Day 1/ Week 2 - Stepping Up

Hi, everyone! I hope you did not feel too overwhelmed when I sent seven days at one time!!! Carol is out of town for a month and is unable to send e-mails. So, they accumulated on me. Anyway, I was hoping they would last you throughout the week of the fourth until we could all get settled back into our routines....not that anything about summer is "routine". I don't know about you, but the chaos of summer can often be a little exhausting!!!
I ask you to pray for me today because I am struggling with a "parenting day". I am just having one of those days when I feel like the worst mother ever entrusted to raise children!!! After a lot of praying and soul searching, Brian and I had to come to the realization that Gaston Christian was becoming out of our reach financially and we needed to look at other options....talk about a breaking heart! We have loved Gaston Christian since the day we first set foot on the campus. With the reality of lifelong medical bills for me looming over us, there is only so much one man can do for his family. I have watched my husband work himself to death over the past nine years to give us a wonderful life that allowed me to stay home with our children. Then, it moved into me staying home with one in private school. I planned to go back to work when Ridge entered private school to help cover the cost. Yet, life planned otherwise and here we are. Watching Brian doing everything he could to make ends meet while staying paid up on medical bills and footing the bill for private school was just too much for me to bear. So, I asked him to pray about taking them out and making some changes in our lives. I have never felt that the education in public school was not up to par. As a matter of fact, I often found myself worrying about the opposite (which isn't true either). I just wanted our kids to be in a Christ centered environment when I couldn't be with them!!! Wow! The transition just seems to be hanging over me way more than I expected. The decision is made though, and it is time to move forward!!! God is good all of the time, and He will be good in this situation. My heart just aches for my boys and all of the adjustments they have had to make in their lives because of me. As a mom, I always expected it to be the other way around. I am watching two amazing little boys deal with their mom living with a chronic, life-threatening disease and now having to adjust to a new environment. Please, please, please keep them in your prayers!!! I know we will all be okay....it is just this transition period that is so tough!!!

Enough about me!!! Let's get on with our Bible study so we can be reminded of WHO is in control!!!
Believe it or not, today's lesson goes along with my dilemma of the moment!!! It is entitled, Our Own House, Our Own City. I loved it!!! We are still in Psalm 122, and the lesson draws parallels between this Psalm and our daily lives. Please read Psalm 122 over again, and imagine yourself of the trek to your church as the pilgrims are on a trek to Jerusalem.
Read Philipians 1: 3-8. What were Paul's feelings towards the believers in Philippi? He longed to be with them because he loved them and felt joy for them. This is exactly the way we should feel about the people we worship with. No fellowship of believers is perfect, but list a few things that you love about your church. Name some people that you look forward to seeing each time you go and explain why you look forward to seeing them. Describe a few relationships you have at church that you wouldn't have anywhere else.
While few people are enthusiastically anxious to roll out of bed every Sunday after an exhausting week, do you ordinarily look forward to going to church? Circle on of the following answers. Almost never, sometimes, usually, almost always
Church should be as important as any other place you spend your time. Note in this Psalm how the psalmist began with a focus on the temple or "house of the Lord". The bottom line is: Are you glad when someone says to you, "Let's go to the house of the Lord"?
Once you have taken care of your place of worship and your home, it is important to focus on what you can do for the community around you. As Christians, we should want to live out loud for our God.
Read Jeremiah 29: 4 - 7. What was God's essential point to the exiles in Babylon?
He wanted them to prosper in their new land even though it wasn't there home. He wanted them to be careful and not fall prey to the way they worshipped because He would be back for them.
We are in somewhat of an exile waiting here on earth until God returns for us. God wants us to prosper and show those around us what God is capable of in our lives.
How is God using your town or city to equip you to be a humble servant?
How is God using you in your town or city to speak to others?
I am reminded that this may be an opportunity to move outside of our "protected" gates and teach our children how to live for God in the real world. Gaston Christian has been such a blessing to us, and I am confident seeds have been planted in my children that are starting to take root in their lives. I will never know what lives they will touch because of the few years of preparation they had in a Christian school. My prayer is that they become godly boys that others who share the same beliefs will feel blessed to be around. Then, they can be examples to the children who do not necessarily share those beliefs. It is our responsibility as parents to teach our children the ways of the Lord. We must take care of focusing on the temple first. Now, I have to believe all that we have taught them in our home, in our churches and in their school will be a way for them to serve their town or city!
Isn't it amazing how God works...I began this e-mail with tears of sadness streaming down my face and now they are tears of hope!!!
love you all!!
Tiffany