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Planning has begun for Stephens Academy 2020-2021. With the next year looking so uncertain in classrooms around the country, I know many are considering homeschool for the first time. May I offer a word of advice? Fear isn’t a good reason to do, or not do, anything. Are you considering homeschooling out of fear? Or are you considering homeschooling because you believe God is leading your family  in that direction? He is big enough to be with your kids and guide your family and their teachers through the possibly tumultuous year ahead. Are you ignoring a prompting to homeschool out of fear? Or are you choosing traditional schooling because you believe God is leading your family in that direction? He is big enough to give you everything you need to do what He has called you to do. I’m a firm believer that there is no one way to educate our kids. Homeschool, private school, public school... this truth is still the same: The righteous will live (and school) by faith. Not by fear. Whate...

It’s Monday. We are still in 2020. The news is full of coronavirus spikes and protests and politics and madness. Pause with me for a moment, will you? In Philippians 4:4-9, Paul has a lot to say to us about finding God’s peace today, right now, in the midst of this year when the world seems to be quickly derailing into crazytown. Let’s walk through the flow of what he has to say together. Rejoi ce in the Lord- ALWAYS. It’s a choice. Even on a Monday in 2020. Be reasonable - and let it shine. Remember the Lord is near, so: *Do not be anxious *Instead, bring your prayer and needs AND thanksgiving to God. There is a connection between turning to Him with our needs and concerns (instead of internet news and social media), and having our hearts and minds guarded by the PEACE OF GOD. Even when it doesn’t make sense. We can’t choose the news, or what articles come across our feed, or what conversation is happening between coworkers today. But we CAN choose what we fix our minds on- what we me...

“In Ancient Rome fine pottery was relatively thin and fragile and often developed cracks while being fired. Unscrupulous shops would fill the cracks with a hard, dark wax, which would be concealed when the object was painted or glazed but would melt when the pottery was filled with something hot. . In ordinary light, the deception was usually undetectable, but when held up to the sunlight it was  clearly exposed, because the wax appeared darker. . Reputable dealers would often stamp their products ‘sine cera’ (“without wax”) as a guarantee of high quality.” -John MacArthur . Our Christian life can look good, glazed over with church attendance and fine sounding sentiments and all manner of good things. It’s the hot and fiery seasons of life that will reveal our cracks. What are others seeing as we are being held up to the light in the pressures of 2020? . “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve th...

There is beauty everywhere this time of year. I find myself wanting to capture it, to savor it because this fresh bloom of early summer is so fleeting. It’s interesting how often the Scriptures link the beauty of flowers with the fleeting nature of our lives. “As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its plac e knows it no more.” Psalm 103:15-16 “The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass.” Isaiah 40:7 “For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.” James 1:11 There are no romantic poems in Scripture glorying in the beauty or fragrance of these magnificent creations. Rather, we are constantly reminded, “This won’t last. Your life won’t last.” Depressing? It will be if we fix our eyes on the here and now. Rather, t...

Doing some weeding this morning and thinking about sanctification. We bought our house seven years ago. It required eyes of faith. The house itself was outdated and neglected - if it had been on a HGTV show it would have been labeled a “total gut job.” We will just say it had good bones. The property hadn’t been truly cared for in years. Broken and irregularly placed pavers were the only “front  sidewalk” we had. Hip-high (sometimes shoulder-high) weeds and brush surrounded the house. Attempts at flower beds from years past were now fields of thistles. But it was ours. I remember telling my husband in that first year that my biggest goal was that the house wouldn’t look vacant and abandoned! Many home projects and seven summers later, hours and hours and hours of weeding and planting and truckloads of mulch and more weeding... and more weeding... it’s beautiful. It not only doesn’t feel abandoned- it feels loved. It feels like we live here. But it still requires hours of weeding. W...