Has it been that long

Wow, I did not realize how long it has been that since I have updated this blog. Sorry everyone. I guess we have been busy. First, I want to begin to giving all praise, honor and Glory to God for all the blessings we have been given.

I will update each person as best as I can.

John- He is still working 3-11 at night and has been working a lot of extra hours. It is humorous to me when people actually believe we make good money being in the military. Most days he works until 1:00am almost 12 hours. We do not get overtime pay. He does not get all weekends off and works a lot of holidays. Another myth is that we have great benefits... Ha I laugh at that. We pay quite a bit for the medical care of our children. We have to use the Standard insurance program because you can not get an appt. on base which means you have to pay. All the push to downsize the Air Force for the past couple of years has made it really stressful. They have less workers and more work because of the ongoing war. Not to mention the deployments. Let me give you an example of our wonderful military pay and benefits. The two weeks John spent in Las Vegas cost us $600 out of our pocket. The military paid us $288. You do the math. He was forced to go and do this and then our own cost was not even covered. So he is constantly stressed out and worried about the future. We have also been notified that he will be deploying again for the Global War on Terror. He will leave in June for at least 4 months. This will be more out of pocket expense as well as the stress of being a single parent family again. Now, I say all that to say this. Our God is bigger than all of this. He provides consistently for us and more abundantly than we could even think to ask of him. We are thankful for the security of the job and knowing that however little the pay may be it will be there and we do not have to worry about layoffs. Please remember John in your prayers that God will begin even now doing a work in his heart to prepare him for his deployment. Pray Psalm 121.

Me (Dani)- Things are all about the same in my neck of the woods. I need to register for next semester but we have decisions to make before that can happen so I will let you know about that later.

Logan- Well, where to begin. The speech therapy is working wonders with him. His speech increases daily and he is talking quite a lot now. (Be careful what you ask for..Ha Ha) He will probably give me a heart attack before he turns 10. He is so daring and risky. His impulsivity is a huge fear for us. He does things and does not consider the risk. For example, he has now decided to climb on top of an armoire in his room. It is about 7 ft tall and he can climb and get on top of it. Yeah.. Close your mouth.. I know! But that does not top it. Yesterday he gave us a huge scare. He escaped from the house. By the time I realized (I thought he was hiding in the house somewhere) he had opened the child lock on the front door he had been outside alone for about 15 minutes. We scoured the neighborhood and with every second that passed my heart raced faster and my prayers louder. As the tears were falling and I called the police to report him missing, someone who knows us a couple of blocks over found him. So, the most obvious prayer request for Logan is his safety. Next, a heart of obedience. I really am at a loss with him because Aaron was such an obedient child that I am unsure of what to do. This child has had more scripture prayed over him than I have probably prayed my entire life. We stand on the truth that the Lord knit him together in my womb. He knows every hair on his head and is in control of the situation. Any suggestions on biblical character/heart training for a 2 year old with a strong will (or weak willed -takes the easy way out by giving in to what he wants) I would love to hear them.

Aaron- I can not believe he is almost through with kindergarten. It seems this year has flown by. He amazes me daily at his depth of knowledge from only one year. He is adding and subtracting, can tell time, can count money, has about 20 poems memorized, about 50 scriptures memorized, and is reading not only Bob books but also Courdoroy (spelling?). He amazes me at the application of scripture for his young age. He has a heart for Jesus and seeking after him. My 5 year old would rather have a conversation on the attributes of God then pretty much anything. Aaron's update now leads me to an update on the entire family.

Family Update: Ok, so the big news. Aaron currently attends Providence Classical Academy which is a Classical Christian school. This school is a blessing. It began with a group of homeschoolers who decided to form their own school. The teachers have a passion to instill character and biblical instruction to the hearts of our children. With that said, the tuition for next year has now increased $1600. That is a huge jump in one year. We clear sign and answer from the Lord on our convictions to homeschool our children. We can not afford this tuition hike.
We take literally the Lord's command in Deut. 6: 4-9.

4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. ^[a] 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

We believe that God has blessed us with these children (A heritage from the Lord) and it is his divine will that WE bring them up in the discipline and INSTRUCTION of the Lord.

So I say all that to say that we are going to begin homeschooling our children starting this August. This will mean many changes for our family. Many sacrifices and a lot of fear and trepidation. But I also know that God would not command us to do something we are incapable of doing. He did not suggest these things he commanded them. We feel God has clearly spoken to us on this matter and will honor and bless our commitment to obedience.

So, we ask that all of you pray for us as we endeavor this high and Holy calling. That our hearts would be pure. That our children's hearts would be receptive to the knowledge and truths of the Lord. That we would be examples of the character and lives we are teaching our children to lead. That we would choose the correct curriculum. But above all that our prayer is that God be glorified in all decisions and choices and actions.

Pray that we can stand firm against persecution. And for those who already have those stones ready to cast in our direction I want to start with this... If you are worried about my children being "socialized" then I want to direct you to a definition in Webster Dictionary.....

socialization

One entry found for socialization.

Main Entry: so·cial·iza·tion
Variant(s): also British so·cial·isa·tion /ssh-(-)l-z-shn/
Function: noun
: the process by which a human being beginning at infancy acquires the habits, beliefs, and accumulated knowledge of society through education and training for adult status

I will NOT apologize for keeping my children from conforming to the knowledge of those around them.

We are standing firm in our decision. We hope that everyone will join us in support and prayer.

Well that is the latest. Sorry I went so long this time. We pray that all of you doing well. We love all of you and miss seeing our family.

In the grace of Christ alone,
Dani


P.S.
Here is another verse that really spoke to us on homeschooling. If we are going to spread the gospel to each generation than it must begin now.. Remember the enemy does not care about us but he would LOVE to get hold of our child and tarnish future generations of the Body of Christ..Keep in mind that is our CALLING by God to be fruitful and multiply but also to raise these precious gifts in the instruction of the Lord.

Psalm 78

A maskil of Asaph. ^[a]

1 O my people, hear my teaching;
listen to the words of my mouth.

2 I will open my mouth in parables,
I will utter hidden things, things from of old-

3 what we have heard and known,
what our fathers have told us.

4 We will not hide them from their children;
we will tell the next generation
the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD,
his power, and the wonders he has done.

5 He decreed statutes for Jacob
and established the law in Israel,
which he commanded our forefathers
to teach their children,

6 so the next generation would know them,
even the children yet to be born,
and they in turn would tell their children.

7 Then they would put their trust in God
and would not forget his deeds
but would keep his commands.

8 They would not be like their forefathers—
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
whose hearts were not loyal to God,
whose spirits were not faithful to him.