Christmas Miracles

Let's go back to Thanksgiving....

DE (Daddy Eagle) and I came up with a Christmas budget before Thanksgiving, adding more people to the gift-giving list than ever before. We love giving gifts, but I guess our faith was small in years past and have never really been able to give like we wanted to. This year was different. God had deposited a greater measure of faith in our hearts and we wanted to put it in action. So, our budget was the biggest one yet...and we were excited about what the Lord would do to bring in the money for this Christmas!

The weekend before Thanksgiving, our pastor called for a special offering. The Lord gave us an amount to give and we were obedient (knowing that it would stretch our faith). The same afternoon, our oven broke!! What?! Immediately, the thought came to me, "this is a test of your faith." So, we prayed and believed that God would still come through.
**Note: this is a very bad time of the year to not have an oven - Thanksgiving and Christmas?! All the holiday baking?!

Thankfully, my mother-in-law lives across the street from us, and so I'd use her oven.

A week later, we received in the mail DE's first royalty check from his book!! This was exciting enough! But, lo and behold, it was for just a little more than our CHRISTMAS BUDGET!!! Wow!!
Even though we knew that we could use it to fix the oven, we felt confident that the Lord had answered our prayer for Christmas and so we received it as that....and the Christmas shopping began!

In the meantime, we're having the appliance guys check out our oven problem....everyone's thinking it would only be a minor repair. But, by the second week or so, it was determined that we'd have to REPLACE the oven! That was NOT in the budget, ya hear?!
So, we prayed again, and asked the Lord to show us what to do about it.
You'd think after providing the Christmas money, we'd have great faith about the oven....but, NO. I guess we thought He just wasn't capable of that twice in one month. how absurd! how embarrassing!

A few days later we got a check in the mail that was a huge blessing, helping with several things including putting some toward our oven. But, since it wasn't enough, DE thought we'd have to borrow money to get a new oven. And, though walking across the street to bake was getting VERY old, I did NOT want to borrow money. But, my faith was weakening and I gave in....even though my heart was screaming DON'T DO IT! BELIEVE GOD!!

Right about that time my pastor's wife called me. We got to talking and I mentioned that we hadn't had an oven since Thanksgiving. And she couldn't believe it! She began to pray for our oven right then, believing that God could show up at our door tomorrow with a new one!! Her faith was HUGE! So, I decided to agree with her, since I needed the help :)
That was on a Wednesday. On Thursday, DE ordered a new oven, still thinking we'd borrow the money. But on Saturday, we were both so down-in-the-dumps about how we'd pay for the oven, we prayed again.

First, we agreed that we did not want to borrow money. Then, we prayed....repenting for unbelief and believing that God could and would come through. We felt much better afterward.

15 minutes later.....we get a phone call from a family who wants to "adopt" us for Christmas!! Since we did not have anything on the Christmas list for them to buy, they decided to PAY FOR THE NEW OVEN!!! Are you shouting yet?! I sure was!!!

15 minutes later....we get another phone call from someone who wants to give us money to fix our roof (which is still broken from Hurricane Gustav a year and a half ago)!!!
We'll even have enough to get the younger girls a bed I've been wanting to get them!!!!

A week later, just in time for Eaglet 3's birthday party and Christmas cookie baking, our oven was delivered and installed!!! I stand amazed!!!!

The biggest miracle is the victory over our faith! There was a real battle for our faith....it was indeed a test....and the battle was very clear. I rejoice over the victory, and give God glory for making us overcomers in Christ!

Up-to-date

This fall has been a whirlwind. Let's see if I can recap...and this year, since I'm participating in the 365 project I'll be writing more, too.

For starters, we're on track with school in most subjects, even though by October I had already failed miserably with the workcrate system. But, the Lord was gracious to remind me that when we fall down, we get up! So, no condemnation, we just started over in November.

I really took a break with the drama class I teach at co-op....no big production this year (including the coming spring). It was nice having that break. There were times when I didn't know what to do with myself at co-op. Could I really sit down at my break and do nothing? It appeared that I could....and I did. This semester will be the same. I'm grateful.

On a spiritual note, the Lord has done wonders in me and my family this year!!
We are now a part of a prayer ministry where we pray for people to be healed....from heart wounds, trauma, etc (inner healing) and delivered...from whatever is causing them to be stuck in their relationship with the Lord. It has been amazing to watch the Lord show up and reveal Himself in a powerful way to people. It has been an honor to be a part of these processes. Like Lou Engle said recently, "we're just midwives for the presence of God"....in other words, helping to birth (or bring forth) God's presence in people's lives. I love that! We're there to usher in His presence, and then when He shows up, we can step aside and let Him do all the good stuff!! And He's doing it....bringing healing, deliverance, peace, victory, grace, mercy, etc. etc.

So, God's been doing the same in my life as well....going to the depths of my heart, bringing up the offenses and hurts, then healing them once and for all! It's a beautiful thing. And, I'm amazed at how thorough He is!

Then, He blew us away in December at several answers to prayer!! (next post)

Shots for the New Year

Last spring, I took a wonderful photography class called Mommytography. I learned a lot about my new camera, and how to take better pictures. But, then I let life crowd out my time for picture-taking. So this year, I'd like to make time to hone my skills.





I am participating in the 2010 Mommytography 365 Project! For this year long project I will be posting an image a day, to get me out shooting, using my camera and learning new things with it daily. For those of you who follow this blog, you know by now that I won't POST every day :) but I'll post once a week (that's the goal) the images I took that week.
Anyone interested in photography can join, no need to be a Mommytographer. We have teens to adults, male and female, as well as people from all over the world. Come join the fun!

What's New @ Rainey Academy

I've spent most of my summer preparing for a new school year....researching organization ideas for our homeschool and our home, new curriculums, etc.

The Lord continues to turn my heart toward home, toward my children, and teach me what it means to be a wife...I know it's a lifelong journey, but I pray that the lessons will be learned quickly.

So, here are a few new things in our home for this year:

1. The envelope/crate system (a version of the workbox system). Since we have no homeschool room, or the space for the workbox system, I decided on this idea. It's not original, and I'm sorry I can't remember where I saw it...but to whomoever blogged about it, thanks!!

so far, the girls love it! They have all said that they like knowing what to expect during the day, and knowing when their school day is over, and being able to go at their own pace.

About a month ago, I prepared lesson plans for August through December. it's the first time I've ever done this...it took me all day! Now, each night, I prepare a daily lesson plan for each of the girls and put it on a clipboard in their crate.

The envelopes are numbered and correspond with their daily plan. They simply check off what they've done as they progress.

This year's prayer for me is for CONSISTENCY! it's only the first week, but I'd like to still be doing this at the end of the year!

2. Weekly menu plan (soon to be monthly), posted in the pantry! What an amazing concept! Immediately, the question "what's for breakfast?" and the argument if they didn't like my answer has CEASED! Praise God! Now, they simply look at the menu...and if they don't like it, that's too bad! My rule is: you have to try it...if you still don't like it, then you're on your own.

3. On Sundays, we lay out clothes for each of the girls for the week! I bought one of those cloth closet shelves, and each shelf represents one day of the week! We no longer have arguments/meltdowns, etc. about what to wear in the morning...again, Praise God!

God has been so faithful to teach me. He's sent friends who have been so generous and patient in giving me ideas....He's led me to blogs where I learn also...and He's led me to His Word that continues to point me in the right direction!

I'm looking forward to a great year!

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Be an Eagle

It occurred to me recently that in order to "raise an eagle", one must first BE AN EAGLE.

this homeschooling journey has always been the "Potter's wheel" for me. It seems like the wheel's been spinning faster lately. Lots of change going on in the inside of this vessel.

When I first began to blog, I wrote about the eagle and all the lessons I was learning from this magnificent bird. It's been a while since I've thought about it. So, I'm going to revisit my lessons, and discover new ones. Especially since now it's clear to me that they're MY LESSONS...not just my girls'.

The eagle is an amazing bird....I have much to learn!

2 years ago, a friend's mom gave me what she called a Spider Lily. I was excited about it because I had just planted several different kinds of lilies in my front flower bed, and I didn't have a Spider Lily. I couldn't wait to see what it would look like. It never occurred to me to "google" it...so I didn't know what to expect.





Well, it didn't bloom that first spring. Nor did it bloom the next spring, though it did double! And this year, it doubled again. So, now I had 4 very pretty green leaved plants....but not one bloom. I asked my friend if Spider Lilies actually HAD a bloom...I was doubtful. She just laughed and said that her mom's were blooming :P





And, then, one morning last week, I woke to find THIS:

wow!!!! I'm thrilled!! THIS is a Spider Lily!! FINALLY!!!
And the next day, to my surprise, I found out that there are 8 blooms in 1 pod!! Amazing!!
so, now I have about 4 blooms.

And all of this made me think of how the Lord works in my life. He takes His time working on my foundation, making sure that I'm planted well. And before I begin to see fruit (the pretty stuff), I just may see the multiplication process. And to my surprise, the fruit will be MORE than I expected, too. I can't wait to see that!

dit...dots

dit...dots....that's what we used to call it when I was in high school....it's when we didn't want to use complete sentences....just phrases or words that would remind us of the comlete sentence.

since it's been so long since i've posted anything on this blog, i think it might be appropriate to use dit...dots. So here goes:

shift of priorities...focus on homeschool and girls' needs...handwriting....math...book club...new friends...co-op...drama...Pilgrim's Progress...King Midas....amazing talent in our co-op...Dh is tutoring English...I'm baking muffins...cleaning job...photography - learning the camera...no time to take pics...deliverance ministry!!...intercession...learning so much from the Lord...eye-opening lessons...miracles...amazing changes at home, in marriage, in parenting...no more caffeinated coffee...Parenting class...drama ministry at church...the list could go on...

So, now that this semester is over, and so is "King Midas," I'll be back to blog on occasion....as the need arises :) blessings to anyone who still checks my blog!