A Nation in Crisis

My friend Linda's church is doing this and she blogged about it here. Well I'm taking on this challenge, because like Linda this has been on my heart to do. So will you join me in praying for our nation and our leaders. If you are a Christian we are already called to pray for our leaders, whether we like them or agree with them or not. Here is what Linda wrote:


A Nation in Crisis...

and what we can do about it. It's called Intercessory Prayer.

I've committed, with my church, to "30 Days of Prayer for America". While reading De'Etta's blog Choosing Joy, she talked about how she was feeling led to pray for our country. So I am taking the plunge and sharing 30 Days of Prayer for America" with you. For the next 30 days, we are called to pray for our nation...state by state, leader by leader. Here's what the flier says:

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We're going on an unforgettable journey...

30 Days of Prayer For America

For 30 memorable days, we're going to pray across America. Through the instant access of intercession we will visit every state, every territory, and our nations capital, Washington, DC. Our guide on this unforgettable journey is the Prayer Map of America, a unique resource with an easy-to-follow, day-by-day itinerary.

2008 is a crucial year for America - a year of challenges and, of course, a year of decisions. Of all the things we can do for our country at this historic time, nothing is more important than prayer. If we truly want God to bless America - to stand beside her and guide her - we must pray.

The strategy is simple: Each day for the specifed 30 Days of Prayer for America we will take just a few minutes to pray for that day's requests. There are only two requests per day, so it won't take much time, but it will make a huge impact. The unified effect of believers praying can awaken our nation, renew our church and spiritually transform our lives. This is going to be a great journey. Don't miss it!

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Now - since there's no way I can truly provide you a copy of the map, I will post each day's request here. If you have a map at home, you can find the states you are praying for, and visually connect with them. But even if you don't have a map handy, you can take a few minutes to pray the requests of each day.

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Whenever you come to a request for a specific state or territory in the daily list, remember these priorities:

Pray for the leaders of the state, that God's Spirit would guide them to act justly, serve with integrity and uphold high moral standards.

Pray for the churches of the state, that they would be lighthouses of truth, havens of hope, and centers of love for all people.

Pray for the Christians of the state, that they would be faithful witnesses for Christ, humble servants of God, and positive influences on society

Over the course of the 30-day prayer plan, six national-level requests are each repeated 3 times. These address the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of our government. Additionally, there are prayers for our Armed Forces, for America's spiritual renewal, and for candidates for public office. As you remember these requests over the 30 days of prayer, keep in mind the following important details:

Praying for our President and Vice President. They bear responsibilities of enormous importance. Pray that their hearts would be guided by God, that their decisions would be wise, and that their leadership would be principled.

Praying for our Congressional Leaders. The hundreds of men and women who serve in the U.S. Congress - our Representatives and Senators - oversee the nation's legislative business. Pray that they will govern with God-honoring discernment and preserve the freedoms we enjoy as Americans.

Praying for our Justice System. Ours is a nation pledged to justice for all; and though our systems has its imperfections, it is markedly better than most of the world. Millions in our society serve as police officers, prosecutors, defenders and judges. And, in the highest roles, nine individuals serve as Justices on the U.S. Supreme Court. Pray that all of these public servants will be vigilant, discerning and wise.

Praying for our Armed Forces. We are blessed with liberty because brave members of our Armed Forces have fought to keep us free. Today, a new generation of soldiers, sailors, marines airmen and guardsmen are serving gallantly, and we are the beneficiaries. Pray with appreciation for their service, and ask God to bless them with strength.

Praying for Spiritual Renewal. America has many needs, but none more important than a spiritual awakening and a spiritual renewal. Pray for the Gospel to be communicated across the full spectrum of our society. Pray for biblical principles, long dormant, to bear new fruit. Pray that Americans of all ages, races and backgrounds would be drawn to God and receive His life and salvation.

Praying for Candidates for Public Office. In our system of government, we the people select our leaders. This is a great responsibility and we must exercise it wisely and prayerfully. Pray for the candidates for public office, that they would be moved by God to seek what is honorable, just and moral.


PRAYING FOR THE STATES

Listed on most days of the 30-day prayer plan are the names of specific U.S. states or territories. The goal each day is to pray for the leaders, churches and Christians in those places. Following are some key thoughts to guide your intercession.

Praying for Leaders in the State. The Bible instructs us to make requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving for all who are in authority, "that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty" (1 Timothy 2:1-2). In our world, this means we are to pray for Governors, Lieutenant Governors and other leaders in authority. Specifically, we should pray that they would act justly, that they would serve with integrity, and that they would uphold moral standards.

Praying for Churches in the State. Churches, of course, are not merely buildings; they are living, active bodies of believers. America is blessed with more than 300,000 churches of all denominations and traditions. As you intercede for these churches, both generally and specifically, pray that they would be lighthouses of truth, havens of hope and centers of love.

Praying for Christians in the State. Jesus said that His followers are to be "salt" and "light" within society. Like salt, they should make others thirsty for the Gospel. Like light, they are to illuminate with the brightness of Christ's love. As you intercede for Christians state-by-state, pray that they will be faithful witnesses of the Gospel, humble servants of Christ, and positive influences within their communities.

Does prayer really make a difference? Yes, it makes an extraordinary difference because God in His unlimited compassion responds to prayer offered in His name. As God's children and followers of Jesus Christ, we must urgently, faithfully pray for our nation and its people. Prayer can affect the course of history and shape the destiny of a nation. As you pray day by day following the plan in the Prayer Map of America you can be sure that your intercession can make a transformational difference.

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So...who's with me in this journey? If you've made it this far, I know you will follow the prayers (and nudge me gently if I forget to post!). I know that you will pray, because you took the time to read all of this. And please, feel free to link to this, or copy and paste it on your blog...if you just read blogs but aren't a blogger, share this through email with those who will pray and make a difference.This is stepping far outside my comfort zone - I'm a Christ-follower, a Christian, a believer...I don't hide that fact...but rarely do I put it out for all the world to see. I may lose readers over this, but it is my strong belief and prayer that others who never read this blog will stick around for the next 30 days and pray for our nation with me.The first prayer will be posted tomorrow.

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Ok, Christy here again. All the above text that started from "A Nation In Crisis" I copy and pasted from Linda's blog. I hope you will join us in praying for our nation and leaders. Right now there are so many that can be "blamed" by the fact is blaming is NOT fixing a thing, prayer can and prayer will. God already knows what is going on, let him HEAR all of us crying out for this country that he has allowed us to be a part of. God HAS most definately blessed our nation and we are NOT worthy of his blessings, but no matter what he hears us and he can't answer us if we don't ask!

I want to say to Linda, I'm so proud of you for again stepping outside of your comfort zone and posting this! God see's this my friend and knows. I love you!

Thought of the Day

" Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the
morning, Satan shudders & says...'Oh no....she's awake!!"


Isn't this just how we should live everyday? Shouldn't we be living as the Lord tells us to? That we should be walking every step of our days as Christ would have us? But how many do? I wake up and so many days my first thoughts are NOT of the Lord, my 2nd thoughts are not. Instead I get consumed by the daily tasks that lay ahead of me. I allow Satan to get into my head and "busy" me. I went through a wonderful phase where every morning I woke up and started my day in prayer. I did not get out of bed, I stayed right there with the sun shining through my curtains and I layed there and praised God, asked him to guide me throughout the day. When I was doing that my days simply went the way God intended them to go. I know that not every day was not perfect, it was not easy, but I KNEW it was just as God had intended. I need to be back there, I long to be there and starting tomorrow I will. This is a necessity of life. If we don't start our day WITH God, who ARE we starting our day with? Satan. He leaps on us immediately if we don't cry out to GOD to take hold of our day.

Don't we as Christians, have a duty to make Satan shudder? If we don't, then where's our walk with Christ? How are we doing? If Satan does not feel the least bit worried about us, then are we truly walking with Christ as Christ calls us to? I don't think so. I think that when we are at our closest with Christ is when Satan is working the hardest to get into the middle of our lives. When we don't feel or even see Satan's works of trying to disrupt our lives, is when we should be worried. When we're complacient in our lives, when we feel like we have things all figured out, is exactly when we need to be digging deeper into the word, seeking God harder than ever, stepping outside of our box. When's the last time you stepped out of your box and followed God? Don't think that because you stepped out of the box last week, last month, or last year, that that is nearly good enough. We need to be working to step out of that box every single day. We need to be seeking God's will for our lives everyday. When we don't, what ARE we doing for Christ? What are we doing for ourselves?

Tonight as I lay day, my prayer is that each of you that read this, steps outside of his/her box tomorrow, the day after, and the day after that, etc...etc.!

Life

I've been terrible at blogging over here I feel like. So often I want to write and then get distracted by, oh life! I don't write a lot about our homeschooling life and don't know why, it's such a HUGE part of our life and I love it so much. I need to start blogging more about it! Trust me, my blog will not be all about HS but I will be adding in more. Right now I'm actually at a point of trying to figure out if I want to stick with what we've been doing or add some new things. I'm really intrigued by so many different curriculum's and it's just so hard to know which ones will fit our family, most of all which ones the boys will like. I have to start saying and looking at it as "boyS" because Jack will be starting a more "formal" schooling come fall time. We go year round, but in the fall is when they move up you could say to the next level/grade. I find myself drawn to FIAR (Five in A Row). I love reading, so there's a big portion of why I'm leaning towards it. I've come in contact via Internet with quite a few who do FIAR and seem to really love and enjoy it. So I'm pretty sure come fall we'll have this curc. and see how the boys do with it. If you have any opinions on it or other curic. please let me know. I think to give my children the best education I have to be open to trying different ones. I will say that expense does factor in. We're definitely not rolling in dough, and I also know I can give my boys an EXCELLENT education without spending tons of money.



One of the things I've been done poorly on so far this year is reading aloud to the boys. Chad reads every night to them, but that's separate. That's a bedtime routine. What I wanted to do this year was pick some books and read them aloud to the boys every day/evening, discuss what we read, and if we can do a project or craft that relates even better. But I will say it, having Emma and adjusting to having 3 under 6, and that last being under 6 months has been challenging. Jacob's very smart, reads amazingly well and from what I've observed (and discussed with other parents) he's well above other kids his age in his reading ability. Anyways he often does his homework at the dining room table and I'm sitting in the living room (it's really just one great room) rocking Emma, nursing Emma, changing Emma's diaper, playing with Emma, helping Jackson in some way...OK you get the point. I help and assist Jacob a fair amount, but he does a great deal on his own and I check over his work. He reads aloud, we discuss what he reads, we go over his math together and I make sure he understands what he's about to do then I check and make sure his answers are correct, he works on memorization of bible verses (AWANA), he has his spelling words, and that's a pretty typical day for him. We do have a new science curric. but we're waiting until Spring to start that. I try to take them to the library every couple of weeks to check out books, and we also use the chapel library as well. There's chores to be done, meals to be made, toys to be played with, and they get a little TV thrown in there as well. Then add in the sports our days and often evenings are filled...yet I am not feeling that I'm giving Jacob (currently) the absolute best education I could be giving him. I think in some ways although Jacob's NEVER been in public school (well he did go to a public school for his 1 yr of preschool that he was part of) my own schooling has me trained to feel that because he's not sitting doing 6 hours of school work, he's missing something. Never mind that he's getting more actual work done in half the time as a traditional brick and mortar school child is. Most of the time I don't compare or worry, etc...but there are times where I do. I know it's Satan attacking me. He does not want our family focused on Christ. He does not want to see our family feeling the joys and accomplishments that homeschooling brings us, he definitely does not want our children to hear and most of all LEARN the word of God during their "schooling" period! I have to remember that. I am determined to stay ahead of Satan and will not let him take this gift away from my children and our family. I will fight the doubts he seeps into my head.



With that, we're going to be giving our family an awesome "field trip" you could say! Being an Army family, and being so blessed as to live in Germany gives us wonderful travel opportunities! This weekend is Martin Luther King's birthday, so Chad has a 4 day weekend. I really wanted to go somewhere we have not been yet. I was thinking Chad wouldn't want to travel too far so I suggested places that were 4 hrs or less from here. The first one was Prague (said to be the most beautiful city in all of Europe!) and Salzburg (one place I'm dying to go to!!). Chad said "how about Venice"! I'm thrilled! We're heading out on our 6 1/2 hr drive early Friday morning (planning to be up and out between 4 and 5 AM....YIKES!) ***I'm NOT A morning person!****

We'll be down there by late morning. We're actually staying at Vecenza on the Army Post there and will take the train down to Venice. It's only 45 minutes away!! I'm so excited you have no idea! I have so much to do still before we go! I have to go the store and buy some snacks (going for healthy because I'm determined to lose weight and get HEALTHY!!), I'm using the money my parents sent me for Christmas to buy a larger memory card (At least a 4 GB), and some rechargable batteries. That reminds me I need to charge up our video camera. Thursday I'm going to clean the van, put Emma's new carseat in it (she's currently in an infant seat and it's time for her to move up to her Britax Convertable seat). I need to bring our suitcases up and get them packed. Make sure that any clothes we take does not scream AMERICAN (aka no American Flag shirts! LOL). On a good note, all my laundry is washed, being put away is a whole other task that will be done at a later time! LOL (It's folded!)



When we get home there will be plenty to do. Laundry of course, putting away all this clean laundry, cleaning up and getting rid of our bird cage (our cat managed to knock the bottom off the cage and kill the bird...we're done with birds at least until we move back to the states, I see no reason to be feeding Whisker's live birds that we paid for!). The playroom needs to be finished up. I need to shop for our friends son's birthday, as well as Jacob's upcoming birthday. I want to get my room all cleaned up, organized, and maybe rearrange it! :) We'll see how much I get done over the next few weeks!



Next time I blog will most likely be when we're back from Venice and I'll share pictures!