Finding Joy on the Journey in Faith, Family, and all Things in Between.
Last year I wound up hours of feeding my sewing machine cuts of fabric, pieced together to make something born out of my heart. I wrapped them in gift bags and added tissue. I wanted meaning in the gifts I gave. I didn't want to stand in long lines and drift down aisles shopping for things. I wanted to create something with my hours and labor and love poured into the dresses that would … [Read more...]
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...]
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...]
I can hear the soft rustle of her feet as she pads sleepily down the hall. I see tiny hands with chipped pink polish, lifting the blankets edge and then the softest wisp of a breathe on the side of my cheek as she nestles into the curve of my arm and settles where my heart beats. She is so beautiful to me. Her soft hair flowing over the pillow. He pulls up on the bed, grasping with tiny … [Read more...]
I am crammed into a dark space. My head is bent at an awkward angle and the air in this space smothers me as I inhale slowly. When the noise dies down outside, I lift the lid a tiny crack and push my lips into the open space while gulping in the cool air. Time seems to slow down but I know that I cannot give up or they'll certainly find me and I can't allow that to happen. Eventually, their … [Read more...]
There is a lot to be learned from patience, a quality I often lack when mothering. And mentoring. Which is easier said than done. What are we producing in our boys when we are rushed, impatient, and frustrated? I'll give you a hint, it's not strong character, responsibility, and integrity. How do we speak grace and encouragement into our young men? Today you can find me guest posting on MOB … [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...]
"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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