Mood:  don't ask

Now, don't get me wrong, I love my boys. Sometimes, however, they drive me up the wall! Today has been one of those days.

We have been doing some homeschool these past few weeks, but we have basically taken about a month off because of all of the activities that go on here at the mission over the holidays, and because of our trip to New Jersey. That is the convenience and advantage of being homeschoolers. We can take a day off here and there if we need to and make it up at another time. We frequently will work over the schools fall and spring breaks. We usually start earlier than public school and almost always go a little later ~ including doing some homeschool over the summer. We can even have homeschool on snow days ~ The Tinkel Acedemy never closes. 

The downfall of taking a month off, though, is the day that we have to get back into the whole routine. You can tell where I'm going here, can't you? Yep! Today was the first day back and it was a doozy! John Allen's sleep habits are a mess. He absolutely didn't want to get up in this morning. He struggled all morning and didn't end up getting a lot done. Part of the reason was that Tuesday's is also Bible Club days, so my time is divided between getting ready for Bible Club and homeschooling. Joshua was a little better and got done with three-fourths of his assignments.

I really should have pushed the issue more, but today was just too busy of a day. And, I had already done enough fussing, etc. It isn't working, and I know it. That's why we are getting a little extra advice - I think I mentioned that the other day, but, I'm not going to divulge what it is yet. In the meantime, tomorrow is another day.

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Mood:  on fire

I have gotten a few comments from some of my blogging friends that say that their husbands don't want to participate because they think that the questions that I have been asking are just the simple everyday questions that are always asked. They don't want to spend their time answering just any old questions. They want me to think out of the box.

I had thought about asking more controversial questions, but didn't want to scare some men away. However, I think I have come up with a solution. At least once a month, maybe twice, I am going to ask a "Hot Topic Question" for those men who want something a little more meaty to chew on. How often I post a Hot Topic, will depend on how much response I get to this one. If any of you have any Hot Topics that you would like discussed, please leave a comment below, or send an email to me with the meatier questions. I will give you full credit if I use one of them.

OK, here goes the very first Hot Topic question on the Men's Monday Meme:

Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Colossians 3:18 New International Bible

What do you think that the above Bible verse means, and how do you apply it (if you do) in your household?

Hmmmm. Please ladies don't stone me! Let's move right along to the rules:

1. This is a man's meme, so the answers must be the answers from a man. Either the man can answer on his blog, or a wife can interview her husband for her blog. However, if the wife puts it on her blog, she must stay true to what her husband said.
2. You are encouraged to put one of the Men's Monday Meme buttons found to the left on your blog. Just copy the code below the button of your choice. The more folks who link, the more readers you may have to visit your blog.
3. You may answer the question any time during the week up through next Monday. After you answer the question, add the address to your post to the Mr.Linky below. If you could, please only add the direct link to the post to make it easier for readers to find the entry.
4. My answer along with a new question will be posted next Monday. The new Mr. Linky will be added at midnight Monday night.

And here's the new Mr. Linky:

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As you can see, it is a very difficult situation and a situation where we would covet your prayers. We have come to realize also that perhaps we need to be retrained and not our children. We are presently getting some help in this area. Help that I will explain in a later post (my lips are sealed). Don't get excited. Super Nanny is not making a visit to the Tinkel household.

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Mood:  energetic

No I'm not playing leap frog with the boys...AND...don't ask me what a Blog Hop is because I'm just new to this and I'm still not sure what I'm doing ! You'll just have to trust me on this one and maybe we'll both figure it out with time.

Anyway here's the deal. Larger Family Life is doing this really neat thing to raise money for Haiti. They have started a blog hop. A blog hop is kind of like one of those old chain letter thingies that you used to get, only you're not sending money to anyone, and this is legal . If you are a blogger, you put a post on your blog inviting folks to donate money to Compassion International's Haiti fund. Kind of like this note. After you do that, you put your link on the MckLinky that is listed on their website or the one below (they are one and the same). You are to visit the 5 websites that are listed above your website. They explain it kind of like "dropping in for a cup of coffee". They encourage you to leave a comment on the websites if you feel led to. There is only one stipulation. In order to join the blog hop, you have to donate at least $1.00 to Compassion International's Haiti fund. Easy enough, and a fun way to donate money.

Here's my quandary! I'm a BCM International Missionary and love BCM but we also have (as you well know ) a Compassion International child and really like Compassion International's ministry. So, I came up with a plan. We were planning on donating $10 to the Compassion International fund and $10 to the BCM fund anyway. So, since the original blog hop is for Compassion International, if you will make a donation to Compassion and email me with the receipt that you get and, then, leave a comment below, then I will donate $1 extra to the BCM fund (up to $50). This will be on top of the $10 that we are already donating. So, both Compassion and BCM will benefit. Of course, you can also donate to BCM if you would like as well. Both links will be included below. 

Now, Larger Family Life is also keeping track of how much money is donated to Compassion, so you have to email them as well. I know that what I just said may be complicated, so let me go over it again in hopefully simple steps.

1. Make a donation to Compassion International using the link below.
2. Forward the receipt that you get from them to me so that I know that a donation was given.
3. Forward the receipt to Larger Family Life so that they know that it was given.
4. Leave a comment below.
5. If you are a blogger, and you want to join in with the blog hop, leave your link below after you have written a post about it (see Larger Family Life for more info on this).
6. Check back and I will let you know how much I donate to BCM ~ it's almost like you are donating to two great organizations!
7. Don't forget to tell all of your friends about this on Facebook, Twitter, etc.!

If this post wasn't clear, and I'm sure it may not have been, Larger Family Life has explained it much clearer, so go on over there and read their directions as well.

OK, here's all of the links that I promised.

My email - tink38570@yahoo.com

Larger Family Life's email - family@largerfamilylife.com

Larger Family Life's blog - http://largerfamilylife.blogspot.com/

BCM's Donation Page - http://bcmintl.org/donate/

Compassion's Donation Page - https://www.compassion.com/contribution

To find out more about BCM's and Compassion's Disaster Relief funds, please click on the banners below.

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Mood:  a-ok

Many times folks ask how they can pray for us and our ministry. Sometimes it's not easy telling people the ins and outs of a ministry and how to exactly pray for things. I often have a hard time doing it.

I was thrilled when I got this recent email from the president of BCM International announcing the prayer requests for BCM's annual "Day of Prayer and Fasting". It made it very easy to write to you all and give you a list of things that you can pray for that has to do with our umbrella mission of BCM.

Some of these prayer requests involve things that would effect our ministry at Good News Mission. Others, although they may not have to do with our personal ministry, have to do with the ministry of other missionaries that are good friends and are near and dear to our hearts. We feel that all of BCM's ministries are important, however, so please, if you feel lead, join us on January 20th for a day of Fasting and Prayer.

Below, I have copied and pasted the letter that was sent. For some reason things don't always copy and paste well on my blog, but I think that you can easily read it. Thanks ahead of time for your prayers for our personal ministry and the ministry of BCM International.

Day of Prayer and Fasting

January 20, 2010

As we begin a new year it was determined that it would be good to start with a special day of prayer and fasting.

The thought is to allow all of us in the Global BCM Family to start 2010 with a renewed appreciation for God and His blessings and to bring our worship and thanksgiving to Him in a corporate manner.  For seventy-four years He has led this ministry.  He has provided the personnel and resources needed to touch hundreds of thousands, yea, perhaps millions of lives with the good news of Jesus Christ.  We come to celebrate His faithfulness and to offer our thanksgiving and praise.

On that day, we want to also invoke His continued blessing and ask Him to enable us, by His grace and power to continue to reach the nations of the world.  We recognize that we can do nothing in our own strength or initiative.

Prayer and the recognition of our dependence on God has been a part of BCM since its inception and it continues to this day.  That is why daily times of prayer are conducted here at our International Ministry Center coupled with a full morning of prayer on the third Wednesday of each month, spontaneous prayer requests and the weekly Prayer Link.   Our Asian Prayer Center in India hosts “prayer warriors” on a 24/7 basis.  BCM Tamil Nadu, India has a monthly day of prayer as do many other BCM global entities.  Prayer is part of who we are.

So, on January 20 we hope that you will set aside a significant portion of your day or evening to pray.  Get together with your co-workers and invite your friends and supporters to also join with you.  Let’s bombard the throne room of heaven with our praises and petitions.

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