My blog has moved

Dear Friends,
I had to move my blog. It's a long story, but let's just say it was easier to move the blog than to start over...

If you are linked to my blog, please change the http: OR you can always click on the link below to find me.

Jewelz Sightings

I will keep this blog up and running for a while just to make sure you can find me. I will still get any messages you send me through responses.

Thanks all,
Jewelz

Free Rosetta Stone Curriculum contest

There is an awesome opportunity to win the new ROSETTA STONE foreign language curriculum. I have wanted this curriculum for a long time. I would LOVE to win! Read below to enter.

Rosetta Stone has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while -- next week they are unleashing a brand new curriculum, and you can WIN the *all new* Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3… FOR FREE!

This is a $219 program (and believe me it's worth every penny!) and the winner gets to pick from any of these 14 languages: Spanish (Spain or Latin America), English (American or British), Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Irish, Hebrew, or Russian.

This will also include a headset with microphone, and students will participate in lifelike conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone still incorporates listening, reading and writing as well, in addition to speaking. Many homeschoolers requested grammar and vocabulary exercises, and with Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3, they're included! For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program and allow parents to easily enroll students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, and view and print reports.

To win this most excellent program -- in the language of your choice -- copy these (bold) paragraphs and post it in (or as) your next blog post -- then to enter the contest, go to the original contest page HERE: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/JenIG/501132/ and leave a comment with the link showing where you blogged about it. And please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post it. And good luck! The winner will be picked randomly on March 26, and will be notified thru the link they left to their blog pg. And if you have more than one blog, you can post them and enter those separately for more chances to win. f

Lessons from the wasps

As we sat in the great room of the beautiful mountain cabin we noticed a wasp gliding on the window trying to find warmth. The change of weather has really thrown things out of kilter here in the South. One day you are having 70 degree weather and the next a storm front hits, bringing the temperatures back down to normal for this time of year. It's throwing everything into a tizzy, including the wasps. The warmth was just enough to stir them out of their nests, the cold that followed numbed them sending them into confusion, and immobilization. One after another found it's way into the cabin, landing on the furniture doors and windows, moving slowly about. Drawn to the windows and doors you knew they could see where they were supposed to be, yet couldn't find the release from their captivity. Being highly allergic to wasps, the only solution my husband had was to kill them. Since the cold had numbed them they didn't fly too quickly. It was easy to take them out with one swat of a shoe.

I couldn't help but see the lessons to be gained from the wasp. It applies so much to our lives today in this busy world that we live in. We are awakened to the warmth of life, inviting us to live in relationship with God, with others. But once we are out of the nests the "cold", the world's distractions, hit us numbing us and sending us into confusion and immobilization. Do you find yourself at the end of the weekend or even the end of the day feeling empty, sometimes? Maybe it's just me. But here in this household we easily find the things of the world that numb you from moving into what really brings life.

Isn't it easier to turn on a movie and sit in a room together instead of engage in meaningful conversation. When you've had a long week, don't you just want to curl up in your pj's on the couch and go numb all weekend? Sometimes we need those times of disengaging, but how much is too much? Deep down inside, does something seem to be missing? It's so easy for me to find myself escaping in the computer world. It's easier to find relationships online than it is to find them in my own neighborhood. Some of that is reality. But how much of it is choice? How many Friday nights am I inviting someone into my home to play games, or have a cup of coffee?

Why is it that life seems to zap us like the cold does the wasps? Why does life seem to leave less than what we desire? If God said He came to give us life to the full, then why does it often feel so empty? Why do our "worlds" seem to manage us instead of us "managing" our worlds? How well am I ruling and reigning over my domain? It is what God told Adam and Eve to do before sin entered the world. Once sin entered, it seems everything went into a crazy, chaotic battle. Doesn't life feel that way sometimes? Do you just feel like you have to battle to move one step forward into relationship and life? Do you find yourself numb?

The wasps were looking for warmth. That's why they came inside. But it wasn't where they belonged. It wasn't where they were designed to be. So what about us? Are we living like we were destined to live? We were made in the image of relationship for relationship, not just with God but with each other. What's happened to us? These are the questions I am asking myself, these days.

In this "technology" world, doesn't it seem that people are in their homes alone more than living in relationship with others? Being a child of the 50's before all the technology was filling homes we spent time together with other families enjoying relationship. Hours of playing with friends while our parents played cards fill my memory. I can remember "solitare wars" in my house growing up. After all we only had 3 channels on the TV and it went off at midnight, no VCR's, no DVD's, no DVR's or Tivo, no computers, ipods, nintendo's or X-box. We had no TV's in the cars. We actually had to make up games as we rode along on the long drive for vacation. The stores were all closed on Sunday. Children were outside playing until the sun went down. We spent hours using our imaginations.

The women of 100 + years ago found themselves in quilting bees, barn raisings and community living. What's happened to us in our day?

Now a days it is hard for my children to even find other children to play with until the sun goes down. The technology of X-box and Nintendo vie for their attention, not to mention computer games, myspace, Facebook. There are so many avenues to keep them enclosed in the confines of our house. Even when the kids get together with other kids all they want to do is play computer games challenging each other. What's happened to us living in relationships with others? What happened to using imaginations?

We are created in the image of relationship, yet many of us live without that deep relationship with others that we long for. We have to do something with our time. It's easy to numb out. The more numb we become, the harder it is to escape it, like the wasps. The more we are numbed the more numbing we need. The wasps needed the lure of the light and warmth coming from the window. It was the closest thing they could get to being where they were supposed to be. But it wasn't what they were created for.

As I watched the wasps this weekend I realized. I don't want to live like that any longer. I want to live and experience all that my Papa has invited me to experience. I don't want to be distracted by the things of this world, the thorns and thistles of life that come to choke out the good seed. I want to rule my domain instead of it ruling me. I want relationships with my husband and kids to be rich. I want to live in relationship with others in my community. I want to live, not in the cold numbness but in the warmth of life.

How about you? How numb are you? What is the cry of your heart?

Jesus said, "The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, but I came that they might have life, and have it to the full."

May we all find that life.

Blessings,
Julie

The two shall become one flesh....

Twenty-five years ago today my father walked me down the aisle and gave me to my husband. You know I was so caught up in the moment that I really didn't notice those things around me. Were there candles? Who was there? All I could see was the gaze of my groom. Was he pleased with what he saw? Did I take his breath away? I was captured in the moment.

As we stood there we made promises to each other. Did we really know what we were promising? You say you will love and honor, but you have no true idea what that looks like. It's what your heart desires to do, but what do you really know about honoring your husband or wife? Caught up in the moment of romance you make the promises. God hears.

Our lives began together 25 years ago today. It has been a ride. Sometimes it felt like the ride had derailed and would not recover. There were times when it has felt like our marriage would crumble. Had we been holding it together it would have.
God heard our promises to each other and began to make them come true.



I had no real clue how to honor my husband. I came to the marriage broken. We all do. It's the result of sin. But God loves fixing broken people. He has been teaching us how to fulfill the promises we made to each other that day. It has not been without bumps and bruises and sometimes bloody wars. But the ashes have turned to beauty. God is making all things new.

Today, as I think back on that day, I realize how much that day represents life with my Jesus. Just as I gave myself to my earthly husband, desiring to be the woman that was meant for Him, I gave myself to my Jesus. Did I take His breath away? I made promises to Him, things I had no real clue of, yet it was what my heart desired. Papa heard the promises and began to take me to fulfillment. As in my relationship with my David, there has been healing and restoration, awakening me to the woman I was always meant to be for him. As Papa has healed and restored me to Him, who I really am is starting to emerge, the bride for His Jesus. I dressed for my groom 25 years ago today, wanting all things to be just perfect for Him. I wanted to capture his eye. So it is with my Jesus. I believe just as I was captured in my David's gaze, Jesus is captured with me too.

Marriage has been a learning curve for me. Jesus has been my teacher. As He has drawn me to Himself, He has changed me.

I had no idea what I was saying that day 25 years ago, really. My heart did the talking. God reads the heart and moves.
He has moved in our lives. We will never be the same. I will never be the same.

When our marriage could have derailed, God kept it strong. Without Him it would have crumbled. Had we tried to hold it together, it would be gone. We have seen Him.

Now 25 years down the road, I have some idea of honor, respect, love..... Beauty is emerging from the ashes......



Isaiah 61:3
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.

I pray as the beauty comes out of the ashes, our one flesh is an oak of righteousness that displays His splendor.

To God be the Glory!
Julie

Days of Grace

“No longer are there good days and bad days. There are only days of grace. Some days you are given the grace to enjoy what is going on around you and other days you are given the grace to endure.”* The words came out of the speaker’s mouth on the CD I was listening to. How long had I been walking with God, 25 years? I’d even grown up in the church. Never had I heard anyone say anything like that before. Could this be true? No longer good or bad days, only days of grace. Don’t these words give you a totally different picture on the days of your life, including those difficult home school moments?

As a home school parent in my 16th year. I have seen them all. Whether it was…

To read the rest of today’s article please visit me over at Heart of the Matter Online

Thank you so much Heart of the Matter for this blessing.

Julie

Whose eyes are you looking through?

If you could describe yourself in 5 words what would those words be? Who do you see yourself to be? When you consider what God thinks about you, what do you think He would say? Do you think He sees you based on what you do or who you are?
How do you see yourself before Him? Do you think He looks at what you have done or not done?

What labels do you place on yourself? What have the messages of your life's path told you of who you are? Do you see yourself through what has happened to you, or what you have done? Once Mary Magdelene was invited into Christ's life did she continue to tell herself that she was a prostitute or did she finally see herself through the eyes of Christ? I think when Jesus said to her, "Go and sin no more" He was saying, "that's not who you are, don't go back to that place."

Your past does not define you. It is removed completely. God no longer remembers it. He no longer sees you in your sin. He sees you restored unto Him. He sees Jesus. After all He has told us that we are a new creation, the old is gone the new has come. It's as if you were reborn into who you were always meant to be. Do you see that?

I love the story of Gideon. It's a perfect picture of how we respond to God. Gideon is hiding in the winepress. The Israelites are being attacked and he is hiding out hoping no one will find him. An angel appears to him and says. "Gideon, O Valiant Warrior". He then proceeds to tell Gideon that he will be used to deliver the Israelites. He is God's Valiant Warrior. I hear in Gideon's response that he thinks the angel must be talking about someone else.

Gideon's response is much like our own when God calls us out, "but I am the least in my family and my clan is the weakest clan". He is basically saying, "I'm not who you think I am." Gideon sees himself in his weakness, his flesh, his past, his heritage. The angel sees him in his true identity, who he was created to be.

How do you see yourself? Do you see yourself in your weakness or in the strength of who you were created to be?

God does not see us the way we see ourselves. He sees us cloaked with Christ, completed in Him. When God looks at us He sees us in our restored state, who we were always meant to be.

We are the ones who have the vision problem.

What you do or have done does not define who you are. Your identity is bestowed by God and God alone. It's not given based on what you do. Your identity comes from who God always meant you to be. He has known of you for a long time. No man or woman can take your identity or give it. It was ordained by God, Himself. You are who He says you are.

God saw Gideon as his Valiant Warrior when Gideon could not see it for Himself.

God sees you and has a name He calls you. It is the truest you.

He does not want you for what you can do for Him. He wants you for who you are. He formed you to love you, just as you are until you could embrace who He made you to be.

Your birth was His invitation to be loved completely.

Ask God what name He would give to you. Ask Him how He sees you. He longs to tell you what He thinks of you.

Embrace what He says as the truest you.

After all, He knows you by name!

I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it. Rev. 2:17b

His Jewel

The character in the man

I was thinking back over the last few years and some of the things that had gone on in our lives. My husband had had 6 different jobs in 4 years, all paying thousands less than our living expenses. When you are in the midst of those times it is hard to see what good could be coming from it. You find yourself wondering if Papa/God has gone on vacation. All sorts of things come to your mind. You begin to question and wonder what Papa could be doing.

I knew after several months that it wasn't about the jobs. But what was it about? Papa was revealing to David the truth about what kind of man he really was. It wasn't about the money or the job. It was about the man.

One job in particular that he had was with a water company. He thought it was going to be customer service and route sales,
with good pay. It ended up being delivery, carrying 80 pounds of water everyday, running at full speed to get finished. Though we had prayed fervently for a good route, he ended up with the third worst route in the company. Leaving at 6:00AM and getting home around 8:00PM was common. Exhausted he would walk in the door, hungry and weary, but never giving up. He is a man of perseverance.

When Papa removed him from that job he opened another job at a handyman company. It was the most bizarre thing. Though the owner knew he had very little experience but he begged him to come and work for the company, telling him they would train him. He began his training, doing a perfect job on one of his assignments. Two and 1/2 weeks later they let him go after changing owners. Papa was restoring a place inside David, allowing him to face the lies of failure and walk away from them. He had not failed. He had given all he had to give. It was his best. He is a man of integrity.

The next job Papa took him to was a season where he worked two jobs. One job was full-time in the daytime working in an upscale fast food restaurant, and the 2nd job was at night 2-3 nights a week at Starbucks. He worked long and hard to make sure we were taken care of. I tried to go to work to alleviate one of the jobs, but he was insistent that I stay home with the children. Faithfully he went to work each day, never complaining. He is a man of faithfulness.

During that season, one of the men from church came up to pray for him, during the response time after worship. Before he started to pray he looked him in the eye and said, "God wants you to know that you are an honorable man. You are an example to the men here. There are men who wouldn't do what you are doing for your family." David's eyes welled up with tears. He needed to hear that. The weariness that was over him dissipated in that moment. He was honoring his Papa. That's all that mattered, really. It does alot to a man to be seen for who they really are. He is a man of honor.

Papa dropped another job in his lap. This job was promising and brought an income that allowed him to quit his 2nd job. The owner of the company ended up not being a man of his word. Every week David would have to go and fight for his paycheck.
One week in particular he had to stand up an challenge the owner. In that season I saw the warrior in the man. He is a man of strength.

Papa moved him on to another job with a contracting company. The owner of the company put his 24 year old son as boss. I saw grace in David as he submitted himself to the authority of a cocky young man who talked down to him with disrespect. He is a man of humility.

The company they were contracting for offered to take him on in a fulltime position. He accepted. Now he is working for men who see his work and appreciate him. He walked the "season of the jobs" with faithfulness. He never gave up. He is a man of endurance.

I was thinking back over those years the other day, since we are now out of them. A sense of awe, honor and respect came over me I realized how much I had seen during those times. Something deeper had taken place in my heart besides the pruning Papa had done. I had seen my man through Papa's eyes. I, like my Papa, am proud of him.

How often through the years had I seen the nitpicky things that irritated me above the character of the man? Too many, I'm afraid. Too many times I had focused on what he wasn't doing instead of all that he was. Something changed for me in that
season of life. I began to see the character of my man.

So how about you? What do you seeing in your man?

Rom. 13:7(Amplified) Render to all men their dues. [Pay] taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, and honor to whom honor is due.

With all my love, and gratitude for the man that you are, David, I honor you.
Jewel