Please Pray

Last night I received a call from my dear friend Ashley. She asked me to earnestly pray and to have all the prayer chain ladies pray. I thought I would ask all of you to pray as well for the Ben Anglea Family. Ben and his wife and two children (4&2 years old) are missionaries to Madagascar. They have been advised to leave the county and their lives have been threaten by the government there. There have been bombings and coffee shops blown up by hand grenades ect. We as Christians have been asked to pray for Ben and his family and their safety. As well as comfort for his (Ben's) parents here in the states. Pray that they will not be separated as a family and that they will be able to flee the country soon. The Bible says that the fervent prayer of a righteous man availth much. Please join me in prayer. Thank You

Grandpa's Are Wonderful

Today we are thankful for our Grandpa Bruce. Grandpa is a very important man around our house. Lately we have had the privilege to spend a little extra time with grandpa. Last Saturday Quin was able to go the Science Expo at Fermi Lab. There they had the all famous "Mr Freeze". He brakes roses in thin air using liquid nitrogen. We all love "Mr. Freeze". The science expo is lots of hands on activities and lots of science fun.

Today grandpa is taking all the grand kids that are old enough, to a Children's Concert at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra downtown Chicago at Orchestra Hall. He will be having a special lunch and a wonderful time with his grand kids. We are so thankful to Grandpa for all he has done for our children. We are so blessed that he takes the time to be involved in our children's lives. A little culture and exposer to the Arts never hurt anybody. Grandpa came over for bacon and pancakes this morning and read library book to Paige and then he and Quin left for the city. I thank the Lord for good grandparents for my children. I thank God for family and the love that they give on a daily basis. Praise the Lord for grandpa.

It Does Matter

The Lord has really been working on me this week, about the way I do things in my household. On Monday night we had a home school meeting and Preacher gave a lesson on the sorer and the seed. (Luke 7) In this parable the sower is responsible for the results of the seed. Preacher gave us the lesson of how we as home schoolers need to strive for the excellent ground for our children. There are so many little things that we are changing in our home school to strive for excellence this week. I have changed the way I pray for my children and the actions are beginning to change as well. Thank You so much Pastor Fink for that wonderful eye opening lesson.

Yesterday we watched the inauguration of our new president. I could not believe how much I was being watched. During prayer when I bowed my head, Quin bowed his head. When I clapped for different things, Quin would watch me and he would clap as well. When I stood up, Quin would stand up. You ask me what is the big deal about a son imitating his mother? Well it about the influence that God has given me in these little lives and the awesome responsibility to guide and teach them in the ways of the Lord. When I think about what God has called me to do I am humbled and overwhelmed with accountability. Ladies, it's not just taking care of our families(all though that is important) it's a responsibility to train and have a Godly positive influence on them. I thank the Lord that He has given me the responsibility and the privilege to stay home with my kids. I'm also thankful I can home school. I know there are days when I wonder if we have made the right decision to home school. But, I do know that this is what God has called me to do and I'm thankful for it.

WOW! This is Hard to Believe

Matthew L. Rzepka, CPA, CFP®; Managing Partner / Owner
"...At the local Sam’s Club, my wife purchased a 4 pack, shrink wrapped, of "The Works" toilet bowl cleaner. On the way home, in the back of our van, it tipped over, and some leaked out (about half a bottle) on the seat and the carpet because of a hole in the top of one of the bottles. The seat, the carpet and the underlying steel were all damaged. The final resolution: our insurance company totaled the van, because of the spill!
According to the insurance company and poison control, the fumes from the toilet bowl cleaner made the interior environment of the van permanently unsafe for anyone, especially young children, so we wouldn’t be able to drive the van any more. The fumes also corroded any exposed metal in the van and poison control warned over time would ruin most if not all electrical connections. After the van was cleaned and repaired to the fullest extent possible, it was still determined that eventually, the residual fumes would continue to have a chemical reaction and deteriorate anything left in the van, leaving the van completely useless and unsafe, hence the insurance companies decision to total the vehicle was made."

Now ask yourself, if the van was totaled because of the "fumes" why in the world are people cleaning their bathrooms with it weekly and breathing the fumes daily?
Because they don't know the truth.....now you do....get the word out. I'm thankful that I use green cleaners.

Happy Birthday Sam

Today is my wonderful husband's birthday. I am so blessed to have this wonderful man as my husband. He is a hard worker and a GREAT dad. His spiritual gift is peacemaking which has comes in handy on more than one occasion. Sam is always quick to see the best in everyone. He never says anything negative about any thing, no matter how bad it gets. He works very hard at this job and enables me to stay home with my children and I am very thankful for that as well. I believe that my husband loves my with a Biblical love. He will do just about anything that you ask him at any time. I can't count the amount of times he has put someone elses needs over his own. I have failed my husband so many times and he just keeps on forgiving me the Bible way. I don't know where I would be without this wonderful man. I LOVE You very much Sam. Happy Birthday Honey.

We Live in a Zoo

My kids minds never cease to amaze me. This morning when we got up for breakfast my son decided they were going to take all the stuffed animals in the house and make a zoo. Now this is not a ordinary zoo it was complete. He got on my cell phone and pretended to call all different countries and ordered animals. He called Africa to order elephants and giraffe. We then called Antarctica and asked for penguins, seals and walrus. Australia for kangaroos. We had nine different countries and every animal came for the correct county. We then stated that we needed to ask the state of Illinois to help us fund the zoo. I suggested that the zoo needed insurance in case a animal got out of control. We than had to deiced how much we were going to charge for admission. (It was $5.00) We needed cages and food for all the animals. We needed to interview and hire zoo keepers and maintenance men and security guards. I then asked my son to take out the garbage and he returned with a notice the the animal were beginning to arrive and informed his sister to start cleaning lion cages. We hung up signs giving people directions on how to get to the zoo. We stocked the concession stands with hot dogs and popcorn. The last thing my son said to me before we started school this morning was "OK mom call the radio and tell them to tell everyone about the zoo. We will give them free passes to give away. Also call Pastor Fink and tell him his family can have life times passes. His grandparents and family were given passes as well. I think that is so cute. What a imagination. I love home schooling and I love my kids.

A Busy Weekend

The Todd family has a very busy weekend. Tuesday is my husband's birthday so his family is coming over for dinner on Saturday night, dinner for thirteen is a lot of fun. Tonight we are cleaning the house and getting ready to plan dinner. There is also cooking to do and gifts to wrap. The kids are so excited and FUN is in the air. We also have packing to do and lots of laundry. Ashley is going back to Providence for her second semester in Bible college (we are so proud of her). I will post more as the week end progresses. We are also excited because my SECOND favorite preacher is coming to church this weekend. We love pastor Fink but we really like pastor Gray too. A busy weekend a head and a whole lot of FUN.

Kids Are Amazing

This morning durning school my son was singing a Patch the Pirate song in math class. I of course, being the teacher told him to get his work done. I said that if he knew his times tables as well as he did the music he would be a lot better off. His answer to my comment was a riot. Quinten proceed to say "Mom this is how it works, Your mind is like a computer when the hard drive gets to full you have to delete some information when I got my new CD I had to delete some of my times tables. That is a riot!