Tuesday Training

Another convention season is quickly approaching so we had "training" today~ for those of you who are new here our family is on staff with a homeschool curriculum company and we are blessed to be able to travel as a family to conventions where we set up a booth, speak and share what we love about My Father's World. (you may enjoy seeing the picture on the main page if you click this link - but remember the "REST OF THE STORY!") As we are gearing up for at least 10 conventions this spring we are excited and nervous all at the same time ~ this will be our first year traveling with a baby!

We look forward to sharing some of the fun with you along the way ~ about 10,000 miles that is! Should we be in your area we'd love to stop and say hi! We will be traveling to NE, MO, GA, (2x) MI, WI, IL, CO, TX (2x), TN, And if you think of us in the next few months we'd appreciate your prayers -- for safe travels, for cooperation and for most importantly for opportunities to share God's love with others.

Onto today's lent FEAST, don't miss the challenge at the bottom!
Numbers 21:4-9
⁴ They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; ⁵ they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!"

⁶ Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. ⁷ The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people.

⁸ The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." ⁹ So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.

I pray that I am able to be content with what God has for me - Jer. 29:11 kept coming to mind!

John 8:21-30

²¹Once more Jesus said to them, "I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come."

²²This made the Jews ask, "Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, 'Where I go, you cannot come'?"

²³But he continued, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. ²⁴I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins."

²⁵"Who are you?" they asked.

"Just what I have been claiming all along," Jesus replied. ²⁶"I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell the world."

²⁷They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. ²⁸So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. ²⁹The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him." ³⁰Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him.

I want to challenge you -- if you have never fasted -- considering giving something up for a week, there is a little over week left in lent. Pray about it allow God to speak to your heart! Fasting from lunches has been a very blessed time of growth for me and our family this year and we are REALLY anticipating Easter and breaking of our fast! If you started a fast but got off track you can start again its ok! Let us know so we can pray for God to work in your life too!

Blessings,

Amy and the whole Quak Flock :)

I AM

After we read these passages 3 of the children asked what fig trees looked like, I wasn't sure, so the picture we found is below, they drew pictures of fig trees with no fruit - however none of them wanted to share their artwork with you today. They did however think it very fitting to break our fast with fig bars (we have been having a fruit/veggie and protein snack around 3 to hold us until dinner!)
We talked about giving up on things and how sometimes even though it doesn't seem like we are "bearing fruit" we need to continue on making sure we are taking good care of what is entrusted to us. Also like Moses we need to be willing to say YES to the great I AM. Its very easy to come up with excuses - busying ourselves with life, not feeling strong in the area He is calling us or just not believing in ourselves -- with I AM if we will just say YES He can use us in mighty ways. Great discussion and reminders for me too!

Lord may I be watching and listening for YOU help me to say YES to your will today. You are always with us - may we not forgot that.

Blessings on your FEAST in His word today!
Exodus 3:1-15
¹ Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ² There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. ³ So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up."

⁴ When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!"
And Moses said, "Here I am."

⁵ "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." ⁶ Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

⁷ The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. ⁸ So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. ⁹ And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. ¹⁰ So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt."

¹¹ But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"

¹² And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."

¹³ Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"

¹⁴ God said to Moses, "I am who I am . This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "

¹⁵ God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.

Luke 13:1-9
¹Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. ²Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? ³I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. ⁴Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? ⁵I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

⁶Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. ⁷So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?'

⁸" 'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. ⁹If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.' "

Monday

Onto today's FEAST
Daniel 9:3-19
³ So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.
⁴ I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed:"O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, ⁵ we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. ⁶ We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

⁷ "Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame—the men of Judah and people of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. ⁸ O LORD, we and our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you. ⁹ The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; ¹⁰ we have not obeyed the LORD our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. ¹¹ All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you.
"Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. ¹² You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. ¹³ Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. ¹⁴ The LORD did not hesitate to bring the disaster upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him.

¹⁵ "Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. ¹⁶ O Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our fathers have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us.

¹⁷ "Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. ¹⁸ Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. ¹⁹ O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name."

Luke 6:36-38

³⁶Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

³⁷"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. ³⁸Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

May God's Word fill you today!

Second full week of Lent

Sit down a minute,

grab a cup of tea (unless of course you are fasting from tea!)

and FEAST with me on God's food for today!

Genesis 15:15-18

¹⁵ You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶ In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure."

¹⁷ When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. ¹⁸ On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates-

Luke 9:28-36
²⁸About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. ²⁹As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. ³⁰Two men, Moses and Elijah, ³¹appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. ³²Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. ³³As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, "Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." (He did not know what he was saying.)

³⁴While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. ³⁵A voice came from the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him." ³⁶When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves, and told no one at that time what they had seen.

I am not a theologian by any means -- and I am sure there are great connectors for these passages -- we didn't discuss those. :)

We reminisced about great grandparents and how long 4 generations is (or short depends on your perspective!) Also about God's timing -- which is always perfect no matter what we think. Our foresight is very short sighted but God sees from Abraham's time to Jesus' to today and way past now.

Are we taking time to LISTEN TO HIM??? Are we TRUSTING IN HIS PLAN??

Are you? Turn off the music (computer,tv,phone etc!) and really be quiet and listen today.
Enjoy God's words and be filled by His Spirit today!

Mom can I have lunch?

Mom "Sure you can"
son #3 "But aren't we fasting?"
Mom "We are but today is Saturday and since your brothers and sisters are at play practice we will do our FEAST on God's word later when they are home -- so you may chose some fruit, veggies and cheese"
son #3 "THANKS mom!" (I felt like I allowed him to eat a whole cake!)

It was a funny day running here and there but being able to leave the baby and youngest home with dad made it almost a treat to run around! Play practice, gymnastics, tea with a friend, helping a pregnancy help center move to a new building, library pick up, phone calls to Grandpa and Grandma :) baseball sign ups.... and somehow a roast ended up in the crock pot which was a disappointment to the children as Saturday night is usually pizza and movie night. Once we sat down however it tasted great! We did our FEAST after dinner and enjoyed a great family discussion and prayer time. Then onto haircuts, chores, showers and finally a MOVIE! (we are on a snoopy kick so it was a peanuts cartoon)

well here is today's FEAST:
Deuteronomy 26:16-19
¹⁶ The LORD your God commands you this day to follow these decrees and laws; carefully observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. ¹⁷ You have declared this day that the LORD is your God and that you will walk in his ways, that you will keep his decrees, commands and laws, and that you will obey him. ¹⁸ And the LORD has declared this day that you are his people, his treasured possession as he promised, and that you are to keep all his commands. ¹⁹ He has declared that he will set you in praise, fame and honor high above all the nations he has made and that you will be a people holy to the LORD your God, as he promised.

Matthew 5:43-48
⁴³"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' ⁴⁴But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? ⁴⁷And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? ⁴⁸Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

May we walk in HIS ways while we love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us TODAY!

Fridays FEAST

Well -- yes there is an element to fasting our lunch meal that does make life a bit easier. And I especially am finding it refreshing to not have so many dishes to clean up! however by early afternoon we are all hungry and vividly aware of our desire for earthly nourishment!!!

Today our FEAST was Ezekiel 18:21-28 ²¹ "But if a wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die. ²² None of the offenses he has committed will be remembered against him. Because of the righteous things he has done, he will live. ²³ Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?

²⁴ "But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked man does, will he live? None of the righteous things he has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness he is guilty of and because of the sins he has committed, he will die.

²⁵ "Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' Hear, O house of Israel: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust? ²⁶ If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin, he will die for it; because of the sin he has committed he will die. ²⁷ But if a wicked man turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life. ²⁸ Because he considers all the offenses he has committed and turns away from them, he will surely live; he will not die.
and Matthew 5:20-26

²⁰For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

²¹"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' ²²But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.

²³"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.

²⁵"Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. ²⁶I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.

Today after our reading we had a precious discussion about making peace with those we've wronged. The Spirit is so good at convicting my heart at just the right time --after much to harshly reprimanding one of the boys for spilling something after breakfast just this morning -- I was able to apologize. The flood that followed shocked me, why is it we don't expect the spirit to work? one child after another apologizing for wrongs they had done just this morning!

May the Holy Spirit work in your heart too, to break down any walls of sin that have begun.
Have a blessed weekend!

For such a time as this

Today's FEAST:
Esther 4:6-5:3 some verses that jumped out at me ~ vs 14 "For such a time as this..." am I ready to die for Gods kingdom?
Matthew 7:7-12 vs 8 " For everyone who asks receives, he who seeks finds and to him who knocks the door will be opened."

(my turn to catch some of the children feasting on God in their quiet time)

digging into God's word is FILLING

when we are quiet and in a HUNGRY place -- God will meet us

God I want to be a willing vessel yet so often my earthly flesh and doubt get in the way -- like Esther I want to say "BUT...". Help me to look up to YOU not around for confirmation or direction. May I ask YOU for the desires of my heart, in seeking YOU may I find the love of my heart and LORD I knock and desire YOU to come in!