Help me please!I need to have some information or experiences on homebirth vs. hospital birth. And I need it within the next 8 days. I have a persuasive paper to write, before the school quarter ends, on December 13th. Any or all information would be useful! Please help! Even if it is a second hand information on homebirth and hospital birth.
Thankyou and God bless you!
Laura H.
I know this is not on the scheduled topic, but I need some recipes……..
Dear Friends and Family,
I have a project that I am doing with my sisters. We are collecting a whole bunch of holiday favorite recipes. I am asking if you would be willing to share some of your family tradition favorite recipes. I am compiling them, to give away as gifts to family members, and friends. If you have any to share, please email them to me or put in the comment section. 1 or more is great. I would really like to see what you all like for the Holidays!Cookies, cakes, bars, balls, main dishes, snacks, breakfast,etc. Please share anything that is your family favorites for the holidays.Please put them in the comment section of the posting, or email them to me!
Laura H.
Ok, I am changing around December and March. We are doing Contentment now, and Kind in March. Is that ok with everybody? I know that I am not the only one who can write about things on this subject. So, let out your hearts, dear ladies, and we will learn from eachother.
Laura H. Administrator
I know, I have been doing this alot lately, but I feel like if we storm the gates of Heaven, maybe miracles can happen.
Ok, here it goes. I have developed a friendship with a young man, name will remain anonymous, via email. He lives on the other side of the country. For now, he just wants us to just be friends. Who knows what the future will hold.
I want you to pray that I will have the wisdom to be a sister in Christ, and a friend to him, while we are writing together. He is a great guy, and loves his family, and God. I would like to meet him in person, of course, but that is kinda impossible, since he lives in Georgia and I live in Washington State.
Oh, where did I meet him? On the Homeschool Alumni website. I have a page there, and I am greatly enjoying my time on there, meeting some new friends and finding some old friends too. I didn’t know anything like this existed, but it does. You would all appreciate it!
So, if you sisters would pray for me, as I gain more wisdom to save my heart until the right time, and just be a friend to him, while he needs it! We have been doing bible studies together, and talking about everyday things, so nothing serious has come up yet! There are many things we have in common!
Got to go! Getting ready for school!
One of the Maydens-
Laura H.
… And the plot He has in mind sometimes has nothing to do with what I would have written. His plans often disagree with mine, and sometimes leave me puzzled for a long time, wondering and asking: “what is it that You want me to do? What is the lesson You are trying to teach me?”
Sure, had I been given an author’s license over my life, I probably would have made a completely different story of it. I would have had myself born into a big, warm, loving, strong-knit and deeply religious family, residing somewhere in the beautiful countryside. There would have been no core disagreements between myself and my parents and siblings.Had I been able to write my own story, it would have included being faithfully guided and instructed by my parents from a young age, never lacking in feeling of security and abundance. At the age of 18, I would have planned meeting Prince Charming, courtship with the blessing of my family, marriage, and two sweet children – a boy and a girl – by the time I was 21.
I would not have chosen for myself a fatherless childhood, growing up with a mother who did her best – as the situation allowed – but was naturally tired and overwhelmed; many years of emotional and financial struggles; lack of instruction in the things most crucial and important for a young girl; rebellious years, which included every folly you can think of; pain and hardship, neglect and abuse, disappointment and sorrow, fear and despair. No, I would not have included all that in my story.
But He is the author – not me. And every day, he is writing another line, paragraph, chapter, making the story of my life unique and beautiful, and suited for His special plan. He includes darkness to accentuate light, and allows misery so that joy and hope can shine brighter. Like a painter, He chooses the loveliest colors; like a sculptor, He carves rough stone into a beautiful statue.
Sometimes, I involuntarily stop in my tracks, turn to Him and say: “You made a mistake. See, it was supposed to happen this or that way. And this wasn’t even supposed to happen – what are You thinking?”But today, I will try to find peace and put my life in His hands. I will try to enjoy the story He is writing, without forcing my own humble suggestions if I see they don’t fit in His plan. I will try to let go of anxiety and frustration, bitterness and resentment, fretfulness and desire to be in control. Today, I will drop my pen and become a faithful reader, a reader who enjoys and delights in every word and every bend and turn in the story, not taken aback by the unexpected, not broken by the undesirable.He is writing my story. And yours, too! Are you delighting in yours?
I know this is not on the schedule, but I wanted to share this with you. I think it goes right along with our prayer month and everything!
Hi, thought I would keep you all up to date on the progressions of my cousin Darcy and family, after the news of the fire! What a tragedy, but they are counting it all joy!
They do not need anything except prayers. If you feel so inclined to give anything, gift cards from Walmart, Fred Myer and Home Depot would be greatly appreciated. I cannot imagine loosing everything to a fire, and then having the whole church come to your aid with clothing, food and offers of shelter. Darcy said it is overwhelming the responses she is getting because of this tragedy.
Some of the responses were not so favorable, however! Below is a response to a letter she wrote to her uncle, explaining why God would do this to people. It is an overwhelming and uplifting response. I thought you would enjoy it!(Don’t worry, I got the author’s permission to share this!) (The white is her uncle asking the questions!)
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RE: Count it all joy…
Dear uncle,
Thanks for the encouragement about the rings. we’re going to start sifting though the mess with a metal detector on Saturday, so wish us luck!
As for the rest of your note, I understand you are concerned about us, but I just can’t let it go without replying to some of your assumptions and statements. I took the time to read your letter, now I hope you take the time to glimse into my heart.
(She had answered some personal questions here, that I thought discrete to leave out!)
First of all, you said “God did not make your trailer burn down; God did not burn up your belongings either. It was an accident, or just something went wrong – God did not make it happen”I completely agree with you. It was an accident. But God uses these “accidents” and the trials in our lives to make us stronger and draw us closer to Him. Good can come from every situation if we have the eyes to look for it. As a matter of fact, I believe that God MAKES good come if we let Him. Do you have any idea what this trial has done for us, for our family and friends? We have grown closer and stronger than we’ve ever been. It’s caused us to see how temporary the things in this life are and what’s really important. Do you know what’s really important in this life, or has your worry over the things you own obscured that?
You said God is not in control of your decisions to do the right things, to make sure you are protected, and that if something like this happens it is not an unrecoverable disaster. I will also tell you both this – it is foolish to go through life thinking that God is in control and thinking “I don’t have to do anything and God will provide, make everything better and protect me”. Of course God is not in control of our decisions…He relinquished that when He gave us the capability to MAKE decisions. It is our job to make wise choices, but sometimes even when we do, things happen anyways. I believe that we’re in a partnership with God when it comes to our lives. He asks us to make wise choices and be responsible and we ask Him to take care of what we can’t. Sometimes He lets us suffer from the consequences of our actions and sometimes He saves us from them. It’s all about our hearts and what we most need. That’s what it means to have a relationship with the God who created us. Never in my life have I thought “I don’t need to do anything and God will provide.” Instead i think “I will be responsible and do the best I can with what I have and trust that God’s heart towards me is good, and whatever happens in my life happens for a reason.” But maybe you don’t believe that God’s heart toward you is good. Maybe you think He’s just up there somewhere and doesn’t really care what you do as long as you try to be a good person and maybe go to church once in a while. If that’s your veiw of God I feel sorry for you. The God I know “knows the number of the hairs on your head.” (Matthew 10:30)
You said You both have two lovely little girls that you must protect and provide for. God will not provide for them, it is your job to do that. You have to work, and be responsible and not wait for God to provide – you have to provide for yourselves and those two little girls – God did not create those little girls you two did – and it is your responsibility to provide for them.
But God DID provide for our little girls…He gave them parents who love them and only want the best for them. He gave them a daddy who works his tail off to provide a comfortable home, good food, and nice clothes. Of course we have to work…but God provides the work. He gives us the strength and the love to be able to provide for our children. The Bible says “every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from the Father above.” (James 1:17) Do you dare to think that the blessings in your life are all a product of your hard work and your good choices? How arrogant! We are nothing without God and it is He who blesses our endeavors, even when we ignore Him and take the credit. And God DID create our girls…if you don’t believe me, read Psalm 139.
You said Praying will not make this better, only your hard work and taking from this the lessons that YOU have to be in control of your life and you ARE in control of what you do and how you do it, and YOU are responsible to provide. Do you really believe that prayer accomplishes nothing? Do you think that God cares so little for us that pouring our our hearts to Him doesn’t do any good? Do you really think that you can be in complete control of your life? Is your Jesus so small that you think He’s left us on our own to figure out this “unforgiving” life and lick our wounds by ourselves? That’s a scary place to be and I don’t envy you in the least.
You said just go ask the hundreds of thousands of people in California who are battling to save their lives today. I can tell you this, they are protected and it is not God who will provide for them, it will be the insurance companies. So you would rather put your trust in men and their insurance policies. How is that “taking control of your life” when you’re placing your life and everything you own in the hands of imperfect men who aren’t out to help you or do anything but make money? I’ll take my chances with God. (by the way, I have nothing against insurance, just the inconsistancies of your thinking.)
Now let me answer your questions:
Did prayer save your belongings?; did it save your wedding rings?
Since when is the purpose of prayer to get what we want? I didn’t ask people to pray for that. I asked to pray for US…that we would see the good even in tragedy…that we would be drawn closer to one another and closer to God…that we would know what direction to go and what step to take next.
What have you learned from all this?
That everything we have is temporary. That the things that matter the most in our lives cannot be destroyed by fire. That God is good and He does work miracles, even little things that we wouldn’t think matter to Him. That even in the midst of tragedy, there is always hope. Remember the garnet cross that your mother always wore around her neck? My mom gave it to me for my 21st birthday and it was in the trailer when it burned. The next day, Sky and I were kicking through the outskirts of the rubble when we saw something sparkling in the sun. There, lying on top of unrecognizable ashes was Nana’s cross. It wasn’t even blackened. The nightstand and jewelry box it was in were nothing but ashes. Coincidence? Or God speaking healing to our hearts just when we needed it?
You call youself a Christian. Do you even know what that means? You say you believe in Jesus. Do you even know who He is? Christianity is more that a ticket to heaven or a moral codebook. It’s a way of life, an active relationship with a living God. A God who created us, cares about us, and calls us His children. Sky and I have that kind of relationship with Jesus, and so do our friends. Do you? Are you confident that your heart matters to Him? That what happens in your life matters to Him? Do you live every day with the knowledge that “neither life nor death, nor angels nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”? Or are you too busy trying to control your life to even think about such things?
Jesus said He came to give us abundant life. Do you think you can find that apart from Him? God’s heart toward us is good…it is always good. He allows us to suffer from our mistakes, learn from them, and press on. My Jesus not only died so that I could be free, He LIVED so that I could know what it really means to live. I do not live in fear. Fear of getting to the end of my life and wondering if I mattered. Fear of losing things that seem important but in the end are just things. I know that I am investing into my life and my children’s lives the things that really matter…love, faith, hope, and joy. Those are the “possesions” that can never be burned up. At the end of your life, what would you rather your kids said. “My dad had lots of cool stuff, bought plenty of insurance, and now I get it all,” or “My dad taught me what it means to truly love, to live life with joy, no matter what the circumstances.” All the insurance in the world can’t compare to that.
I appreciate your concern and understand that you love us and want what’s best for us. But your fears are misplaced. Call me a religious fanatic, but at least I’m a joyful, happy religious fanatic. while everything else in this life can be taken away from me, my joy can never be taken away. My love for a God who knew me before I was even born can never be taken away. Even when I don’t understand why things in my life happen the way they do, I know for certain that God is in control and that His heart towards me is only good. I pray that you can find that same joy and confidence that can only be found in Jesus Christ.
Your loving neice,
Darcy =)
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Wow, isn’t that great! God has certainly been with my cousin, and I thank the Lord on my knees for that! I can see that the Lord is with them, and will continue to provide!
Have a great day, and may you be encouraged as I have!
Laura H.
I know this is a little early, but this is very important!
Yes, we are coming up on that new topic again. I think this is the most important subject yet! Being prayerful is one of the most important links to the Heavenly Father! Therefore, as Maydens, let us encourage eachother, by praying for eachother. That is what I think A Mayden is Prayeful should be about, praying for eachother!
What do you think? I will write done my pray to you all on here, when November comes around and let us see how many voices will lift to Heaven. Those who are not authors but wish to participate, please email one of us, with the subject, A Mayden is Prayerful, asking for prayer requests and such. We would be glad to do this. November is Prayer month!
Have a great Day!
Laura H
I know I haven’t been on in a while. I have been busy. Well today, I had to stay home from school because my ride got sick. So I get to write with you all today! Hallelujah!
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Patience means waiting!
What do I mean by this? I mean, we have to realize that we do not get the gratification we want at the moment, but have to wait for the time when the Lord thinks it is right for them to obtain it.
We ask the Lord to give us patience, but He doesn’t give us Patience, He gives us the opportunity to learn patience! Life is full of lessons needing to be learned, and if we need to have a virtue, the only way we are going to receive it, is by learning with the hardships and trials that the Lord sets before us to grow!
Begging the Lord to send us the right man, saying we are ready for him, not realizing that maybe we have a lesson in patience and humilty to learn! And whatever lesson he has for us, it is for our good!
I found that I do not like my college experience, and therefore am asking God to do everything He can short of causing me to become invalid, to get me out of the situation. But I have heard the voice inside me say, ” Finish out the Quarter, this is your lesson in patience!” Very well, Lord, if that is your wish!” He doesn’t want me to be there, and I am getting a lot of flack from feminist family members, who think I need to be properly socialized. But the wishes of my Dad and my God come first!
So, what am I going to do in the meantime? Wait patiently for the Lord to reveal it to me! In that meantime, I am working on getting my first book published! Hallelujah! That also requires a great deal of patience!
May God be with us, and give us continuous lessons of Patience for us to learn!
In Christ,
Laura H
