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that he will always make a way for us to escape from temptation, that we will be able to bear it!

So, something I need to remember is... "Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations..." :)

Steven Curtis Chapman "Heaven Is The Face"

Josh Wilson - Before The Morning

Just Some Thoughts ;)

Boy do I need to get on a schedule!! School is done, life is going good but still so many things going on. Graduation is coming right up and I am hurriedly preparing my speech and practicing sign language. Haven't much free time on my hands right now but I'll try in the future to update my blog more often. Sometimes when life is busy i just wish time would freeze so I could catch up!! Unfortunately it doesn't so I'm working on managing my time more wisely :)
Also looking forward to sometime in the future getting to meet a wonderful lady who is a missionary in Venezuela. She came to my friends church and I hear she is a really great woman. Hoping that she will be able to come to my friends house to talk to some of us girls and our mothers, that would be a blessing I'm sure!! I'll keep you updated on what happens with that.
Have a blessed week everyone!!
In God's Service ~ Rachel

Homeschool Meeting

My mom and my sisters and I, hosted a homeschool meeting at our house last night. We put it together to thank veteran homeschoolers for their encouragement and help that they have given to families who are still homeschooling. We had 7 veterans who spoke and it was just such a blessing to me. I want to homeschool someday when I have children, and to hear all these ladies speak about homeschooling, and how God helped them, and even all the different ways of teaching was just amazing.

I have taking a lot of these ideas and thoughts from everybody and have been thinking of how I want to teach someday and what I want my children to know. I think everyone agreed on one thing, God is the most important. It doesn't matter if your child is the smartest kid in the world, if they don't know Jesus as their personal Saviour, than it doesn't matter. All these ladies were proud to say that their children love God.

I tend to feel stressed about school, and where I am in math, how much English I did this year, and academics are important, but most importantly God wants me to know His word. I learned a lot last night, I am so glad that all these ladies agreed to to give their testimonies, and that they have been such a great example to others,who,because of them have decided to homeschool :)

Praise God for the freedom that we have to homeschool!! A lot of that freedom was made possible by a few of the ladies that were at our home last night, and because of their perseverance,and stubbornness.Even though a lot of people thought they were nuts, and would not support them in homeschooling they just kept trying, and now 30 years later it is so much easier to homeschool.

I'm so glad my mom got the idea to put this together, it was wonderful! So glad for all the different ideas and thoughts on homeschooling. This has really been a blessing :)

Our Neighbor's Bible

This poem is one of my favorites. It reminds me that the way I act is important, sometimes we are the only "Bible" our neighbors will ever read.

I Am My Neighbor's Bible

I am my neighbor's Bible;
He reads me when we meet;
Today he reads me in my home-
Tomorrow, in the street.
He may be a relitive or friend,
Or slight acquaintance be;
He may not even know my name,
Yet he is reading me.

And pray, who is this neighbor,
Who reads me day by day,
To learn if I am living right,
And walking as I pray?
Oh, he is with me always,
To criticize or blame;
So wordly wise in his own eyes,
And "Sinner" is his name.

Dear Christian friends and brothers,
If we could only know
How faithfully the world records
Just what we say and do;
Oh, we would write our record plain,
And come in time to see
Our worldly neighbor won to Christ
While reading you and me.