Hello Mornings Summer (No Winter) Challenge and a Live Chat Party!

In December 2011, I wrote how in September 2011 I embarked on a very challenging journey with thousands of women over the world with Maximize Your Mornings by Kat, from Inspired to Action.  As many of you have read, it changed my life!

In my No More Sloppy Mornings posting, I challenged women in South Africa to join me for the Hello Mornings Challenge which started in January 2012.  The reaction was overwhelming. Forty ladies contacted me and joined me on the Hello Mornings Challenge. Over the past few months I learned some more South African ladies joined other groups over the world too.

The Hello Mornings Challenge ended the 14th of April, BUT there are more challenges for this year.  The Summer (Winter for South Africa) Hello Mornings Challenge will start the 14th of May and run to the 8th of July.  Many ladies indicated that they will continue with this challenge and have friends who either already joined the current Hello Mornings Challenge Facebook groups or want to join the groups.  We have two groups, an Afrikaans group and an English group.

But this in only part of what I actually want to share with you!  On Wednesday morning (2nd of May), at 3am (Yes! I know it is the middle of the night, but how exciting is that!) there is a Hello Mornings SpreeCast Live Party! Now if you are like me, you always feel you are missing out on exciting talks and gatherings of great Women over the World, since we are at the total opposite side of the world than America, where all the exciting meetings takes place. This is your chance to connect with an amazing group of women right where you are, in your living room or study and you don't even need to dress up!  

What is the SpreeCast Live Chat all about? 

Will I be able to do it with limited technology?

I'm, so glad you ask!  

You need a computer with speakers and internet connection, and you need to register before hand. That's it!  I joined the first SpreeCast a few weeks ago. It was so much fun, I hardly slept that night, I was to afraid I would oversleep. I set my computer up, with earphones, the night before and more than double checked the time difference to make sure I joined in at the right time. At 2:30am I woke up and by 2:45 as was ready to join. I could clearly hear our four guest speakers through my earphones and could see them talking from their studies/living rooms. Interaction from guests is possible by typing questions and comments. So if any of you are reluctant to join this SpreeCast Live Chat Party, please relax and go register now!

During this SpreeCast Party there will be LOADS of prizes and just after the Party, registration for the Summer (NO Winter) Hello Mornings Challenge will open.

So why don't you join me for this Live Chat, in the early hours of Wednesday the 2nd of May?  I'm surely not going to miss out on this opportunity to meet the Hello Mornings Team. You will hear the exciting plans for the Summer (No Winter) and Fall (No Spring) challenges and go back to sleep one hour later encouraged and uplifted to be part of a huge group of women all over the world, who keeps one another accountable as we work to develop the life giving morning habit of waking up early, spending time with God and being intentional about planning our days and exercising regularly!

Come please join me!

Much Love

Linnie

Discipleland

I recently recommitted to using Discipleland with the children.  

We were first introduced to Discipleland by Walk Through the Bible, more than 10 years ago, when CJ was 7 years, Heidi-Mari 4 years and Josua a baby.  

I was so sold out on Discipleland, we became the distributors in the Western Cape and well known churches in the Cape used it as their Sunday school curriculum.  Over the past few years, like many other things, I only did Discipleland periodically between difficult pregnancies and new born babies. 

The past few months I recommitted myself to wake up early for my children and having regular, first-thing-in-the-morning quite time with the Lord through the Hello Morning Challenges. I also longed to do more in raising disciples in my home and I still think Discipleland is the best Bible curriculum to raise disciples.

What sets Discipleland apart from any other Bible teaching curriculum is the colourful worksheets, hands-on approach and how it perfectly fits in with a homeschooling environment. CJ and Heidi-Mari’s first encounter with Discipleland was with Level 1‘s God at work for ages 6-8 (CJ 6years). They studied 12 different types of work in Bible times (eg. a farmer, potter, weaver, fisherman, metal worker) which encouraged them to have the proper attitude towards work, because work is a part of God’s plan for their lives. 

The builder was a very significant lesson during which we studied Nehemiah rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. We lived in a newly developed area and all around us homes were in the building process, which made the lesson very practical. 

In one of the activities CJ had to write down words to describe how God was building his character. He was very much convinced to speak the truth and being obedient. The extend learning activities was building a wall with biscuits, bread sticks or straight pretzels. I made them some chocolate icing and they had so much fun building their walls and then ate it.  

Christo and CJ also built a Bible time house out of matches.

During the Potter lesson, the Bible story was Jeremiah and the Potter (Jer. 18).  The extend learning activities suggested we visit a pottery class and made their own clay pot. I arranged a once off pottery class at an Art studio, during which the lady showed them how clay is worked and she helped the children mold clay on a spinning wheel - lots of fun! It was so practical to understand how we are clay in the Potter’s Hands and the importance of a soft heart. 

One of the activities was to draw a picture of yourself that shows your with a ‘soft heart’ toward God. This was in our first year of homeschooling and we did a lesson a week and didn’t need anything else. We discovered not only God’s work, but real life.  Though Discipleland is English and our mother tongue Afrikaans, CJ, who was the only who could write at that stage, wrote in Afrikaans in the spaces provided, as far as possible, and I told the stories all in Afrikaans and read out of the Afrikaans Bible. 

Since 10 years ago, the curriculum exploded and they now have an amazing range available.  It starts from as early as birth to 15/16 years old. For my little group of 2-8 years old, I’m currently using the Pre School Curriculum for ages 2-5. 

In this curriculum they don’t need to write anything. Each quarter’s workbook has interactive worksheets in 12 lessons and an additional 13 lesson for reviewing. 

Each of the 12 lessons includes four pages of colourful, age-appropriate activities, including fun with stickers. The Teacher Guide has a wealth of ideas of guiding you through prayer, lesson summaries, suggested beginning activities, even snack ideas to fit the theme of the lesson, suggestions on how to rehearse the lesson memory verse, 

a session on Act-it-out/dress up and multiple additional hands-on activities to choose from if you need some more ‘learn by doing’ activities.  

In the back there are even  colouring pages for each lesson.

In the Pre School Curriculum you can choose between the Old Testament and New Testament series. Each will take at least 2 years to work through. In the Old Testament series children will learn who God is, what He is like and what He can do, additionally they will acquire an overview of the Old Testament in more than 100 stories. In the New Testament series they will discover Jesus in His love, His powerful messages and amazing abilities. Through the more than 100 Bible stories they will gain a basic understanding of the New Testament. Something I only got to know in my adult years while doing the Walk Through the Old and New Testament seminars.

I didn’t start at the beginning of the Pre School curriculum, but with Quarter E about the last few days up to Jesus’ death on the cross, his resurrection, walk with His friends and sending Peter to teach other People.  

It is not necessary to do the quarters chronologically, as they all stand alone. Although that way it will have the most lasting and complete effect on their knowledge of the Bible. PreSchool, through 16 Quarters, as well as Core Bible, through 6 levels, covers the complete Bible which ensure a solid knowledge of the Bible, and a sure personal encounter with the Fullness of God and His plan for their life, by the time they are 15 years of age. 

The level 6 series (age 11-14) is all about Walking with God and developing essential disciplines to sustain spiritual growth.

We chose the quarter on Jesus Triumphs for Us, since it was now Easter. When this quarter is finished we’ll do God Leads Us, starting with Moses in the basket, through the plagues, the Passover, the miraculous opening of the Red Sea, the ten commandments, up to exploring Canaan. This way I can link the Passover with Easter and make them grab the significance of Jesus the True Lamb for our sins. 

This week we did the story about The Two Coins and Jesus watching people giving money in the Temple.

On the first day we did the ever popular dress-up, and had so much fun.  I told them the story and they then acted it out.

  

The next day I told the story again and we did the first activity in the worksheet, playing with stickers.

The third day we did a fun activity with coins.  We talked about different coins and they learned to distinguished between rand and cent coins.  They could recognized R1, R2 and R5, as well as 20c and 50c. Following that we did a crayon/coin rubbing.  

We also finished another fun activity on the worksheet of how their offerings can help God’s work.

The fourth day we did an additional activity of carrot stamping, while I make sure they:

Know - a poor widow gave small coins to God, all the money she had; 

Feel - eager to give money for God’s work;

Do - cheerfully bring an offering to help with God’s work

In every lesson you’ll find the Learner Target in Know, Feel and Do, which helps me identify the key Bible truths and response goals for my children.

Currently there are no distributors for Discipleland in South Africa and I had to order my Discipleland on line, but it arrived within 14 days, in excellent condition!  I would encourage you to visit their website and see for yourself what a great tool this is to raise disciples in your home!

With much love

Linnie

"You shall teach them diligently to your children, 

and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, 

when you walk by the way, 

when you lie down, 

and when you rise up."

Deut. 6:7

In Store Talk and Webinar on Diets!

Do you find yourself lost in a minefield of dietary advice?

Have you tried everything to loose weight, but are struggling, or to keep your weight down seems impossible?

This Monday evening, the 23rd of April, my husband Christo Lues will give a life-changing In-store talk, combine with a Webinar, on Diets, to unravel the mysteries, myths, beliefs and facts about what diet is good for you.

Some of the topics include discussions on:

Belief Based Diets, Vegetarian and Raw Liets, Weight loss, Crash Diets, Medical Diets and (much) more.

Christo will share insights he discovered during more than a decade of clinical consultations. He will give practical advise on how to follow an eating style for life for you, that will keep you healthy, full of energy and help manage your weight.

If you would like to attend or tune in via live webinar then click here...

Talk Details:

Monday 23 April 2012

Starting time 19:00 Sharp

Talk is for 60-90 minutes, depending on the number of questions

Much love

Linnie Lues

Another Lindt Chocolate Course

On Wednesday Heidi-Mari and I did another chocolate course at the Lindt Chocolate Studio in Cape Town.  Here I wrote about our first course on Chocolate decorations and how it triggered an inner evaluation in me of myself. 

Wednesday’s course was on how to make Hand Made Truffles.  

We made all kinds of delicate ganaches (with Lindt’s amazing recipes), 

learned how to use a piping bag like a pro 

and played with our hands in chocolate, coconut flakes and icing sugar, 

while decorating the truffles.

A chocolate truffle is the name given to a ball of soft, velvety smooth and sumptuously rich to taste combination of chocolate, butter and/or cream (called a “ganache”), covered with chocolate and rolled into a coating, such as cocoa powder, nuts or icing sugar. But the most interesting piece of information was where the name truffle originates from. I didn’t have a clue. The name comes from the resemblance to the edible fungi known as a truffle, a delicacy found underground on or near the roots of trees. 

Source

I went and ‘googled’ underground truffle. “Often called the diamond of the culinary world, a truffle is a rare, edible mushroom that is considered to be a delicacy due to its intense aroma and characteristic flavor. They have a firm texture and are most often shaven on top of food before serving, although they can also be used to infuse flavor into dishes.” Well, this was so interesting. It just seems like you can learn so much through chocolate!

And this is what makes me so excited about home schooling! Experiencing real life situations of learning, in a bubble of love and support of parental interest and guidance.  

The blessing of doing chocolate courses, bake in the kitchen, doing scrapbooking and making cards with my daughter is more than I could comprehend.  It keeps us together; make me keep track with her emotions, struggles, hopes and dreams; kindle her trust; allowing me to speak into her life, without being pushy.

Without these common grounds, I most propably would not able to share in the fruitful harvest of my daughter’s teenage season. 

What is your children’s interests? If you’re not sharing one right now, pray and seek the Lord to show you and send opportunities your way, to nurture those interests. He is faithful to show you a way!


With love
Linnie

Having the Ultimate Vacation in Season

We have just returned from an amazingly blessed 10 day Knysna vacation. 

For the past 8 years we had our annual vacation in Knysna in the beautiful Garden Route at the East coast of South Africa. We just love Knysna and with every vacation we made such wonderful memories. With our first vacation in August 2003, Danika was only 6 weeks old. 

2003

It was our first vacation in 5 years, and marked the end of a severe pruning season in our lives. Both CJ and Josua celebrated their birthday’s during that holiday, which added to the memories. 

2003

The second time in April 2005, I was 32 weeks pregnant with Andrew. 

2005

It was the first time we stayed at Brenton on Sea, in the most beautiful two storage log cabin, with a spacious main bedroom and a balcony over looking the ocean!

2005

Christo and I spent hours in the evening on that balcony, sharing heart to heart.  The following three vacations in October 2008, October 2009 and October 2010 we had 3 more babies and we celebrated David’s birthday on each of these vacations. 

2009

2010

Each time we stayed in the same log cabin on ground level with plenty of space for little ones to play around.  

We built on relationships, established family traditions, made heaps of memories and had lots of fun.  But over the past three years one thing was clear - we planned our vacations for the wrong time of the year! 

2008

October was only the beginning of spring and we often weren’t able to go down to the beach due to wind or cold rainy days.

2010

Baby Daniel in the Ergo carried in front of me, wrapped in blankets - 2008

So after our last vacation the end of October 2010, beginning of November 2010, we decided to change the time for our vacation to March.  It meant we had to wait 16 months before we could go on holiday again, and it was tough.  For two Decembers we saw people planning, packing and leaving for holidays, while we had to stay at home. Especially the little ones couldn’t understand why we couldn’t be on vacation on David’s 5th birthday and for our older ones it seemed like time came to a stand still and March would never come! Christo and I had to ignore our exhaustion and just keep in mind the waiting is for the better. 

All things came to those who wait and all of a sudden our vacation had arrived!

And what a blessed time!  Is it possible that a different season can have such a positive impact on our holiday? The weather was absolutely perfect.  During our previous vacations  we would have 2, maybe 3 sparkling sunshine, no wind mornings on the beach. With near anxiety we would follow the weather forecast for each day. Even though there would be no wind on some days, the water would still be freezing cold (remember it is the Atlantic ocean, water is coming from the South Pole!).  When we did get a beautiful day, we would be reluctant to leave the beach after two hours and every time end up with a couple of children sunburnt.

This year we had exactly one day of rain, and though it was raining, it wasn’t cold! We still followed the weather forecast daily, and with joy we could visit the beach every single day, for wind-still, gorgeous days! 

The little ones played for hours on the beautiful beach in the shallow waters 

and the older children and daddy rode the waves with their buggy boards. 

Even I had the time of my life swimming in the sea for the first time in years! I had bittersweet memories of all the vacations I had as a child, during which my dad and I played in the waves for hours.  

We had so little wind, the older children only had one afternoon in the whole 10 days they could fly their kites. 

The one day we had rain, I was thankful to just stay at home and have a break from walking down to the beach - can you believe it!   For the first time in my life I came back from a vacation with an even tan, not to mention the children’s golden brown tans and not one of us got sunburn.  Each day, after we came back from the beach, we took a swim in the swimming pool. 

In the past it was just to cold!  Not once did I need to rush crying, ice cold babies back from the beach, to get them in a warm bath!

I woke early every morning to spend time with the Lord, read a little, enjoy my peaceful surroundings with the sound of breaking waves, before my tribe arose! And I had time to think. I ponder a lot on seasons… God gave seasons.  Seasons has a very specific purpose on earth. We all know the influence of seasons on plant life. Every year I experience it first hand in my vegetable garden.  Growing specific vegetables in the right season is so much easier than trying to grow them to out of season. 

I realized we don’t know the rhythm of seasons any more.  Thinking back to ancient days, people’s survival depended on their reading the signs of the seasons correctly. They didn’t value dates as much as we do and didn’t plan their lives according to the name of a month. The farmers had to observe the seasons and act accordingly, with their harvest and their live stock. For the past few generations it changed… We don’t even need seasons any more for growing all kinds of vegetables. Hot houses and genetically modified seed, make it possible to grow almost anything, in all climates, all year long. Add to that cold storage of fruit and vegetables and we can have any fruit or vegetable at any time of the year.

I remember years ago when we just moved to Cape Town, we eagerly wanted to go and pick strawberries on Christo’s birthday in the beginning of October, but the strawberries weren’t ready for harvesting yet. These days, you can go pick strawberries as early as September! 

The same applies to live stock.  Since we buy organic eggs from a local supplier, it is fascinating that in nature, egg’s availability isn’t plentiful all year round. During mid winter and mid summer, it is either to cold or to hot for the chickens, who roams around in the open, to lay eggs, and their production drops off during this time of the year.  We’re not quite aware of this when we just walk into the supermarket and take our tray of eggs off the shelf… Interesting, the poultry industry become so intense, indoor broilers take only 5-6 weeks to be ready for slaughter, due to antibiotics and growth hormones, in comparison with free range broilers which take 8 weeks and organic broilers 12 weeks.  The more, the quicker became the motto.

Our generation are not used to be restricted by seasons, anymore. Have it all in every season. Demand it all in every season.  

But there is a prize tag to this. God gave seasons for a reason.  We read in Ecclesiastes their is a time for everything.  Yes, with today’s technology it is possible to have everything all year round, but with great toil, extreme financial input, and catastrophic impact on our health. When we do get to think about it, is all this really necessary?  Wouldn’t we notice, just like with our vacation, that it is just so much easier if we stay in season. Like with fruit and vegetables make peace with whatever is not available for a season, looking forward to the season when it is available again.  Be satisfied with the timespan God intend animals to grow. Stop interfering and changing everything.

I couldn’t help but notice the correlation between being content with nature as God made it and being content with life’s seasons as God intend for human beings. In the same way we demand nature to produce it all in every season, we do in our life journey.  We want it all, all the time. People don’t sacrifice for certain seasons in their lives, anymore. People don’t even know the seasons in their lives anymore, and sadly don’t know what the long term effect is of wanting it all, all the time, not living in their appropriate seasons anymore.

Just think with me for a moment:

Young adults don’t practice patience in controlling their bodies, living in a season of waiting  for the right partner anymore. They have all the means and the media educate them to just live by their feelings, lusts, and rights, but with sad consequences on their purity;

Young married couples believe they first have to climb the ladder of success, postpone their time for having children, do all these amazing, worthless, worldly things and then when they eventually want children, the only thing you can take with you into eternity, their bodies has been so influenced by their precaution to have babies, that they can’t have them anymore, and have to spend hundreds of thousand of rands/dollars to try and have babies;

Or the Young married couple do have children, but instead of sacrificing for and enjoying the season of nurturing and caring for their little ones, leaving worldly worthless things behind,and investing their time and gifts into these precious ones, they rush off to earn more money, abandoning their babies and little ones.  The result - a generation of abandoned children, who crave attention and love, leaving parents with undisciplined children whom soon become only a liability instead of a blessing. Raising children is far to involved to be a part time job!

What about our teens?  This is the season when parents with patient, unconditional, self sacrificing love should invest hours of their time, gifts and interest to fine tune their young adults giving them life skills and train them for life.  But we don’t value this season of spending time with our precious blooming young adults. We send them off and reap a harvest of rebellious teens who don’t know their worth to the community, who indulge in an immoral, foolish life in an attempt to numb their emotional needs.

Parents believe they can have their one, two, maybe three children, so that soon they can be back living/climbing the ladder of success. They cannot waste their time and talents on a season of taking care of children, while the world is calling.

Then when people reach the age of 40, a season during which they should enjoy the fruit of years of their labour, investing into their children, seeing their children come to maturity and enjoying their own maturity gained over the years by trails and hardship, we only see a generation of bitter and discontent adults. Adults frustrated, saddened and disappointed by what they see in their children. Children who don’t have time for parents in their lives, who run off to have a life of their own, on their own terms. After all that was the example they got while they were young, the way they were raised by their parents. Parents who run off to have their lives on their terms while taking care of them on the side.

The most heart breaking season for me to observe is the senior people.  This privileged older generation who should be crowned by their grandchildren, who despise children and the younger generation.  There is no reconciliation between these generations.  

What difference would it make if we could be content in the season we are in and seek wisdom and truth in these seasons? Then it would be so much easier to move on in seasons and embrace each new season. Now we live out of season, seeking to do things in one season that belongs to another, and at the end of the day we live in regret and bitterness.

In what season are you? Are you enjoying the season you are in?  Do you know what will bring you satisfaction and joy in this season of your life or are you listening to the Enemy of our souls and his lies and living a life out of season with a low to no increase and harvest?

I want to encourage you to identify the season you are in, search God’s Word for His will for this season in your life, and then walk in it regardless of what the World, even the Church presents as the norm for this season of your life.  

The satisfaction of and fruit on your labour in season is more than you can comprehend, dear Mother. No one can take your place in raising your little or older blessings! You have all the talents and wisdom to take care of your children. There is nothing greater that you could be doing in the whole World.

One dear Woman once sent me a letter and I want to share part of it with you:

“For 100 years, Noah did the same old thing - hammered, nailed and kept on building his ark. He didn’t have time to do all the things that everyone else was doing. He just kept on slogging and being faithful, doing the same thing every day for all those years - but in doing so he condemned the world. Yes, he changed the world because he stuck with the job he was given to do! He changed the world by doing the same thing day after day after day. And at the same time he saved his family!”

You may feel that you are just doing the same old thing every day, but as you are faithful to raise godly children, and build an ark for the saving of your house, you will condemn the world around you.  You are accomplishing far more than those who go out to seek a worldly career to the detriment to their highest calling.  Your influence goes on into the generations and even into eternity. 

Isn’t it amazing that our daily faithfulness in the home will have its impact on earth and also for eternity?  It can change the world! We have to remember that bearing and raising children is a long-term investment - in fact, an eternal one! In a culture where everyone wants everything instantaneously all the time, we must learn to think long term - for the future!

So rejoice and be glad in your high and noble calling in this Mothering Season of your life!

You are changing the World!”

With much love

Linnie