The Accidental Pastor's Wife

Sitting on the sofa during family Bible time last night, asking questions from the Baptist Catechism from the Truth and Grace books by Founders Press, we asked our little P.T. (almost 4) to recite John 3:16:

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that none should parachute..."

It's kind of a cool place where you can find a bunch of PW blogs. Hopefully, mine will be up soon. I'll have the link shortly in the side bar. Just no time today!

We got home from our long drive for my OB appt and the littlest guy's well-visit about dinner time and I had nothing ready ahead of time, but I remembered this super easy meal that everyone will eat:

Lemony Garlic Shrimp
1 package cooked, frozen shrimp (thawed in some warm water, tails removed)
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
pinch cayenne pepper
2 tbsp lemon juice

Heat oven to 400. Layer shrimp on rimmed cookie sheet. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over shrimp. Cook about 10 minutes until heated through. Serve over instant brown rice and save all that yummy sauce to pour on top.

Everyone cleaned their plates and dinner was ready in about 20 minutes!

For those of you who check my blog, it would be just great if you could pray that I could get out of jury duty on Monday. I'm so pregnant there's just no way I could sit for that long, plus it's an hour from home and I'm going to the OB more frequently now. And when you're "unemployed" like I am (because keeping a home, schooling your kids doesn't count for anything and will only yield me a small pittance a day from the county government for my time) you don't get much out of it except the satistfaction of knowing you've done your civic duty. At least I pay my taxes...what more do they want from me?

Every day for us is different. Sometimes it all depends on how much hot water is left whether or not we start school on time. (No school till Mom's dressed! And of course, this morning the shower pipes are frozen AGAIN) Sometimes the house is in such disarray I can't possible think of starting school until it's picked up. Sometimes someone calls and I get drawn into a conversation. Sometimes I get such opposition from a certain little someone that I think he'll just be spending his morning on his bed. I've been doing this about a year now and I'm just wondering how to incorporate some more structure into our day--shouldn't it be getting easier by now? Is it just because I'm pregnant and don't feel like myself? Anyone out there with any ideas on how to better organize this crazy homeschooling adventure--help me please!!!!

The following is from Carolyn Mahaney's Girltalk blog. I think I'm going to get this book for myself. So often I am too familiar with "this marvelous good news", as one of my favorite Sovereign Grace songs goes, called At the Foot of the Cross from the King of Grace album. It's so easy for me to get bogged down in the mundane, everyday things of life and find myself frustrated with one more load of laundry, one more thing to pick up off the floor (not a pretty sight when you're 8 months pregnant)...Maybe meditating more on the gospel is just what I need. My hubby always reminds us at church for every one look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ (I think Robert Murray M'Cheyne or JC Ryle...I don't remember...) but it's so true.

"Have you been encouraged to “Preach the gospel to yourself everyday”? Have you wondered how to do it?

Inspired by my husband’s example, I have desired to grow in this discipline. So for the month of January I decided to suspend my current study of the book of Genesis and to solely study the gospel during my morning devotions. CJ gave me a booklet entitled A Gospel Primer for Christians to aid me in this endeavor. I am finding it so helpful that I simply had to tell you about it!

The first part of the booklet is comprised of “Reasons to Rehearse the Gospel Daily.” The second and third parts of the booklet contain “A Gospel Narrative” written in both a prose and poetic format that facilitates memorization and recitation of the gospel. Though it is a mere seventy-eight pages, this little resource is chock-full of the truths of the gospel and the Scriptures that affirm these truths. It reminds us of the valuable blessings which the gospel can render in our lives if we but preach it to ourselves each day.

The author, Milton Vincent, describes how this discipline has affected his life:

Over the course of time, preaching the gospel to myself every day has made more of a difference in my life than any other discipline I have ever practiced. I find myself sinning less, but just as importantly, I find myself recovering my footing more quickly after sinning, due to the immediate comfort found in the gospel. I have also found that when I am absorbed in the gospel, everything else I am supposed to be toward God and others seems to flow out of me more naturally and passionately. Doing right is not always easy, but it is never more easy than when one is breathing deeply the atmosphere of the gospel.

Need I say more about the powerful impact of this daily habit?

If you would like to obtain this little booklet to help you get started or become better at preaching the gospel to yourself every day, you can download it here, or order it in booklet form by contacting:

Cornerstone Fellowship Bible Church,
1363 Linden Street, Riverside, California 92507
(951) 781-8174
miltonv@juno.com"

I just can't stop thinking about this and had to post about it. I was on foxnews.com the other day and read a Bill O'Reilly report of a man, Andrew James, I think his name is, who did horrible, unspeakable things to a four year old little boy in Vermont. The judge in this case gave the guy virtually no punishment, just probation and rehab. Sex offenders like this are rarely rehabilitated, and the thought of someone like this being out on the street makes me afraid for the safety of my own children. The Vermont media is slamming O'Reilly for his report, calling him names and questioning his integrity in reporting the facts of the story, but not proving themselves where O'Reilly was wrong. While this story was happening, the Vermont media did not report anything about it.

Vermont has also voted down Jessica's Law, which would require all new sex offenders to wear an electronic tracking device, helping to plug up the holes in Megan's Law, which requires all sex offenders to be registered on a national or state database (which many of them DON'T do).

To learn more about this story, go to foxnews.com for the videos, and if you'd like to email all the Vermont government officials about it, you can get their addresses at www.billoreilly.com.

Additionally, if you've never checked your neighborhood for registered sex offenders you can find out how to do that at
http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/cac/registry.htm You can also google for your state and probably find it. We've checked in our own area and in the year and a half we've lived here, there are now at least five sex offenders. There were none registered when we first got here. This is absolutely epidemic...it drives me to my knees to pray for the Lord's protection on my precious little ones.

The short answer: I never in my wildest dreams thought I'd be what I am. It wasn't part of my future, but then God likes to shake us up a bit and show us whose Boss.

So for my loyal readers (ha, ha, all two or three of you): In what ways has your life been "accidental"??

The setting: Daddy and P.T. playing 'quiz show' downstairs. If you answer wrong, you get tickled. If you answer right, you hear daddy say, "ding, ding, ding".

The question from Daddy: From our catechsim: What is your only comfort in life and death?

The answer: My blue blankie

You know, I must thank God that I'm not an elephant and only have to be pregnant for 9 months instead of 22, right?

Everyone else has a blog--so why not succumb to peer pressure and have one, too?? Sure, the hubby has his own thing, but this can be my meanderings on what it means to be a PW, homeschooling mother, and homemaker--all of which kind of feels "accidental" anyway...I think God has a great sense of humor.