This graduation ceremony was one of the best I've ever attended! It's very much like a church service, with special music, a song including the congregation, and a message from Pastor Chappell to the graduates. Then the fun of receiving diplomas begins - and with 200 students, it takes a while! 

After the diplomas are presented, there are several awards presented to the students. Most of the student awards are given during chapel the day before graduation. Beth was included in Who's Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities, and her grandparents were there to see her receive that honour, while we were still traveling. 

During the graduation ceremony, the highlight of the awards is the President's Award, given to one man and one woman graduate who each showed extraordinary servant-leadership, which is a central theme of WCBC's training. Beth was this year's woman recipient! That was a highlight of her graduation for me!

I'll have more pictures later of the rest of our family, but I wanted to share the pictures of Beth with you today. There's a caption with each picture explaining what's happening in that pic. Enjoy!

In Acts 10, Peter is faced with the dilemma of taking the good news of the Gospel to a Gentile man. As he hesitates, he is confronted with the vision of a sheet let down from heaven filled with all manner of unclean animals which God commands him to eat. God had a reason for using this vision, but Peter is astounded that he, a devout Jew, is being asked to eat unclean animals! He replies, "Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean." 

Peter was resisting the very will of God, holding on to the old way, even though God is showing him that there's now a new way: salvation is not just for the Jews anymore; it's also for the Gentiles.

Before you dismiss something you feel God might be asking you to do, ask yourself a few questions first.

1. Does this new thing violate Scripture? If it's something that will definitely violate God's direct command, then don't do it. However, if there is no command against it, maybe you should give it more consideration. Peter didn't have the completed Scriptures like we do. God Himself was speaking to him. And you know what? God Himself speaks to us today - through His Word.
   
2. Have I sought godly counsel? The Bible is clear that there is safety in a multitude of counsellors (Proverbs 11:14; 15:22; 24:6). You won't go wrong by asking godly, trustworthy people what they think about your new venture. Choose people whose advice will be scriptural, and don't just go to people you know will agree with you. Seek scriptural advice!
   
3. Have I prayed about this new thing? Ask God to guide you. Ask Him to put a check in your spirit if it's the wrong thing to do. Ask for confirmation from Him that it's the right thing to do. He will answer!

Using the three guidelines above, don't hesitate to do a new or different task. Obey Him! Don't let the old hinder the new that God has for you!

What "old way" is holding you back from obeying God by going the "new way" that He commands? 

What something is God prodding you to do that seems impossible, because "I have never . . .?" 

If I live in a house of spotless beauty with everything in its place,
but have not love,
I am a housekeeper, not a homemaker.


If I have time for waxing, polishing, and decorative achievements,
but have not love,
my children learn cleanliness, ­not godliness.


If I scream at my children for every infraction,
and fault them for every mess they make,
but have not love,
my children become people-pleasers,­ not obedient children. 


Love leaves the dust in search of a child's laugh.
Love smiles at the tiny fingerprints on a newly cleaned window.
Love wipes away the tears before it wipes up the spilled milk.
Love picks up the child before it picks up the toys. 


Love accepts the fact that I am the ever-present "mommy,"
the taxi-driver to every childhood event,
the counsellor when my children fail or are hurt. 
Love crawls with the baby, walks with the toddler, and runs with the child,
then stands aside to let the youth walk into adulthood. 


Before I became a mother I took glory in my house of perfection.
Now I glory in God's perfection of my child.
All the projections I had for my house and my children
have faded away into insignificance,
And what remain are the memories of my kids. 


Now there abides in my home scratches on most of the furniture,
dishes with missing place settings,
and bedroom walls full of stickers, posters and markings,
But the greatest of all is the Love
that permeates my relationships with my children.


Adapted by Jim Fowler

Just a quick reminder that the West Coast Baptist College graduation ceremony is this morning at 9:00 a.m. PDT. If you're interested in watching, you can see it live on lbclive.tv. We're here celebrating with our girl!

See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Ephesians 5:15,16

These verses are favourites of mine! In their context, their primary application doesn't apply to housework, but I believe that we can make application to our homes.

The word circumspectly means "cautious." We're to live carefully; maybe you could even say on purpose.

Live purposefully.

Buy back your time.

To apply this to our homemaking . . .

• Household routines help us to walk carefully, on purpose, through our days. When we get up in the morning, a routine means we have a plan in place to start our day, and at night we have a plan to wrap up our day and prepare for the next. Afternoon routines can help transition from the morning to afternoon and dinner time.

Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Proverbs 4:25, 26

• Cleaning routines also help us to redeem (buy back) our time. Following a routine each day for cleaning up the kitchen after meals helps me to clean up in 15 minutes right after a meal, rather than taking 2 hours the next day because I've let it pile up for 3 meals. Let's see . . . that's 45 minutes today, in 15-minute increments (after each meal), compared to 120 minutes (and a lot of stress) tomorrow. Just one routine - cleaning up after each meal - saves me an hour and 15 minutes to do something else, playing the piano, visiting with a friend, reading, studying, sewing, blogging . . . any number of things that I'd rather be doing than cleaning my kitchen! That one routine redeems 75 minutes of my time!          I've also learned that having a routine for larger cleaning tasks can save time. For example, doing all the dusting on one day, the mopping on another day, and the bathrooms on another can save having to do them all at once. 

She looketh well to the ways of her household, and earth not the bread of idleness. Proverbs 31:27 

What kind of routines do you have around your home? Please share them with us in the comments. I love to read about how others implement routines!

Beth will be graduating from West Coast Baptist College with a degree in secondary education on Wednesday, May 6th, at 9:00 a.m. PDT. If you're interested in watching the ceremony, you can see it live at lbclive.tv.

We're excited to see all of our children and spend a bit of time with them, especially at our traditional graduation dinner on Wednesday evening. Beth will be coming home with us to spend the summer, and in August, we'll drive her to Minnesota to begin her first teaching job. She'll be on the high-school faculty of First Baptist School of Rosemount, MN.

I have a few posts scheduled to publish while we're away, and I'll have internet access each evening as we stop in hotel rooms along the way. We'd appreciate your prayers as we travel! See you in a week!

Welcome to my weekly feature, Worth the Read, where I share with you the things I've read this week that have blessed me, inspired me, or convicted me. So grab a cuppa and join me. I hope you'll find something that you feel is worth your reading time!





The Rare Jewel of Christian Commitment - An excellent article on the rarity of commitment among Christians today (probably throughout history, too!). Timely and helpful!

How to be Productive According to the Bible - If you enjoy learning how to be more productive, you will like this article. Plain truth from the Bible about true productivity.

Don't Lose the Moments in the Middle of the Busyness - A fellow Etsy seller, who has created a successful business, reminds us to remember to keep the most important things the most important things.

Why Nobody Can Rationally Deny Jesus' Resurrection - "Is Jesus’ resurrection believable? Absolutely! In a court of law, the body of evidence is BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT!" By Pastor Cary Schmidt

Wings Like a Dove and a Back Like a Duck - "You can take a lot of criticism from the outside—you expect the world not always to like you. But when a Christian attacks—especially a friend—it hurts deeply." Advice intended for missionary women, but very helpful to anyone who experiences criticism and hurt. It was a great encouragement to me!

Did something resonate with you with you this week? Let us know in the comments!

Several years ago, I wrote down 90 things I could get done in 15 minutes. 

No, not all 90 in 15 minutes! 

Ninety different things that would take me 15 minutes or less to accomplish. 

I was trying to get to 100, but I started bogging down, so I decided 90 was good enough. 

Here's my list . . . 

1. Have a cup of coffee with my husband 
2. Sweep and mop my kitchen floor
3. Read a couple of chapters (or more) in the Bible
4. Read a chapter in a book
5. Mix up a cake or brownie recipe
6. Make my bed and pick up the clutter in my bedroom
7. Swish and swipe my bathroom
8. Clean my bath tub
9. Clean the shower surround on my bath tub
10. Clean out the fridge
11. Clean out the freezer
12. Write a pantry or freezer inventory
13. Make a menu
14. Make a grocery list
15. Dust all the furniture in my house with a Swiffer Duster
16. Vacuum, sweep, or Swiffer my entire house – just the middles
17. Declutter one cabinet
18. Declutter a bookshelf, maybe more
19. Clear my desk
20. Declutter a file cabinet
21. Start or reboot a load of laundry
22. Fold and put away a load of laundry
23. Iron three of my husband’s dress shirts
24. Iron three of my blouses and/or skirts
25. Water plants
26. Write a blog post
27. Write a card to someone and address it
28. Make an appointment for the doctor, hairdresser, and/or dentist
29. Clean the windows in a room
30. Clean my guest bath
31. Vacuum the living room furniture
32. Take a bubble bath
33. Manicure my nails
34. Cut fabric for a quilt block
35. Pluck my eyebrows
36. Call or text one of my children
37. Put my feet up!
38. Clear out my e-mail inbox
39. Clean the baseboards in a room
40. Clean a light fixture
41. Sweep the front porch or deck
42. Sweep the carport
43. Make a card to send to someone
44. Pin a pattern to fabric to cut out
45. Cut out a pattern
46. Sew something small or a few seams of something bigger
47. Chat with a friend
48. Sew on a button
49. Hem a skirt or pair of pants
50. Cross stitch
51. Have a healthy snack
52. Grill a cheese sandwich
53. Make a smoothie
54. Cuddle with my husband
55. Call a sibling
56. Load or unload the dishwasher 
57. Wash a sink of dishes
58. Wipe down my kitchen counters
59. Wipe my cabinet doors
60. Wipe down my fridge and stove
61. Wash the trash can
62. Empty the trash from each room
63. Organize our DVDs
64. Organize photos
65. Rub my husband's back
66. Clean a set of mini blinds
67. Take a walk
68. Clear out my pen & pencil cup
69. Clear out my mail holder
70. Wash my face and brush my teeth
71. Put a meal in the crockpot for dinner
72. Wash and chop vegetables for supper
73. Start a recipe of bread
74. Wipe down the washer and dryer
75. Organize craft supplies
76. Reorganize my dresser drawers
77. Declutter my night stands
78. Wipe down canisters and small appliances
79. Clean all the mirrors in the house
80. File papers
81. Clean out the car and wipe the dash
82. Clean a ceiling fan or box fan
83. Clean or change the heating and/or air-conditioning filter
84. Clean the lampshades on all the lamps
85. Clean one wall, maybe more
86. Reorganize under the kitchen or bathroom sink
87. Mop a bathroom floor
88. Change the sheets on my bed
89. Wipe window sills
90. Call a friend to chat

Ok, so this was a bit extreme! I just wanted to challenge myself to see what can be done in small bits of time. Maybe you saw a thing or two you could do in 15 minutes! ;) 


What can you get done in 15 minutes?

Self-discipline is something I struggle with often. In fact, on a recent Wednesday afternoon, I needed a nap . . . and when I take a nap, my day can get derailed quickly. I set my alarm for 30 minutes, then immediately dropped off to sleep. When the alarm rang 30 minutes later, I hit snooze. More than once. Then, when I did finally manage to keep my eyes open, I reached over for my iPad, just to take a look at Instagram and check my email. Yeah. You know how that goes.

An hour later, I realized I had to get supper going so we could get to church . . . and the frustration snowballed from there. Not only did I get nothing done that afternoon, but I added unnecessary stress to my life on a busy day by not ruling my spirit well.

The struggle is real, y'all.

But we don't have to live in defeat! We can - and should - triumph over our old nature. If you've been saved, you have the Holy Spirit residing in your heart, and He desires to produce the fruit of the Spirit in your life. Self-discipline is part of that fruit (the King James Version uses the word 'temperance' in several places with the meaning of self-discipline).

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." Galatians 5:22, 23

Here are five biblical ways to build self-discipline:

• Pray. The first thing you can do about a lack of self-discipline is to pray about it. David prayed about his mouth: "Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips." Psalm 141:3 God wants us to come to Him with our needs, especially those things we're fighting against in our lives. Ask God to help you become more focused on what needs to be done, or to remind you to stop doing one thing and start doing another.  God welcomes us to "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not." Jeremiah 33:3
• Change your mind. By changing your mind, I mean to renew it biblically by reading, meditating on, and memorizing Scripture. "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Romans 12:2 "And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;" Ephesians 4:23 "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." John 17:17 As you read your Bible daily, make note of any verses that could apply to self-discipline and overcoming the sin nature. Write them in your Scripture notebook, memorize them, read them over and over. Saturate your mind with the Word of God, and your thinking will begin to change; your mind will be changed.
• Change one habit at a time. Our lives are made up of habits, whether good or bad. Begin to develop new habits. Replace old habits with new ones. "That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." Ephesians 4:22-24 "And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;" 2 Peter 1:5
• Make a plan. Learn to recognize what gets you off-track in relation to discipline, and plan ways to avoid those situations. Proverbs 4:25, 26 teaches, "Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established." Be the boss of your day, rather than letting it boss you!
• Don't give up. There will be setbacks. There will be days that you can't seem to get anything accomplished and all you want to do is veg out on the couch. Don't let those days discourage you! "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:13, 14

Do you struggle with self-discipline like I do? What are some ways you have overcome the old nature? Share in the comments!