Love to Read!

I love to read! What I read has changed through out the years, from romance novels when I didn't know any better to biographies of missionaries and the latest from Eric Ludy on being a bravehearted warrior for Christ, not just a side liner.

I pray that I am teaching my children to LOVE to read, but I cannot stop there. I must teach them what to read & how to read it. Unless it is the Word of God, everything must be read with a look at Scripture. Does this line up to the Bible? Does it contradict it? How? Is it worth reading?

Romance novels are obviously out of question. They are so obviously not from God. No brainer. How about books written to my preschooler? How about the "Llama Mama" series or Junie B Jones? How about the Twilight series or Harry Potter? Hold these popular titles up to the light of Scripture. What do we find? "Llama" is a spoiled little boy who, in the one book we had, threw a huge tantrum in the store and then got a big hug & because he helped pick up his mess, got to go out for ice cream. Yes, children throw tantrums, but why would I read a cute little story about it to "agree" with the story, to confirm to my little toddler that it's okay, everyone is doin' it.

We are very careful about which books I read to my children, especially any story that has been written in at least the last 10 years reflects secular humanistic thinking. The subtlety amazes me. And keeps me on my guard.

"Twilight"... Read into the history of the vampire myth. Dracula means "the son of the devil" and it was first inspired by the life of Vlad the Impaler, a Romanian ruler in the 1400's who burned, skinned, roasted & boiled men, women & children. What would we do with a book that glorified the life of Hitler, forgot about his tortures and made him out to be a wonderfully, romantic, sometimes violent hero. Would it be okay? Would we tell all our friends on facebook how excited we were that the next one was coming out?

Our children are sponges. They believe what we tell them. They absorb everything around them. We are responsible for what they are absorbing.

But, according to Scripture, I am called to guard my heart as well. Just because I am an adult, does not mean I can & should read anything & everything, just because someone else recommended it.

Daniel & I have said to our children that one of most dangerous places for a Christian to go is the local Christian bookstore, specifically Family Christian Bookstore. Go in there with your guard up, looking for a particular book. Do not browse the latest and greatest best sellers. You may find "The Shack" or "Velvet Elvis" to be front & center as you walk in the door. Even the Christian romance books, if they cause me to be
discontent with my hubby, then I should not read it. It would be sin for me. Many modern day Christian books are full of the self-help gospel message that says "if you do this, this & that then you will be the most organized, most loving, best wife in the whole wide world all with the goal of getting your husband to do what you want." What's wrong with that, right? It goes against the gospel message.

Matthew 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Of course, if it was that blatant, we MAY see the folly in that message, but it usually is not. It is confusing. I Corinthians 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace... If God is not the author of confusion, then Satan is.

In Noah Webster's book, The Blue Back Speller, he writes, "The basis of all excellence in writing and conversation, is truth - truth is intellectual gold, which is as durable as it is splendid & valuable."

All this reading... All this information... What is lacking? Am I reading the unadulterated, uncompromised Word of God, the Truth? I can read to my heart's content, soaking it up like a sponge and be fully and deeply satisfied.

And then, once I've read this Word, once I've gotten my Word for the day, am I going out and DOING it?

Kathryn and I were talking about that yesterday. As usual, as I was talking to her, God was speaking directly to my heart. The conversation went something like this... "Kathryn, reading all these inspiring stories about great missionaries & being excited about what they did is GREAT! But, if you don't put it into practice on your mission field today, it's just words & emotion." OUCH! So, where is my mission field? Where is Kathryn's? It is where ever God has us at that particular time. Right now, it's at home, in Walmart, in church. Where ever we are.

Two points... Think of the song "Oh, be careful little eyes what you see" and pray and seek God on everything you are reading and reading to your children.

My lesson... All this reading, if not followed up by action, is just Satan's way to keep me from being a "doer of the word".

James 1: 21-25 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted work, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

This blog today is not my own, not my thoughts, but an outpouring of what God has laid on my heart. It's a message to me, really. I pray you will be blessed by reading it as much as God has blessed me by writing it.

Why Am I A Health Nut?

There was a time...
When Kraft Mac & Cheese & hot dogs was my favorite dinner...
When Lucky Charms & Honey Nut Cheerios graced my cupboard...
When I could be caught eating a whole row of Oreos (man, were they good!)

Then, one day, a seed was planted by a Dr that I worked with. He was a health nut! He saw me eating those fabulous oreos and commented on how gross they were. I looked at him in horror! "Gross! These things are AWESOME!!!" Then he informed me that they were loaded with Trans Fats. Deer in head lights look... What are trans fats? These nasty man made things that your body can't get rid of. Huh! I had NO clue! And I continued to eat my oreos...

That seed that Dr P planted started to grow. I became a little more interested in eating better. A little less likely to feed my kids white bread with Jif peanut butter...

Then Lukasz was born. When he was 18 months old, we figured out that his nightly screaming sessions and "loose" stools were because he was lactose intolerant, not something he would grow out of. So, we switched his milk. Then he got eczema. We love our pediatrician, but his solution was put this steriod cream on him a couple times a day, bathe him less, etc... But, WHY does he have eczema?

Our journey continued from there, researching common causes of eczema... wheat sensitivities... eliminate wheat... Okay, "everything" that we ate had wheat in it... no cereal & no bread... We slowly eliminated those things. Lukasz's eczema disappeared!

Then, Daniel was allergy tested. There goes the soy. Soy byproducts are in many processed foods... tuna, bread, crackers... More label checking... bye, bye soy...

During my research, I came across many articles warning against corn syrup. I approached Daniel about eliminating corn syrup as well. After a while, he agreed to throw out the corn syrup. Corn syrup is in EVERYTHING!!! Unless you do not eat processed foods.

A few months ago, No Greater Joy ran an article about GM foods. It opened my eyes to even more truth concerning the food we eat. I ordered the book, Seeds of Deception, and was absolutely floored by the deceit and corruption of the FDA.
Now, we are working diligently to eat all organic and grow our own food from heirloom seeds. I'll post some pictures of our garden soon.

We are seeing a little more of the picture every day. Again, the question is, why am I a health nut? Soy is a GM food. Most corn products are GM foods. In a recent study, one group of hamsters were given GM soy, the other non- GM soy. In the 3rd generation, the hamster family that was fed GM soy was completely infertile! Why does this matter?

My daily prayer, my purpose in life is to train my children to be warriors for Christ, to be God's army, so that they can train their children to be warriors for Christ, so that they can train their chil..................
Oh wait... there may not be a 3rd generation in the Zarzycki family army if we don't make changes and teach our children why these changes are NECESSARY for the cause of Christ.

I'm not a health nut. I'm a warrior for Christ who does not want ANYTHING to stop her family from giving God all the glory and honor that is due HIM!

Now, I'll go back to the beginning. We're a real family. We have ice cream every once in awhile. We were at a birthday party today. We had cake & ice cream. But, as a rule, we do not eat processed food & avoid those things we know are harmful to us and our family.

We have made these changes in our eating lifestyle over the course of 9 years. In the last 3 years, we have made a more diligent, consistent effort to change.

In His Grip,
Laura

I HIGHLY recommend www.mercola.com for information on a healthy lifestyle.
The book Nourishing Traditions has been a huge help to me in determining what is healthy and what isn't to eat. It is more like an encyclopedia than a cook book!

Friends

God and I have many conversations. Most of them sound nothing like the Psalms... no flowery words... Just Him and me, while I'm changing a diaper, cooking dinner or picking weeds... Our conversations lately have been more often and more fervent... Lord, what's going on with me? I don't like this. I know it's right. I know You are working, but I'm not likin' it, just so You know. That's been the tone lately. But as I wrestle with Jesus, He turns my head toward my children and I SEE it.

I see our children playing with one another. I see Lukasz & Anya jumping on the trampoline that their big brother spent 4 hours on a Saturday putting together for them. They're giggling, falling, rolling... I see Kathryn & Rose helping each other do laundry & pick up the floor so that they can chat. Kathryn helping Ryan get his clothes ready so that he can go out of town again, talking all the while. Sitting with one another on the couch reading a story. Wrestling on the floor. Rocking the baby. Changing a diaper. Playing house. Fighting over toys. Building a HUGE sand castle. All this has happened this week in our home. Our children are friends. They love one another. Side note: The world says that siblings will hate one another and rival for attention. LIE!!! In an atmosphere of love, even when there are many children & Mama & Daddy can't possibly spend one on one time with them all regularly, if children are taught (by example) to love & respect one another, they will. (our kids have their sibling rivalry issues, they fight, they bicker, they touch one another and make the other scream, they take each others' toys, but they are friends...)
And I would miss the blessing of being their friend, being apart of this adventure every day if I spent my time on the phone, on the computer or going on play dates and gallivanting around town.

Now, don't get me wrong, I struggle with this, sometimes more than others. Right now, more than other times... But when I look at them and realize the choice I have to make. I cannot be my kids' friend and build strong relationships with them and do those other things... I have to make my choice. A little note here: The world has told us for far too long that we cannot be our children's friend or that as they get older they will not want to spend time with us. LIE!!! God brings families together and if we will be obedient to Him and love our children and enjoy them and smile at them and have Joy... Then they won't be able to resist being around their greatest coach, best confidante, the ones that they know have got their back.

I have friends outside these four walls, but not many. When we talk or get together, we are uplifting one another in prayer, seeking Godly wisdom and exhorting one another to fight the good fight. I have chosen these women intentionally because they are fighters, with great attitudes, who seek victory in their lives and aren't going to settle for mediocrity. They read the Bible and actually believe what it says! What God can do with women that believe Him and act on what He says!

My prayer is that I will be more like that Titus 2 woman:
^{Titus 2: 4-5
4}Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, ⁵to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

How I want to bring glory to my God by what they see in me and my family, my children, my grandchildren... I must be busy at home, so that no one can malign God's precious Word.

In His Grip,
Laura

Our family sings together alot and this is a favorite of ours...
Love Will Hold Us Together

Bravehearted Warriors

We've been asked the age old question more times than I can count.

What are ya goin' for, a baseball team? I used to just smile & nod.
Now, I smile and say, "No baseball team. An army. We are training our kids to be warriors for Christ. They are needed."
I say that, but what does that mean.

We are totally dedicated to the task. We live the life we want to see them emulate. We can't be lukewarm and cowardly and expect them to be on fire and courageous. It's not going to happen.

We recognize that they are in training.
In a real boot camp, the cadets are being trained for battle, being trained to fight and to defend.
Our job, then, as parents is to relentlessly train our "cadets" for battle. To fight for the truth. To defend the truth.

They must know the Truth, study the Truth and believe the Truth. In today's world, they must believe that there is an absolute truth, not a truth for me and a truth for you. We can't all be right!
John 14:6 Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me."

We guard our "base" with extra diligence, making sure that there aren't any "enemies" in our midst, undermining our authority & training. Anything or anyone, (even grandparents) who even insinuate that our children should not obey their parents is against God, 5th commandment.

We are training them to recognize the enemy. This is very frustrating these days because Satan is a slick one and his tactics are oh so subtle. He dresses himself in nice Christian clothes, speaks fluent "Christianese", he's in most Christian book stores... Like I said, he's a slick one.

1 Peter 5:8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

This is a war! Their life is at stake!

We are training them to "test" what they are being told. It doesn't matter who says it.

Acts 17:11
Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

Does it match up with Scripture? If it's against the Bible, it's a lie. Even if it sounds good. Even if it feels good. Even if it makes sense. If it's against the Bible, it's a lie.

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.

I would not send them out to battle without me until they were fully trained. That's the tough one. Can you imagine if our troops were sent to battle with 3 days training? What would happen? They would get slaughtered! So, we don't send our kids into enemy territory a.k.a socialistic educational facilities. Their goal is to teach them what to think, not how to think. And their perspective is NOT God's therefore I must not give them any influence in my "cadets" lives. They will go out into the world, to seek and save the lost, to mentor their peers once they are trained. Not before.

Deuteronomy 6:4-7
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and thou risest up.

The most important thing that we do, is pray over and for our children continually, not with fear and doubt but with faith and confidence that His Word is true, it will not return back to us void, that He is taking our heart felt effort and molding our children's hearts to be more like His. I beg for His wisdom and strength to not give up, to not give in, to keep up the good fight and finish this race well.

Now, I know, that some may say this is a little over the top, a little obsessive, I mean, they're just kids. Let them go here, do this, be free. Well, to that, I say we have fun, but we aren't a "kid centered family". We're a family, a team, we live life together. Whatever we do, for the most part, it is together. And we enjoy it. I don't want to share my time with them. It's just too short!

Still think we're obsessive...
A little statistic for you to ponder... 70 - 85 % of kids that grow up in Christian homes leave the faith after their freshman year in college!!! Were they ever faithful? Were they trained to fight the good fight in "real" life, not just on their video game?

I'll say it again.

We are in a war! The enemy is real! He is after our children!

Satan, you will not have them!
They are His!

Here We Stand!