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| -Articles and Testimonials- How it works: E-mail your article/testimonial to us and we will review it. We will post the entrees that we believe to be Godly, helpful and of a good report. ~ PLEASE FOLLOW THE POSTED RULES IF YOU WISH TO HAVE YOUR WORK PUBLISHED. ~ Do NOT write at any level of foolishness, goofiness or silliness. ~ Do NOT write fairy-tale aired articles or articles on fairy tales. ~ Do NOT write political bashing of any official, or any of our nation's leaders. ~ Do NOT write about anything to do with any kind of romance, or 'romance aired'. ~ Do NOT use crude, rude, foolish, unthoughtful, gossip-aired, perverted or swear language in your artical. Please do not let your writing imply that you mean to or want to write/talk in any ways of the above. Also, please do not use slang words.. this is a minor request, but using the correct words does help other readers who may be unfamiliar with such words! ~ Thank you for following these rules.
"A Day At Our House" For Practical Homeschooling Magazine Greetings! I’m Leah Oxendine, from the laid-back countryside of Reddick, Florida. I wrote a "Day at our house" diary a few years ago when I was 11, and you may have read it in the July/August 2007 issue of Practical Homeschooling. This diary here is pretty much an update/revised version, since a lot has changed since 2007. To begin with, I am now 13. I still have my 4 brothers, Will (10), the twins: Adam and Andrew(both 5), and last but not least Luke. (about to be 3) There is my awesome Dad, Butch, and my amazing Mom, Kathy. As you read this, remember that our ‘schedules’, projects and priorities differ throughout the year. They are never the same. Every day is different! And now begins another untypical day... ~ First of all, I am not a early person. But then again, our whole family hasn’t ever been early, to begin with. For me, my day starts at something like 8:00 to 8:30 A.M. It used to be earlier, but as there typically isn’t very much to do at that time in the morning, I don’t stumble out of bed until around 8:00. My brothers all get up at the same time(How could they not? When the four of them are in the same bedroom, and for that matter the same bunkbeds? One will tell the others to wake him up whenever they get up...) and are usually already up and going by the time I’m out of bed. Today they were watching an "Amazing Animals" video from the local library. At 9:00, I started breakfast, which was yummy blueberry/chocolate chip/banana muffins with home-made carrot juice. While I waited for the muffins to cook in the oven, I tried to get in some practice at the piano. That’s when I usually get practice in.. In-between-times, and any extra time where I don’t have chores or stuff to do at the moment. I worked mainly on a particular Tchaikovsky piece called "Morning Prayer", and "Für Elise" by Beethoven. By now Daddy has left for work. By 9:45 we are in the midst of our breakfast routine, but this time it’s rather rushed. We usually will sit at the table some time after breakfast is done and talk, recite memory verses, or make cards and pictures for people. But not today.. Too much to do! Mom and I are loaded down with trying to freeze the huge packing box of broccoli that she bought the other day. Will, Adam, Drew and Luke are sent outside(And are they glad! They love it out there..) Around 10:30, Mom has been working on the broccoli since I started breakfast, and I mean to join her.. But as usual the sink is a mountain of dirty dishes and pots. So, as usual, that’s where I’m off to next. I don’t know how much time I spend on washing dishes, but it’s a lot. Today it seemed like I would NEVER get done. But finally I did. 11:00 Now that the sink is clear, I pop in my favorite(also Mom’s) Third Day CD while Mom and I chop broccoli together. Done in a matter of 5 minutes! Mom blanches the mountainous pile and realizes we have no ice for the next step, which is chilling the broccoli. She drives over to the nearest convenience store to get a few bags. I watch the boys and give Lukey rides on the zipline until she gets back. 2:15 Mom’s blanching again so she asks I prepare lunch, which is leftover spaghetti. 2:45 to 4:00 was mostly the time I worked on this diary, with my laptop, and listened to some more Third Day, Newsboys and MercyMe. (All by the way, are great bands.) At 4:10 I sat down at my desk, had a cup of green tea, and did some math from Mom’s "Mad Minute" book, and did some Getty & Dubay Italic Handwriting too. After that I spent some time with my Heavenly Father, in his Word. I just finished doing a study on Biblical Courtship, using a study guide from Daughterhood by Design. Very helpful. Today my time with the Lord was very fruitful. After finishing up around 4:45, I came out to the kitchen and got on my laptop again. I work on a manuscript I am writing for a kids’ magazine we get called "Pockets." Mom is taking a nap, along with all 4 boys. At 6:00 or so I got back to work. Guess what there was to do! Dishes! AGAIN. So, as I was saying.. They never seem to get done.. Wait a minute.. Not that topic again.. Anyway, Mom was working on some Creamy Cucumber Dill salad dressing for dinner, and I washed and cut up some romaine lettuce for it. Around now, Mom got an e-mail from a friend of ours stating that there wouldn’t be a piano available tomarrow for the annual Reddick Library Talent Show. This sends me into something of a shock, because I was planning to play the piano while my brothers sang. As it turns out, there really WON’T be a piano available. Now Daddy and I e-mail back and forth on the possibility of going over to my Grandma’s and borrowing her portable keyboard. Of course, I am prepared if we can’t get the keyboard. We can just bring our voices! Around 6:45 I brought out a batch of Kefir and made up some to drink with dinner. Kefir is a grain that ferments milk and is excellent for your body, specifically your gut(intestines.) We weren’t drinking this in 2007! 7:35 Dinner time. My dad is home. Unfortunately the kitchen is mess.. and the floor is ever worse than that.. 7:45 Well, I thought it was dinner, but here we are sitting down now. Dinner is a delicious salad with the most fruit we’ve ever had. We’ve got cherries, pears, apples, kiwis, peaches, grapes and blueberries all here at once. (It’s never like that even in the least bit. There might be one or two fruits usually, at the max.) The story of how we got all this is another of it’s own! So anyway, after dinner, at around 8:30, I’m washing dishes (AGAIN.) and am helping Mom clean up the kitchen, while Daddy and Will juice some of the many apples and peaches we have with our Jack LaLane "Power juicer." At 10:00, Daddy generously takes Will and I to Grandma’s house to get her keyboard. 10:35 We return, with keyboard, and even more growing exhaustion. 10:54 I finish up this diary, which I actually worked on all throughout the day. So now it’s off to bed. I normally am to be in bed at 10:30 or earlier. But then again, today was not a ‘normal’ day. Of course, as I said before, each day here at the Oxendines’ is never the same!
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lines ~ a UNISEX twisted generation emerges. by Leah Kathryn Oxendine ~ First of all, if you live or have lived on our planet Earth, then you'll probably agree with me on how imperfect it is. You may not be following God and realize this fact. This earth will always be imperfect, no matter what anyone says, until the day it is destroyed(see poem or read in the book of Revelation in the Bible) and God replaces it with the New Earth. The earth and 'the world', concerning the earth's people, are both imperfect, anyway. "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. " 1 John 2;15 What does this tell us not to do again? Have you ever heard the phrase "be in the world but not of it?" We as followers of Jesus, are not to take part in the worldliness and sin around us. We are to be the light to the many lost around us. "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill can not be hidden." Matthew 5;14 Today's arising generation of children, teenagers and young adults is not a good one, nor one to be admired and praised, in the least bit! It is a lost, forgotton generation, a twisted generation which is without God and in the dark. Of course, you don't need me to tell you all this. Just go out someplace public.. shopping malls, certain Wal-Marts and airports are especially good examples. You can even get a good inhale of today's culture at a typical grocery store. I am seeing more and more now how today's young people are slipping. For one, if you notice, so many youth(and I mean youth as from toddlers to young adults!) are overweight, or should I say, fat. Yes, fat. If today's youth is a youth that goes to school, sits for hours there, then comes home and plays video games or watches telivision for several more hours, and on top of that is loading up on junk food, what do expect to get? A healthy, fit person? No, of course not! Unfortunetly, there is actually a good percentage now of youth that are obese. This is a horrid, sad thing. These poor youth should be pitied. They have let their bodies turn into balloons, and are distroying what God gave them. They are also setting in terrible habbits, early on in there lives. Finally, to the most twisted part, in my oppinion. Our generation is not only a overweight, entertainment ruled, sickly one, but has also actually forgotten who it is! Today's young man has his hair in a girly, long style, and wears quilted patterned (and once again rather womanish) pants. His name, you cannot tell really, if it is intended for a female, or not. (Although, once again, today's culture has twisted around what was intended for whom.)
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"Walking With Wise Men" ~By Leah Kathryn Oxendine ~ How many verses in Proverbs talk about wise and foolish men? Quite a good many. Have you ever thought about how Proverbs is also full of promises and foretellings of consiquences? It is, and not only is this following verse a very good example, but it is also the focus for this article. Proverbs 12:20 "He that walks with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed." You may be wondering "what exactly does this mean?" That's exactly what I thought when I first heard this verse. As for the first part of the verse, it is saying that if you spend your time with wise, godly people, then of course you shall be wise. But if you spend your time with foolish, ungodly people, then, well, no good will come of it, and, well, just read the rest of the verse.. pretty serious. The people we keep company with really matter a great deal.. and choosing them is no small thing. Be sure that you don't just 'be friends' with anyone. Look at their character. Is their speech perverted or silly? Are they 'followers of the world' in that they are worldly in their ways and choices? Are they possible bad influences? If so, then don't allow yourself to keep company with them as you would a likeminded God-following brother or sister. Your part, actually, would most definetly be to witness to them. Letting your light shine unto them, exposing the darkness. This being said, we once again could come back to the topic of witnessing, but instead I will write about that task and topic in another seperate article. I remind and advise that you remember(and memorise) this very important verse from Proverbs. Proverbs 12:20 "he that walks with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed."
"The Real Thanksgiving History" Information collected by Leah O. Thanksgiving Proclamation Date: 1789 Proclamation issued by President George Washington designating Thursday, November 26, 1789, as a national day of "public thanksgiving and prayer." The thanksgiving celebrations of colonial times and the early days of the nation differed substantially from the festive air of the modern American holiday. For early Americans, a day of thanksgiving was a day of prayer and fasting usually offered in return for a good harvest. Days of thanksgiving were a common practice throughout the colonies during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The first nationwide day of thanksgiving was held in 1777 to commemorate the American victory over British forces at Saratoga. One of the first edicts issued by the new government after the war, Washington's 1789 proclamation sought to unify the new country. Over the next 150 years, the popularity of the holiday waxed and waned, and then disappeared altogether for about 45 years during the 1800s. But in 1863, in an effort to unite a country divided by the Civil War, President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of every November as a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise." In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday to the fourth Thursday of November, where it stands today.
"Leaders, not Lemmings" By Leah Kathryn Oxendine Are you a leader, or a little lemming* who will follow the crowd off a cliff? When with others around you, do you stand up for what you believe, or just follow along with what everyone else says? You are either a Leader, or a Lemming*. Simple as that. Being a leming* is dangerous.. you can get your self in real tight fixes or in trouble, or worse. Followers(lemmings) do not witness to opposite minded people... they'll only talk of their faith to the Christian brothren and sisters they know already. Being a Leader is dangerous too, though. Christians who decide to stand up and be leaders for Christ in other countries such as Korea, China and Muslim territories are put in a very hard position.. witnessing for their Saviour when that is totally against the law.. and they are liable to be imprisoned, tortured, or even killed for standing up for the truth.. and sharing it with the countless brainwashed people around them. Though when I think about it, I realize that Jesus said in the Scriptures, that the deciples would be persecuted for following Him, and that blessed are they who are persecuted for His sake. He also tells us that He who loses his life for Jesus gains life(This actually means not only for the persecuted Christians.. it mean giving your life over to God, letting him control it.)and that He who keeps his life, shall lose it. It's true not every one will let their light shine in other countries, but here in America, we sure do have lots of oppertunities! At the grocery store, the park, on the street, you name it! Anywhere, anytime, is an oppertunity to be a Leader and to be a witness. FaithFriends theme verse "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify the Father in Heaven." Matthew 5:16 You can let your light shine right at home! Be a godly influence on your brothers and sisters, serve your family, be kind and patient, obedient to your parents, etc. You will have more of a effect on them then you think! A younger sibling will be especially influenced. (Another reason to try to be a good influence on your family, as bad influence will spur on bad behavior and attitudes with younger siblings. Ev en older siblings will be surprised and impressed. If they are not saved, then they will think of the change and joy in you and will want to know how it happened so. A wonderful witnessing oppertunity! Or, they may just be annoyed and bewildered at your change and just call it 'weird.' But if they do, don't be afraid to stand up and do what Jesus would do. And pray, pray that God would give you boldness and energy to be a leader.. not a lemming*. ________________________________________________________ *A lemming is a small rodent found in the Artic. They are very socialable, but as many of you have heard, they are very much the greatest push-overs in the Animal world. | |
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