To Everything There is a Season

Hello!

I know it has been awhile since we last posted.  Both our lives have been very busy and have taken some fun turns!  First of all, I (Tahirah) have moved to sunny Florida!!!  I am very excited to be here although I miss a lot of my old friends.  Florida has been my dream state of residence for a VERY long time. :)

Brooke has been busy with finishing school, camp and upcoming vacation.  You may still have kept track of her over at True Love's Kiss.  We've both been so busy that we have had to actually schedule time to talk with each other!

I have been doing a lot of blog surfing since moving and I have come to the conclusion that it is time to say goodbye to this blog and move on to other things.  I don't think I will completely leave blogging.  A new blog idea has been tumbling around in my head for awhile and I think I may act on it.  So, look for me in the blogosphere again soon!

Thank you for all our followers and for the encouraging words so many of you wrote.  May the LORD richly bless you and keep you!

Love,

Tahirah

Kansas City Convention!!!

http://trueloveskissblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/view-of-city-from-32nd-floor.html Read about our recent LTC Convention in Kansas City. :)

~Brooke

Interview With Brooke!!!

The Long Awaited Interview with Miss Brooke is here!!! Brooke is truly an exceptional young woman. Her love for God is palpable and she is an inspiration to me and my family. Enjoy!

1. How have you enjoyed homeschooling?

I have immensely enjoyed homeschooling; I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. :)

2. Would you homeschool your children if you have any?

Absolutely! I plan on homeschooling any and all future children that I have.

3. What are the common negative comments you get about homeschooling?

I believe the most common comments that I have heard, either personally or from other homeschooling families, are: homeschoolers are not socialized, homeschoolers wouldn’t get an opportunity to play sports, and that homeschoolers are sheltered.

4. What are your responses to these comments?

First, most of the homeschoolers I know are very well socialized. They are especially good at communicating and socializing with people who are not their age. Many public school kids make lots of friends their own age, but many homeschooler befriend people outside of their own age range. For myself, I know many of my friends have been two or more years younger than me, and as much as 18 years older than me.

In regards to sports, homeschoolers have just as much opportunity to play as public schoolers. I have been involved in martial arts since I was 12 and am currently a black belt, my brother does tumbling and trampolining; I know homeschoolers who played soccer, basketball, baseball, wrestling, football, swimming, etc. I even know a homeschooler who was the Iowa Gymnastic State Champion.

As a matter of fact, homeschoolers are sheltered. But they are sheltered from the negative influences of the world. So it is not a sheltering that anyone should fear. :)

5. Why did you decide to be a stay-at-home-daughter?

I started reading some blogs about SAHDs. Everything I read made a lot of sense, and was backed up by scriptures. As I was already planning on living at home for some time after graduation, it wasn’t too big of a stretch to a SAHD. Most of the things I read really made sense, both physically and spiritually, and I felt convicted to be a stay at home daughter. For me, I believe it is the right thing to do.

6. How do you plan to fill your days as a SAHD?

Well, I am currently attending an online school, so I plan to graduate from that. I plan to work from home part-time as a medical transcriptionist; I plan to teach piano lessons; I plan to write, because I dream of being a writer, and possibly publish some of my work; and I plan to work on homemaking skills to prepare for having my own family someday.

7. Why have you chosen courtship as a way to get to know a suitor?

With 50% of all marriages in this country, yes even Christian ones, ending in divorce, something must be done. I believe courtship is that something. I believe the traditional dating relationships are not working. Courtship is a way to get to know a suitor without becoming too invested emotionally; it enables you to continue to guard your heart, something that is harder to do in a dating relationship.

8. Why have you chosen to save your first kiss for marriage?

I have chosen to save my first kiss for marriage, and that is a personal commitment. Not all may feel led to do this, but I feel that I have. Someday when I get married, I want to be able to present myself to my husband and say, “Here I am. I’ve never given myself to another, not even in the smallest way. I have saved myself for you.” How special will it be to have my first kiss, first time to hold hands, etc., with the man that I marry?

9. How does the word of God inform your decision to save your first kiss for marriage?

God’s word speaks many times about purity. Purity is important to God. Marriages are also important to God. His word tells us to treat young men as brothers in the Lord. I believe that by saving my first kiss until my wedding day, it is a way that I can take purity seriously, help my marriage to start off well, and treat other young men I may meet in a pure way.

10. Have you endured persecution for your choices?

Wow. I think I could write an entire blog post on this question alone. I’ll try not to though. ;) Yes, I have endured persecution for my choices. As early as 14 years old, I was struggling with this persecution. My best friend abandoned me, two other girls ignored and excluded me. Outings were planned and I was deliberately not invited. All because I was homeschooled, and so I was “different.” Several years later, one of the same girls came back into my life. I thought perhaps things would be different, but I was again eventually pushed away. A young woman that I respected deleted our Facebook friendship, left argumentative comments on this blog, and in other ways hurt me, simply because I had chosen to state what I believed in about purity, courtship, etc. Our relationship was basically ruined, and I never said a negative word to her. And friends, these examples were all within the church! Because of these things, I have struggled with acceptance and rejection.

Sadly, I have even see this translate over to the blogging world. I have to continually be sure that I write what I believe and feel, even if some people might not agree. That is part of what inspired me to write “I Don’t Fit in a Box.” I wanted people to know who I really am, and not look at me as something I’m not. That’s another goal I have with my new blog, True Love’s Kiss. My goal is to write as truly and honestly as I possibly can. To be “real” with my readers. Rejection will probably come, but hopefully some people will see my honesty and accept me for that.

11. What gives you hope to live faithfully through this life?

My hope is in Christ, and the eternal salvation that He has promised. I wait on Him.

12. If you could give other young women or girls advice on how to wait on God, what advice would that be?

Pray. Just pray, a lot. I’m telling this to myself as well. It can be very hard to wait, but in the end it will be worth it. God has a Master Plan. We just need to trust him with that. If we are willing to wait for God’s best, I know in the end we will all feel completely overwhelmed that he works everything out so perfectly. Find other like-minded young women who are also waiting. Wait together, encourage each other. Find an older woman who has “been there, done that” to encourage you. Read scriptures about waiting. Read books written by other young women about waiting. Above all, realize this, your life is not about getting married, having children, or whatever else you are waiting for. Your life is about serving God, in whatever way he calls you to do that.

An Interview with Tahirah

Hi everyone! Tahirah and I decided to do something fun and interview each other. I don't know about her, but I sure had a lot of fun doing it! :) ~Brooke

1. When did you decide to be a stay at home mom?

I decided to be a stay at home mom when I was in college, before I even met my husband.  I had a mother that was truly a supermom.  She was able to work out of the home and be a phenomenal mother to her children and a loving wife to my father.  My mother is truly a type A person and everything she does, she does well.  I realized that I was not a type A person and that I would just end up stressed out if I had all those burdens on my shoulders.  

Also, I learned that men relate a lot differently than women.  I came to the belief that it was important for a man's self esteem to provide for his family.  I saw how a man really suffered if he was not able to provide adequately for his family and/or when he felt that his wife outshone him in provision for the family.  Being that financially providing for my family was not what I felt called to do, I decided it would be best not to compete in this arena.

2. When did you decide you wanted to homeschool your future children?

My husband and I came to the decision to homeschool our future children together.  We met a homeschooling family :) and were very impressed with their children.  We also got to know a few other homeschooling families and almost all of them had exceptionally well spoken children who were very sweet.  The children stood out from the average children we knew.  We started looking into it more at that point and saw that there were wonderful education opportunities for the kids and most importantly, the ability for the parents to be even more influential in the children's spiritual lives.

3. What's the biggest lesson you've learned from your marriage?

That I need to depend on God for all things.  It seems like when you are not married, you feel, if you can only find Mr. Wonderful then you can depend on him to ensure you are not lonely, always happy and content.  That is one of the greatest misunderstanding of what marriage is.  You will always need to be able to depend on God first and foremost.  

4. What would you tell other young women wanting to be married someday?

If you cannot be content with God and find joy and happiness in your everyday life as a single woman, do not expect that to change if/when you get married.  Be faithful in whatever realm God has put you in because if/when you are married you will have to learn to be content and joyous and faithful in many situations that are just as difficult.

5. You've shared with us in the past about your troubles having children. What did God teach you through that?

That is a great question.  God taught me so much through that struggle.  I think the biggest thing I learned was not to put my hope in the things of this world.  I know that may sound kind of etherial, but it is true.  I still struggle with expecting heaven to be here on earth, but it is not to be.  It is very easy to want to strive to have a picture perfect life here, and not so easy to crucify that dream for God.  But, it is necessary.  We were bought with a price, we are not our own.  Accepting whatever symbol God wants me to be is what I need to do, not dictate to God what I want my life to look like.  Believe me, I still struggle with this :)

6. What's your favorite homemaking skill?

Organization!  I love organizing.  I even love surfing organization forums just for fun.

7. What is the hardest part of being a mother?

Realizing that what you do with your little one affects their eternity, while knowing that ultimately you do not have the final say on what decisions they will make in their lives.

8. When and why did you first become convicted of the stay at home daughter movement?

Fairly recently I started reading about young women who chose to stay at home until/unless they married.  I then saw through scriptures, that this was the default pattern for God's people.  So unless God makes another calling clear I believe it should still be the "default" for young women.  

After coming to this understanding I then saw so many advantages to this as well as the many many disadvantages of young women being unprotected that it made it even more apparent that this was the wise path to take.  My husband and I are both in agreement on this and he is very excited for our daughter to stay with us forever (or until God choses differently).

9. What is your favorite scripture?

Joel 2:25a  And I [the LORD] will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten

10. What is your opinion on birth control?

That it is evil.  I know that sounds extreme :)  But it has done nothing but brought me sorrow.  In general it also cuts off what God calls a blessing, children.  I realize that everybody's situations are different, but in general birth control is not in line with what scripture says should be valued.

Great Men

~By Tahirah

I have had several blog ideas rolling around in my head for a while. The one I find myself wanting to write at this time has to do with men. As what happens many times, a theme has popped up into my life recently. Lessons about the way God made His creation and what He has imbued in the hearts of man.

Recently I have been reading the book Love and Respect by Doctor Emerson Eggerichs. So far I highly recommend it. It asserts a man’s need for respect and puts it on par with a woman’s need for love. It references the Bible as it’s source of knowledge and illustrates what respect for a husband looks like.

Also recently I have been watching several documentaries. While history was not my favorite subject in school, I really enjoy reading about it, visiting historical sites and watching documentaries when given the opportunity. The other night my husband and I sat down and thoroughly enjoyed Lewis and Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery directed by Ken Burns in 1997. A man’s need for adventure was palpable just by watching that film. I think it is hard for a woman to understand this facet of a man, as we tend to enjoy safety and security. Men like to do great things, things that will change the course of history or at least put their mark on history. This is something that I did not always understand, and something that I actually once fought against in my ignorance and fear.

Years ago my husband wanted to play professional baseball. He is a very talented athlete and desired to combine his God given talent to serve God in the professional ball realm. I, on the other hand, could not understand this desire. While I had played division 1 sports in college I still could not understand this drive my husband had to pursue such an insecure profession. I fought against this dream of my husband’s. I argued and spoke out of fear. As we know in 1 Peter 3:5-6 Peter wrote, “For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.” I didn’t realize that by giving way to fear of being insecure I was acting as the foolish woman in Proverbs 14:1 who tore her house down with her own hands. “The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.”

I do not know what the Lord’s will was for our lives at that time that I might have gotten in the way of, but I do know what the Lord’s will was for my life at that time. It was to trust the LORD and be subject to my husband and treat my husband with respect, not to give way to fear, but to boldly put my trust in the LORD.

Recently I read the article Where Have The Good Men Gone? Kay S. Hymowitz argues that too many men in their 20s are living in a new kind of extended adolescence. Published by the Wall Street Journal, Saturday, February 19, 2011. It describes an extended adolescence that many of today’s young men are in. It gives a pretty good outline of what our current culture promotes to young men and it does not look good. I was pleased that it did not seem to attack the young men but instead gave the reasons many men find themselves in this category, a category of irresponsibility, not of childhood nor of adulthood. This category is a holding pattern where nothing great can be achieved.

Getting married and starting a family was given as the exit plan to this extended adolescence. While I am pro-marriage I think there is a bigger issue here. We are living in the height of American society, the wars have been fought to defend and delineate our country, the frontier has been explored, our government has been established. We are in a decadent era in the United States, which our ancestors only dreamed about. They lived and died to give us, their descendents, this quiet and peaceful life. What I believe men lack now is the impetus to do great things. It is very easy to sit back and allow life to pass you buy. Men are not called into the realm of greatness by necessity or default, now they have to search for it. This is not an easy undertaking and one in which we, as women should support them in finding.

I write all these seemingly disjointed ideas to pull them together and make them applicable to my life (and hopefully to yours too). We need to help our husbands be “great”. We need to show them respect, which gives them confidence and security at home to go out into the world and do great things. We need to be supportive of their “great” visions. If it is not what the LORD has laid for them to do, we need to let the LORD turn their hearts to His plan. I am not saying that we should not give our opinions and share our desires, but we do not need to speak from a place of fear or a place of authority over our husbands.

My hope for all of the ladies here is that they will build their houses up, and help their husbands to do great things.

Be Thou My Vision

One of the most beautiful voices of our time sings this stirring hymn. Enjoy!

The BEST study on faith

This study is for people who are yearning for meat.

https://rstudies.wordpress.com/2011/02/23/the-revealed-order-of-reality-hebrews-11-and-12-with-thematic/