Remembering 2009!

It was a year filled to the brim with pleasant, unexpected surprises. It is with joy and great appreciation to my Heavenly Father and Provider, that I'm looking back on 2009!

The Lord unexpectedly led me to start this blog in early January! For 3 years I led a `Mothers’ Encouraging Evening` once a month.  

The children and I would cook a meal for the 10 plus mothers, and afterwards I would share what I’ve learned from Above Rubies and Whole Hearted Ministries.  When David was a few months old, I realized that my life was too busy.  It took me hours to prepare the teachings for these evenings and I was neglecting my little blessings.  Thus I stopped these wonderful, encouraging fellowship evenings at the end of 2007.  Christo and I both had confirmation that it was a wonderful, blessed season, but that this season was at an end, though I would miss the sharing and teaching very much.  Then during Christmas 2008, I was invited to read the blog of one of my mentors and overnight (as usual) the Lord laid it on my heart to start this blog, even giving me the name!  Thank you Lord for entrusting me with this blog, I only want to glorify your name through it.

Thank you to my encouraging husband and dear friend Hazel who checks the grammar and sentence construction of my blog. I’m an Afrikaans girl from the Free State and English is not my strong point, but thanks to your corrections, I’m learning more than ever in my life.

Through my blog I am myself so encouraged by the revelations from the Lord and I met wonderful blog-friends!  Thank you to all my new Blog-friends I met during this year!  I'm still surprised by your daily e-mails, comments and the people I meet in person who read my blog and find it encouraging.  Many of you have your own blogs and I love to read your blogs and learn, get encouraged and be inspired.

As I look back at my family-life over this year, I can only smile and thank the Lord for His faithfulness.  In February I've turned 40 

and two months later I was pregnant with baby #8. This pregnancy is such a blessing and we are now in great anticipation for his/her arrival within the next 20 days!

Our homeschooling has taken on a totally different routine.  Christo took over a lot of CJ’s teaching, they excel in their creation based science and won the Apologia’s Science Question of the Week competition twice! 

During the end of 2008 I was introduced to lapbooking and suddenly had a fun tool to involve my little ones much more. 

How I love to see their enthusiasm during this informal learning process.

Heidi-Mari and Josua also made a few lapbooks 

and started two books in the Young Explorer series. 

I believe homeschooling is learning through real life and so many of real life is happening in our home through taking care of the young ones, giving a hand in Dad’s business, working in our vegetable garden and just keeping up with daily chores. There were many days that we didn’t do the three R’s, a unit study (through lapbooking) or science. Many days they just played and since five of my seven children are under ten, playing is still very much part of our daily life!

CJ experienced miracles in his horse riding. God provided him with a horse, Silverball. 

He and Silverball won several rosettes at cross country- and show jumping competitions. 

The Lord also used Silverball and the horse-riding to build character into CJ as we are experiencing hardship by the end of this year and testing of our faith!

During the year the Lord provided for the sending out of three issues of the Above Rubies magazine and we could bring encouragement to 4000 families in South Africa and neighboring countries. Every time we sent out the magazine my children and husband worked alongside me to finish packing and posting within two weeks!

One of my biggest achievements for this year was, starting my own vegetable garden! 

Oh, how I love to sneak out in the early morning to check on my veggies.  But without Christo’s approval, making finances available and CJ’s physical hard work, it would not have been possible!

   

Thank you Lord for your Hand of blessing on my vegetable garden.  I’ve also experienced how the Lord revealed amazing truths to me through my vegetable garden.

There are still so many things I would like to share about this year, I would love to thank my little ones for the joy they bring me every day, the help of my older children, especially when I am resting on the couch or finishing a posting. I want to thank my husband for all the love and encouragement I’ve received from him and his trust in me in teaching our children. Whenever I get discouraged or worried about not doing enough in homeschooling, he is the one to give me perspective and get me focused again on the important stuff. 

Last of all I want to thank the Lord for a very big unexpected surprise I got on Tuesday. The computer I work on for researching homeschooling material, administrating Above Rubies and my blogging, is ten years old and very, very slow.  We planned on buying me a new computer, preferably a laptop, so I can use it any where in the house, but I knew of so many more important needs in our home, that I put the prospect of getting one in the near future, out of my mind.  The last few months I really got frustrated with the extra time this slow computer was taking up every time I worked on it, I asked my Heavenly Father that if possible, please to miraculously provide for a new computer, but that His will be done!

On Tuesday afternoon, when I woke up from my afternoon nap with the little ones, there was a gift box wrapped in golden gift wrap under the christmas tree.  The little ones and I, spotted it immediately and I could see the anticipation on my older children’s faces.  They handed me the box and I couldn’t help but wonder if this is what I was praying for so intensely - but that was such an impossible thought.  It was one of the biggest moments in my life, when I unwrapped the box. I had an Apple laptop on my lap!! I have no words to describe the emotions I experienced.  

Christo was able to find an amazing deal online and his colleges (whom he consulted to check it out) all asked the question: why was it so much cheaper than the normal retail price?  Well, I’m not surprised, I know why.  When God moves, you can expect miracles in every day life.  Thank you Lord for being my Heavenly Father and Provider.  Only You are worthy to take the Universes’ Throne!

May you experience the love, care, truthfulness, guidance, provision and faithfulness of our Heavenly Father in abundance during 2010.

This is my prayer for you:

14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Eph 3:14

Lots of love

Linnie