Seeking the Symphony

The word symphony comes from the Greek word symphonia which means agreement or concord of sound—in other words, harmony. And that’s what we all want in our homes, right? But the reality of our world is that discord happens. Families fight. Siblings squabble. Coworkers Clash. God created a beautiful world of harmony, but sin came into the world and jacked it all up, and murder began with the second generation of humans. On our own, we are a disaster.

But, with God—the great Conductor of our souls, the Composer of our lives—everything changes. Read More.

SMALL GROUP STUDY!

This powerful 8-week Course will equip you with practical tools to really love people in difficult situations and mature into an adult follower of Jesus.

The Emotionally Healthy (EH) Relationships Course has been developed over a 21-year period to directly address core biblical principles to guide you and others into an experience of discipleship that will deeply change your life. In the EH Relationships Course, everyone will learn 8 practical relationship skills to develop mature, loving relationships with others.

And since loving others and loving God cannot be separated, each person will also grow in their personal, first-hand relationship with Jesus by incorporating stillness, silence, and Scripture as daily life rhythms.

The Art of Marriage LIVE at the HEAV Convention!

We will be helping our FamilyLife friends with the Art of Marriage LIVE at the 42nd Annual Virginia Homeschool Convention this June! This all-day event combines relatable, in-person testimonies with solid biblical teaching.

The ultimate purpose of your marriage is to tell the truth about God. But how do we reflect perfect love in our imperfect marriages? Join us as we dive into six aspects of God’s powerful and perfect love; and how to reflect those traits in your marriage. This creative, engaging workshop will help every marriage take tangible and practical steps toward Oneness – a Oneness that tells the truth about God to your children.

We will also be leading a breakout session for blended families this year! (Time and day TBD–stay tuned!) Also, our friends at FamilyLife will be leading a breakout on the importance of prioritizing your marriage in your homeschool. We’re excited to share with Virginia homeschooling families again this year!

When Hope is Hard

We were talking, and then an invisible veil cloaked her eyes. Have you ever seen that happen? When you’re speaking with someone, and suddenly, you can tell they’ve completely checked out?

In this case, I was talking to a dear friend who’s going through a horribly difficult season, and when the subject of hope came up, I watched her shut down. She was still nodding and trying to listen, but I could tell her heart had left the conversation. When that happens, you can always see it in their eyes.

I finished my thought because I felt like the Holy Spirit was compelling me to, but then I asked her, “You’ve shut down, huh?” She answered honestly, “I did. A few minutes ago. How could you tell?” It didn’t take a psychiatrist to see her brain had checked out of the conversation….

Hidden Work (Part 2): 5 Steps to Strengthening Your Spiritual Core

In last week’s blog post, we talked about how our spiritual core strength—or lack thereof—affects our walk with the Lord and as a result, our ministry to others. A weak physical core affects our whole bodies and eventually begins to cripple our ability to move effectively; I can attest to this personally. In the same way, when we fail to do the deep spiritual work necessary to keep our souls “in shape,” everything we do is affected. In other words, our walk with Jesus starts getting real wonky.

It wouldn’t be very kind of us, though, to tell you what the problem is without giving you a solution. Therefore, here are the steps God has been working out in us to help develop us spiritually.

Hidden Work (Part 1): Why a Strong Spiritual Core Matters

Where and how we walk is a frequent theme in God’s Word, but what I’ve realized recently is that we’re not walking where we should or how we should unless we’re willing to do the hidden work of deep spiritual formation. If we want to walk in public ministry, we have to be willing to take ourselves through intimate, private ministry. That having been said, this revelation came to me in kind of a weird way.

A WEAK CORE

At the end of December, Josiah and I finally decided we had to make an investment in our family’s health and re-institute our gym membership. We tried working out from home for a long time, but it just wasn’t working for us.