The internet has completely changed the way we live and relate to one another. 

The internet has changed homeschooling for our family. My older kids did not go online much until college, while the younger ones spent their teen years in a world of social networking and Wikipedia.

Young people today email, chat with friends through instant messenger, talk to people in chat rooms, play games, create blogs, create YouTube stations, create websites, and surf the net. They research online and build relationships online. 

There is so much at our fingertips today with just a click of the mouse. We can read classic literature, look up how a senator voted, get the latest news, and read our favorite blog. 

Yet, is the internet a safe place? 

​I am sorry to tell you that the internet can be a dangerous place, too. We must protect our children from the criminal and evil activity that takes place online.

We need to protect our children from the following things: 

• Exposure to pornography and other inappropriate materials
• Online Predators
• Sharing too much personal information. 

Let me take you back in time to when my oldest daughter, Katie Beth was 12 and her younger sister Julianna was 9. Jimmy was a newborn baby, Shine was almost 2 and Jenny Rose was 6.

​With four daughters to prepare for motherhood and homemaking, I had set aside Thursdays to teach my daughter homemaking skills such as sewing, cooking, baking, hospitality, needlework, laundry, interior decorating, and card-making.
 
Our homemaking days were precious days. This, of course, was before the hustle-bustle of high school.
         
For several years I enjoyed my homemaking days alone with the girls. But other years, other homeschooling moms joined me and we have co-oped. What fun and fellowship for the girls as they learned skills that I don't have such as knitting and cake decorating. 

Did you know that Jesus fixed breakfast for his disciples after He had risen from the dead? 

I love this story!

You see, Peter, Thomas, Nathaniel, James, and John were all together hanging out. It had been a crazy few weeks. Jesus had washed their feet, been arrested, tried, and convicted. They were devastated. Then the news had come while they were hiding out, fearful that they were the next ones to be executed.  

News had come of His Resurrection from the ladies. Then Jesus appeared among them. He was alive! 

However, things had been so hard. Thomas had doubted. Peter had denied Jesus three times. And here they were hanging out. 

"I'm going fishing!" Peter declared to his friends. 

"We'll go, too," the others decided. So they all went out fishing.

They fished all night and caught nothing. They were tired, discourage, weary, maybe afraid. As they pulled the boat up on the shore, a man called out, "Children, do you have any fish." 

"No," they replied. 

"Well, cast your net over on the right side of the boat and you will find a catch," the stranger replied. 

God plants new believers in local churches to grow and to build one another up. God didn't call us to be "Lone Ranger Christians" off doing our own thing. His People are called to love one another in a committed way as they win the lost and make disciples.

Jesus gives us gifts to build us up 

None of us have all the spiritual gifts and God planned it that way so that we would need one another. As we serve and encourage one another with God’s Word, everyone will grow.

God made the church like a family. When we love one another, the world will know that we are His disciples. Our love is so important for the Gospel to have credibility. 

Antioxidants are the solution. 

​The solution to what? 

​Well, our bodies are aging. Many of the food we eat are processed. We encounter pollution everywhere. All these things work together to cause things to go wrong inside. Renegade cells called free radicals can cause oxidative stress, or damage, to our body's cells, tissues, and organs. 

​Antioxidants counteract oxidative stress just like their name implies. These molecules are the "good guys." Just think of a gun fighter in white destroying the "bad guys" roaming throughout your body. 

​Antioxidants include Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Selenium, Lycopene, Alpha-Carotene, and Beta-Carotene. Antioxidants can prevent cancer, macular degeneration, cataracts, cardiovascular disease, and other chronic infections. 

​It is better to get your antioxidants through fruits and vegetables than in supplements. So what fruits and vegetables should you eat?

​Successful homemakers have acquired wisdom that comes from years of on-the-job training.

Loving your husband, raising children, and managing a home is not a job for the faint-hearted.

There are things you can do to make your home a joyful, efficient, peaceful place. 

​Here are some secrets to help you experience joy and success in your homemaking adventure. 

​Set up patterns and habits in your home to instill security and create a restful environment. Daily, weekly, and yearly routines allow family members to fall into peaceful patterns of living.

Annual customs such as holidays, birthdays, vacations, and seasonal activities come along each year, giving everyone in the family things to look forward to.

Weekly habits such as attending church on Sunday mornings, taking part in Bible study on Wednesdays, enjoying family night on Friday, doing laundry on Thursdays, and cleaning together on Saturday morning gives the household a rhythm to each week that is predictable.
​
Daily routines such as mealtimes, schooling hours, chore time, and daily devotions repeated over and over again produce a sense of order and peace in any home. Nighttime and morning routines are especially important. Our children were raised to do their “five things” when they woke up: brush teeth, get dressed, make bed, have a Quiet Time, and clean room. Each evening, Mike read a bedtime story to the children and prayed over them before tucking them in at night. 

I was a young mom with two  little ones and Mike was in seminary. Between financial struggles and lack of sleep, I was exhausted. 

My friend asked me to baby sit for her twice a month for three hours so she could run errands. She would do the same for me. 

​I readily agreed. 

The first week, I watched her children and everyone played together nicely. Soon, it was my turn. I made a list of my errands and then I stopped and tore up the list. 

You see, I was struggling. Whenever I prayed and read the Bible, little ones were pulling at me, needing me, wanted to nurse. I hid Bibles everywhere, but I never had uninterrupted time with the Lord. 

I was hungry. I was thirsty. I needed time with God. 

And so began my twice a month adventure with the Lord. 

I had never spend that much time alone with Jesus. What would I do? Would I get bored of praying or reading the Bible? Where would I go?

​ We are called to change the world!

Jesus gave us the Great Commission to make disciples of all the nations. We are on a mission!

That mission begins at home!

We have a call to impact our children by introducing our little ones to Christ and teaching them His ways. 

Once they know Christ, we teach them to change their world for the glory of Christ.

How do we that? How do we raise world changers?

​Stay focused on your goal of raising world changers.

Don’t be focused on lesser things or get into survival mode.

We want our children to get a good education, to be healthy, to have friends, to marry, to be happy. However, even more, we want our children to love Jesus and change the world for His glory.

​When you feel like you focus is too small, ask God to keep your focus on the right thing. 

​Before Jesus ascended to the Father, He called us to change the world! 

Yes, it's true! We are called to be world changers. Jesus commanded us to "Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20 NIV (c)1979). Then Jesus added, "And I will be with you, even to the end of the Age" (Matthew 28:20 NIV (c)1979). 

We have a call to impact the world by introducing people to Christ and teaching them His ways. 

How do we that? How do we change the world?