Horsin' Around

For years, Jim and I have said that our family/ministry theme song is "Great Adventure" Steven Curtis Chapman. Well, this summer...that song has a whole new meaning!!!

Especially the chorus:

Saddle up your horses we've got a trail to blaze. Through the wild blue yonder of God's amazing grace. Let's follow our leader into the glorious unknown. This is a life like no other - this is The Great Adventure. Come on get ready for the ride of your life. Gonna leave long faced religion in a cloud of dust behind. And discover all the new horizons just waiting to be explored. This is what we were created for

( Thanks to D & S for this opportunity.)

Gettin' Ready.......

Please be in prayer for our upcoming Bible Study:

Thankful Thursdays Burton-style

When words are many, sin is not absent,but he who holds his tongue is wise. Proverbs 10:19

Thankful Thursday I have seen the term "Thankful Thursday" on blogs in a cute little icon form. Honestly, I have no clue what the blog world's definition of Thankful Thursday or what you are suppose to do, much less type. I just remember the phrase.

Recently I was doing some research for an upcoming Women's Bible Study. The topic I was studying was the "tongue". You know...our speech. It made me think and examine the words that come out of my mouth. I realized through examining my heart (and my mouth) that there is a lot of room inside these pearly whites for improvement. As I pondered my need to be more positive and thankful, I wondered "how?". What exactly should I do? Well, duh! Of course I need to PRAY! Yes, as I continued to reflect on things I say in any given day, I realized I would need to take action.

Being the opinionated and far from shy woman that I am, this task would require some serious action: prayer and fasting to tame this tongue. Then I had an "AHA!" moment.... instead of a food fast..what about a word fast. Hmm...for me that is way more challenging than a food fast. giggle. Thus "Thankful Thursdays" evolved in my household today.

What is exactly is "Thankful Thursdays" according to The Burtons? It is a day that we give more Thanks to God for all he had done for us. We take time to notice the small (and large) blessings around us and thank Him. We try and think before we speak and when we do, we try to speak words that give encouragement, words that see the best in people. More positive, edifying speech.

As I type this it is 12:19am. My first official "Thankful Thursday" has come and gone. Wow! I have a ways to go with taming my tongue, but Thank The Lord...nothing is impossible for Him.

Randomness from the Weekend

Happy Birthday Pop! I love you!!!


Getting ready for our church's luau night (Yes, my man has a habit of trying to annoy me by flaring his nostrils in pictures!)


Our little "Weedle-pova"

Praying for the Chapman Family

We are praying for The Chapman family during their time of sorrow. Please join us in praying for this precious, precious family. We love you Chapman Family!

In memory of Maria Chapman

Pass the tissues please!

Sniff, sniff. Excuse me for a moment as I wipe the black mascara streaks from my face. Okay, there! Done! Enough word drama. I realized this afternoon that this is a week of "lasts". It all started this morning. Seven months and 30 lessons later,I went to my "last" Community Bible Study. (Sniff) I realized saying goodbye to my CBS 'buds' until the fall was just begining my "lasts". As I diligently worked (I was a bit behind this week) on my "last" days of homework for Beth Moore's Believing God study...I realized...tomorrow night is my "last" Friday Night Live Women's Bible Study until the fall. (More sniffs). In the process of working on my Believing God homework, I realized I needed to get ready to study and prepare for my "last" Sunday of teaching through the book of Joshua to the best adult Sunday School class ever. (BIG Sniffs). Excuse me for a second, sniff sniff, blowing nose. Okay, I'm back. So now I ask, what on earth will I do next week? Maybe I should think about Bible Study-aholics Anonymous? No way! Better yet, I think I need to type the "last" sentence of this blog and go search Christianbook.com for a new Bible Study for the summer!

Smallness

I had the privilege to spend time with one of our missionary friends and sister-in-Christ this weekend. She shared something with me that was profound. She was talking about how God uses "small things". She then made a comparison to the human body and the eye. She said that the eye is very important, yet rather small compared to the leg.

That gave me tons of encouragement. Unfortunately the world we live in looks down on small things. Small churches. Small houses. Small bank accounts. Small (simple) minds. But, if our focus is on Jesus, then it doesn't matter how "small" things seem. Jesus uses the "small" church, the "small" and simple person, the small bank account (remember the widow who gave her "small" offering) to do His work. May we take heart, when our hearts are completely committed to Jesus, He accepts our "smallness" and makes something great from it....and to me, that is no "SMALL" thing!!!

I will close with the words I read this morning from 2 Chronicles 16:9: For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to show Himself strong for those whose hearts are completely His.

A Goo-Gillion Praises!!!

In case you missed it Thursday Night, the Final 8 sang "Shout To The Lord"! The full, un-edited version of the song. As the contestants sang, "My Jesus, My Savior", my family and I sat in "AWE" as our Lord and Savior was being lifted up through cable TV to millions of viewers!!!

One actor from Wednesday Night's "Idol Gives Back" used the term a "goo-gillion" dollars in his efforts to help raise money. I, however, like to think of the term: "goo-gillion" as the number of praises going to Our Lord, Jesus as His name went forth through America's number one secular TV show Thursday Night!

Check it out for yourself:



May we pray for all that heard this performance, as well as those downloading this song on iTunes (making it the number one download for the week).

Isaiah 55: 10-11& 10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

Sarah and Will

Just home from celebrating my niece's "big day". Yep, Sarah and Will are now "Mr. and Mrs. Troutman" (above picture). Congrats!! Here are a few more pics:

Nubs and MeMaw
My 3 Nephews
MaryBeth
MeMaw looks GREAT!
My main man (Jim) and Jason
Kristi and Jason Burton (also newlyweds)
Sarah and Jordyn
Kenny and Judy
Becky with George Thomas and Annie

Thank You for the Cross, Lord!

"Humility does not feel a right to better treatment than Jesus got". -John Piper

"Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps. . . . While suffering, He uttered no threats, but handed [his cause] over to Him who judges righteously" (1 Peter 2:21-23).

WHAT? Illegal to homeschool??

6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 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. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

I normally don't post things like this, however, this subject is very dear to my heart. Our dear friends (Greg and Hurricane) shared with us last night some shocking information. You may or may not be aware but : A California Court of Appeal recently decided that homeschooling is illegal in California unless a parent is a certified teacher. Did you see that? Illegal????? After home schooling for eleven years I can't imagine not having the freedom homeschool my child, much less being told it is illegal because I don't have a teaching certificate. I am having a hard time with this...that someone could tell me it is illegal to do something like educating my child when The Lord God Almighty has commanded me and my household to do so? Oh, makes my blood boil I tell you!


I can not imagine how those in California that are currently homeschooling under a different option (w/o their teaching certificate) must feel. It makes me SICK to think about. I would MOVE before I had to comply with this new law. Though the days are long and the work is hard, and yes, I have had thoughts of quitting but was quickly snapped back to reality by The Lord I praise The Lord for the privilege to home school my daughter. Oh, forgive me Lord that I have taken such a great responsibility so lightly at times. It is a joy, an honor and pleasure to sacrifice my life and a career to invest in the life of my daughter.

I found a link on Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA.org) for a petition to request the depublishing of this court case. (side note and personal endorsement: **By the way, if you are a homeschooling family and are not a member of HSLDA, I personally encourage you to join. Per HSLDA's website: HSLDA was not involved with this case, and the family are not members. I have personally had to use my lawyer for advise on numerous occasions, especially when I was harassed by someone from the schools a few years ago.**)

Here is a link to sign the petition if you feel led to sign:

https://www2.hslda.org/Registrations/DepublishingCaliforniaCourtDecision/



Let us join together and pray for our homeschooling brothers and sisters in the state of California. Let's also pray for each other as we continue on this home school journey. Lastly, lift up our brothers and sisters at HSLDA as they work diligently day in and day out to fight for our legal rights to educate our children.

May we never take for granted this awesome privilege to teach our children at home in which The Lord has entrusted to us. Thank you Jesus!