Advent Season: December 1st

Back in 2021 I took the suggestion to read a chapter in Luke each day beginning December 1st. I would read a chapter and then note what I learned about Who Jesus is from each chapter.  There are 24 chapters in Luke so you end on Christmas Eve (I ended a bit after this).  

You can read my thoughts from Luke chapter 1 here.  As I was looking over my thoughts from that first chapter I noticed the truth that Jesus keeps His promises.  He is faithful and trustworthy.  

This year the theme for the advent series at church is A Season of Promise and today the message was about the "Promised Forerunner" John the Baptist.  We were encouraged to keep praying and trusting that God's promises will be fulfilled.  

I recently saw a quote that said "when we get to Heaven it will feel like a big sigh of relief" and I felt that to my core.  The striving and struggles and sin will be over.  The promise of Heaven is real and available to all who come to Jesus, repent, and submit to Him as Lord of their life.  This Advent season I pray that you will come to Jesus, rest in His promises and find joy and rest. 

We sang this song at church this morning and the message of promised rest was such a gift:

** You can find the complete series I blogged about the book of Luke in 2021 by going to the posts from December 2021 in the side bar**

Encouragement for Public Schooling Mamas

The subject of public schooling has been on my mind for awhile. I often get so disheartened when I see Christians blasting other Christians as bad parents who don't really care about their children's faith, simply because their kids go to a public school.  I also see a lot of fear mongering and just plain false information posted.  For example, before we sent our kids to public school I was told that they would never hear the national anthem, say the pledge or learn anything about religion.  These are all false!  Not only do they say the pledge and hear the anthem daily, they also have entire units dedicated to learning about world religions.   Does public schooling bring certain challenges, yes!  But I want to give encouragement that God does lead some Christian families to public school their children, and in that choice there are also many, many blessings.

Our kids did not always attend public school.  For several years they all attended a local private school.  However, over a couple of years God made it very clear that it was His plan for our kids to move to the local public schools.  I want to share a few things I've learned and some encouragement for others who God has lead to this path. 

10 lessons I've learned from being a public schooling mama:

1) God is doing amazing things! - Students are hungry for faith. They are asking questions of other students.  Believing students are sharing their faith; and through this God is bringing kids to faith in Him. My kids are so excited to see other believers at school!  My daughter recently had a birthday party, she invited 8 friends from both church and school...all the girls knew each other as some attend our church and her school and some only the school.  These connections are so important and encouraging.  There are SO many things God has done over these years.  Many are not my story to tell here but if you see me in person I'd love to share some of them.

2) We are called to be salt and light.  If there are dark places we are called to shine God's love and truth into those dark places.  We cannot shine into those places if we are all huddled in one corner.

3) Get involved!  - A couple years ago I took one of our daughters to a school event; as I stood there watching her run around with her friends I realized that I didn't know anyone.  It was a very humbling moment. I decided to get involved with the PTO; it has been such a blessing (and a huge step out of my comfort zone) to meet the kids, teachers, admins and other parents.  I love volunteering, interacting with the kids and getting to know those that work in the school.  

4) Don't compare! - This is a hard one for me because as mamas we are always wondering if we're doing enough, making the right choices.  Over the years I have had doubts if we made the right choice, I'm thankful for my husband who reminds me how clearly God made it that this was His desire for our kids; and to not look back with "rose-tinted" glasses.  When I start to compare (in many areas) my husband always says "This is what works best for our family; who cares what other people think." 

5) God is always in control!  - We are not called to live in fear!  Do we want to protect our kids? Absolutely!  But if our motivation is to only protect our kids we have failed them.  We are called to be in the world but not of the world.  The truth is we can't protect them from everything; and often God uses the hard things to help them grow in their faith...so it can actually be a disservice to try and keep them from ever facing hard things. 

6) Prayer is key! - I remember when I first had my kids; I prayed that they would feel comfortable talking to me about anything.  There have been times that I would jokingly say to my husband "what did I ask for?" of course I didn't mean it; but it's hard to hear your kid's struggles when you can't just "fix" it for them.  God has shown me over and over again how prayer is key.  I recently saw a saying "I can't...but I know a Guy".  I love this!  There's SO much I can't do or know, but I can always take it to the One who does know, who can do abundantly more than I could ever ask or think. 

7) Communication is key!  - This is both with your kids and with the school.  We have always encouraged our kids to talk with us about anything, to question things but always be respectful when doing so, and to advocate for themselves. If they have a school issue, we encourage them to go to their teacher or guidance counselor.  If we need to step in, we will.  There have only been a couple of times when I've had to communicate with administration and both times they were very quick to resolve the situation and we still have a very positive rapport with them.  Also, learn to embrace discussing things that, at first, might be uncomfortable.  God's Word does not shy away from teaching about hard things and neither should we.

8) Salvation is by grace not their works or yours!  - No schooling choice is a guarantee of strong Christian children neither does a schooling choice doom them to a faithless life.  As parents we pray, we disciple, we try and do our best to raise our kids in the Truth; but they are humans and have free-will.  I have seen kids from every schooling choice walk away from God and I have seen kids from every schooling choice dig deep in their faith and do amazing things for God.  This does NOT mean we don't do our best to raise them in God's Truth but we must not give into a prideful attitude thinking it's all up to us; or our way of schooling is the only "right" way.

9) God does not stop at the school doors!  - This is something I remind my kids all the time.  God is always with them.  Prayer is always available.  The Holy Spirit in them is always with them!  I have a friend who says "when our kids become believers they don't get a "junior" Holy Spirit; they receive the full power of the Holy Spirit".  Now, yes, there is a difference in their human maturity but the Holy Spirit is not limited by that. 

10) Knowledge can lead to greater confidence in God and greater compassion for others.  - It is important for our kids to know what the world believes.  Truth is stronger than lies because God is greater than the devil.  One of our kids came home and was frustrated about a lesson on evolution and how it was being taught as fact.  One of our high school kids came home frustrated about a lesson on abortion and how it didn't cover a lot of facts about the risks of abortion.  In both cases we sat down and discussed how that just because someone says something, you don't have to agree or believe it.  BUT, it's so important to know the thinking behind these issues because you can have more productive discussions about issues.  To know what the arguments are and to dig into why we believe differently, why God instructs us to live certain ways can strengthen our own faith and help us to not be so reactionary and combative.  It can lead us to reach out in compassion, with greater understanding.  We tend to fear the unknown, things that are different or that we don't fully understand, knowledge helps battle these tendencies.  Instead of seeing people as "others" we can, instead, see them as those that God loves and wants to come to repentance and belief. 

BONUS: Don't be afraid to change direction if God so directs.  We have always tried to have an attitude of "this is where God has us now".  No one knows the future, we certainly never planned to public school our kids when we were first having kids; but this is where God has lead.  God may change that path again, we take it one year at a time.  

One final thought. The other day I was having a discussion with one of our kids about why people voted certain ways.  As I was explaining different issues and the views on both sides of those issues, suddenly, my kiddo said "oh, so people really are just looking for someone to give them hope."  Yes, exactly!  Our world is so hungry for hope.  Let's be sure to be out there living in the world but showing them that we are not of the world.  Not living our lives in fear of those different than us or being afraid that God's Truth isn't strong enough to battle the devil's lies.  We have a hope and peace that they too can have.

If you are following God's path for your family...then you are doing awesome Mama!  Keep praying, keep trusting and when you see those posts disparaging us for public schooling our kids...pray for the one who posted it, and then go hug your kiddos and give a high five to their friends!

My 10 Tips For Road Trips For Larger Families

We love to travel!  When we had kids that did not change; however, how we travel did change.  We love to hike, so we invested in carriers for when the kids were babies.  We love to bike, so we invested in bike seats and a bike trailer until the kids could all ride bikes on their own.  Just because you have a larger family does not mean that you have to give up doing what you love; it just may look different for a bit.

We have always done road trips with our kids.  From the time they were infants we have traveled.  One of our daughters was 3 weeks old when she did her first road trip (about 9 hours to visit family).  Over the years we have done countless 17+ hour trips to visit family.  We have flown a few times with them but mostly have driven.  There are many ways to travel with kids and each family is unique.  We tend to be spontaneous and not over-plan.  The tips I'm sharing are pretty general but are things we've found to be helpful.

 In no particular order; here are my top 10:

Set Expectations:

We have kids who tend to be more introverted so "personal space" is a priority.  We have another child who likes to know all the details of a plan and has a harder time with unexpected changes.  While we didn't have a complete itinerary we did explain that we would be stopping somewhere each night and that they would all have to share beds.  We also set the themes of "go with the flow" and "for the next two weeks there is no such thing as 'personal space' ".  Knowing these things ahead of time helped set the tone. We also explained that once we got to our rental unit there would be more room for some time alone and less kids would have to share a bed.  

Be Flexible:

Being flexible made this trip, probably, one of the most fun trips we've taken.  At one point we had our oldest girl just googling what was on the road we were currently on and then we decided if/where we wanted to stop.  The kids loved getting to help decide.  Hotels were booked a few hours before we were set to arrive at our stop for the night. 

Prioritize hotels with free breakfast:

Eating out is expensive!  Feeding a family of 8 (4 of those kiddos being teen or adults) is a lot.  Finding hotels that included breakfast took away any added cost/hassle each morning.  Since I don't typically eat breakfast everyone would get ready, head down to breakfast and I would have that time to get myself ready.  It worked wonderfully! 

Check if membership is cheaper (factor in if you'll use reciprocity):

This is something we have done since the kids were little.  We used to buy a family museum membership each year; when we would go to visit family we would check which museums had reciprocity.  The program has changed a bit, with many museums only giving a 50% discount but many still do give free admission.  This trip we decided to stop at the Columbus Zoo; it was cheaper for us to buy the family membership than to pay for day tickets.  Now that we have that membership we can go to museums closer to home for free for the year; using the museum reciprocity.  

Using the reciprocity program over the years for museums and zoos has allowed us to take our kids to many places that otherwise would have been out of our budget. 

For longer stays have a kitchen & cook:

This tip is similar to the breakfast one.  Eating out is expensive!  Due to the size of our family we usually have to stay in rental properties  (we do have a timeshare but I do NOT recommend those!  a decision made when we were younger that, while it has been useful over the years, is not one we would repeat; especially now that short term rentals are so prevalent.)  

Having a kitchen is a huge bonus.  My hubby and I enjoy cooking together; and while usually I handle the cooking when home; while on vacation it's fun to have more time to cook together.  We typically do some simpler, fun recipes with ingredients that can be used for multiple meals.  On this trip, the grocery bill was higher than our normal grocery bill but it was still much less than if we had eaten out every night.

Truck stops:

We have found that truck stops are generally a better choice than the smaller gas stations.  We found that the gas is often cheaper, the bathrooms cleaner and their snack choices are better. This trip we grabbed some meal boxes which included hummus, veggies and pita breads.  The truck stops also often have pre-made sandwiches, etc.  Which are less than buying a full meal but more nutritious than chips, candy, etc that the smaller stores typically have available.

Everyone tries to go at every bathroom stop:

Okay, so this tip is one that we learned quickly when the kids were little.  We would ask who needed to use the restroom, a couple of them would go and then we'd get a bit down the road and suddenly someone else had to go.  So, now every time we make a bathroom stop; everyone has to try.   Live and learn. :)

Bring comfort items:

It can be tempting to try and minimize packing but allowing the kids to bring a small bag with a few "comfort" items, such as a blanket, stuffed animal, etc.  really makes life easier.  We are fortunate that all of our kids will sleep in the car, having that special blanket helps.  Also, each of them having a smaller bag of activities/items that they keep at their feet minimizes having to get into the back for everything.

Pack cooler/snacks:

Having a cooler and snack bag helps minimize stops and money spent.  We typically pack crackers, hummus, veggies, granola bars, dried fruits/trail mix, cheese sticks, etc and drinks such as water, seltzer, cold coffee and sometimes we'll bring yogurt drinks.

It's their vacation too; let kids have some say:

Trips with the kids look very different from trips without kids...and that is great!  We have been to Disney with kids and without kids; same place but the experiences were very different.  While we do plan most of the trip we also fully recognize that this is their vacation as well. We want them to have fun and have a say in what we do too.  For example, we took a side trip to Niagara Falls because one kid wanted to use their passport for the first time and a couple other kids have wanted to see the falls for a few years now.  Another, very simple example from this trip.  We mentioned how that once we got to the rental unit two of the girls would have to share a bed, while one of them could have their own bed (two double beds in the room they would share).  All three of them did not like this idea; so our youngest asked if we could bring one of our twin air mattresses for her.  The mattress didn't take up much space in the car and she was more than happy to use it for the week to have her own bed.  It was a minor thing but made all of them happy.  

BONUS TIP:

Credit card points!  We have a credit card that we use for pretty much everything.  We pay it off each month.  This credit card gives us points that we can then use to cover travel expenses, etc.  We have used these points to cover airfare, hotels, uber trips, etc.  We have taken trips where the airfare for all 8 of us was covered by credit card points.  Credit cards can be a wonderful tool when used responsibly!

Have FUN!  

Happy Homemaker Monday 9/9/24

I've been wanting to jump back into this weekly post for some time now; the end of summer and beginning of the new school year have been very busy and it seems the weeks just keep flying by.  I'm thankful for a minute or two (which I probably should be using for other things...) to sit and blog

Let's jump right into this week's Happy Homemaker Monday with Sandra over at Diary of a Stay At Home Mom.  

The Weather:

The weather is sunny and in the 70's.  It's definitely feeling fall-ish in the mornings and warming up throughout the day.  I was joking with one of the girls that this season should be called Layer Season.

Outside my Window:

Sunny, gorgeous blue skies.  Some of the leaves are just starting to change color a bit.

 

Right Now I am:

Blogging and drinking my coffee before starting the to-do list.    

Thinking and Pondering: 

A lot of different things. A lot of things going on here lately and more fall programs restarting this week.

  
 Health Goal Accountability:

Haven't been great about doing yoga since the kids started back at school; hoping to get into the swing of this once we are in a good routine. 

Podcasts I'm listening to this week:

None this week.

On my T.V this week:

Probably will just watch some YouTube as new episodes come out.  .

On the Dinner Plate:

Salad with chicken

 

On the Menu this week: 

 

Lasagna

Red beans with rice & pork

Salad with chicken

  

 

What I'm Reading:

Bible

On Bended Knee by Crickett Keeth - study on prayer the women's group is doing through the summer. We are finishing this up this month.

 

I just finished reading Yet In The Dark Streets Shining: A Palestinian Story of Hope and Resilience in Bethlehem by Bishara Awad; the founder of Bethlehem Bible College.  This is a book that I'm still processing.  It challenges some of the thinking of western Christianity (in a good, Scriptural way) and calls on us to see past our earthly identities of culture and nation and see that all Christians are heirs with Christ and part of the Body.  I highly recommend it!  

 

 

On my To-Do list today:

Laundry (working on this)

Blog ✔

Clean up kitchen

Take care of kiddo that isn't feeling well

Pick up kiddos from various places this afternoon

 

Plans for this week:

Catch up on laundry

PTO Meeting

AWANA Open House

Work on basement project

Drop off donations & get some needed clothes for the girls.

What I'm Creating:

I'm playing around with making an alpine stitch blanket/throw with all the leftover blanket yarn that I have.  I love the look of the alpine stitch and started working with some leftover yarn. I don't like the colors I started with (red & black) since I mostly have neutrals.  So I'll probably start over and just use the neutrals and leave the bit of red and black for something else.  Sometimes it's fun to just play with different stitches and make it up as I go.  UPDATE:  I have started this throw.

From the Camera:

  We had a wonderful family road trip a few weeks ago; I posted several pictures of our adventures in that post.  I haven't really taken any pictures since getting back.  You can see the pictures and read about our adventures in the post Family Road Trip 2024

 

Highlight from Last week:

Highlights from last week were: watching one kiddo start a new adventure, and celebrating a family birthday.

 

Bible Verse/Devotional Quote:

 

 

On My Prayer List:

Family & Friends who are ill.

Kids as they get back into the school routines and other fall activities.

Wisdom in parenting.

Direction, time & diligence for a project.

Peace & the willingness to let go of things that are not mine to carry.

Wisdom for how to deal with difficult things and to trust God with all!

Family Road Trip 2024

 Stats: 

Miles Traveled: 4109.5

Hours driven: 74:37

Countries seen: US & Canada

Number of States seen:  19 (NY, PA, OH, KY, IL, MO, AR, TN, MS, AL, FL, GA, SC, NC, VA, WV, MD, CT, MA)

Number of States stayed in: 6 (PA, KY, MO, MS, FL, SC)

The short summary is we had a wonderful time together as a family and praise God for safe travels and many amazing moments.

We have never done a two week vacation with our kids before.  This trip was amazing; so many miles traveled, states seen, memories made and fun facts learned.  I want to get it all recorded while it is fresh in my mind.  For those, like me, who love to read travel stories; I hope you enjoy this overview of our trip! 

Day 1: Home to Erie, PA

We headed out earlyish morning.  The oldest two knew that we were stopping in Niagara falls for a few hours but the other kids had no idea.  A couple of the kids have been asking, for a few years, to see the falls.  We recently got them all passports so we thought it would be a fun surprise.  As we were crossing the bridge into Canada we asked "hey, do you guys want to go to Canada?" they said "yes.  Wait!  You mean today?" we then told them that yes, we were currently headed to the border crossing.  It was a one of many funny memories. 

The falls were a great stop; the last time we had been was over 20 years ago so it was nice to experience them with the kids.  Fun fact: More than 44 million gallons of water go over horseshoe falls every minute during "peak flow". 

 After seeing the falls and grabbing dinner we crossed back over the border.  We stopped in Erie, PA for the night.

Day 2: Erie, PA to Shelbyville, KY

One of the beauties of this trip was the flexibility and spontaneity we were able to have.  We had originally planned to stop at the Cincinnati Zoo; however, we realized the timing wasn't going to work. Instead we headed to the Columbus Zoo.  On the way there we noticed that if we got off the highway for a bit we could make a stop at Lake Erie.  We found a cute park to stop at; it was fun to see one of the great lakes and the kids thought it was pretty neat how that it does feel a bit like the ocean because of the water going to the horizon without any trees or land in sight. 

 After stopping at the lake we continued on to the Columbus Zoo.  We were able to spend the afternoon walking the zoo.  We always enjoy going to different zoos and the Columbus zoo did not disappoint.  The highlights were definitely getting to pet and feed the stingrays, the closeup view of the cheetah, seeing a Tasmanian devil and watching the adorable koalas sleeping in their tree.  This little guy was holding his tree just snoozing away.

 We left the zoo at closing and just decided to drive until it got late enough that we wanted to stop.  This put us in Shelbyville, KY for the night.

Day 3: Shelbyville, KY to Poplar Bluff, MO

While we were making it up a bit as we went; we knew that Mammoth Cave was a definite stop.  Since we had the younger kids (and some kiddos who aren't huge fans of caves) we took the basic cave tour. This tour is a little over an hour long.  It was very interesting learning about the history and importance of the cave; and it really is Mammoth.  We only saw a tiny portion. This was one of the rooms we saw.

The other "must stop" was at Buc-ees.  We had never been before and our oldest daughter (who had been once) wanted us to stop.  It was a fun, chaotic experience.  We grabbed some t-shirts for souvenirs and some lunch.  The pulled brisket sandwich was one of the best I've had.  The one we stopped at had this fun artwork on the barn next to the store.

One of the benefits of having some time flexibility, is that we were able to change our route as desired.  When we left Buc-ees my husband suggested we see how many states we could hit without adding too much time to our route (we did have a deadline for college drop off #1).  We figured out that by getting off the highway we could head a bit northwest and hit Illinois and then dip into Missouri before heading on to Arkansas and Tennessee.  

We put our oldest girl in charge of finding interesting things to see along the way.  There was a roadside attraction called Turtle Rock; I would post a picture but we didn't get one.  It was two rocks painted to look like a Turtle and much smaller than we expected.  It was so funny!  

One challenge of not being on the highway was bathroom stops.  The next roadside attraction she found was the Jefferson Davis Monument.  This is an obelisk in a park with a small visitor's center. We used the restrooms and talked a bit about who Jefferson Davis was and some Civil war history.  

Next up was a drive through Cairo, IL. This little town sits at the point where the Mississippi and Ohio rivers merge.  It was very neat to see this point but the town sadly isn't in great shape.  There is still some beautiful architecture and we were curious what had happened as it was clear that at one point it had been a thriving town. It's a sad and fascinating story of how changes in transportation and industry affect a town.  Here is the wikipedia article for those interested. 

We continued on to Poplar Bluff, MO and spent the night there.

Day 4: Poplar Bluff, MO to Tupelo, MS

This day was another day that didn't go as we had "planned".  We originally planned to drop off our oldest daughter at school and then spend the night in town.  We drove to the college and got her settled (a bonus was seeing our niece who is attending the same school!).  We then surprised one of our other daughters with a lunch of fried pies.  We had discovered fried pies on another adults vacation, and our daughter had wanted to try them.  

We realized that we had a long trip the next day and it didn't make sense to stay in town so we said goodbye to our girl and headed further south.  We drove as far as Tupelo, MS and stayed the night there. 

Day 5: Tupelo, MS to Pensacola Beach, FL

The next morning we got up and headed to our week-long destination of Pensacola Beach, FL.  We were all looking forward to reaching the condo and having a "home-base" for a few days.  As we drove we discussed the poverty and health issues that plague Mississippi.  It was another interesting dive into internet research.  For more information on Mississippi's history you can check out it's wikipedia page  

We checked into our rental, did some grocery shopping and settled in for the night.

 

Day 6 - Day 12: Pensacola Beach, FL 

Over the next week we spent a lot of time just relaxing.  Our rental unit was right next to the pool so we were in and out of the pool.  We took many walks down to the beach.  Unfortunately, on our first dip into the beautiful warm waters; one of our daughters was stung by a jellyfish.  We were fortunate that our unit was on the beach; we googled how to treat it and followed the recommendations from the mayo clinic website.  We also got some cream from the pharmacy; it's very common there for jellyfish bites so they have something called "sting kill" that works very well. 

After that experience we mostly stuck to the pool for swimming and the beach for walking.   

Later in the week we went to the Naval Aviation Museum.  This is a free museum and has some great old planes.  We arrived just as a guided tour was starting so we joined in and learned a lot about the planes they have there at the museum.  Since the Museum is on a naval base, and is where the blue angels are stationed, they often host ceremonies.  This atrium is the venue for those.

While we were away a friend came over to our home to feed our cat and koi fish.  We wanted to get a little something for her as a thank you.  While looking up things to do I found a link for the Palafox Market.  It is a cross between a craft fair and a farmer's market with many local artisans and food places each having a booth.  We found some great local honey, local coffee, and some handmade jewelry.  There were a lot of other very fun things; if we had wanted to spend more money!  One booth in particular was very interesting. It's called the Graffiti Bridge and they have some very fun jewelry.

Day 13: Pensacola Beach, FL to Sumter, SC

As much as we wanted to stay in Florida; alas, vacation had to end.  Once again we changed up our original plans.  I have always wanted to visit Savannah, GA; so my hubby suggested that rather than heading north right away, that we head east and then north; making a quick stop in Savannah.  We ended up only having about a half hour there but it was a great place to stop, stretch our legs and use the restroom.  Forsythe Park was beautiful and the houses surrounding the park have some gorgeous architecture. 

After our break in Savannah we continued on to South Carolina and spent the night with family.

Day 14: Sumter, SC to Home

We had a lovely visit with some family members that we only see once or twice a year.  It was a great time of fellowship!  The next morning we were discussing our route home; we mentioned that we really didn't want to go up interstate 95.  The suggestion to go route 77 was made so we headed that direction.  Before getting to the interstate we drove through some beautiful areas of South Carolina.  One town was Camden, SC.  Camden is the steeplechase "capitol" of the U.S.  It was the site of revolutionary war battles and also hosts the Carolina Cup.  It's a pretty little town and was fun to drive through.  

Along the way we enjoyed the farmland vistas of Western Virginia, the state of West Virginia, Western Maryland and Western Pennsylvania; all while reading about the industries in those areas.  The history of mining and that the top industries are food processing and manufacturing.

We drove through the night and made it home at 3am in the morning.  The following day the kids here started school.  So, it has been a whirlwind since we got home but we are so thankful we were able to make this trip. 

Five for Friday

This summer is flying by!  Every time I think about sitting down to blog it seems that something else takes priority.  Not in a bad way...it has just been busy.  After seeing Mrs. T over at Across My Table, do a few Five for Friday posts, over the years; I thought it would be fun to do one here.  

 

 

1) DEVOTIONAL: 

What do we do with those hard things that seem to always keep coming up?  Two things recently have helped me think about this differently. One is a line from JJ Heller's song God Is Still Here.  

"What if the thorn deep in my 

side is only there to help me see

That though I never ask for it 

the desert is God's gift to me?"

 

This summer I've been having Maisie read to me to keep up with, and improve, her reading skills.  She will sometimes say "mom, can't you just read it to me", "I hate reading" or will continually stumble over a word she's read before.  In talking to a teacher friend, she mentioned that some kids see a word once or twice and get it while others need to see it up to 20 times before they remember it.  

 

I continually encourage her that while it is hard and may take a lot of practice, the reward of being able to read well will be worth it.  The world will open up in amazing and exciting ways.  All her future learning will be so much easier. 

 

I thought, how like us is that.  God could just do it for us,  but often we will face the same challenge over and over because he knows that we need to learn.  That once we can learn the lessons of the struggle, the reward will be so much better.  Those lessons will equip us for the future purposes He has for us. 

2) COOKING: 

 

We have been enjoying a lot of salads this summer.  One of our favorites is this Israeli Pearl Couscous Salad from No Spoon Necessary , Someday I'm hoping to do a salad round-up post with many of the recipes we have enjoyed. 

 

 

(Image from NoSpoonNecessary site)

 

3) FAMILY:

 

This summer has been filled with highs and lows.  The beginning of the summer included some deaths in the family, hospitalization of another family member, and some other really hard challenges revealed for another family member.  Through it all we have also seen God's hand and grace over and over.  These hard things have given us opportunities to reconnect with some family members and rekindle really precious connections.  This summer has also allowed for many great memories to be made.  Having all the kids home has been fun and we've enjoyed hikes, trips to the beach, friends visiting and of course road trips for delicious seafood.  More fun plans are still to come as we squeeze every bit of fun family time in while our college kiddos are home. 

 

4) READING: 

I'm happy to say that I hit my Goodreads reading challenge for this year.  Last year I had a hard time reading 15 books so I left that as my goal for this year.  Currently I'm studying through the book On Bended Knee by Crickett Keeth, a study of prayers in the Bible.    For "fun" reading I'm reading The Book of Charlie by David Von Drehle, the story of his neighbor who lived to be 109 years old.  Both are wonderful reads. 

 

5) CHALLENGE: 

 

I recently saw a challenge on Instagram (can't remember who posted it); where women were challenged to pray for other women.  The challenge was to choose 12 women and match them up with a month, then spend a month praying for that "month's" woman.  The challenge mentioned not to let them know.  I love this idea.  While I obviously pray for men in my life also, I think the unique challenges that we have as women can help us to pray in a very special/understanding way for other women.  So, I sat down the other day and as God brought someone to mind I jotted down their name next to a month.  There are two months still without names.  I have many women in my life but want to seek God's leading for this challenge and at this time He has only impressed 10 women on my heart.  I fully trust that He will bring to mind those two women as those months get closer.  So, will you join me in this?  As a further challenge, maybe choose some women who are "sandpaper people" to you.   

I hope you enjoyed this quick post and the pictures from some of our summer adventures.

  

Happy Homemaker Monday (on a Tuesday) 7/2/24

I thought about not jumping in this week but figured it's only a day late and I do want to be better about blogging this month.  With all the kids home from school it's fun but busy.  A lot to schedule, celebrate and just enjoy each other's company and being able to be outside.

Let's jump right into this week's Happy Homemaker Monday with Sandra over at Diary of a Stay At Home Mom.  

The Weather:

It's a gorgeous day here.  Supposed to be in the 80's all week with some random showers near the end of the week.

Outside my Window:

Sunny, gorgeous blue skies.  We've also been enjoying watching a mama turkey and her 6 baby turkey's in our yard (not right at this moment but we see them pretty much every day).   

 

Right Now I am:

Blogging and drinking my coffee before starting the to-do list.    

Thinking and Pondering: 

A lot of different things.  Frustrated about a few things, needing extra prayer time today.

  
 Health Goal Accountability:

Keira asked to do yoga this summer so we have been doing a yoga workout pretty much every day Monday-Friday.  We are doing YouTube videos from Arianna Elizabeth .  I love her channel, at the end of each workout she puts up a positive quote, a Scripture verse, etc.  She makes no apologies about the fact that she loves Jesus.  I also went to the gym with Matt on Sunday. 

Podcasts I'm listening to this week:

None this week.

On my T.V this week:

Probably will just watch some YouTube as new episodes come out.  .

On the Dinner Plate:

I think I'm making Spinach Pie tonight.  

 

On the Menu this week: 

 

Morrocan Quinoa Salad

BBQ Chicken Salad

Spinach Pie

Chicken Parm  

 

What I'm Reading:

Bible

The Farthest Shore by Ursula Le Guin (#3 in the Earthsea series)

On Bended Knee by Crickett Keeth - study on prayer the women's group is doing through the summer

On my To-Do list today:

Workout ✔

Laundry (working on this)

Blog ✔

Clean House (vacuum, litter box, etc)

Wrap birthday gift

Pick up kiddos from various places this afternoon

 

Plans for this week:

Catch up on laundry

Family time on the 4th (hoping to do a hike)

Take Maisie to friend's birthday party

Host Youth Group

What I'm Creating:

I'm playing around with making an alpine stitch blanket/throw with all the leftover blanket yarn that I have.  I love the look of the alpine stitch and started working with some leftover yarn. I don't like the colors I started with (red & black) since I mostly have neutrals.  So I'll probably start over and just use the neutrals and leave the bit of red and black for something else.  Sometimes it's fun to just play with different stitches and make it up as I go.  

I've also been trying several new recipes lately.  One is for a Keto bread made with eggs and almond flour and the other is a new couscous salad I made last night.  

Keto Bread - This recipe is a nice substitute for traditional bread.  It holds together well but the texture is more like a pound cake.  My tips are: mix everything very well, make sure it is fully cooked (maybe add a couple minutes after to think it's done),  when cooling place the loaf on it's side so it doesn't collapse too much (even well baked I found that it collapsed a bit).

Moroccan Cauliflower and Couscous Salad - This is going into our regular meal rotation.  We all loved this salad.  I doubled this for our family and used fresh mint from our yard.  I used 1/2 the dressing on the salad and used the other half to marinate some chicken that I then grilled.

From the Camera:

We have been trying to get out and enjoy the gorgeous weather as much as possible.  We enjoyed a beautiful hike with friends on a local trail, have spent some time at the local lake and last night we took an evening ride out to the ocean to enjoy some ice cream and time on the beach.  

 

Highlight from Last week:

Highlights from the week were definitely the day trips shown in the pictures above.

 

Bible Verse/Devotional Quote:

 

I love to dig into the original words of Scripture.  I recently blogged about this post titled Digging Into Prayer

On My Prayer List:

Family & Friends who are ill.

Kids as they enjoy the summer.

Wisdom in parenting.

Direction, time & diligence for a project.

Peace & the willingness to let go of things that are not mine to carry.

Wisdom for how to deal with difficult things and to trust God with all!

Digging into prayer

 

This summer the women's group at church is studying through On Bended Knee; a book which studies some of the prayers in the Bible.  The first week works through the Lord's Prayer and the second week works through Paul's prayer to the Ephesians in Ephesians chapter 3:14-21, etc.  

The prayer in Ephesians is one of my go-to prayers for praying Scripture for others. Often, while praying, I will plug in specific names of the people I am praying for wherever the text says "you".   It is such a powerful prayer for spiritual strength, power and knowledge that even when I don't know the details of what others need...the strength, power, presence, love and knowledge of God are always the answer.  

As many of you know, I love, love to dig into the original words and often find a much deeper and richer understanding of Scripture through studying this way.  Today, while looking over the past few days I began to see a beautiful picture of all Paul was praying for these believers.  So, I decided to sit down and plug in those detailed definitions into verses 16-19.  This exercise has been such a blessing to me so I thought I would share what I wrote out.  I pray you would take some time and read through these verses in your Bible.

Ephesians 3:16-19

"that according to the [fullness, abundance] of his [majesty, glory] he may grant you to be strengthened with [moral power and excellence of soul] through his Spirit in your [inner being, conscience], so that Christ may [pervade, prompt, govern] in your [thoughts, passions, desires, appetites, affections, purposes and endeavors] through faith -- that you being [rendered firm, fixed, thoroughly grounded] and [made stable, established] in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the [great extent], and [greatness of the blessings received from Christ], and [eminence] and [immensity] and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be [rooted in Christ by virtue of the intimate relationship with Him] with all the [presence, power, agency, and riches] of God."

Jumping into June...finally!!

 I noticed tonight that it has been over a month since I have blogged.  I have thought about it several times but life has been completely crazy (in both good & bad ways) so I haven't had time to sit and blog.  

From spring band concerts, to fun run fundraisers, to field days, 8th grade graduations, graduation parties, celebrating the last day of school with friends, attending celebrations of life, dealing with sick kiddos and family members and just life in general.  God has been faithful through it all this past month.  

We are enjoying having the older two at home and praising God for summer jobs for them.  We have had fun hosting the youth group and I'm looking forward to the three ladies meetings this summer.  We have also been working to reclaim an overgrown back patio area and install some stone steps going down to the fire pit area.  The landscaping was put in many years ago and is just too overgrown now.  

Here are a few pictures of the fun we've been having.

Here's to a great rest of June and a wonderful summer!  ...and hopefully more blogging!

Happy Homemaker Monday 5/13/24

Happy May!   It has been a very busy month so far and looks like it will continue that way.  Our oldest girl came home from college.  It's been great to have her home.  God has provided a summer job for her, in the field she's studying! She started her new job today, so I'm praying it's a great fit. Last week was filled with school activities, our church's AWANA closing program, appointments and prepping for a couples weekend away. 

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day!  I came home to a clean house, thanks to all the kids working together;  and fresh flowers from our oldest girl.  

Let's jump right into this week's Happy Homemaker Monday with Sandra over at Diary of a Stay At Home Mom.  

The Weather:

Another sunny warm day here.  It's supposed to be in the 70s today but then cloudy and back in the 50's for the rest of the week.  Almost the same forecast as a few weeks ago.

Outside my Window:

It's sunny and very green in our yard. 

 

Right Now I am:

Blogging and drinking my coffee while I wait for laundry to finish.    

Thinking and Pondering: 

Thankful for ways that I've seen God's provision in the last couple weeks.  Continuing to pray about some decisions. 

  
 Health Goal Accountability:

I worked out a couple times but not as much as I should have.

Podcasts I'm listening to this week:

None this week.

On my T.V this week:

Probably will just watch some YouTube as new episodes come out.  .

On the Dinner Plate:

Some sort of salad with spinach and chicken.  

 

On the Menu this week: 

 

Israeli Couscous Salad

Lentil Soup  

 

What I'm Reading:

Bible

Wizard of the Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin (fantasy book, new-to-me author so we'll see how I like it)

Be Confident: Live by Faith Not by Sight by Warren Weirsbe

On my To-Do list today:

Workout

Laundry (working on this)

Blog ✔

Make phone call(waiting for call back on this)

PTO Meeting ✔

Pick up kiddos from various places this afternoon

 

Plans for this week:

Catch up on laundry

PTO Meeting today & Event later this week

Continue spring cleaning the house & yard

Clean out fridge

Lunch with sister & cousins

What I'm Creating:

I finished the cardigan.  It's probably my favorite wearable I've made so far.  The yarn is soft and it fits great. 

 

From the Camera:

While we were away this weekend we went to see the show Hadestown. It's based on the story of Hades & Persephone from Greek mythology.  It was a good show but not one I'd see again.  One cool thing was that the main instrument was a trombone.  Our girl plays the trombone so it was fun to show her videos we found on YouTube of the opening number.

Highlight from Last week:

The highlights from last week were our girl coming home.  Seeing God provide in incredible ways for her.  The AWANA closing program.  Having a night away.

 

Bible Verse/Devotional Quote:

 

I've mentioned before that my word for this year is Faithful.  Last week I wrote a blog post about being Faithful in the Waiting.

On My Prayer List:

Family & Friends who are ill.

Kids away at college and kiddos here this school year.

Wisdom in parenting.

Direction, time & diligence for a project.

Peace & the willingness to let go of things that are not mine to carry.

Wisdom for how to deal with difficult things and to trust God with all!

Faithful in the Waiting

Waiting is hard!  Sometimes we wait with excitement for a vacation or other fun event; at other times we wait with heartache and pain, wondering when God will answer our prayers.  Even when we see God answer some of our prayers, we can still wonder why other prayers are not answered.  

Over the years I have seen God work miraculously in my life and the lives of others.  I have seen immediate answer to my prayers. I have also had prayers that were answered after years of praying, and then there are the prayers that I am still praying; decades after I first began.  Still waiting for God's answer.  So how do we wait well?  Wait faithfully?

I've had four reminders saved in my phone for awhile.  Reminders of how to wait faithfully.  I'm currently reading through Warren Weirsbe's book BE Confident; which is a study in Hebrews. Yesterday, in my reading there were four other great reminders of how to be faithful while waiting. My prayer is that these reminders will encourage you to keep praying, obeying and faithfully following God while waiting. 

Remember... 

1) God's perspective is not ours. (Isaiah 55:8-9) - I want to share a quick illustration that I've used with my kids.  It's not perfect but has helped them (and me) think of this more concretely.  Picture someone holding a toothpick in their hands.  Now imagine that is God and the toothpick represents all of time.  Our lives are a small dot on that toothpick.  We cannot move our dot, we cannot see the rest of the toothpick, we can't even see all of the dot at once; but God can!  He is outside of time (i.e. not on the toothpick) and can see the entire thing.  He can also touch that toothpick at any point.  Our view is so limited; God's is unlimited! 

2) Our One Task: Faithfully Follow Christ. (Psalm 62:5-6) - We can get so caught up in trying to figure things out, change things, control things.  But our one task, is to be faithful in our relationship with Jesus.  Two things that have really helped me narrow my focus this year are to remember "I don't know, but God does and I choose to trust Him." and also to pray "God, what do you want me to do today?" I can't control when things will happen but I can choose to trust God and to obey His plans for me today.

3) Look for God in the Waiting (Psalm 27:13-14) - We are so blessed!  Yet, focusing on what we don't have yet or what God hasn't done yet; that distraction and attitude can steal our joy.  God is faithful!  Look at all He has done and is doing.  Look for the ways He is showing up in your life.  From the beauty of creation, the gift of a new day, prayers that He has answered or even ways that He's challenging you. 

4) Consider Waiting as Preparation (Psalm 25:4-5) - Going back to number 1; God's perspective is not ours.  The way in which He answers our prayers may look very different from what we expect.  See this time of waiting as God preparing you to be ready for His way of answering your prayers. Often I've found that the answer is a change in my heart, not necessarily the change in circumstance that I was asking for.  Just this year God has given me a new perspective about something I have been praying about for many, many years.  I don't know when or even if He will answer this prayer but I'm thankful for the change in perspective He has given me.  

Abraham in the waiting:

(Points taken from the book BE Confident by Warren Weirsbe)

 

1) He Obeyed when... He did not know where he was going

2) He Obeyed when... He did not know  how God's will would be accomplished. 

3) He Obeyed when... He did not know when God would fulfill his promises.

4) He Obeyed when... He did not know why God was so working. 

Keep praying!  God is our merciful and faithful High Priest.  He is our Loving Father.  He is all-mighty, all-powerful, all-knowing.  As Peter says in John 6:68 "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,"  Where else would we go?  There is still so much for us to learn and we are blessed to have full access to the One who has all knowledge and wisdom. He wants us to come to Him; even if it is over and over again.  We need only to look at Jesus praying in the garden.  He went back three times praying the same words.  Bring it all to God!

One final quote I want to share from Warren Weirsbe:

"True faith is able to wait for the fulfillment of God's purposes in God's time."

 

Happy Homemaker Monday 4/29/24

It's another beautiful Monday here.  I'm so thankful for the warm, sunny weather.  This past week was full of appointments and yard work.  We spent the entire day Saturday clearing brush & leaves, burning some of the smaller branches from the tree that fell, and doing a bit of landscaping.  Our youngest planted some sunflower seeds so I'm really hoping those come up for her.  

On Sunday we had church and then our boy had a few friends from school over to celebrate his birthday that is coming up.  It was nice to meet a couple of his friends that we hadn't met yet and to see one that we do know.

Let's jump right into this week's Happy Homemaker Monday with Sandra over at Diary of a Stay At Home Mom.  

The Weather:

Another sunny warm day here.  It's supposed to be in the 70s today but then cloudy and back in the 50's for the rest of the week. 

Outside my Window:

I'm actually outside now!  It's wonderful to be able to enjoy the weather while still getting things accomplished.  So, right now I'm sitting by the fire pit monitoring some branches that we're burning. 
 

Right Now I am:

Blogging while I wait for a return phone call and watch the branches burn.    

Thinking and Pondering: 

Just a lot of decisions that need to be made.  Definitely needing God's wisdom and direction!

  
 Health Goal Accountability:

I'm pretty much back to normal.  I did still take it a bit easier last week but managed to work out a few times.  We did a lot of yard work this weekend and so far, so good with my back.

Today  I did a workout, mowed some of the lawn and have been moving wood around a bit so I've gotten a good bit of exercise today. 

Podcasts I'm listening to this week:

None this week.

On my T.V this week:

Probably will just watch some YouTube as new episodes come out.  .

On the Dinner Plate:

Still deciding this; it will be something with chicken as that's what I've pulled out to thaw.  

 

On the Menu this week: 

 

I still need to do one.  I haven't been great about this over the past few weeks.  I've got many of our staple ingredients so I've just been putting things together.  I really do need to sit down and see what we do have that I can make meals from.  I'd like to "shop" my pantry a bit as part of spring cleaning and use up ingredients that we've had on hand for awhile.  

 

What I'm Reading:

Bible

Fugitive Telemetry (Book 6 of the Murderbot Diaries)

Be Confident: Live by Faith Not by Sight by Warren Weirsbe

On my To-Do list today:

Workout ✔

Laundry (working on this)

Blog ✔

Mow✔

Burn branches (working on this)

Set up needed appointments (waiting for call back on this)

Clean house from weekend ✔

Meet @ school this afternoon to help with PTO task

 

Plans for this week:

Catch up on laundry

Help with PTO tasks for upcoming event

Continue spring cleaning the house & yard

Hair Appointment

Help friend as needed

What I'm Creating:

I'm currently working on a hooded cardigan for myself.  I'm very excited about this project and hope it comes out well.  The original pattern used a now discontinued yarn so she suggested Lion Brand Heartland yarn as a suitable substitute.  I have to say, I love the colors and texture of the Heartland yarn.  I'm using the color Yosemite, which is a burnt orange/brown colorway.  

 

I've got the main part of the cardigan done.  So far, I am loving it!  I need to finish the sleeves, add the hood and do the trim.  

 

From the Camera:

 I'm not sure if I've mentioned here or not, but a couple years ago I saw a copper music box at Savers.  It was shaped like a bridge and the boats turned as it played a tune.  Since then I've found a few more at Savers.  They just make me smile.  This truck is the latest.  

Our yard has beautiful landscaping that was here when we bought it; however it had not been properly cared for so it's really overgrown in many places.  This fence had three sections but when we were removing a, mostly dead, bush the fence pulled down as it wasn't made with pressure treated wood so it had rotted.  I actually really like the more open look and am hoping it will make this area more usable. 

 

And lastly, what do your kids do when they all want to cuddle?  They make a cuddle train.

Highlight from Last week:

The highlights from last week were working together as a family on the yard and also getting to head up the games for Awana. 

 

Bible Verse/Devotional Quote:

 

On My Prayer List:

Family & Friends who are ill.

Kids away at college and kiddos here this school year.

Wisdom in parenting.

Direction, time & diligence for a project.

Peace & the willingness to let go of things that are not mine to carry.

Wisdom for how to deal with difficult things and to trust God with all!