Michelle Duggar

I was so excited to meet Michelle Duggar! I love the way her and Jim Bob show their faith for everyone. They are not afraid of what anyone thinks, but God and I believe God has blessed them for that.

Our homeschool group has monthly meetings for the moms called Renews. A couple of the moms in our group know the Duggar's because they worked on the Duggar's political campaigns. They asked Michelle if she would come and talk to our homeschool group. It was one of the best attended Renews we had ever had.

Michelle was great! She was just like she is on TV. She is very sweet and down to earth. She was very encouraging. Unfortunately only Grandma Duggar and the baby came with her. The rest of the family was in Tennessee helping the Bates family build their house. I would have loved to see in person how all of the kids interact together.

What I learned. The one thing that she said that really struck me was that I do not have the right to sleep. She was talking about how at night the older kids come in her and Jim Bob's room to have talks with them. She said that sometimes the girls will talk until 2 in the morning and that she does not have the right to sleep when it is so important to spend that time guiding her children. It really made me think about all the things that I think I have the right too and how I feel offended when I do not have those things. I am a sinner only saved by grace not by what I do, but by what Jesus has done for me. Since that is true why do I feel I have the right to have all the things I think I need. Only Jesus know what I need and the only thing I need is Jesus.

Oh, and I hate the way I smiled in the picture, but it was the only picture I had of me and Michelle.

Bible reading

I am really behind! I finished up Genesis tonight.

One thing that stood out to me was that Jacob deceived his father and Esau and from then on he was being deceived. It made me wonder what sin I have committed or an committing that will keep coming back to me. My prayer is that God will show me my sins and help me get out of them.

For the rest of the book, I had a lot swirling around in my mind tonight. When I read tonight I was really depressed about some issues in my life. There are some struggles that it seems we can never get out of. I know things can get worse and I do not want anything worse, but I wonder when we can climb out! This may not make any sense to anyone else and I am just rambling, but I need some therapeutic conversation with myself and that is what I am doing.

Arkansas Baseball and The Bible

What does Arkansas Baseball and The Bible have in common? Nothing except that I wanted to do both last night.

I have been doing my Bible reading at night after the kids are in bed and when their Daddy is home to help if they have any problems. Last night Arkansas was playing in an elimination game at the College World Series. It looked like they were going to lose and then they tied it up in the 9th inning. It then went on until they finally won in the 13th inning. It was about 11 o'clock then. We had let the kids stay up to watch and they both had fallen asleep.

I am hoping to get caught up this afternoon when Seth naps. We do have a busy day though.
This morning we are going to a Science swap. Then we have swim lessons this afternoon and tonight Katie Beth has a tee ball game and I am going to hear Michelle Duggar speak. I am so excited to go hear her.

I will try to write about what I learn from her later.

Day 2 Bible Challenge Genesis 16 - 28:19

I have many thoughts about Day 2's reading. I hope I can remember all the thoughts I have.


One thought I had was about Abraham's character. He was a foreigner in the land he lived, but when Sarah died the Hittites were willing to give Abraham him any burial plot he wanted. When he found the place, the owner wanted to give the land to Abraham. Abraham had to insist that he wanted to pay for it. Abraham was a wealthy man, so the Hittites knew that he could afford to pay for the land. But I believe that due to the character that Abraham had shown he had won favor with the Hittites.

I had many thoughts about Lot. I do not know if I can express them all in the way I was thinking.

My first thought was when Lot offered his two daughters to the angry crowd. Did he not value his daughters or did he believe the strangers where more valuable?

My next thought was about his future son-in-laws. When he went to them and said that God was going to destroy Sodom and they needed to leave with him, they did not listen. Did Lot not teach his daughters to look for someone with the same values as they had? Did he not teach his daughters that his future son-in-laws should respect him?

My final thought about Lot was when he was in the mountains with his two daughters. He must have taught his daughters about some of his beliefs, but they must have not taken it to heart. They did not trust God to carry on Lot's lineage. Instead of praying to God, they took matters into their own hands. They must have known that their father would not go along with their plan, so they got him drunk in order to carry out their plan. I wonder how he felt after he found out?

The biggest lesson for me in this is to teach my children. To make sure they know all of my beliefs and why I believe like I do. To pray that God will help me teach them and show me all I need to teach them. Then to pray that he will make them take these teachings to heart.

I know I had some other thoughts about Issac and Jacob and Esau, but now I have forgotten what they were.

90 day Bible Challenge

I have started a 90 day Bible challenge. The goal is to read through the Bible in 90 days. I am praying that I will be able to do this.

Yesterday I read Genesis Chapters 1 -16. The first thing that always amazes me is how orderly and organized God is. And how unorderly and unorganized I am. This is an area I really need to pray over.

The next thing I thought about was how Adam and Eve spent time with God in person, but still managed to sin. How can I expect to do any better, especially on the days I do not spend time with God?

The next area that really stood out to me was when Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham. They had God's promise of offspring, but decided that they did not like his timing or maybe they doubted His promise. So they took matters in their own hands. How many times have I done that? And look at the lasting effects of them doing that. What lasting effects are there when I take matters in my own hands?

Now it is on to the next days reading.