On Parenting with The Mirror

-“I want you to share your toys with your brother, GJ”, -Me, on an authoritative, yet loving tone of voice. –“No!! it’s mine!”, -GJ, snatching it away from his brother’s hands, taking off and igniting a tantrum which I have come to realize makes my mommy’s lower back pain worse.  Sounds familiar? I know this happens a thousand times in a house with little ones.  I’ve been trying to correct this behavior and teach the value of sharing and generosity for a while now, and yes! It can be frustrating, and double yes! It is exhausting! However I recently learned something that makes my efforts and exhaustion purposeful. A silverlining that I very much needed:  that moments like these are not only prime opportunities to instruct our children’s behaviors, or to instill Godly characters in them, but actually to preach the gospel to them: To get to the “heart of the matter” –Their heart, and show them their need fo God.

 

In the meanwhile I will also entertain you with our pictures from our "Weeding project" ..Yes, it looked really sad, hadn't been back there for a while!

 This is not originally my idea.  It actually comes from the bible. (See Ephesians 6:4).  I love the powerful way that a couple of books that I’m reading expand on the matter:  “Shepherding a Child’s Heart” by Ted Tripp, and “The Faithful Parent” by Stuart Scott. These two are superb resources which I highly recommend to parents of kids of all ages. These two books expand in much more than this, however, they make special emphasis on our sharing the gospel to our children as our main goal as parents. Such a special task, yet so humbling. No wonder they say that our children are our first mission field.  I think it’s totally true, who else in the world has such intimately access to somebody’s world at such tender and impressionable age? I know we don’t have the power to make them be born again. God does.  But we definitely have the power and the responsibility to diligently and faithfully teach them the truth of who God is and also who they are, and how the gospel connects those two facts.  How else can we assure that our children will have fruitful, meaningful and productive lives, but by ensuring that their hearts are surrendered to God? “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34b).



But I had new recruits!

I am focusing today on one of the best ways to teach our children about who they are.  I know this may not sound very appealing, but that doesn’t make it less truth:  Our children are fallen sinners, desperately in need of God’s salvation and grace.  I remember not long time ago, when brand new to parenting, I use to wonder about the “age of accountability”.  I know there are different positions on the subject.  And I don't think I can state any specific age.  I actually believe this may change from child to child depending on their maturity level and development pace.  I am one that believes that newborn children and babies that die go straight back to God in heaven.  (See 2 Samuel 11:22), thus our hope to see our son again when we get there.  However, I don’t wonder about this age of accountability anymore.  I can just plainly see the answer with my eyes as they start to get older.  Those stinking cute little ones of mine, who melt my heart a thousand times every day, are starting to show the buds of the decaying seed implanted in them.  The selfish, self-glorifying, God-rejecting, sinful nature is there, and  I just know with my big loving mother’s heart that I have the pressing responsibility to teach my children that there is a change of heart, a change of seed that needs to take place.  And that they will be held accountable for it. That is the most loving thing to do.  After. Praying. A. Lot.  Lest they face the unfortunate challenge which makes sharing the gospel very hard in our day and age, the fact that most people don’t understand the concept of sin or even conceive they’re sinners.

 

The kind that loves playing with dirt!! =p

So going back to my example, simple acts of disobedience are wonderful windows of opportunity to lovingly, patiently and consistently teach our children about their sinful nature, and how this is one of the influencing factors of their behavior.  I know there is a lot more behind a child’s behavior than this.  I don’t pretend to simplify child psychology to just this area.   We have to do a lot of training, helping our children understand their emotions and how they can develop effective character tools like self-control and obedience, among many other things to cope with the upsetting or frustrating situations they will encounter every day.  But the primary root of the problem, their sinful nature, needs to be addressed if we want to really help them grow to be all God wants them to be.  So I don't think that just teaching them to behave, or to be self-aware or self-controlled, or to be good is enough. They just can't do it on their own, they need God to give them a new nature.

They actually really earned their keep! =)

Of course any of this will be literally impossible if we don't spend some good "quality AND quantity" time with them.  How else are we then going to catch those windows of opportunity? A good illustration for this is the process of "potty training". You can't potty train a child if you don't spend time with him catching her accidents and teaching her why, and what to do when she feels the urge to go.  You need to be close to them continuously to accomplish this.  However, even though this is a good illustration, we need to remember that we can't "outsource" our parenting role to preach the gospel to our children, in the same way we sometimes can let others, a childcare giver for example, potty train our child.  We the parents, are ideally the ones that are given this responsibility and opportunity.  I know this probably is an unlikely proposition for non-Christian families, and there is when we are called to be salt and light to them.  But for a family of believers, we the parents are to be the number ones sharing the gospel with our children.

Boys will be boys!



One of the greatest tools God put in our hands to facilitate this child training process is His Word.  Sometime ago I had the realization that if I learn to use the Bible as a mirror it will help me show them and lovingly tell them how dirty they really are, and how much they need a deep-inside-out cleansing by the gospel.   Otherwise they just will not know.  It works just in the same way as when we are told that we have a little bit of food on the side of our mouth in a social situation.  It is the kind and loving thing to do, and even though it makes us feel awkward at first , it makes us feel thankful as we can take care of it.  As parents we need to learn to lovingly hold this mirror in front of them, every chance we see them “covered in dirt”. 

"Noise with dirt on it! =p

Do you like my "bull dog" face? =P

So it seems to me that disobedience at an early age is not that bad after all.  I’m not claiming to be mastering the use of this “mirror” yet, I am at the very beginning of the process, but I’m very intentionally trying to memorize some passages that I can translate down into their level to use when needed. Some of the passages that I’d like to start using are: (Romans 7:19, Romans 3:23, John 3:16, & Psalm 119:11). Here it is a very good resource I found with short, handy bible passages to memorize with our children to help us on this training process. The name of the website is "Parenting with Scripture".  It is really good.



 

We even had the chance to pick up some calamondin oranges from our tree!

Baby brother couldn't resist, I guess what better lesson on "Sourness" than just to try it yourself huh!..But they're awesome for marmalades and baking goods! =)

I know some of you may be thinking as I wondered myself at some point:  Aren’t these way too abstract concepts for a child to understand? The idea of conceiving the Word as a seed that you plant and water every day has given me much peace about it.  Sharing the gospel with our children so they can grasp the concept to express saving faith later on is a process that takes time. And our faithful labor on it as parents day in and day out should give us the opportunity to plant as many seeds as possible specially during the highly fertile season of the early years, and any other seasons for those with older kids.

We actually did a good job, didn't we?..well, this is a good start! Thanks for cheering us up! =)

The timing is not completely on our hands.  We must remember after all, that the harvest doesn’t depend uniquely on our labor, or on our children’s choices, but primarily on God who is the one who calls each one by name and produces the growth. He does it on His perfect time and way, and wants us to trust Him for the results and of course to enjoy those little ones to the rims of our hearts! They are a gift to treasure, to teach and to grow old with!

My Personal Quest into "Predestination" vs "Freedom of Will", a letter to my children. (Part 2)

This is the second part of my series on this quest. If you didn’t get to read the first part, here it is.  This is a letter to my children; however I thought that making it public will benefit some that may want to embark on the same quest:

My dear children,

This debate is not new to me. I actually have been hearing about it in messages, books and articles through the years. It’s quite popular. However, it wasn’t until I read this passage the other day that the thought of finally organizing my thoughts about it through the exercise of writing things down came to mind. It was interesting to me that it wasn't Romans 8:29-30, which is classically the passage that most people addressing this debate quotes. I hope to be able to get to many other places in the bible that shed light on this issue. So this won't be a short process.

So today I want to address some insights on the few parables that I am using as springboards to launch me into this study.

-For first time in my Christian life understanding the parable of the Sower, the parable of the Weeds, and the parable of the Net has been a challenge to me. (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23, 24-30,36-42, 47-52)*

-Jesus explained the first 2 parables, however at first sight when I looked at them from the lenses of the age time debate of Predestination vs Free-will (Calvinism vs Arminianism), it seems to me these parables may or not present potential facts regarding the validation of one or the other.

-Some of the questions that came to mind when I read this passage today were: How are God's sovereignty and  freedom of will represented in the types of soil Jesus is referring to? And also, how can we explain the concept of freedom of will, if both the "Weed seed", and the "Bad fish" where bad from the beginning?

-I believe that regardless of whether this text is indeed related to this debate, a Holy Spirit led inquiring into it is very important to the mature Christian for the sake of allowing one’s heart to take stances regarding our confidence to preach the gospel, and also to contribute to our view of God and our trust in Him. Do we really view Him as a God that is all powerful and who is really in control of all things? Do we trust God's sovereignty when facing evil or trials?

-If God is the one who does the choosing, then when praying for unsaved dear ones, we should primarily focus on praying that God would choose to open their spiritual eyes, and make the transformational work in their heart which is prerequisite for a person to even start being responsive to the Gospel, instead of praying that that person would just willfully decide to start listening to it.  I hope that getting a better understanding on this subject would give me more peace when facing the way others respond to the gospel, knowing that God is ultimately sovereign over who gets saved, and why.

-I believe that taking either position should not affect the believer’s assurance of salvation, or his willingness to readily preach the gospel and make disciples, as only God, and not us merely humans, knows who are the citizens of heaven regardless of who did the choosing. I believe we are still called to preach the gospel and spread the “seed” as frequently and widely as we can, and allow God to take care of the outcome.

-With this in mind I am going to try to embark on a personal quest to try to sort out my understanding on whether we are predestined to be God’s children or not.  I pray that some of my findings embolden my witness for Christ and my passion to delight in and live for Him. And to trust Him completely.

-On trying to avoid any presumption, I have to understand that this may very well be a quest to last a lifetime. However I pray that God rewards my desire to understand His will, and lead me to fruitful study. I also pray that some of my answers help my children embark in their own quest with God to grow in him and savor His eternal pleasures, after all we were created to get to know Him: “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” -John 17:3


To be Continued..

Our Adoption Journey - New Update: Steadely Moving Forward to Go Across that Ocean...of Paperwork!

Hello friends!

As promised, here's a super overdue update regarding where we are on our adoption process. Thank you so much to all of you who haven't stopped praying, asking us questions or showing interest in our adoption journey! We have been specially blessed to know that some of you have even been encouraged to become a forever family yourselves. Yes! For those of you that have recently joined our supporting group and haven't read our previous updates, here they are: Update # 1, #2, and #3. Also, to those that want to know how can you specifically pray for us at this point, there is an updated prayer request list at the bottom of this post. We covet your prayers!



As always we'll spice up your reading with some of our latest family pictures




And invite you to join our wishful thinking as we imagine our daughter being part of them!

 Ok, so without further ado, let us share where we are at the moment. We hope this is informative specially for those looking to adopt in the future:

At this point we believe to be at the tail end of the 2nd step of our "Paperwork pregnancy". Just as a reminder, and at a very high level, the five major steps of an Chinese adoption are:  Applying and Obtaining the Agency Approval,     Compiling the Dossier (Documentation to get approved by China and the U.S),  Being matched with our child,  Traveling to China to bring our child home and last Bonding and Post-placement.

We would love her to try the best Sweet potato casserole of the world, Daddy's!

Or just join our joyful noise as we sang carols after dinner during Christmas!

Every step mentioned above involves lots of action items. We don't want to bore you with details, but please free to ask us if you like to know. It is true, adopting a child requires lots of diligence in the way of legalities that need to be taken care of. And now being in the middle of the process we understand why. In the case of international adoption, making sure that you are dealing with a legitimate organization prevents fraud and abuse.  Human trafficking is rampant worldwide, including the U.S, but is even more rampant and less restrained in underdeveloped countries. Therefore the need for inter-country treaties like "The Hague Convention" which establishes parameters for international adoptions. If you are interested in becoming a forever family, one of the first things you have to make sure when choosing your agency, is that it is a "Hague accredited agency".  The Official Intercountry adoption website  is a good place to educate yourself about many of the details of international adoption. You can read about the status and requirements to complete an adoption from virtually any place in the world.

We dream with getting her 'Thing 3" family t-shirt

And watching  her devour her Birthday cake! =)

At this point we have completed most of our "Dossier", which is the compilation of all the documents required to be approved by the Chinese government. This is a list of roughly about 15 documents (Birth-marriage certificates, employment-income verification, financial statements, social workers interview, etc.) that need to be notarized, and certified by different local, state and federal officials, before they are sent for final approval by the Chinese government. That is how the expression "paperwork-pregnancy" was coined. Capiche?! No joke, dealing with so much red tape has felt a bit like morning sickness at some times.  But do not be discouraged, it's is doable. Our agency has been of great help to keep ourselves organized and going at a good steady pace at this stage of the process.

and to play and read silly stories with mommy and brother!

And to grab Daddy's other leg...wouldn't that be fun!

At this point we are specifically waiting for the last piece of document to add to our pile which is the approval by the Department of U.S immigration. Once this is received, the whole stack will be translated into Chinese and shipped to the CCCWA or the China Centre for Children's Welfare and Adoption, which is the office that finally approves our family to bring our daughter home.

We are eagerly waiting for you sister!

We have a lifetime of love & adventures  to share with you!

Ok friends I think this gives you an idea of where we are at now. The next time we will be sharing about our Adoption agency CCIA and why we chose to work with them. Again thank you very much for your continuing support and prayers. We are overly ecstatic for the success of our fundraiser "Bubbles for Hope".  We have for sure been super busy making soap, but what a difference when you are exhausted for a purpose! =)

We can't wait 'til the moment where we can hold your hand too! =)

Here is the list of specific ways you can pray for us now:

• Pray for God's protection over our daughter's life. That the Lord surround her with angels and compassionate people that would protect her thru whatever circumstances are leading her family to abandon her or giving her away.

• Pray for her health. (I'm tearing up here, this is hard to type) Please pray that God would touch her body with the power of His healing. That He would be her doctor and her main care taker. That He would provide compassionate people, physical and financial means to care for whatever physical challenges she's facing, whether these may be congenital, or any diseases coming from the orphanage setting. Please pray that God would supernaturally strengthen her immune system.

• Please ask God that she will be given favor and be assigned a foster mother that provide the care and love that she needs at her early age. If this is not possible, that she be surrounded by loving caretakers in her orphanage that would be passionate about caring for these little children.

• Please pray for protection against any abuse or any harsh circumstances that may cause her to be psychologically, emotionally or physically wounded. And please pray for us as we try to learn about compassionate healing parenting. That the Lord give us the wisdom, stamina, patience and means that we need to love her to health, thriving and to Him.

• Please pray that God's favor be upon us as we work on the tail end of our paperwork. Please pray specifically that the Secretary of State and the Chinese embassy would expedite the certification of documents and that immigration would give us our approval soon.

• Please pray that God would orchestrate the timing of our matching with her. That He gives us peace knowing that the waiting is not arbitrary, and that He's the author of our story.

Xie, Xie,

Paola

My Personal Quest into "Predestination" vs "Freedom of Will", a letter to my children. (Part 1)

Dear readers, this is a letter to my children. However I thought that making it public may benefit some that perhaps have faced the same questions at some point. Here it is.


My dear child,

Since day one, when we first open our lives to treasure God above everything else and start our pilgrimage towards that special heavenly home, questions will be knocking on our doors. Some questions will be perplexing; others discouraging, yet others may even feel hurtful.  Whichever the nature of questions or doubts you have, I want you to remember that we can always ask God. He wants us to ask him. Otherwise He would not have left the Holy Spirit to teach us all things. (See John 14:26)*.  When we humbly approach God for answers, He actually uses them to strengthen our faith and make our experience with Him the more enjoyable and our lives for His sake even the more fruitful.  Picture a father that sits down with his son to teach him with undivided attention and zealous devotion. This is how God likes to teach us. And everything, including the stuff that makes both the questions and the answers has its origins in Him. (Colossians 2:2-3)*. So rest assured that you will get more than you ask for, in God, you will always get not the answer that you’re looking for, but the answer that you really need.

So with this in mind, let me share with you, one of my current quests on documenting some of my personal understanding regarding the age old debate  on whether God chooses us to be his children, or we choose Him.  Many call this debate the debate between “Predestination” vs “Free Will”  or “The Calvinistic Debate".

Some questions like: “Why should I bother preaching the gospel if people are going to come to God if He wills anyway?” or, “Why should we make people accountable for their sin, if God doesn’t predestine everyone to go to heaven?”, or "why does God choose to withhold His truth from some people?", or “Why did God allow evil anyway?” steam from this debate.  And that’s why I think that every Christian should tackle these questions at some point of their pilgrimage.

I want you to know that being on either side of this debate doesn’t affect your salvation, you can be confident on your faith if you are standing on either side. However, a clearer understanding on this issue will definitely embolden your faith, especially when facing life trails.

Finally, I want you to remember that I am not theologian, but just a honest believer wanting to know and experience God. I will never get to all there is out there to read by doctors and theologians on the subject.  I just need to get enough answers trusting that God in His grace will provide them. After all he said that if we lack wisdom, we can confidently ask Him. (James 1:5). However, I hope that some of my findings, or even more, some of my questions, encourage you to dig deeper, bring your own questions, and even your own doubts to a God who is eager to teach you. He really is.

To be continued..

 

“We are Called to Treasure Him Because He Treasured us first” - A few thoughts on the Parable of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl

In my efforts to write more this year I have decided to post some of the lessons and insights I will be getting from my study of the Bible this year. I had some sort of epiphany this morning -At least, I like to believe it was, which sparked my desire to sit down a write. Even though I believe the best journal, message and even book one can write with the lessons got from scripture should be “life itself”, “spoken words” and “daily choices”, I think there is a value to write things down…and share them. Not only to use it as a reminder for later on, but because others can be edified by it. When I was thinking about others this morning, the first ones that came to mind were my children.  And even though I seriously doubt they will be interested in reading my notes on hardcopies many years from now, which will probably be a rarity,  I certainly think, they may be interested in checking their momma’s blog. -Again, I like to think they will..I pray they do!  So anyway, since I am already doing some writing while I work on my BSF homework, I am as might as well, going to try compile my insights and post them in my blog. It’s not a super deep and exhaustive study, (I’m not using any commentaries at this point) but going a little deeper than a quick casual reading on short passages has proved to be of great help to me.   I hope to get better at succinctness with time and practice. So here it goes. Today the lesson was on the Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl from Matthew 13: 45-46:

 

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. ⁴⁶ When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”

 

My dear children, this is some of what I believe this passage is saying:

 

• The treasure represents God and His kingdom.  We are to treasure Him above anything else in our lives because we were created for Him, and nothing else in the universe can give us more Joy than this. When He is in the first place in our minds and affections, everything else falls into place. 

• Even though cross-referencing other passages against this one may raise some questions about the right interpretation of “Treasure”. The meaning at first could be perceived as ambiguous as it refers to “God” in some places, (See Psalm 73:25-26, Col 2:2-3)* and to us in some others.  (See Deuteronomy 7:6)* I favor both interpretations. I don't think they're mutually exclusive in the sense, that we treasure God because He treasured us first. We are intended to love God because He loved us first.

• In the same way “the Pearl” can mean "us" as the lost treasure that God came to rescue. He found it and bought it for a really hefty price: Jesus' blood. It can also mean "Jesus" as the treasure that God made available for us.  He’s the treasure that we must get to make sense of it all, and to have a real perspective on value. To find joy, meaning, and hope. To learn and experience what delight really is!!

• The “Merchant” in this passage refers to both "us" and "God" in the sense that He will never ask us to do anything that He hasn't already done. He doesn't only show us what to do, but also produces in us to will it and to do it: (See Phill 2:13)*. He actually modeled it and then wants to do it in and thru me. He is the ultimate mentor.

 

• “Selling everything" to buy the pearl from God's perspective may refer to leave His throne to become a man and die for our sins. From our perspective: To let Him have priority over absolutely everything else in our lives: Letting Him have precedence in our affections, and thoughts, and energy, and time, and money, etc.

 

I think Jesus didn’t interpret these parables because He left the Holy Spirit to teach us and explain to us all things. It is a joy to sit at the feet of the Holy Spirit and have Him explaining to you what Jesus meant thru these words. But most importantly to help you give them full meaning when they become a reality in your own walk with God (See John 14:26)*

 

 

Our Adoption Journey: "Our Paperwork Pregnancy & Hoping for a Future Birth Overseas"

Ok, here I am, finally able to sit down for a little while to give you an update on what’s going on with our adoption.  For those of you that have recently joined our supporting group and haven't read our previous updates, here they are: Update # 1, and  #2.

What a ride friends!Even though we are thrilled at the prospect of enlarging our family; handling the day to day of family life, our little ones, our fundraiser and the adoption process all at the same time keeps us quite busy. But we trust that if God called us to it, He’ll see us through it. This is certainly an experience that is making us grow in stewardship of our resources. Especially time!

As always we'll entertain you with our pictures as you read thru! This is from a got together with my family that came to visit from Colombia a few weeks ago. Wouldn't our future child look super-cute on these pictures?

Ok, as many of you know, we decided to pursue an international adoption from the country of China. We are specifically attempting to bring home a special need child from the province of Henan, located in Central Asia. We are slowly moving forward through the milestones of the journey, which at a high level consist of:

1.     Applying and Obtaining the Agency Approval

2.     Compiling the Dossier (Documentation to get approved by the Chinese & the U.S Gov't)

3.     Being matched with our child

4.     Traveling to China to bring our child home

5.     Bonding and post-placement

 

Yeah, I bet he/she would love to enjoy a family pool party!

Every step is quite involved, and we are experiencing the morning sickness of a “paperwork pregnancy” as we diligently work on the paper-chasing of step #2.  So far we are very pleased with the service and professionalism we have experienced by the agency we chose: CCIA (Chinese  Children Adoption International).

We will try to expand on the process of how we selected them in a future post, where we will also share a little more on the cost and financials of adoption. For now, we want to share a bit about the different types of adoption and why we decided to adopt internationally.

And throw water balloons at daddy!

And bake a birthday pizza with brother!

And steal daddy's chef hat!

For families interested in adopting in the United States, there are three types of adoption: Adoption of a new born, adoption of waiting children through the foster care system, and international adoption. Even though the online resources to learn about adoption are plentiful we highly recommend 2 books that helped us tremendously to get a better understanding on the subject.  The first one: Succesful Adoption, a guide for Christian Families is a great resource to get answers to most of the questions regarding the adoption process. From adoption types, costs, the process, samples documents, to the post-adoption considerations, this book was really worth to read before jumping into our journey. 

The second book that was greatly helpful and inspiring was: Adopted for Life by Russell Moore. This book was very insightful regarding the “why” of adoption. We highly recommend it to learn about the meaning of adoption for a Christian believer and what are the many different ways the bible points us to respond to the fate of the orphans and the less privileged.  Not every family is called to become an adoptive family, but we are all called to get involved. We believe that each family responding to the calling to adopt is led to approach a special type of adoption according to what they consider is a best fit for them.

And jump his wiggles out!

In our case we arrived to our decision as a combination of many factors. We’ll name a few:

We’ve had a lifelong interest and involvement with global missions which has increased our responsiveness towards needs in other parts of the world. We believe that adopting internationally is a great way to live out a missional lifestyle, which is something we want to be purposeful about.  Also, we have close friends that have adopted special need children, and we’ve witnessed how much more manageable this is than what we initially thought. We have been blessed by seeing these families blossom and reap the rewards of investing themselves into these children. Educating ourselves on the subject has helped to evaporate a bunch of myths on the subject plus we consider ourselves tremendously blessed by living in a country with much more medical resources to help a special need child.

And get to know many places with all of us!

Why China right? Well, probably the response to this question deserves a post on its own.  But to keep it short for now, we will share that even though in the last few decades China has experienced an exponential growth in many areas the need on vast areas which haven’t seen this progress remains mind-boggling.  This is especially truth in rural areas of central and west China. We also learned that the worldwide adoption landscape changes continuously.  Countries open, close and alter their adoption policies, making adoptions more or less difficult and costly. So, as we screened the different possibilities, reliability and affordability were way high on our choosing criteria, which led us to consider an adoption from Asia.

And bury herself in sand with brother!

China has been very consistent on their adoption policies which have paved the path for many families to complete successful adoptions during this season. Therefore we feel led to enter this window of opportunity to make our dream adoption come true. And we haven’t even mentioned our interest in Asian culture! We hope that somehow this experience boosts our endeavors to help our children learn Mandarin. =)

 

And participate in family feasts!

Ok, this is enough information for now. Again we appreciate so much all the support we have received from all of you! From your encouraging words, questions, prayers, to your interest on our Bubbles for Hope fundraiser. Please keep them coming! We are really humble to belong to this wonderful community and group of friends!

Yes dear sister, we are waiting for you to come home!

Yes dear brother, we even have many birthday gifts for you too!

For those of you prayer warriors, we covet your prayers! So here are our specific prayer requests at this point:

*For positive and timely outcomes on all the documents and processes that we have initiated/requested from governmental offices.  And for us to remain on task and encouraged through this tedious process.

*For God’s favor and leading of the multitude of people that has an input on our adoption journey.

*For God’s protection, provision over our child in the orphanage. And for all the orphans that are waiting for a matching family there too.

*For God’s guidance and provision as we continue working on our fundraiser and look into financial aid programs.

Xie, Xie! =)

Paola

Florida Homeschooling Convention 2013: The 80 One-liners We Took Home

Here it go, finally we can say that we got our first convention under our belt! We really had a blast and were greatly inspired, encouraged and challenged as we get ready to start this family journey. We put together some of the highlights of the convention with the hope that this will be a blessing for some of you. We firmly believe that these are good lessons for any type of family not just for homeschoolers. So fasten your belts and enjoy the ride with us! =)

 

1. Home is best

2. Parents are best

3. Learning happens 365 days a yr

4. Every child is a master piece

5. When facing feelings of inadequacy: God didn't say to Moses: My curriculum will make you "talk", he said: I made the deaf

6. Relationship with child is most important

7. Don't lose the relationship with your child over "algebra"

8. Strong marriages, strong families, make strong homeschools

9. Education is discipleship & discipleship starts at home

10. Don’t compare your children with other children

 

 

 

 

11. Don't pressure your children, fruit will eventually grow

12. Successful homeschoolers are flexible

13. Spirit led homeschooling is not bound by legalism

14. Keep your focus on eternal significance

15. Homeschooling doesn't save you

16. Do not sacrifice your marriage in the altar of homeschooling

16. Discipling your children: leading by example

17. Arrows: Our goal is to train our children to have the greatest impact in the world for His kingdom

18. Days feel long but years pass fast

19. Follow the leader: Jesus

20. Being yoked with Christ
 

 

 

 

21. Enjoy the journey

22. Choose to enjoy the journey God has chosen for you

23. Don’t let your curriculum interfere with your relationship with your child

24. Your children won’t remember you as the perfect mom, but will remember that you loved them

25. For a successful homeschooling, make it a quest, "an intentional commitment" to pursue a relationship with Jesus

26. We cannot change the hearts of our children, but the Holy Spirit can

27. Your children don't need a perfect parent, they need a parent that would point them to a perfect God

28. Are you seeking success in a "program, a curriculum, a solution, or are you seeking "God's face" as the word says?

29. God doesn't want you to try so hard to live a life that is pleasing to him, as much as allowing your relationship with him to produce a life that's pleasing to him

30. We control to the level of our fear and we serve to the level of our trust

 

 

 

31. Humanism: You are able to accomplish it if you try hard enough vs Christianity: Do you trust enough?

32. Prayer for yourself and your family:: "Dear Lord help me to love you well, and to love people well"

33. We are weary because we don't know how loved we are

34. You are the keeper of the keys, the keys to unlock your child's learning style.

35. For the Kinesthetic-active learner, quiet movement -Mindless & repetitive- while learning is a plus

36. Break out of the box of our public schools and realize that the strengths of the kinesthetic learner are needed to fulfill very important roles in our community

37. Giggles and wiggles are gifts in your children’s personality

38. TED videos are a useful tool for homeschoolers

39. Make sure that your children get enough exercise to help them focus, for some children that means “Hours” a day!

40. it’s my job as a parent not to focus on their weaknesses, but to identify their strengths and use them to help them become the person they're meant to be

 

 

 

41. Multisensory education: using the areas of strength of your brain while strengthening your areas of weaknesses

42. Learning is a process of learning and forgetting

43. A multisensory learning experience requires multiple senses involved

44. We can’t assume that we understand our children; we have to go to God and ask for help to be able to figure out their world

46. Learn to wait and rest!!!!

47. Wanting to serve can also hinder your relationship with God

48. Are there stillness in your calendar?!!!!!!!!!!!

49. God’s love for you is louder than any pile of laundry, baby crying, or any messy house

50. All the things that you need for Godliness, living your life and homeschooling are contained in knowing Christ!!

 

 

 

51. God is relentless when it comes to show you his love and shaping you into Jesus' image

52. God is not impressed with what you have to offer, your very best is a mess

53. The Lord wants you to be dialysis dependent on Him

54. Make sure that academia-knowledge is not where your children find their security

55. Another big source of distraction is recreation

56. Are we teaching our children that they have to be busy and entertained to be fulfilled?

57. We are constantly homeschooling our children by modeling our daily behavior

58. Are we teaching our children to live a rushed, over-busy lives by the way our days look like?

59. About socialization: The exact reason to homeschool, so children get the opportunity to receive a much broader and carefully planned exposure to society

60. Teach your children to forgive: it is easy to teach them when they're 4 than when they are 40

 

 

 

61. Know God is jealous for your children, know that only God can change and quicken their hearts, nobody and nothing else can

62. Three questions when choosing a curriculum: Does it overwhelm me?  Does it fit my learning style? And Am I choosing out of fear?

63. Curriculum doesn’t have to be expensive; most of the good stuff is free!

64. It may not work; and if it doesn't work shelve it

65. Curriculum is the assistant not the educator

66. Education can easily become an idol

67. Focus on the relationship

68. Stressed is desserts spelled backwards

69. Be real with others, don't try to be the Super homeschooler mom, it doesn’t exist anyway

70. Children need quiet, and you also need to be quiet as well sometimes, so they can listen to God.

 

 

 

71. Don't let school interfere with your education

72. Put on your oxygen mask first

73. Influencing your child's heart is more important than obedience

74.Children are like cookies, you always burn the first batch

75. Seek to motivate by respectful affection not just by fear of authority

76. Lies Homeschoolers believe: Everybody's children are smarter, they have a cleaner house, they cook better meals, they're more spiritual than you and have a better marriage than yours

77. Marriage is the stem; everything else is a leaf that will grow back

78. Keep your priorities straight, Homeschooling can be a black hole that sucks everything in!

79. You're the best momma of the world for your children!

80. You're the best Daddy of the world for your children!

 

 

Now, what about you? Do you have any that you would like to add? Feel free to chime in and share your wisdom!