Finding Joy on the Journey in Faith, Family, and all Things in Between.
I expected outlines and three-point presentations on famous people. The kind you find on Wikipedia. Maybe Martin Luther King Jr, Mother Theresa, a singer, or a sports hero. Someone who lived big and wide and whose impact could be seen rippling out into these children's consciousness. Instead I witnessed each child's presentation on Someone They Admire and Why, spoken in reverent tones about an … [Read more...]
The song is set to repeat. We do it 7 times, complete with hand motions for Age of Imperialism, Queen Victoria, Empress of India 1877, 1948, assassination, passive resistance, India's independence, Mohandas Gandhi . It takes our fingers and bodies to make the memories etch into our muscles, our minds. And it works. I remember obscure dates and facts about Columbus, Westward Expansion, the split … [Read more...]
Jen says that bookstores remind her of hope. And I get that. Because the potential is bound within those covers, sewn into each page, the hope of learning new things, being changed by the words as they flow into our lives, sparking imagination and wisdom. We all enter in awe, almost reverent, each of us moving into different sections of the store. We browse the stacks slowly, moving … [Read more...]
To my dearest Kaia, I know you long for the letters to make sense, to unite themselves and speak to you. I know each syllable is a battle for you and I see you fighting. By the time you are able to read this well, you will have won the battle. You will have put in the hours of tracing your finger along the page and sounding out each painstaking phonics rule with your brows knit tight and the … [Read more...]
We are the world changers. The visionaries. We are the strongest political movement ever known. We have no borders or bounds. We seek to establish justice and ensure domestic tranquility through grace filled lives, serving hands, and faithful hearts. We are the diplomats of grace. The people with hands made to serve and hearts made to heal and branch out. We are the vine gatherers, … [Read more...]
So anyway, I had a very serious case of pneumonia compounded by my asthma, which left me incapacitated for a little over a month. I'm up and around now and my energy level is steadily rising but the accumulation of things needing to be done over the past month has hit the roof, broken through, and seems to be pooling in my hallway. Apparently, things don't tend to get done unless you do … [Read more...]
Judah is in search of his iPod again. He thinks it might have been in his jeans pocket which have endured a thorough washing and are folded and stacked in the laundry basket. It's not in there. I found it on the floor and rescued it before it was broken by Nehemiah and his two-year old curiosity which often inspire lathering things in lotion or throwing them in the trash. I found my phone in … [Read more...]
I remember an article I saw awhile back about a man in California who had created a lucrative business by spray painting dead lawns of foreclosed homes that had lingered on the market and would not sell. A few blasts of emerald-green biodegradable color and the curb appeal was instantly enhanced by a golf course worthy sea of grass. Of course, it was all an illusion since the grass was … [Read more...]
Some of the first advice I received years ago as a first time mom was "pick your battles." Being a first time mom, I was determined to do an amazing job. I read the parenting books. I got this, I thought. I watched the temper tantrums that occurred in grocery checkouts over skittles and lollipops and vowed that my child would be well-disciplined, respectful, and obedient. I couldn't … [Read more...]
Often, I forget the purpose of educating my children. I lose perspective and see it as a daunting task filled with chapters to be read, reports to write, phonics to sound out, number charts to memorize. I get caught up in the mundane. The teaching of ordinary stuff. I am drowning under waves of lesson plans, memorization, and the constant need to prod my children along in their learning. … [Read more...]
I have tried in vain for years to prioritize my life. I pursue interests and ideals with an almost manic passion. But like any mania, the fall from the mounting anticipation and excitement is almost always depression, exhaustion, and the cry of the perpetually overwhelmed. It all seems worthy of my attention and energy. I am an eager volunteer joining ranks with all the other overcommitted moms … [Read more...]
I'm idealistic. I am inspired. Unfortunately, I am NOT a good multi-tasker. I can do one thing well. What thing is that, you might ask? It's whatever I am most focused on at the time. I can home school my children and teach them in ways that make their little minds open and swell and burst with information and excitement over things learnt and tried. I can disciple them and bury God's … [Read more...]
"My kids would never listen to me like they do their teacher." This is a sentiment I have often heard from other mothers when explaining why they choose not to home school. Often this comment is heard after someone has asked where my children go to school and I mention we home school. Guilt should never be a motivator to home school. I felt a pretty strong conviction when we started to home … [Read more...]
I have always been an idealistic person. I would consider myself a cynical idealist. I tend to be overly critical yet I have high ideals and hopes for how things should or could be. Having grown up exposed to cross cultural missions in Europe, India, and Nepal, I didn’t want my children to grow up with a limited worldview. I wanted them to know about other cultures. Who knows if God may someday … [Read more...]
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