Hard things are a blessing

​I have been through a lot of hard things.  There are days I feel overwhelmed and want to cry and feel discouraged at why have I had to go through so many hard things.  Have I ruined my kids? Will we ever recover? Why did all this happen?  

At the end of the day I truly do see so many blessings and realize just how much I have learned from doing the hard things. There are many areas of mothering, marriage, homeschooling, and life in general where we can’t avoid going through the hard things.  These hard things grow and develop us and grow us in ways we would never otherwise. 

Here are some short and simple things I have learned through a decade of a lot of hard things. 

1) God will give grace more abundantly when we hit new times of hardships and struggles. 

James 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

2) We are commanded to have joy and it will transform us when we remember that instead of diving down the well of self pity.  

Romans 12:2 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer

3) Hardships teach us to fully depend on God and know that he has a plan even when we can’t see the end result. 

Romans 5:3-5. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

4) Blessings will happen when we stay faithful to God 

Looking back I can now see where my life has more blessings than I could have imagined now.  At the time of intense hardships and trials I couldn’t see the end.  It’s amazing to now look back and see how many things God has brought to our family and I can trust that my new hard things will also end one day will more blessings. 

Lamentations 3:22-23 “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” 

5) Daily seek God. 

 The days and times I struggle the most and don’t want to be in Bible is the days I need it the most.  God wants us to pour our hearts out to Him, not rant to everyone else about our problems. 

Proverbs 8:17 - I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.

Psalms 119:10 - With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments

I could probably go on for hours about our traumas and trials.  Even now as I now have teens I am learning new hardships and new things that feel overwhelming at times.  Each stage of mothering and parenting has brought new hard things. There are days I just want to skip the hard days and wonder why do I have to go through this.  I also look back at the various loss and trauma my children and I have endured and often wanted to question the why behind our struggles.  

At the end of the day I know that the hard times is what has grown me closer to God. It has changed me and my family fundamentally in so many ways. As much as I hate going through hard things I know that at the end of it I will be stronger and closer to God. These things are designed to teach us and grow us. 

Be encouraged when you can’t see the end of the hardships and know that it does have an end. God is there through it all. 

This is just a drop in the bucket but I needed the reminder to keep my focus where I need to just like I have in the past. 

New years Eve 2022

​I notice that I rarely put my drama on social media.  That being said, with every New Year’s Eve I look back and reflect on my incredible blessings and look forward to a new set of leaning into God and what He has for us.   I often was doing a word of the year and this last year turned us upside down in so many ways but also have us some of our greatest peace and blessings to date. 

Instead of a word this year I’m focusing on a Bible verse that I want to follow and meditate on.  I’ve been encouraged to see how every year God has used my word of focus to bring me closer and grow me in new areas.  

Through all the things we have been through this year I have seen that when we follow God and trust Him then he gives blessings way beyond what I imagined. 

Psalm 37:1-5

Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

This year, I started off with a move out of state I was not planning.  Although I wanted it to work out desperately and to heal the marriage I was in, it ended up being catastrophic on my mental and physical health which resulted in a final divorce agreement which was a long time coming.  

The kids and I moved back to Texas with no idea how we would work things through or what to expect.  We were amazingly blessed with family and friends who helped and supported us through the hard times.  

The week my divorce finalized God brought into my life the most phenomenal Christian man who despite all my ideas of what he would be like ended up being everything I had prayed for. 

I had numerous other blessings which ended up creating financial stability with my income, my ability to buy my own car and house in my own name, and ended the year getting married to this amazing man. 

I had so many ideas at the beginning of last year of how it would turn out and never would I have imagined some of the heartache we went through, but also received the most amazing stability and blessings. 

Throughout all of this year (and the last several) I prayed and followed God, studied bible, and did my best to keep my kids around biblically minded churches and fellowship.  

When you follow God even through the trials the blessings show through  

To be loved

​To be loved and not known is superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear.  To have both is perfection. 

I read this quote earlier today and it resonated so deeply with me.  Most of my life I feel that people say they love me but never want to get to know the messy side of me so it stays surface.  Then I’ve had friends who have gotten to know the deep messy side and end up leaving because they don’t want to deal with the real me. It is beyond rare to find someone willing to accept the social good side and the deep mess that we all have.  

A large part of my life I constantly seek the friendships that love me for who I am and not run away when I’m in my struggles.  This last year I have realized yet again how much I’ve fallen apart from hurt but also knowing where to go and heal 

The last year I learned to dig more deeply in Gods word. I learned to still love those who have walked away and be okay when they step away in spite of the hurt.  I’ve learned just how incredibly special it is to refocus back on my kids and family. 

I’ve always loved being a stay at home mom but I also love helping and investing in others.  It becomes painful when I invest for years into people I love like family who then push me away.  

Learning again to just be focused on my kids and I after my intense burnout has been so good.  I know others won’t step in for me the way I have for them but I can still love my kids fiercely and deeply as we all heal and grow together as a family.

Thankful for the slow pace of life and time to just rest and recover as life goes on. I’m no longer looking for new friends.  I just love the people who show up and be okay when they walk away again.  I focus on God first and teach my children to love God when they are hurting and struggling.  

When God does being the person who loves you for your messes and your happy times you hold on and don’t let them go.  They are rare and incredible.   I’m so thankful that I have that person in my spouse and can enjoy just having my family again without the busyness of life. 

Changes and learning to grow and let go

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This year has been full of changes.  I spent a long time shutting down and breaking to the point where I had to learn what areas to let go in.  The hardest one for me has been homeschooling.  

Since the boys were toddlers I have been actively engaged in their learning.  As a mom who got a teaching degree I’ve loved that I can adapt, adjust, and encourage my kids in the areas they need the most.  

Last year when I was at my worst and our home life was chaos I enrolled my kids in private school in order to give them some stability in the chaos.  That sadly got uprooted again and I spent months with my kids in the quiet learning ourselves again.  

With this school year I started engaged and ready for a full year with them again but life kept being crazy again between a new relationship starting and buying a house and then traveling to their dads.   We all were navigating such unknowns that my relationship as their mom struggled over my relationship as their teacher.  

My heart wanted to be gentle but my brain and anxiety was not allowing the stability and consistency they needed.  Part of it was in my control and part of it wasn’t.  

Putting my kids on video school was almost panic inducing for me. It was me giving up my learning and teaching and engaging with my kids. It was me reliving my fears and worries when we had done it before with videos and they got overwhelmed and daily crying.   In spite of all my fears I knew they needed the stability and routine I had not been able to provide and challenge them the way I needed to. 

Thankfully this change is providing even more calm and consistency again! They are feeling engaged and calm.  They are realizing they can push harder without me fighting them and forcing them to be pushed.  Mentally it has been good for me to focus on the home again and not mentally wear myself out teaching multiple grades.  

Even though this season of life is not what I planned and is not looking how I wanted, I can see that it is giving me the physical and mental recovery I desperately needed.  It’s allowing my kids to still homeschool but feel challenged and engaged with other teachers.  It’s giving us the time to focus on being a family first without teacher mode over stepping. 

I will always feel some sadness as they grow as I miss the hands on engagement and happy memories from before life shut us down with chaos. But at the end of the day we are learning a new normal.  We are growing into new needs and changes.  We are keeping our family calm and loving and healing. 

Even though it’s hard to let go of what was there are times we need to embrace the changes and grow through it. Blessings happen when we learn to grow through the mess and come out different on the other side. 

Life may not be looking how I planned, but at the end it’s turning out with much more blessings and growth that I desperately needed.  It’s a lesson I keep learning.  Let go and let God grow us the way we need.  I like to hold onto the security of what I know and I’m learning to see beautiful again through the changes that are 

Relearning I AM capable!!

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Through the process of a divorce I am relearning a lot about myself.  I have always felt like I was independent and capable, but through a decade of marriage I became fully intertwined and dependent on a partner (as it should be).  

The last few months I have purchased my NEW own car for the first time!  I also was able to buy my own house completely on my own for the first time! 

I have been very blessed and thankful for a decade to have the help and support from my ex husband.  It was mildly terrifying to think I would be doing this on my own financially.  This whole process I have been shocked at being able to qualify for things.  I have been so thankful for the help and support from so many family and friends encouraging me through this!  

I have learned that I am completely capable of doing hard things I have reassured myself that I am able to take care of my kids financially and it’s made me even more thankful for having a husband helping before and for a fiancé helping me moving forward!!  

I’ve learned I can do the hard things I’m thankful I don’t always have to and I have one so much gratefulness through the stress and through the chaos of all of this

This was a lesson I keep relearning throughout new phases.  Learned this when I got my first apartment at 19.  Learned this again when I joined the army against all people thinking I would fail.  Learned this again through intense trials and struggles with health and crisis.  

Thankful I can keep growing and keep learning!  

I am looking forward to our next phase of life! 

Reflections on marriage

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Yes, I know that coming from someone going into her third marriage this might seem a bit absurd, but I’ve learned a lot over the decades.  I saw some things in my Bible study today that I found good reflections and encouragements as I look into another marriage. 

Luke 6:39

And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?

At the end of the day, marriage is unique unto itself and I’ve learned a lot of good and bad lessons looking back into it. 

Marriage when focused on God can be one of the most amazing blessings.  Marriage is also some of the most challenging and difficult things.  It opens you up to be completely vulnerable with another person which opens up to great love but also great hurt.   Marriage when growing in the same direction and you are both directed to God can overcome some of the most amazingly hard situations and traumas.  When one or both start moving in different directions and can no longer work their love past their constant hurts then it collapses.  

Every day it is critical to pray words over your marriage every day.   When you focus on how much your spouse annoys you, disappoints you, or their failures you will never grow a loving marriage.  When you pray and focus you and your spouse through Gods lens, and make the decision to grow together in Gods word you can overcome the most trying of obstacles.  

I personally never went into a marriage hoping it would fail, and I definitely did it wrong in many ways.  My first marriage I focused on the physical fun and tried to grow God later on which ended up collapsing when we were separated due to the military.  We had no solid foundation.  My second marriage we started off with a child and lots of trauma from the military, but we went into our marriage deciding that in spite of our stark differences we were both determined to put God first.  That mindset helped us go through severe health crisis, financial crisis, and lots of loss.  The reason it collapsed is when we started focusing on how much we failed each other through our traumas and quit putting God as the center or our relationship.  

Going into a third marriage I learned the critical point of keeping God the base first.  Before physical, before emotional, before all the highs and lows of life.   When God is your foundation, you can overcome anything because the focus is not on each other and your mistakes as a person, but it’s about an almighty creator who helps keep the perspective on Him!

Here are verses to pray over a marriage to help keep your mindset where it needs to be. I look forward to starting a marriage in the right way with the right focus. 

Romans 8:31

What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

1 John 4:16-19

And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.We love him, because he first loved us.

Deuteronomy 31:8

And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.

Proverbs 24:3-4

Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established:And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.

Philippians 2:1-4 

If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

Remember whatever stage of marriage you are in to never stop putting God as your focus   Daily pray for your spouse and seek God in where you need to work on your relationship.

We are all humans with lots of problems and focusing on that will collapse any relationship.  

I’m thankful for second chances and the ability for Gods blessings during new and growing phases of life.  I am so thankful for his grace and guidance.   Looking forward to learning and growing in my new marriage! 

Finding the small blessings

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This week we got the amazing blessing to get away with friends and relax at the beach.   Doing this small getaway reminded me of so many small things that add up to big blessings. 

I had a dear friend buy me a cake and a new necklace for Mira’s birthday.   The thoughtfulness and kindness and willingness to remember my daughter meant the world to me.  

Watching my fiancé spend hours at the ocean with my boys and loving them and working with them like his own kids is incredible to me. 

Watching the most amazing red sunset that lit up the sky reminds me of the incredible art and glory of a God who shows up and comforts during the hard days 

So many times people think they need to do the big bold and giant things.  Instead, so many just need the small reminders, the gentle hugs, the acts of kindness, and show up when someone hurts.  It doesn’t take a show of grandeur just small gestures of love and grace. 

Thankful for the people who love me and my boys through our messy days and trying times.  Thankful for friends who don’t judge and who embrace us for ourselves.   

Thankful and blessed.  Looking forward to a wonderful upcoming season of life! 

Encouragement through the heartbreak

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I started working through a devotion book about Seeing Beautiful Again by Lysa Terkhurst.  With all of the loss and chaos and upheaval of my life it’s been easy to feel bitter or upset or depressed.  This book has been amazing for me because it daily refocuses me on Bible through the hurt and loss and seeing how God really does use our mess and brokenness to make something beautiful again.   

This week is coming up on Mira’s birthday.  August is always a harder month for me but even more so after everything we have been through this year.  Seeing her not start school with her brothers, trying to imagine what she’d look like now, and seeing the constant missing piece of our family as Zeke struggles to not have his sister.   

These verses today spoke so much comfort to me through my devotion and an amazing reminder that despite all the loss and emptiness God still has beauty for my life.  

What am I seeking daily?  God needs to be my affection. Am I daily worshipping God and keeping that my mindset?  My mind needs to keeps its attention on God and make that my focus. Keep my eyes focused on Godly things and goals and not the temporary things of the world around me.  I need to be spending my time seeking and focusing on God.  At the end of the day I can stand firm on my choices because I am seeking and following God first! 

James 4:8

Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.

Jeremiah 29:13

And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Psalm 29:2

Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

Colossians 3:1

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

Psalm 16:7-8

I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

Philippians 3:13-14

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 6:13

Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

This pain and heartbreak will not be the end of my story.   At the end God has a plan and a purpose and makes things beautiful again.  

Proverbs 31

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I read something today that gave me a huge new perspective:

Proverbs 31:30

Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.

1) YOU are a woman worth celebrating 

2) Wisdom is a gift from God and a process of learning who God is 

3) Our stories and struggles do not disqualify us. 

Proverbs 2:1-5

My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.

So much of my life as I look back I see the mess.  I see the teenage girl who was never good enough and didn’t fit in. I see the 20 year old girl who made poor choices and ended up with the wrong guys many times.  I see the 25 year old who felt worthless through how hard she was trying to manage kids and a sick husband.  I see the 30 year old going through intense losses and feeling like her world was crumbling.  

When I read Proverbs 31 I was constantly comparing myself to a woman I never felt I could attain to.  It was a list of things I never was good enough for and others in my life constantly reminded me that I was never enough.

Today as I saw this perspective it was life changing. Proverbs 31 was written as a celebration of women and a woman who was God focused first.  It wasn’t to tear her down and remind her of how worthless she felt by comparison, it was a way to show women how incredible they were! 

Throughout the insanity and trauma and struggles of my life the constant is at the end of the day I seek God.  I want His will and His way for my life.  I may not look like other girls and many will never see the day to day of ways I follow God.  Many will judge and decide I am never good enough or spiritual enough.  

At the end of the day I am a woman and a mom who makes mistakes and may not always measure up but when I follow God and his will for my direction in life I am enough.  I am in a life long process of learning God and following wisdom and grace and guidance for my life.  As I grow older and continue to put God first, Proverbs 31 becomes a celebration of life not a checklist. 

My struggles may make others see me as not enough or as damaged goods, but God sees the grace and glory and love through it all. 

https://youtu.be/Cf-JsNVcNLc

At the end of the day God sees me and sees me as redeemed. I will always and forever be thankful that I can be seen through God and not just through my damage 

Peace through the chaos

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This has been one of the most trying years of my life.   This includes the losses, traumas, and craziness that we have consistently experienced in the last decade. 

This last year I realized just how much people change, traumas affect us long after, how much marriages can change, how strongly friendships alter.  This last year we have been uprooted and crazy and inconsistent to a level we have never had 

Do you know what I learned through this all?  That there is peace through the storm.

Romans 12:18

If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

John 14:27

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

1) Paul had never ending conflicts and still chose peace with God above all else 

2) Peace isn’t absence of hostility it is the atmosphere we bring into hostility 

3) Peace is the evidence of a life of forgiveness. 

Through my griefs and losses I learned the peace and grace God provides but now though a divorce and multiple moves and life altering changes I find that peace is a choice to follow God and put the chaos on Him while I learn to rest in His plan. 

Do you know what else happened as I have things to God??  He provided blessings and a new relationship I would have never imagined so perfect for what my life needed.  

I have learned that when I don’t see a way there is a way through Gods timing and his blessings through it. He has provided more amazing blessings than I could have asked for if I tried. 

Remember that when there is chaos and storms and loss, put the worry on God and allow Him to provide the peace and plans in His timing.

Miracle Lane Homestead- our new start

​We have started our newest adventure!!  Yes it feels like we are always onto something new each year but we go as doors open! 

Farmsteading.  This is a dream we have prayed for many years and it finally is!  It’s not happening where or how we planned but God has truly given us our hearts desire and dream home with this.

First thing was creating a name we felt met the feel of our land as well as our family.  Miracle Lane.  This gave us a touch of Mira’s name to honor her, but it also describes the miracle that God gave us with this land.  Lane is due to the fact we have a very long driveway which is truly serene and peaceful.   We are so thankful for this homestead. 

Our goals and plans will be to one day have self sustaining meat, veggies, and as much as we can off our land.  We are starting with pigs and very soon will add cows and chickens!  We are enjoying getting to learn and take care of the farm animals.

The boys are having an adjustment period.  We went from a whirlwind busy life with constant homeschoolers, friends, and activities to a very slow paced life.  We started trail life which is Christian Boy Scouts so they are meeting new friends and starting to learn new skills!  We also found a fantastic group of music homeschoolers so the kids started band and choir.  It allows us to have one thing a day with people (between church and activities) but we have the majority of our day with family and farm life! 

Our new church has been truly amazing!  It’s been a difficult thing for me to find a church that preaches solid bible and has traditional music but also has true love and grace for others.  The church here is very small town and country feel but they have made us feel welcomed and loved every step of the way!  It’s made the transition to a new state much smoother. I am grateful how God has continued to encourage us through others as we settle in. 

We have many new adventures to come and I can’t wait to see what is in store!!  For now we are settling into a slower pace of life, refocusing on our family, and healing through more of our past traumas without distractions.

I will continue to share as we settle in!    

Starting anew with 2022

 Looking back at last year I’m still floored at just how much changed this year.  I definitely needed Grace.  Here’s what I wrote last January:

“ This was SOOO hard because I've done Rooted, Grow, Content, and some others in the past.  I've always been focused on rooting in the Bible, growing in God, and being Content with what he provided.  After losing our daughter I learned that GRACE has been needed more than almost anything.   We needed it desperately after our loss, and in 2020 we watched an entire nation fall apart and need the same grief love and grace that we needed back in 2018.  I've learned that beyond all, Grace is needed.  When someone else is hurting, suffering loss, confused, losing jobs, health, normal life, Grace is needed. ”

So I’ve done:

1) Rooted

2) Growing

3) Content

4) Grace 

These have all grown in each other and I have needed them more and more than I even realized at the time 

I needed to be strongly rooted in Gods word before the worst tragedy of my life.  I needed to grow through Gods strength when my life fell apart.  I learned to be content though tragedy and loss.  I learned grace through incredible change and trials.

This year I’m working on SLOW 

I’ve said it before but I keep finding ways to be needed and help people which is great but after years of being there for people and learning and growing through Christ it’s time for us to slow down and refocus as a family 

I had no idea how this would happen and this year showed how quickly things change yet again   We had a plan to leave more than once and every door shut down on us.  I finally became truly content and settled with our home and my jobs and how we were when it all turned upside down again.  God has shut down every plan we had in Texas, and has diverted us away from all of our own efforts.  

We made big plans this year to stay and grow our school group which we have fell in love with!  We were given opportunity to start a homestead and build a house.  Due to the high inflation to our city all of our plans fell apart at thr last minute.  We had finally felt settled and it seemed our plans had fallen apart with no idea where to go forward.  Between Christmas and New Years we found doors flying open for us to move to Mississippi and start our farmstead and it has been a whirlwind of a door opening.  

I have truly learned not to rely on my own plans and enjoy the path God leads even when it means leaving all my comforts and friends.  

This year we are going slow, and starting a new focus on our family!! I cannot believe that all my needs are consistently met and we are getting what we need as a family to truly slow down and get the farm we have prayed for, for many years.

I pray you all have a fantastic year in 2022 and I cannot wait to see what God brings for our family. 

Starting day one in a new state, new start, new life! 

Texas blizzard 2021

 Well this is one for the books.  In Texas we have 205 hours of below freezing temperatures.   Through this I learned a few things (as a girl raised in the cold north): 

Texas homes are not designed to keep warm

Days without electricity is not fun

It was good to unplug and play games and have no agendas

It was exhausting playing board games with three hyper boys for three days

We discovered potatoes keep reptiles warm and all our keys survived

I learned to appreciate even more being back inside a warm house at the end of this week

Through this adventure I was reminded of the fun of snow days and exploring the cold and doing all of that with my kids     It was honestly a relief to not teach for a week and stay in pajamas and just be a family.  At the end of it though o appreciate even more my routine and schedule.  Our home lost power for over 24 hours and became frigid cold.  Thankfully my parents had a gas stove and fireplace so we were able to stay warmer there and still have warm food and family close by.  The boys had many adventures of playing and off electronics and just being kids.  We all slept super early as the lights out reset our internal clocks a bit.  We huddled in the cold, relaxed when we could in the warmth, enjoyed family time, while also driving ourselves crazy.  This was a truly historic event for our area, and was a memorable experience I hope we never experience.  

It caused a lot of stress as well though being thrown off our routine, living with uncertainty, hearing and seeing horror stories from across our town and state as many had it much worse.  Today we were able to have our first normal day with friends, food, and clear roads

As our kids went through this relatively calmly it reminded me today how days of uncertainty show their trauma in other ways   We are constantly recovering and growing through our pain as it evolves 

I am looking forward to fitting back into a routine.  I am so thankful for the family and friends through it all that supported and loved us 

Stay safe   Stay warm  and keep those you love close by  

Here's a small glimpse of our week:

Hello 2021~!

 Hello ya'll!

It's been a hot minute, and I'm SO sorry, but our Deember and January have been INSANE fun and busy!

Life is just now starting to slow down, as we go with our amazing homeschool journey.

December we spent a week going back to the Ark Encounter and the Creation Museum.  After a long year of slowed down traveling and lots of disappointments with that it felt SO good to do a road trip where we could just reflect on God's amazingness in our lives and family, and be with friends.  The Ark Encounter had only magnified it's amazingness since the last time we were there three years ago.  They added in more animals, a playground, virtual reality ride, and still had the message of salvation in every area of the place.  We were able to stay at an AirBnb just a few miles away with lots of land so we were able to unplug and get away a little bit.

A big blessing of the trip was us being able to resume our Jr. Ranger badges again!  Earlier this year we lost out on over 15 because of closures, so it was fun to get another 8 for our collection and get to explore more battlefields and get a lot of insight to the Civil War from the Southern perspective.  It was something I had never been taught and it was interesting to see the different views and step out onto the battlefields where so many people lost their lives fighting for the freedoms they cherished.  So much of history is disappearing in our current days, so I am thankful we are able to teach this to our children while we still have the chance.

At the end of all of that my youngest brother got married, and we ended Christmas break by going to his wedding and watching him marry the most amazing girl!  I've loved watching how God brought them together, and so thankful for them both!

In January we also resumed our Pod School!  We have several new families, and after re-arranging the whole house, we were able to set up better classrooms, and give ourselves some more space for school.  We now live completely upstairs in our house, and our pod school operates 4 days a week downstairs.  We have it set to Monday and Wednesday we do Bible History and Science, and then Tuesday and Thursday we have less students to focus on Math and Grammar.  Some parents do all 4, and some only choose one or two classes.  It's great to watch homeschool families encourage each other, and support each other in our different areas.  We still keep our Fridays open for our field trips, and lately it's been more park days, board games, and a little more low key.  We are still looking for a building, and praying one will show up soon!

January has just been flying by!  So much traveling, rearranging, and growing!

We have also started REPTILES!  Our oldest son, Samuel, has been spending months researching and begging for a snake.  Now, he finally convinced his dad that this would be good to do, so we ended up with a snake for Christmas.  Since then, we have now, two snakes, a chameleon, three turtles, two fish, and now a leopard gecko!

It's been quite the adventure getting to know all these animals and watch how they all work!

Now, onto my "word" for 2021!

This was SOOO hard because I've done Rooted, Grow, Content, and some others in the past.  I've always been focused on rooting in the BIble, growing in God, and being Content with what he provided.  After losing our daughter I learned that GRACE has been needed more than almost anything.   We needed it desperately after our loss, and in 2020 we watched an entire nation fall apart and need the same grief love and grace that we needed back in 2018.  I've learned that beyond all, Grace is needed.  When someone else is hurting, suffering loss, confused, losing jobs, health, normal life, Grace is needed. 

This year I pray we are able to provide love, encouragement and grace to those who need it.  Grace which God provies to us so often, I continue to pray we extend to others around us.

I'm so thankful for the amazing year 2020 has been, and I am excited to see where God continues to bless and take us throughout 2021!

Our reads and why they are important!

 Welcome!

So, as most homeschool moms will say is that it's SOOO important to read books.  Yes.  Good quality, high literature, classic authors,  etc, etc.  

Our kids mostly like to read.  Our oldest is a super book nerd and would read ALL day if we let him, but the younger two prefer to be read to versus reading on their own.  Since they were babies, we have tried to read (3-4 nights a week) a solid 30-45 minutes a night of books.  Some months it was lots of Dr. Seuss, some weeks it was Mickey Mouse, and some weeks it was Peter Rabbit and classic kid books.  We have LOTS of Usborne books, so we get fun illustrations, good authors, and we keep finding more and more.

Lately though the books we have been reading have been impacting us on a new level.  Our homeschool curriculum (My Fathers World) uses and recommends classic family read alouds throughout the school year.  We have over the years read great books from it such as Little House on the Prairie, Farmer Boy, Sarah Winchester, and many more.  This year however was a handful of books I had zero backround with by Patricia St. John, and I decided to read it WITH my boys for my first time through as well.

We started off with Tanglewood Secrets.  This book surprised me with some of the rich storyline and hard topics.  Spoiler alert: a main character dies at the end.  Now, for us who have first-hand dealt with the loss of our daughter; and the boys, their sister, this opened up a door for them to discuss it in a way they never had before.  It's been almost 2.5 years since she passed away and I still struggle to get them to open up.  What I truly loved about this book through was how it presented the hope, truth, and love of Jesus Christ for children, from the perspective of a child.  Even when these children faced the loss of a close friend who was also a child, and they see the unfairness of life, they are still taught the unaltered truth of God's constant grace and loe through it all.

Now, this last couple of weeks, we have been reading Star of Light.  This book was harder for me to get into with them because it took place in Morocco, and it took me a little while to really understand the cultural and religious differences.  However, this book constinually discusses an older brother who has to protect and help his 2 year old sister.  This has been an avenue for our oldest son to deal with and sort through his self-seen failure of not protecting his sister.  It has allowed us to bond with a character who goes through some very serious life struggles, but to also discuss what it is like to feel afraid for the safety and future of a younger sibling.  It has allowed me to go through some of his trauma with him and discuss even better why our daughters/sisters death was in NO WAY the fault of our son.  He has spent two years blaming himself constantly, and nothing we have said or counselled him through has seemed to help.  This story has been healing as he sees the adults and children in the book navigate some hard situations.  Several times our son started becoming worried for the sister in the book, and trying to find ways to save her.  I was moved to tears as we read about the love of a missionary nurse, and the perspecttive of others around her, and how they loved these children through their trials.  However, my favorite part of this book, once again, is how simply and gracefully they incorporate the truths and blessings of Jesus Christ.  From a child's perspective who has NEVER heard of Jesus, it has spoken deep truths to our children from a perspective that most kids won't hear in children's church or "regular" Bible time.  

We will have one more of her books to read this school year called Treasures in the Snow, and I have NO doubt that it will share the same amazing truths and importance that the others have.  I have discovered the writings and stylings from the early 1900's are showing us rich storylines and new perspectives we normally would not.

I am excited to read more of Patricia St. John and add even more to our collection!

I will post another day about our 40 book challenge, and just WHY reading is important, but tonight as I tried not to cry as I watched my children heal through their struggles, I am so thankful for rich Godly truths and authors who wrote it in a way that our family (over 100 years later) desperately needed.

When life feels hard, find the rich and uplifting stories, and snuggle in together and read through the comfort together.

Grace and truth

 In a day and age full of disinformation, manipulation, fake news, and overall a lot of fussing, I was greatly encouraged this week from the Bible and Paul

In Acts 18, Paul was able to speak to some of the greatest minds of his day.  He saw philosophers, atheists, humanists, polytheist, and also some of the most educated religious scholars.  What I noticed throughout all of this was the grace.  

He didn’t mock people, shame them, attack them, or get mad they didn’t think like he did.  All he did was present his truth which was the truth of God and the gospel. He told them what he had learned from the Bible and gospel of his life and explained it in a way that they all understand 

Did everyone agree?  No. Did he win big awards? No. But he did point people to God and give them the choice

Even though many did not agree he didn’t take it personally. He kept sharing the gospel.  When people in Corinthians tried to honor him more than God he rebuked them but also encouraged them back to God and His word!

As Christians there is a LOT to fuss about with politics, masks, opinions, preferences, news media, social media, etc. At the end of the day, are we pointing people to Christ, or are we trying to get everyone to think how we think?

True gospel and Bible is not about making people agree with you, it’s not about mocking people, it’s not degrading people who don’t think like you

True gospel is showing people the mercy, love, and truth of God.

In an age of chaos, stay close to God so he can bring the peace.  In the age of madness, show others the joy of Christ. In the age of depression and anger, show others what love and grace truly look like.

Spend more time reaching out with the truth of the Bible, not the opinions of man 

School year update for 2020!!

 

Boy howdy ya'll!

This school year has been crazy to plan!!  As many of you know, we do year round schooling, and it's constantly changing and varying year to year.   Some years we have friends with us, some are with private school, some have been with co ops, and others have been quiet and just us!  This year, however, was a HUGE change and it happened all kinda suddenly.  This is definitely not something we would have thought a few months ago, but God has truly brought together an amazing group and plan, and it has been coming together so smoothly!

So what is it we are doing??

Well, the closest things I can come up with is a pod school, or university model school/co op intense/momschooling as a group!

Thankfully we all live in a state where we have a LOT of flexibility with homeschooling, so we have more options to us than in other states.  A few weeks ago a mom asked me for help with homeschooling.  Now, this is nothing new, because over the years, I've offered a LOT of moms help.  What was different was they were willing to school WITH us a couple days a week.  This way we could share schooling, our kids could still socialize, and it evens out the burden on the moms, and we can encourage each other!  At first this was pretty awesome, but over the days, it quickly became more and more families.  In the end we ended up with multiple families and LOTS of kids! :)

I know a lot of people are looking at homeschooling and asking for help and ideas, etc, so if you have a group of encouraging mamas, this is what we are doing as a brief outline.

Twice a week (Mondays and Wednesdays) for us, we meet at my house and we split up the classes.  One mom teaches Bible, one teaches history, one teaches science, some do the prek/K, and the rest help with kid management.  We all use the same curriculum (I use primarily www.mfwbooks.com and www.masterbooks.com for math and grammar) so in that way it's more of a school than a co op.  We do ALL the subjects together, except math and grammar which are done one on one.  So also in this sense, it is more intensive than a normal co op. We are also not quite a private school because all of the moms are teaching it, and we meet twice a week.  On our off days (Tuesday and Thursda) we all do math and grammar at home.   For the kids who need more assistance I tutor them individually, and as a team we work through all the subjects.  On Fridays, we open a group event/fieldtrip/playday to the community.  We keep it mainly outdoors at parks, pools, splash pads, etc.  This allows for any moms to socialize and play and get encouraged who aren't necessarily needing the full time school help.  

As a team we have quickly developed some great friendships, and the children have been so much happier having friends over more!  They love learning together, they challenge each other, and they also have the connecitons they have been missing since the shut down all summer.  The bonus of this is having the off days with just our family, so we aren't burned out with people over 5 days a week!  For our family this is HUGE.  I teach music all day Tuesday and Thursday, so the kids have been doing their math and grammar quickly in the mornings, and then they have been playing and relaxing and having chill time the rest.  Friday we aim for the FUN friend day or a family day, whatever is more needed that week.

This has been a dream of mine for many years, but to watch it happen without us planning ot trying has been incredible!  It truly has all fallen into place quickly and smoothly, and it has been so encouraging to find a bunch of other mamas who all mesh well without drama!!  

I couldn't ask for a better group, and I cannot wait to see what further dreams and opportunities this presents to us!!  

Adventues in Florida!!

Hey ya'll!

I know this blog is kinda eclectic, but it IS all about our life.  Our adventures, our travels, and our homeschooling!

Covid has his my travels HARD!  Our trip to Big Bend had to be cacelled, then our epic two week road trip got downsized, but we still ended up with a great weekend in Florida!

My brother has an AMAZING fiance who is FROM Florida, so we went and spent some time with them and her family for a few days.  The kids and I thoroughly enjoyed time at the beach, sand, seashells, jet skiing, dolphin watching, and lots of family time!

Every vacation my kids beg to please stay home.  These boys are homebodies, and definitely don't like to disrupt their routine.  The sad thing for them is they have a mama who LOVES to travel!!  The gypsy soul in me runs deep, and although they don't love the idea of vacations, they always enjoy them while we are on them. 

Sadly we couldn't do Junior Ranger Badges as planned, which is our current obsession, but we did end up going to see the crystal beaches and ocean for the first time with the kids.

The family down there also took us on a dolphin cruise!!  This was a couple of hours of a very spacious boat, seagulls, dolphins, and amazing views!!

I am forever thankful for the opportunity and flexibility we have to travel and explore the world and make incredible memories as a family.  Memories made on salty air, high waves, clear oceans, and digging for seashells.  These are precious moments that we will have forever now!

Even if my kids don't always remember these things, I will.  

One day, when they grow up and look back, I do hope they look back with fondness and happy memories.