Easter

I know I do not write often and most of the time I try to wait until the Lord really places something on my heart and then I write so that is why sometimes I write a lot on my blog and sometimes it is few and far between post. I would like what Easter means to you? But I would also like you to know all about what Easter means to me and what it should mean to you. First and foremost I want to say I am in this post no way knocking how you celebrate Easter but I do not the Easter bunny as part of Easter that is why our kids no longer get Easter baskets and really know nothing of a Easter bunny. What they do hear a lot about is how a Savior was sent from God who was tortured and murdered for OUR SINS. How Friday was a sad day but then on Sunday it was a joyful day, a day our Savior was raised from the dead which means HE IS ALIVE. That is where our hope comes from. When talking to our kids about what Easter really means this past week I ran across this story and thought it was wonderful. It is called The Story of the Little Hill.



The Little Hill by Kathy Vincent

Once there was a little hill

And on the hill there grew green grass

And under the green grass, a flower began to grow

And on the flower grew 3 red petals

The little hill was happy



One day a worker walked upon the little hill

And on the hill he dug 3 deep holes

And in each deep hole went a tall log

And on each tall log a cross was made with another log

The little hill was confused



The next day was Friday and a large crowd gathered around

And on each cross a man was hung

There was a man in the middle…His name was Jesus.

And on each side of Jesus there was another man

The little hill was sad



The man in the middle was very sad too

But other people on the little hill were very mad at Him

And made fun of Him

And they laughed at Him

And then darkness came

The little hill was scared



And then the man in the middle died

The little flower on the hill died too

Even the grass on the little hill died

And then the little hill shook and shook

The little hill cried



The man in the middle was taken down from His cross and buried in a cave

Friday was done

Saturday came and went

But on Sunday morning something wonderful happened!

The little hill was excited!



An angel appears and says that Jesus is ALIVE!

The friends of Jesus are very happy

They go to tell their other friends

Then Jesus appears and shows that He is not dead, but ALIVE!

The little hill is filled with joy!



The little hill thought about Jesus

And soon new green grass began to grow

And soon many flowers with red petals grew

And soon new life was all around

The little hill felt loved

What a wonderful way to teach children all about Easter!!! So all I ask is go ahead and do your egg hunts(we do this at my parents house) and go ahead if you want and add in the Easter bunny but please do not forget to teach your children the true meaning of what this holiday is about. It is about the joy in knowing our Savior is ALIVE! That he was murdered for YOUR SINS, he was tortured beyond our comprehension BUT he arose and we have joy in knowing we have HOPE. IF you do not know Jesus Christ ask him into your heart, start living for Him, and just know that he did all this so you could live eternally in HEAVEN. How wonderful!

Being a Christian is Easy???

So when did we as a society start to believe that being a Christian is always easy. Yes, being a Christian if a joy filled life but sometimes we have sorrow as well. I have really been thinking about this a lot lately especially yesterday due to various things happening to people that are really close to me. If things were always easy would we hit our knees as much? Would we have conversations with our Savior as much? Would we think we could do it all ourselves?? Maybe that is the point and to be honest I mean on those days when I think I cannot do this all I have to do is think of Jesus, precious Jesus, walking up that hill carrying MY CROSS, not his own, not carrying his cross because he ever did anything wrong. NO, Jesus was sinless, pure, without blemish and yet he carried that cross and DIED a painful, horrible death so that I may live one day in paradise. So as a Christian no things will not always be easy and we were NEVER promised it would be. There are verse after verse in the bible about enduring hardships.
-Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? (Hebrews 12:7)
-Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. (James 1:12)
But as Christians we have the joy of knowing that we do not have to face our trials alone. We may not have been promised things would always be easy but we have been promised God is always there!!! What joy we can find in knowing that! What a great gift to know we do not have to face things alone and what joy in knowing when our lives on earth are over that really our life is just beginning.
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11
****I think this is one of the biggest things I want to teach my children is that following the Lord is not always easy, not always popular, and not always fun BUT following the Lord you will find so much JOY and so many blessings. Our children have saw us go through trials and sometimes I wonder if I handle them right. If they really learned from it what I want them to. Because my faith has been shaken at times , I am not perfect. Nobody on earth is perfect but there was someone that walked the earth that was perfect and He is our hope, our refuge in times of hardships. So I know that even though I am not perfect one day through Jesus Christ I will be. And that makes me know in this I can face tomorrow.
___If you do not know the Lord please know that only in Jesus Christ you can be saved. Ask Him in your heart today and LIVE for him. I was letting life past me by many years due to trying to find something to fill the void in my life that ONLY Jesus can fill. I pray whoever reads this will find encouragement, hope, and joy.

Being a homemaker

It means just what it says: making a home. Alot of times we do not value the job of a homemaker , the society and well also the one being the homemaker. It is more than changing diapers, wiping noses, cleaning house. WE are shaping who our children will become, we are taking care of the home so when our husband gets home from a hard day at work he has no worries, we are placing value on the family!! Something our society has completely lost the sense of-value of family. In doing this we also learn important things like natural ways to help our families with sicknesses and such.( Will be sharing some good things I have found recently for our health in a future post.) I just want us to remember this is what we were created for. Now I know some women HAVE to work, have to be outside the home but you can also make the most of your time at home as well. So when someone ask you what you do, don't kind of put your head down and quietly say I just stay at home. No, you proudly say I am a homemaker!!!! Because afterall that is the most important job you could ever have.

Misconceptions Part 2

This is where I will answer some questions we get. I hope to only glorify the Lord and to encourage other families that have "more than the usual" number of children.

Question 1: Do you know what causes that? Do you have a tv? And those questions along those lines. WEll yes I sure do know what causes it!! All blessings come from the Lord(Jess that might be a good response for you to try :) ) WE have went between having cable tv and not having it, we are very specific of what the kids can watch though no matter what. But yes we do have a tv. I just love really how people think it is their business to begin with.

Question 2:How do you manage everything?? Well with prayer. That is how I manage alot of days. Have a schedule,being consistant,being organized helps. Finding ways to make things work easier. We were never promised life would be easy and yes we have hard days but it is all worth it. I am sorry if this did not answer some of your questions or what you wanted to hear. But somedays I only manage with the Lord's help, when I try to go at it on my own that is when I fail miserably.


Question 3: What does a day in the Ballard household look like? Well, depends on the season. To be honest in the past year I have experienced problems with my thyroid and things like that and experienced 3 miscarriages( We are happily expecting now and things are looking good). So, things right now look different than they used to. Right now I try to sleep in a bit before I get up so my oldest daughter takes care of breakfast. We get up, eat, take vitamins and start the day. I usually start the day with making the bed and starting a load of clothes. WE start chores and whatever we need to get done that day. Some days we have errands to run or appts to make but most days look the same. Chores, I school with the little ones before lunch, we have lunch and then the older ones do most of their school in the afternoon because most of the younger ones are sleeping. I have days to make out bills,make menu plans and grocery list,do Quickbooks for the company ,etc... So my days are a bit different from what the kids look like. My day consist of doing many loads of laundry. All the kids are given different parts of the house that is their responsiblity. We trade off every so often. After the kids get their school work done they pretty much do whatever needs to be done. I have one older one that always makes sure he can get outside. His day always starts feeding the hogs,chickens,and dogs. So each child's day looks a bit different as well. About 4:30 we start dinner because my hubby likes to eat when he gets home from work usually. AFter dinner we do whatever needs to be done and we usually do family Bible study about 7 together. Then it is play time , bed routines,etc... I hope this makes sense. Our days are pretty routine but we just get done whatever needs to be done and I guess each day looks a bit different. Some days the older ones need me more with school and some days not so much.

Question 4: Do bigger families get sick more often?? Well, this is a hard question to answer right now since we just are getting over a stomach bug lol. No actually we hardly ever have to go to the doctor and from the small families I know we are just as healthy or healthier. Now when we do get something naturally it has more people to go through so it takes longer to get rid of things and sometimes 6 kids sick and throwing up is harder than 1 or 2 but for the most part I think we are pretty healthy. Our youngest who is 15 months old has been to the doctor for his first check up after he was born and to be circumsized and for that check up, other than that he has not been. :) Things could change but for the most part no I do not think bigger families get sick more often.


Question 5: I have been asked recently what our budget is for a month. That is kind of hard to answer right now because we are trying to change some things so we can spend less. Right now our GOAL is $650 a month for our family which is a family of 11 right now, baby will make 12 :) Ways we stretch our budget is my husband and older sons hunt deer so we have alot of deer meat. WE raise our own hogs(some say this does not save money since they eat so much but I disagree AND I know WHAT we are eating),we raise our own chickens for our eggs. WE shop at Sams,Aldi,and Ingle's. Making a menu plan at the beginning of a month sure does help!!! Winter is pretty easy to save money because you can do meals like Chili,Chicken Chili,Potato soup,Veg. Soup,etc... We have been trying lately to add lots of fruits and veggies into our meals. :) But since we homeschool we have to prepare 3 meals at day at home. If you are trying to stretch your budget adding fruit to a meal or something like brown rice is great.


I hope this kinds of answer some questions you might have wanted to ask big families. I also hope this is an encouragement for others. I am always honest and open about my life. I have nothing to hide. Just a mom and wife trying to do the Lord's work while here on earth.

Misconception of large families Part 1

Well I will only be able to speak for my family and the misconceptions we have faced. I have been wanting for awhile to answer these, there are many reasons why I want to do this. One is because I would like people to be informed and not misinformed. I know no matter what you do or say in life people will judge, just how humans are. That is fine with me. AFter all these years I have heard it all , saw all the dirty looks, etc... Fine with me. My prize is in heaven and it is the Lord whom I serve, through serving him I have been given tremendous blessings. So without hesitation here are some of the misconceptions I know we have come across. Also will be answering questions I get alot and questions I have gotten recently. This will be a 2 part series.

Myth 1: We are a cult or part of some strange religion. Or that we are Mennonites or Catholics. We are none of those. WE are just Bible believing people who want to follow the Lord. Actually we are Baptist. LOL! WE just believe as we are taught in the Bible that children are a blessing and not the curse this culture would have you believe. They are a beautiful gift!!

Myth 2: I hear all the time wow they must keep having kids to get assistance from the government. While I will be truthful and say we have taken assistance in the past and I am not knocking anyone that NEEDS it with anything I am fixing to say. As our faith has changed so has the way we take care of our family. We accept NO government assistance. I wished you could of heard the lady when I called and told her we wanted to be taken of all of it, she said even the children and she just kept on saying but you qualify. LOL. We have our own health insurance(well it is not really a health insurance but a health christain share program)that we pay for. If anyone is interested in it pleast let me know, it is great. Our payment goes to a family that has medical bills instead of a insurance company. My husband works his behind off to pay for groceries and everything else we need. :) so no we do not take government assistance. Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Myth 3:WE have the patience of saints. If I has just a dime for how many times I have heard this I would be set for life!! NO, we do not have patience. Our patience is still in the works. Relying on the Lord is where it comes from. Phil. 4:13- I can do all things through Christ who strengths me. That is sometimes something I have to tell myself constantly and it is true. God does not give us more than we can handle with HIS help. :)


Myth 4:WE are trying to see how many children we can have. OR I just love this one,"are you guys trying to be like the Duggars"? Um, no I do not desire to be like anyone else. I do good to be myself. It is not our desire to see how many children we can have. It is not a game, a race, or anything like that. WE LOVE our children dearly and will glady accept any the Lord shall bless us with but raising children is hard. (Especially this past week since we have had a stomach bug!) Our only desire is to follow the Lord, to let him lead our life, to advance the kingdom of God. That is why we do what we do.

Myth 5: "you must be rich to have all those children" Well, define rich. Yes we are richly blessed but we are not rich by society's standards. WE make sacrifices and pinch pennies and save. The Lord promises He will take care of us if we just rely on Him, that does not mean we will have all our hearts desires. WE have found since giving our lives over to the Lord right when we need something the Lord provides. :) Such a wonderful blessing to see it unfold. HOw much we would of missed if we would just listened to our own selfish ambitions.

Myth6: The older children in a large family raise the younger children(hear this alot about the Duggars). While our children do have chores and responsibilites to attend to they by no means raise the younger ones. They do have buddies and in turn have learned to take care of younger one and and sometimes they have to be selfless but what is wrong with teaching them those things. We have set certain meals for certain children and we all pitch in AS A FAMILY!!!! That is what is wrong with society in my opinion we do not excpect enough from our children and then wonder why they do not know how to do anything when they get older. I will address the question of what a day may look like in our house when I do the second part of this. Our older children could take care of a house, work a job, and know how things run as of now at the ages of 15 and 14 for that I am not ashamed.

WEll I guess this is it for this part of what I wanted to answer. I will be answering some common questions in part 2 coming hopefully sometime today. If you want to comment or have something you would like to ask then be my guest. Just always remember I always try to be respectful of others so please do so towards my family as well. WE are only doing what we feel the Lord would have us to do. And I will leave you with some verses to consider.

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. Psalms 127:3-5

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. Psalm 139:13-16

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. 3 John 1:4

Blaming others

Today my husband and I were having a correcting moment with some of our older children , we have one that tends to blame everyone else for his problems instead of seeing what he is doing wrong. That got me thinking about how our society is like. Just the other day I say on facebook someone reposted about a lady who had several children and her husband/baby's father got arrested. She proceeded to say I want to know who is gonna take care of all these kids. Well miss that would be you. Why do we think other people need to take care of us and when things go wrong instead of looking at the true root cause we blame whatever we can think of. Like the shooting recenting where thost beautiful innocent little lives were taken, what was blamed. Guns. What about just saying this is the result of sin! This is the result of this nation trying to get as far away from God as they can and the plain simple truth that this is darkness and sin. WE have got to start raising our children to understand what THEY do and what happens to them has nothing to do with what someone else does. If someone else is doing wrong and wrongdoing towards them they will have to answer for that. Just like some people say well I won't tithe because I don't like what the church does with my money. Wait a minute-that is God's money. IF the church does not handle the money well that is on them. If they are irresponsible they will have to answer for it. IF as a society we spent more time taking care of our responsibilities and less time blaming everyone and everything then things would work out alot better. Wanna know why medical cost have risen and why doctor's are leary of doing certain things? It is because every chance someone gets they want to sue someone. Hey, what about just going out and making money and quit worrying about trying to find someone that has did wrong. I hope this post is not taken wrongly. I do believe if someone does wrongdoing they should be punished but I also believe there comes a time where we have to take care of our responsiblities and be responsible for our own actions. Just like our wonderful president said if this gun control he wants to pass could save one life it is worth it. UM, MR. President what about the innocent that are MURDERED daily for the sake of women's rights???? Why instead of blaming everyone we start standing up for what is right and understanding it is sin. That is the cause of heartache. So.... in saying this I know this is something I will have to teach my kids almost daily and that will also have to remind myself of. But it is worth the effort to turn what this society has tried to teach around.

2012 in Review

The past year went by so quickly. IT was a year full of so many blessings and a good bit of heartache but I am thankful for it all. To begin the year in Jan. Paige turned 13! My baby girl was now a teenager but she acts way beyond her years, she is so smart and helpful. Levi turned 5, where did my baby boy go. Feb. was Billy and my 11 yr wedding annivesary. That one is hard to believe, so grateful to God for giving me this man. March my sister and I threw my parents a surprise party, they had been married 40 years and also both were turning 60 so we called it a 100 year celebration. That was very fun and we really surprised them!! WE are very thankful for our parents and for the life they have given my sister and I. March also was full of more celebration as Dylan and Dustin turned 15 and Brittani turned 9 ( all that was very shocking too). Dylan and Dustin were born at 32 weeks and weighed 3 and 4 pounds at birth and now they are thriving 15 year old boys that are super smart and I am amazed daily at what they have learned working with their daddy. June was my turned to be surprised!! My husband, oldest daughter and sons, and some sweet young girls from my church pulled together as surprise party for me for my birthday. I was in total shock and very grateful for my family and that of the super church family we have. IT was a great time after experiencing a couple of miscarriages. In August our Issac turned 4 and in September our sweet baby girls Annie and Elizabeth turned 3 and 2. In October was Billy's birthday which we celebrated by having a GA/FL get together as usual but this year we have tons of people here which made it even more special to Billy but since Ga. WON it was a special day for me too ;) Also October brought a very special day in it as our baby boy Jericho turned 1!!! November brought another positive pregnancy test and as of right now I am almost 11 weeks. AFter alot of heartache of 3 miscarriages it is a joy to be expecting and so far baby has looked well. Prayers for a healthy baby in 2013 would be appreciated. 2012 also brought health problems as the reason for my miscarriages was thyroid issues as well as low progesterone which makes you feel horrible. Billy also has a hernia. December brought a fun Christmas season that we celebrated the birth or our Savior Jesus Christ. And now here we are in Jan. 2013. I am hoping for many more blessings this year and the blessing of a healthy baby. Through all the heartache I experienced in 2012 the Lord taught me so much!! Well that is pretty much it! Hope your year was blessed and that the New Year will be even more blessed for you and your family and my hope is that we all turn our hearts to the Lord.