Heavenly Glimpses

Living Out of the Box Around a Thankful Table

2016-11-18T12:00:00.002-07:00

This post was written for and published on Bought Beautifully's blog for their "Thankful Table" series...

One neatly wrapped box awaited to be opened, to be seen, to be marveled at what could not fit in that box.

Six young, anxious sleepy-eyed girls scurried to the tree one Christmas morning on Goodrich Street. There were wrapped presents scattered under the stubby asymmetrical tree, but tearing through those presents wouldn’t be the memory imprinted for years to come. It would be that one small, neatly wrapped box with the slit cut through the top that would imprint its mark into one child’s mind.

The family surrounded that box, child anxious on her knees, as they enthusiastically removed the top, like a jack in the box, labeled, “My Gift to Jesus.” They each received and read their own slip of paper and remembered their gift to Jesus written the previous year and witnessed in their hearts how God had responded out-of-the-box in the messiness of real life. They then closed the box and parents and children wrote down a new offering–something from their heart in response to what God had given–and folded that offering three or four times before slipping it through the slit again.

There was just something special about recording what was significant to a particular time and capturing it for a lifetime. There was something about witnessing what was good and promising in the midst of life unraveling; God’s faithfulness through it.

Those little girls wouldn’t sit around that gift box in front of their family tree in the years to come. Instead they would witness life’s heartaches and brokenness in their young lives. They would feel a family divided and a new land open wide across their own. But they would continue to offer their gifts outside of that box and would continue to see God.

They would see restoration, redemption and hope.

Across the sea, in Haiti, a man or woman crafts a journal. They don’t have the luxuries that we know here in America. Children will carry water and walk a long road to school only because of a chance they’ve been given, not simply “a given.”

They work ferociously with their hands and feel abundance in their hearts.

The hands that made this journal have also known heartache and brokenness. The hands that made this journal have been rescued from poverty and dependency and are now able to provide for their family with dignity.

The journal tells a powerful story of restoration and hope.

Those six girls hovering around that gift box in front of a tree on Goodrich Street grew up and expanded their family to over forty members when they gather for a holiday, including parents, husbands and children.

That family is mine. The child anxious on her knees, me. I’m still that child on her knees, anxious to see how God is working through stories unfolding.

Across the sea, men and women are giving their children hope for their future. They call themselves 2nd Story Goods because a new story is beginning to emerge in each of their lives.

This Thanksgiving all forty something members of my family–five sisters, husbands, twenty plus children and grandparents will all pile in and gather around my family’s home where we will continue to offer our gifts, this time around a thankful table, writing (and drawing for the littlest ones) in one of those beautifully handcrafted journals from Haiti that tells its own story.

A story of restoration, redemption and hope.

As I’ve grown, I’ve come to see how all our stories are connected. We are all born into hope, come to know brokenness and are restored back to hope through a Savior who pursues us, rescues us and makes all things new. The hands and feet of Jesus may look a little different in each of our lives, and I wonder if we always recognize them, yet it is the key to a beautiful story unfolding.

Now we have a way to connect to a story of restoration across the globe, to also be the hands and feet of Jesus, and build hope for their future.

So let’s reach around the globe this year and join hearts and hands around a thankful table of believers, as we share our stories and offerings of thanksgiving.

And then witness how God works outside of that neatly wrapped box.

***

Bought Beautifully's mission is to search the globe to find ministries, organizations, artists, entrepreneurs, and individuals who are living out God's call to love. Bought Beautifully sells their products so that you can live out love through your purchases.

[2nd Story Goods is one of the many vendors Bought Beautifully partners with.]

Over the next few weeks Bought Beautifully will be partnering with different people on various platforms for a “Thankful Table” series with the hope for this series to share ideas and inspiration to encourage thankfulness this holiday season. I am honored to kick off the series. Won't you click on over and see whats cooking over the next week?

Browse Bought Beautifully's website and marketplace here.
Browse Bought Beautifully's blog here.

When You Need Your Child To Know God Not Just About God

2014-07-16T07:28:00.000-06:00

We'd sit on the couch for the better part of an hour – before jammies were swapped for shorts and a t-shirt – snuggling and remembering when this gangly boy, who stretches to my shoulders, was two and three and four and couldn't get enough of my snuggles.

"I remember when I didn't want our snuggles to end," he'd say.

And there we'd sit intertwined, his sisters and brother running through the back yard.

It'd started with a journal entry and a prayer for him on this morning, before sleepy eyes opened and fatigued bodies wandered upstairs. A prayer that words could not contain for a life so beautiful, yet not fully mine.

You realize that when they're ten – how their outcome is really not yours to determine, no matter how much influence you've had. You realize it's time to step back, let the men step in and to leave plenty of room for mistakes – and for God.

And I'd pray for that to happen and for his heart to grow into one after God's own and that I'd trust God's provision over his life.

And I don't know what this looks like or what it means to become less so his father can become more – more of a role of his Heavenly Father for him – so I pray that God do it in spite of me. Oh please, do it in spite of me.

Because this quickly growing child doesn't want to read a devotion in the morning and has gotten out of the practice of reading his bible at night, but he has all the right answers. And I wonder if he knows because he's been told or because he's tasted and seen.

We'd talk about God, sitting their together, but only after we'd jump in puddles, play backyard soccer and giggle, all the while snuggled on the couch together.

Then we'd talk about how vast God is, how he can be in today and yesterday at the same time. That a thousand years to us is a day to Him and how His ways are not our ways nor his thoughts our thoughts.

And I'd ask, in the context of God's greatness, if it made sense that we, human beings, should know and understand the mysteries of God before we should believe?

"Well, no." He'd say as though completely absurd.

How can we, in our finite minds, understand a God who is not measured by time or space, as we are?

No, we'd agree that we have to believe in the greatness of our God in order to know. And when we do put our trust in Him, the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to more than we could have ever seen on our own.

And I'd quietly entrust his heart to God again right there.

We'd do this talking for the better part of an hour and I wouldn't need to tell him how much I desire he grow in relationship with Jesus, not just know about Him. I wouldn't need to tell him because we would have experienced relationship, just then, in a way I would want him to experience relationship with Jesus, and he wouldn't want to get up when I asked if he was ready to get dressed for the day. So we'd sit snuggling and talk some more, like he didn't want it to end.

And I think that maybe this releasing will draw him closer to the heart of Jesus – just sitting with him, reminiscing, giggling and talking about the wonders of God – closer than all of my instruction and trying, stacked up to heaven, could afford.

Sharing with Tell His Story

A Quest for Home: Part Two

2014-07-14T08:44:00.000-06:00

A Quest for Home: Part One

I'm honored to be writing this post as part of Emily Wierenga's blog tour for her new book, Atlas Girl: Finding Home In The Last Place I Thought To Look!

You may want to read, A Quest for Home: Part One, before reading today's post, the conclusion.

Five sisters sang every chance we had in Wyoming, but living on opposite ends of the state wasn't much different than living 2000 miles away, so I moved north after one semester at the university.

In the next year and a half, we performed the National Anthem for a Colorado Rockies game, a pre-show to the rodeo for Cheyenne Frontier Days and other local gigs. We traveled to the Music City to record a demo CD and met with agents and producers. We were five sisters turning heads and I didn't even own a pair of cowgirl boots or listen to country music.

But I found comfort in pursuing life with my sisters in the way we had bonded growing up. I didn't feel so disappointed in my family, and I wasn't running from them or trying to prove something to them – or myself – anymore.

Somewhere in this time of setting aside my pride and leaving New Jersey I submitted, let go, accepted who I was as the daughter of the imperfect mother who bore me and fought for me, like she did her own life and still fights for things that matter because she's a fighter. And the imperfect father who couldn't be there for me because he was and always had been too far away, when I just needed my daddy. And a sister to the five girls who had felt the same fears, shared in the same disappointments, and journeyed the same distance to the unknown territory we had come to call home for the past thirteen years.

And it was beginning to feel like home.

So I went back to school through the universities extension program and kept singing with my sisters until I got my degree and singing waned and I met, right there where I started, the man I wasn't even looking for.

In the place our children now call home.

There were good things throughout my wanderings. For one's journey is never truly in vain, no matter how lost one becomes.

I had to journey into the valley and through the depths to make the climb back up and out the other side, into the land of freedom.

And I was on the up-climb.

Journaling my journey not only healed me, but taught me to be a writer. Poetry and song lyrics flowed from me like honey. And God was in the writing and the healing.

Because though I left, God didn't leave me.

I left Montana searching for something outside the fabric of my very being and I ran from God because the life He had given me wasn't good enough, so I didn't think I needed Him anymore. But I did.

And the outward journey was really about an inward journey.

It wasn't about where I took that Greyhound or from which state I was uprooted. Leaving had always been about how far I was willing to run from the roots of my heritage, the sin of my family, and from the God who walked with me and held me every step of the way.

And the arriving was never about how far, but how deep, I was willing to go to find home.

I don't know if God just, poof! healed the bulimia or if simply choosing to walk in obedience to Him brought me complete freedom. When I finally stopped running, it eliminated the need to stuff – like there was simply nothing to shove down anymore, nothing to purge from my life, or to run from or to.

I found that sense of home simply where I allowed Christ to reside, in all of the empty spaces, and in the very life He had lain before me.

I found home where I could feed the hungry, embrace the hurting, and truly forgive; and He never said it would be easy.

Although I grew up a Christ follower, this was the beginning of my life growing and flourishing in Him. It's where I learned who I truly was and the very purpose of my being.

An acceptance that I was His. I was bought with a price and because of that, I was free.

I'm still on the up–climb, thirteen years later, and the work of walking in freedom never felt so good. Because I know what awaits me at the end of this quest. I've seen it from a distance, I've experienced it in glimpses and it's that place we're all longing for this side of heaven – home.

***

I've been reading Emily Wierenga's book, Atlas Girl: Finding Home In The Last Place I Thought To Look, and loving her story and journey that reminds me so much of the moral of my story and journey – our journey's. We can all relate to this travel memoir, on some level, about how God gently pursues us where ever we go and gently leads us back home. Emily is and award winning journalist and author of four books. All proceeds for Atlas Girl go to The Lulu Tree, a non-profit helping moms and orphans in Uganda. Get your copy here!

Sharing with Soli Deo Gloria Gathering

A Quest for Home: Part One

2014-07-07T06:28:00.000-06:00

I'm honored to be writing this post as part of Emily Wierenga's blog tour for her new book, Atlas Girl: Finding Home In The Last Place I Thought To Look!

"Don't go," my mother would plead in tears one day and, "I want you to go. I don't want to hold you back," the next. Her emotions were back and forth, up and down for weeks before my planned departure and it broke my heart to see her struggle like that, but my mind was made up. My school year at MSU–B was concluding and I was taking a Greyhound with a friend to Bloomfield, New Jersey–a town just past Newark.

It wasn't that there was anything spectacular waiting for my friend and me there. A one-bedroom apartment, four roommates and a job at a steak house is all that awaited us.

But I was twenty-three and had been longing for home since I was eleven, when my five sisters and I were abruptly uprooted from our home in Pennsylvania and our roots in New York, and moved to the middle of nowhere in Wyoming because my mom had a friend who said it was a good place for a single mom to raise six girls.

A Greyhound to New Jersey was simply the closest I could get to where I thought home had been. And although I thought I was running to a place I once called home, I was really running away. I thought I would do and find and be everything that my family couldn't in a broken, dysfunctional upbringing.

I ran from church and God, though I wouldn't admit it because I wasn't abrasive by nature, so it still looked like God when I believed the power was within me and I couldn't put my finger on why I felt so discontent. So alone.

I ran from limitations and feelings of inferiority. I ran from fear, betrayal, abandonment, and disappointment.

I ran from needing to have my life in control, and from binging and purging when it clearly wasn't.

I didn't know what to do with those confused feelings that surfaced, so I stuffed them, then got rid of them, then cried – day after day.

I ran because I knew I was created for something more, something important, something with purpose and meaning – and I didn't know how to get there without crashing hard in trying.

I could see where I wanted to be – that bright meadow just across the way. But a deep cliff leading into a valley separated me from that glorious place, and I simply couldn't keep my footing.

Maybe I was looking for a way around it.

And so I left.

And the next year I spent searching. I earned my rent most days and learned how to survive in the big world–a world that didn't have answers, just a lot of activity. A world void of meaningful relationships, but best if you had connections.

My roommate and I rode the bus to NYC on days off work and spent many evenings in local pubs. We spent the summer weekends on Jersey Shore, and in this area of city life everyone wanted to know whether you were an actress, singer or model.

The thought of being somebody was invigorating.

Maybe if I were one of those I would have at least known who I was. But I didn't have the upbringing that pushed me to strive for any of those – except maybe singing, but I wasn't meant to sing alone. So I continued to feel lost, clinging to those opinions that claimed I "should be" one of those, famous somehow.

Or maybe if I found Mr. Right, everything would fall into place. I played the part of being set apart – picky, in other words – so that I would surely find the "right" one. But instead of finding him, I made him up in the charming ones I met. Because I didn't believe he was really out there and I just wanted so badly to be cherished and rescued from an empty life.

And what I found in this place two thousand miles away and only hundreds from where grew up, was that I was farther from home than ever. I found that disappointment followed and discontentment grew, even in all of the fun – all that empty, worldly fun.

I found that the power in me was not strong enough to win those battles I fought within. I wouldn't remember it just yet, that greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world, and without Him I was powerless.

I didn't want to go back to Wyoming, but a broken relationship and a persuasive sister convinced me to go back to the university town because she wanted me closer to home to sing in a sister group they had formed, because we sang together growing up and music was the one thing that bonded our broken family.

So I set aside my pride that I needed to prove something and said okay as long as I could finish my degree. I bought my plane ticket, packed my bag and weary heart and said good-bye to my one roommate left, the one I came with, then landed at the University of Wyoming for the following school year.

I wasn't home, but familiar faces and fresh, clean air made me feel a little closer.

***
How and where did I finally find home? Click here for the conclusion of A Quest for Home.

***
I've been reading Emily Wierenga's book, Atlas Girl: Finding Home In The Last Place I Thought To Look, and loving her story and journey that reminds me so much of the moral of my story and journey – our journey's. We can all relate to this travel memoir, on some level, about how God gently pursues us where ever we go and gently leads us back home. Emily is and award winning journalist and author of four books. All proceeds for Atlas Girl go to The Lulu Tree, a non-profit helping moms and orphans in Uganda. Get your copy here!

Sharing with Soli Deo Gloria Gathering and Tell His Story

And Then God Shows Up: How Our First Homeschool Year is Concluding {and an encouragement for you}

2014-05-22T19:50:00.003-06:00

Everyone who chooses to homeschool inevitably encounters that first year experience. The experience that says it was hard but it was worth it. Maybe I'm speaking for myself when I say that the hard in that first year is really in the pruning of the parent. Me.

The hardest points this year for me were when I most held on to control, expectation and fear in this new and uncertain endeavor. When I would not fully trust the direction God was taking us but rather, found myself bound by checklists and duty to a system–just another confining system. This will be your biggest challenge, too.

And the most growth that has taken place is when God has opened my eyes to a child not just a curriculum and a personality, learning style or bent not just a schedule. That will be your greatest freedom.

And truthfully, the only way that kind of freedom happens is through the breaking of those chains–those confining chains that are all in the name of the "best interest" of our children. Turns out, God knows that better than we do.

Burdens inevitably lie in the need to meet more or simply different varieties of our children's needs. And those burdens are heavy because we're human and because we deeply love these lives we've been entrusted–burdens for them, heavy enough that we seek and pray and lay those burdens at the foot of the cross.

And we press on and love them and persevere and there are wonderful moments and glimpses of the bigger picture in and through it all.

Make no mistake, though, there will be burden and brokenness in that first year of homeschool. Maybe there always will be. And shouldn't there be? Because that's where God shows up. I mean really shows up.

He clears the path where obstacles have lain. He opens doors where none were seen. He brings clarity where there has been confusion, provides rest where we've become weary, and offers hope in the face of despair.

God is so good. He is opening doors for next year in ways that only he can be glorified through it. Some things you just can't engineer through sheer will. People, schedules and needs don't always mesh but when God orchestrates something in your life, it just falls into place.

What can I say, but our community of collaborators and resources are growing. We have all made new friends along with the old and I am so excited to see what God will continue to do as we seek him and entrust the lives of our children to him.

As homeschooling parents, we have got to have long-term vision, patience and perseverance. The first year may be the hardest, but God will surely bless those efforts and act of obedience. If we press on, we will see those seasons of harvest, as we continue to be molded by the Perfecters hands. And we will witness that God clearly shows up to provide for every one of our needs.

We have concluded our year with a field trip back to Bradford Brinton Memorial and presenting memory work to Green House Living next week. We're concluding with much satisfaction and gratitude and so much more to look forward to. God is good.

I think I can really breathe now.

But my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in Glory in Christ Jesus. –Phil 4:19

6 Ideas for Downtime this Summer {Plus a Bonus Weekly Agenda}

2014-05-07T07:29:00.001-06:00

We have the freezer stocked with frozen treats, books out, prize box filled, and just days left until summer vacation! We’re planning lots of downtime, but even constant downtime needs a plan. Otherwise, everyone can go a little batty very quickly!

Here are some ideas for your summer down time:

1. Plan a Service Project:

We're kicking off the summer with a group service project: last year we invited friends over and partnered with Craft Hope in making bracelets for orphanages in Russia.

This year I've contemplated keeping it local and having children make art together and then take it to a local nursing home's Alzheimer unit.

2. Go camping:

Camping is a must in Wyoming, along with other trips you may have planned. But even if you’re in a season of life where camping is not possible, pitch a tent in your backyard.

3. Create Your Own Summer Reading Program:

We'll read all summer long, but will have a special three-week incentive program. I got the idea for it last year here. Our kids loved this last summer! Robby was anticipating it already again at the beginning of May . They love it because they get to pick a prize every day. But also because they really do get immersed in the reading they/we do.

4. Implement Scripture memorization:

I've chosen the first section of the Sermon on the Mount, which is the Beatitudes, for the children to memorize over the summer. How far they get will be determined by each one's age.

Incentives for this might be a ticket for a date with mom, a date with dad, invite a friend over to play, etc. That way we're working in that quality time that we desire to make time for, too!

5. Do a Nature Study:

Learn about trees and flowers, bugs and birds all around your neighborhood and community. I found this great resource for doing a nature study here.

6. Choose an Organized Activity:

The YMCA, Sheridan College, and Sheridan Historical Society have programs for children ages, at least four and up.

I like to take advantage of time together over the summer so we try to keep individual activities at a minimum. I love to see the relationships of my children grow and imaginations soar when they have books to stimulate their imagination and time for uninterrupted play, to act out all of their new adventures.

Structure Your Week to Simplify Your Life:

This is a great idea I found last year here, to schedule a little activity into each week.

Monday: Craft Day

We'll pull out the paints, glitter, clay, glue, scissors, (maybe even the sowing machine), etc. and get creative with a different fun project each week!

Tuesday: Library Day

We'll make a weekly trip to the library.

Wednesday: in the Kitchen Day

We'll try out new creations and recipes. My children love getting creative in the kitchen!

Thursday: Service Day

This may be making thoughtful notes for family, visiting a nursing home, or helping someone in need.

Friday: Fun Day

This will be our water play day: pools, fountains, water guns, slip and slides...

Keep in mind, much of your weekly agenda will take only part of the morning and still leave plenty of time for outdoor fun!

Summer time around here is a time of relaxation and fun with a little structure to keep everyone in the know as to what to expect, as the days can run into each other easily and quickly without a plan.

We hope to fit in plenty of exploration, playing in our backyard, parks with friends, tennis with grandpa, and getting wet with cousins - A LOT!

I am a believer in making a plan and then working it out flexibly. So go jot down some ideas and have a great summer!

***

Check out these great sites for more fun ideas for your summer:

50 Things To Do This Summer

67 Ideas For Fun and Learning This Summer
Summer Bucket List and Free Printables

Edited from the Archives

Five-Minute-Friday: Mess

2014-05-02T08:08:00.000-06:00

I'm joining Lisa-Jo Baker for Five-Minute-Friday with the writing prompt:

Mess...

Legos and Playmobil are splattered across the downstairs floor, sound effects bouncing off of the walls. Another sits calmly, reading in the midst of the action. Math links and Base Ten blocks are scattered over the school room floor, a village is going up. And yet another sits quietly solving two-digit addition problems with Chopin playing in the background.

There are remnants of our day throughout this house and as much as I'd like to keep up on the mess, I'm finding there is a difference between staging and living. Because staging is how we want our life to appear, whereas living is jumping in and creating it. Another day, another hour might look a little different, but active none-the-less–active bodies, active minds, active emotions and I couldn't live this way before.

But this is different. Because I'm right here in the mess with these four children and when you're in it rather than observing it, the mess becomes art–beautiful, creative and peaceful.

We are creating art together in this home, splattering colors and textures of our unique blends.

And as an artist is not put off by messy remnants of his work while splattering paint on a canvas–I cannot be put off by the messy remnants of our ultimate vision.

When we walk into a room noticing only the mess, we miss the masterpiece.

According to Their Bent: 5 Training Points For Boys and Battle Play

2014-04-29T21:41:00.000-06:00

Are you a parent who avoids having toy weapons in your home or forbids boys from pointing weapons, shooting at or stabbing one another with swords?

I tried to be that mom with my first son. I did not buy or promote toy weapons. And at about the age of three, he found a stick that worked well enough as a gun. So I told him to "shoot the lizards" on the ground and not point it at people. And then he was around other little boys, who battle played, and I found myself fighting an uphill battle–myself against the innate behavior of boys.

We have two now. Two boys out of four children and our second boy is just as, if not more, animated than the first with light-sabers, swords, legos, star war figures and playmobil.

He lives and breathes battle play. Our two boys battle each other, cousins, and friends willing to join in battle.

And this kind of play, I've concluded, is healthy.

Because we can't change the make-up of our boys, but we can train them according to their make-up.

There is no doubt that boys were built to be warriors–when they can create their own weapon out of sticks without ever being exposed to one. Therefore, eliminating toy weapons is not the answer. But rather how we train them is key.

Here are five points we use for training our boys in the way of battle play:

1) We teach them what it means to be a hero.

Heroes fight for something greater than themselves and are willing to give up their own life for the greater good. On a smaller scale, we train our children to put others first and to give up their own comforts for the sake of another.

2) We teach them what it takes to be courageous.

Courage is not simply doing right when it is easy, but rather doing right when it is the most difficult to do. My children are realizing that this is near to impossible without the help of the Holy Spirit. Yes, they must pray for courage.

3) We teach them that they were created to be warriors in a real life spiritual battle.

Ephesians 6:12 tells us that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

The Spirit cannot reside where sin does and so our children, our boys, are faced with this battle every single day. They must choose to gain their strength for this battle from Christ and the Word they have hidden in their hearts. (For more on children fighting a spiritual battle, check out this post: How a Child Crushes a Lie)

4) We read like crazy great books that display courage, heroism, defending the weak, and fighting for good.

In the face of real life difficulty, our boys have the opportunity to identify with a character in a great story who felt lonely in choosing right, who felt scared in pressing forward and who found courage to act in the face of that fear.

Why is story so important? Because our children can see the lasting affects of those choices, within the characters they identify with, in which good prevails in the end. (If you're not reading aloud already, check out this post: 8 Reasons to Read Aloud to Your Children)

5) We use our home as training ground.

The little brothers and younger sisters are examples for looking after and protecting the weak. With my younger boy being only eighteen months older than his younger sister, there are a multitude of opportunities to train his little heart to look after her, to bear with her, and to do what it is right in the face of frustration and difficulty. And I teach this to my daughters, too.

And they fail time and time again. But that is how they are learning, too. These are the teachable moments. It's up to us to give them that vision of what they're fighting for. (For further reading about giving boys a vision for their future, check out this post: How to Train Our Boys to Be Men At Four)

I see it in differing contexts just how these children do look after one another, in spite of their collision of difficulties at home. Our training is not futile even when it feels like it is. Hearts and minds are being molded for greatness, in the image of God, as we persevere.

When we use battle and warrior-talk in the training of our boys, we're speaking their language. We're penetrating their hearts.

And no doubt, what happens within the hearts of these boys in this home will manifest itself within their world.

So no, we don't take away weapons nor do we train boys against their natural grain. Our boys were created to be warriors! Rather, we train them for the battle so that they have no doubt who they are fighting, why they are fighting and what their battle is worth.

Because some things in life are worth fighting for.

***

Some suggested read aloud books on courage and heroism–just to name a few:

Saint George and the Dragon
Tales of King Arthur and the Round Table
The Children's Book of Heroes
The Wind and the Willows
The Tale of Despereaux
Chronicles of Narnia
Lord of the Rings Series
The Hobbit
Swiss Family Robinson
The Red Wall Series (just embarking on these)
Missionary Stories with the Millers

Also, don't dismiss biographies, life of saints and bible stories of heroes.

What great books can you add to this list? I'd love to know!

Sharing with Imperfect Prose, Coffee for Your Heart, Tell His Story, and Soli Deo Gloria

Five Minute Friday: Friend

2014-04-25T07:15:00.002-06:00

I'm joining Lisa-Jo Baker once again, for Five-Minute-Friday with the writing prompt:

Friend...

Good friends are hard to come by. And to be honest, I haven't learned the art well myself of being a good friend.

I remember a time in early adulthood when I didn't have really any trusted friends; lots of acquaintances, people I hung out with, and those I trusted before I really knew. Yet not one that I could spill my heart out to, cry with or come away from feeling built up and renewed.

My friendships, throughout my young adult years had been highly one-sided or very superficial.

And then about the time I started trusting God with different aspects of my life, was the time that I prayed for friends. Specific friends. A friend I could belly laugh with. A friend I could talk with about life and faith. A friend I could pray with.

True, authentic friends.

And God heard those prayers, because isn't that what he wants for us? Relationships that build us up, that encourage us to be who we were intended to be, that draw us closer to him?

I am blessed now with friends that I can share my weaknesses with, cry with, pray with, laugh with, read scripture with, analyze with, serve with.

Each individual friend I see as a gift.

Friendship is not about being apart of clique or a club. It's not even about how alike two people or ten people are. It is about sharing in our differences, loving through our trials, carrying each others burdens and building one another up. always.

It's forgiving when one does not invest well, overlooking offenses, and releasing expectations.

True friendships are simply a gift. They are not to be hoarded, manipulated or trampled on.

And if you're not sure you've got that kind of friend in your life. Pray for that friendship. specifically.

I'm still learning how to invest well in my friendships. Life with family is busy. Yet the beauty of those friends God has put in my life, over the last ten years, is that they do forgive, they do understand, they don't hoard nor do they expect.

A good friend–a true friend, is a gift.

The One Thing We Need in the Face of Defeat

2014-04-23T18:34:00.000-06:00

We’re reading around the breakfast table when defeat shows its face, before we even start our day. The youngest two can’t sit still, so I let them run off and play. They run circles, screaming past us and I can’t hear my own voice. I ask them to keep the volume down or play downstairs, as I finish our short devotion with the older two.

I ask a follow-up question to our reading and I hear grunts and whines and the older two are just as uninterested, so I just shut the book and send them downstairs to get dressed.

And I feel defeat wash over me at the start of our day of the new week.

I look around me and notice that we didn’t even clear our dishes or clean the kitchen before dispersing. We need to pull the house together before we start school–after a fun, long Easter weekend and house guests. And it’s always then–when there is just one more thing on our plate–that I'm faced with defeat that feels like despair, like we’re getting nowhere and like we’ll never get it right.

But that’s a lie. Because more good has come from redemptive moments than I can count. Even when all I can see is momentary defeat. And since giving up is not an option, I offer it back to the One who promises success when I commit these plans to Him.

Each moment is opportunity for a fresh start when we'll accept our own limitations and submit control to Christ.

So I breathe deep and head downstairs to see how they’re doing with getting dressed and ready for the day.

I have a talk with individual children and direct each one, keeping us on track. There’s more grumbling and whining over a certain morning chore and I want to throw a fit myself.

I feel how exhausting and unglamorous parenting really is.

Yet I choose not to take back the control I just offered up, nor grow weary in doing good.

“I always have to fold laundry. I’m not folding laundry!” the oldest one demands.

I feel more defeat over his reluctance, but he has a choice and so I ask him to start with the chore he is willing to do.

He’s folding blankets and throwing them over the couch and chair and I’m pitching in, picking up random toys off the floor.

“I’d mop the floor, mom,” the reluctant one says. "I just really don't want to fold laundry."

“Okay, you can mop instead of folding clothes and it needs to be swept first. The stairs could be vacuumed, too.” I concede.

“Okay,” he says. There is willingness now in his tone.

Soon the children are all working like a well-oiled machine. The house is coming together and I’m realizing, once again, that hope is not lost.

The day plays out peacefully, as the children play together, building a house, a trench and a dam on the dirt hill behind our house, after cleaning. They then come in for lunch, imaginations still active. One writes out the menu, takes orders, and delivers the food that I prepare. School work is accomplished in the afternoon this day and I can’t think of a better day we've had, even with our rough start.

And I realize that more rewarding than children cooperating all of the time, as I expect; more beautiful than first-time obedience and perfectection, is redemption in the lives of my children.

To watch reluctant hearts change. To watch them internally choose to do right. To witness what only Jesus can do in them that I cannot.

It’s the realization of who we are without Christ and who we become with him.

And when I see this happen in each of my children, as I have more over this past year, I recognize the blessing in the difficult moments.

I realize that the difficult moments help us to see our limitations and that we really do need Jesus to succeed and live joyfully. They see it, too.

And what I need more than anything in the face of defeat is the faith to simply trust God with this exhausting and unglamorous work.

Because, although the work of parenting is less than glamorous, the redemptive work is stunningly beautiful.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9

Sharing with Imperfect Prose, Coffee for Your Heart and Tell His Story

In Which Believing is Seeing

2014-04-17T07:48:00.000-06:00

I wonder sometimes how much that statement, "Seeing is believing," really hinders our sight.

And how that concept keeps us crippled in our disbelief.

There are times I find myself praying things like, "Oh, Lord, help me to get this house in order," or "Give me wisdom in my parenting!" Lately it’s been, “Help me to get motivated to exercise!” I pray these almost in my disbelief of achieving what I pray for. And quite honestly, my disbelief is rooted in simply not wanting to do what I don't feel like doing to get there. Yet, even as I pray, things don't just begin to happen in my favor. No matter how I look at it, I actually have to take action.

Sometimes I think we expect God to do the work for us or at least send down a lightening bolt to get us moving in the right direction when we pray for help, but He never seems to do that. We still have to discern, make the sacrifices, begin the process, and go through the pain of the work.

Oh, I can just hear us stubbornly crying out like the Israelite's, "Look at my life (or this house or my body)! It's a mess! You should have left me where I was. Where are you, God? Don't my prayers mean anything? Are you even there?"

Yet God didn’t take the cup from Jesus either.

One of the most difficult times of my life was a time in which I cried out to God everyday to rescue me and yet I walked that difficult path for seven years of my life. Believing is difficult when all you're willing to see is your lack.

But like the Israelites, we have to go through the uncomfortable process of the journey because it’s on this journey where faith is tested, lessons are learned, restoration takes place, and hope is found.

And it’s the pain Jesus endured and his ultimate death that has brought us life-everlasting.

The process of that seven years for me now is irreplaceable. The depth of who I am today came from that valley and still I see that I never walked it alone even when I felt the loneliest.

In time, God completely delivered me from that difficult season–delivered me in much the same way he delivered the Israelite's, after 40 years in the wilderness, to the Promised Land. And I never went back. When you arrive at your promised land, you don't turn back to slavery.

God never said He'd do the work for us. He said He'd walk through our mess with us. He's waiting for us to put our faith into action, by putting one foot in front of the other, so he can begin revealing for us miracle after miracle along the way.

Maybe we're waiting for the guarantee, the proof that running this race will be worth the effort and, until we have that, we'll remain in our disbelief and go no where.

But, do we see to believe or must we believe to see?

To arrive at a promised land–the place full of His promises for us–we absolutely have to believe God is capable of taking us there. Belief requires faith, because faith is assurance of what we cannot see. And faith requires action or it is dead.

When we step out in faith, that is when we begin to see all of the possibilities open up, the impossibles becoming possible, and we realize the blessings were never meant solely for the outcome in the first place. They were meant for the process all along.

We simply can't wait for the guarantee. We must believe before we will ever see the blessings, the rewards, and the miracles along this process of pressing on toward the goal in life.

Whatever you are going through, He wants to take you to your promised land. But it's going to take a little faith, a little action, and possibly a lot of pain. But oh, the rewards will be heavenly!

"...blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." John 20:29

What If We Refused?

2014-04-08T21:22:00.000-06:00

"Go hard on me, mom," declares eight-year-old, Robby, as we prepare to play one-on-one soccer in our back yard. I chuckle at his words for I know how much has changed in a few short years.

Just a few years ago I was holding back, running barely behind him as he kicked and darted toward the ball all the way up the yard to score a goal. On occasion, I enjoyed hassling him, weaseling the ball away just to make him work harder and he'd complain that I was not going easy enough on him.

In just a few short years, he's grown and changed so much. He's more mature, able to control his emotions, and more athletically coordinated. We communicate, relate and laugh together and it wasn't even that long ago I sat up nights nursing and rocking him back to sleep.

One of those mid-nights–within the first week of bringing him home from the hospital–I had nursed him, changed his diaper, and swaddled him snug. When I went to lay him back down, he continued to fuss. As a new mother, I didn't know what to do for him. Weary and exhausted, I remember my anxiety rising that night. I had abruptly flung his blanket back open, re-swaddled him, and brought him close to my chest again. I then breathed deep and like a tide rushing in, felt wisdom wash over me that would linger throughout my parenting years, not for one but for four children throughout infancy, toddlerhood, and into childhood:

Don't become frustrated, Theresa. This is just a season. You'll never have him this small again. Yes, you will lose sleep. It will be hard. But it will pass. These moments you'll find are gifts. Receive them.

I’ve surely become frustrated over the years, regarding children and sleep. Yet I cannot recall another night that I hovered a sweet infant, feeling frustrated over my sense of helplessness. Not one since that vivid internal monologue. And I've had many sleepless nights and those nights did pass.

I encounter different frustrations and feelings of helplessness now, as a mother in a whole new season of life, and the never ending question remains, how do I choose to contend with those frustrations?

And I wonder if what made a difference eight years ago can make a difference today.

What if we refused? What if we took a deep breath and decided we're not going to let weariness, frustration, and feelings of helplessness overtake our peace. We won't allow those emotions, that so easily creep in, to dictate our behavior. I wonder how it would change our parenting; how we see our children.

Because we'll never have them as small and impressionable as they are right now, ever again. Yes, we will lose sleep over them. It will be hard. But it will pass. What if these moments are gifts, even the hard ones? Will we receive them?

Today he dances with the ball over the winter withered grass, maneuvering fancy feet. He kicks the ball passed me and goes for the goal.

When we choose to see the bigger picture, the greater goal and desired outcome, our frustrations become small. When we accept that it will be hard; that cultivating the lives of our children will take labor, sacrifice, time and perseverance, we may just bounce back quicker when we stumble–because we will.

"Good game, mom. That was fun!" Robby exclaims. "Thanks for playing with me."

And I think I also hear, "Thanks for being patient with me through the years. Thanks for your dedication, perseverance, and for believing in me. Thanks for upholding me with dignity and respect even though I'm smaller than you and dad. Thanks for laughing with me, and for loving me no matter what."

And I think about the little things that never really mattered. And the things that do.

Edited from the archives for Sheridan MOPS Blog
Linking up with Imperfect Prose and Tell His Story

In Which We Nurture Them Into Bloom

2014-04-03T07:39:00.000-06:00

Although my days with MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) are passed, I am honored to contribute in a small way to this vital ministry. Therefore, I'm sharing thoughts on Thursdays with our local chapter, on the Sheridan Morning MOPS blog:

Why is it difficult for children to clean their own room or put away the legos they spewed all over the floor? They will pull out every toy on the shelf, but when it’s time to pick up they sit in the middle of the mess paralyzed. I know I, as a new mom, expected my first born to learn responsibility and clean his messes on his own by age five. I don’t know about you, but I needed a reality check!

It is true that our children are capable of small amounts of responsibility at early ages, yet even a seven-year-old can feel defeated in the middle of a mess by herself. So how do we help them succeed? When we lovingly plant a seed in good soil, we give it plenty of sunlight. We water it and even fertilize it. We protect it from the storms. We nurture it. Why? Because we believe that seed will grow into a beautiful blossom.

"Mom, I've got my room clean!" Robby races upstairs to announce before I even have the dishes done from our Saturday morning breakfast.

"Robby, you are on top of it. I’m impressed!" I respond.

He has done this three weeks in a row now and I think I'm beginning to see a little blossom.

He comes toward me with open arms, "Ya." he chuckles, "Remember when I would have so much to clean up that I would just sit in the middle of it and do nothing?"

Yup. Pretty much just a few weeks ago.

"Do you think we expected a little too much of you when we required you to clean your whole room by yourself when you were just four and five years old (my cheek to his)?"

"Yah," he chuckles again.

He's eight and I'm beginning to think around age eight is that season where our children blossom into more independent individuals because, developmentally, they can reason through things much more maturely.

"Well, we have the pleasure of learning through you, our first born. Otherwise we just don't know sometimes."

It's like God built him specifically for that.

We head downstairs to inspect his work. I enter the spacious room with tracked taupe carpet. "Your room looks great, Robby! Now it just needs to be vacuumed."

"I don't want to vacuum it," his sinful nature chimes in, "I don't like to. You do it."

"Well, you know, I don't really like to vacuum either," I gently retaliate.

"You're right. You have to vacuum the whole house. I'll do it."

I’m proud of his mature and capable response.

The truth is, in the past, we have helped him through cleaning his room on a number of occasions. We've seen that, otherwise, it would not get done in spite of our expectation and strategic tactics for compliance–yet, not without frustration along the way. But we've learned that at four and five, even six and seven, they are not quite capable of all that we may expect them to do on their own–like we’re rushing the seasons.

And if we’re really honest, we expect this because we get overwhelmed and we have our own tasks that take priority and we’re impatient. We've planted the seed and now we want results. Yet, the seed still needs tending to.

Over time, we’ve come to see that emotionally and even socially, the confidence and ability to succeed is built on loving, on-going, side-by-side nurturing and training throughout these formative years.

We do things a little differently with the younger three. We don't just show them how to take on a responsibility and expect them to have it mastered by the second or third try. In the same way, we can't plant a seed, water it a few random times and expect it to thrive. We walk with them through their tasks, their struggles, and their triumphs and give them more and more responsibility and independence as they succeed–naturally, pushing past resistance along the way. We understand they are not perfect and are in continual training while under our roof.

They don't have to have it all mastered by five. really.

So, how do we help them succeed? We walk alongside and nurture them through the formative years.

Like a bud, which opens in time with good soil, the right amount of sunlight, and plenty of moisture, we nurture our children continually into each season of bloom.

You can’t just throw a handful of seeds over the deck and expect a beautiful garden to grow. –Sally Clarkson (paraphrased)

Edited from the Archives

8 Reasons To Read Aloud To Your Children {Even When They Are Old Enough To Read Themselves}

2014-03-27T06:04:00.001-06:00

Reading aloud to your children may be one of the most impactful actions you can take, as parents. You can shape your children's character, influence their choices, and strengthen their minds just through the power of story.

Uncle and Cousins to my three in the photo (Drew, Madeline and Alexa)

Reading aloud is becoming more and more a treasured time for our family. The children grab their blankets and snuggle in for listening and then beg for "one more chapter!" When we pick up a good book, we know it. The children's imaginations are captivated and I often think, "how clever" that a lesson is being taught through a character my children can identify with. Countless times, I've had to pause, catch my breath and resume again, from the emotion caught in my throat. We experience new worlds, difficulties, emotion, triumph and laughter together. The benefits are measureless.

Here are just 8 reasons to start reading aloud to your children today:

1. It Anchors You As a Family

These are the times of day when we curl up under a blanket and snuggle in to listen to the story. We look forward to them. We're growing to expect them.

2. It Stimulates the Imagination

My seven-year-old daughter coined it perfectly when she said this in the middle of one of our read-alouds:

"I like movies, but I like listening to books, too, because with movies they make the picture for you, but with books you get to create the picture yourself."

And that is a beauty of reading. This can occur when reading on one's own, however research shows that reading aloud stimulates the brain differently than when reading quietly.

As a seven-year-old, my daughter may be working hard just to fluently read. Yet when read to, the experience is completely imaginative and pleasant.

Characters seem more real when a story is read with some gift of expression. Maybe it is because a whole family is identifying with the characters and this strengthens the bonds one feels. –Gladys Hunt, Honey for a Child's Heart

3. It Teaches About Life and Heroism

I can't say it enough, choose good books. Classics. Books that have stood the test of time and will grab the heart of your children, too. Read to your children stories with characters who portray courage in difficult situations so that they may identify with those choices when they are at a crossroads, when they need to make a difficult decision, or feel alone. Reading aloud gives your children the ability to identify with heroes and strive to exemplify that character.

Reading should offer the solace of hope and goodness, of another world where truth and right triumph. –Gladys Hunt, Honey for a Child's Heart

4. It Shapes Character

Again, children's character can be shaped by experiencing the positive character traits of a protagonist and recognize unattractive character traits of an antagonist.

We just finished reading The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame – a great all-around book for my youngest to my oldest. This fable was not only excellent for it's vocabulary and its fanciful descriptions, but the characters exemplified true friendship: putting another before oneself and looking out for the best interest of a friend. I was so pleased that the characters could show this to my children rather than me simply drilling it into their head – much more effective.

Good literature teaches more than we know. Example always speaks louder than precept and books can do more to inspire honor and tenacity of purpose than all the chiding and exhortations in the world. –Gladys Hunt, Honey for a Child's Heart

Choose good books that exemplify good character traits.

5. It Builds Vocabulary

The more children are read to, the more words they hear and take into their vocabulary index. In addition, they hear it in the context of the story, which is so much more effective than reviewing vocabulary words and their definitions. One will stick. The other won't.

Reading is the golden key to educational success. It is impossible to be a successful student apart from a mastery of the written word. Researchers are finding that children's vocabulary–the amount of exposure they have had to a wide variety of words–is possibly the greatest determining factor in their success in all subjects in school. –Sarah Clarkson, Read For the Heart

6. It Develops a Love for Reading.

When a child's world is opened up through reading, they will crave more. My oldest son read his first chapter book mid-way through Kindergarten because when I closed the book for the night, after reading aloud to him, he could not wait until the next night for more. So, he decided to try reading it himself. That is what a a good book will do, no matter who is doing the reading.

7. It Stimulates Family Discussion.

Books are a great preface to meaningful discussions. How did the character change throughout the story? How about that hard decision? What would you have done? Were you surprised by the courage he showed? The potential for discussion is great.

8. It Enables Listening to Higher Reading Levels.

So why should a child be read to after he can read himself? According to Great Schools dot org, reading levels do not catch up to understanding until eighth grade. Your 3rd grader may be able to read 3rd or 4th grade levels, but can listen to and understand 5th and 6th grade reading levels.

If you are not in the habit of reading aloud to your children, no matter the age, I would encourage you to open a book that you remember as a child and bring it to life again. Begin reading just one chapter a day or night. For younger children, find a Treasury with beautiful illustrations. If the obstacles are what's coming to mind right now, the following are some tips for how to get started:

Tips for Reading When Your Child is Young (and Non-attentive):

*Let them doodle. Some children have a harder time sitting still. For those preschoolers and fidgety children, have paper and crayons or small toys and let them doodle or play while they listen. The only rule is that they need to do so quietly. Ask them about the story at various points and you may be surprised that they know exactly what is going on.

*Have the child engage in story by predicting what will happen next.

*Stop and talk about pictures and give them time to peruse.

Tips for Reading When Your Child is a Bit Older (and Uninterested):

Unfortunately, it is harder to start something that is unfamiliar, if it's not something you've always done. However, here are some ways to start implementing reading aloud as a family.

*Choose a compelling book that sparks interest.

*Start small. Make it part of a bedtime routine or read a chapter around the meal table, where you have a captive audience.

* Make it a special time, with hot cocoa or cookies and milk and sit close together wrapped in a blanket by the fire. Your children will appreciate that time with you.

*Eliminate competitors. Shut off the technology. Your children will benefit for it.

*Don't ask. Say, "This is what we are doing." And make it inviting.

*Start reading. When camping this past summer, we were around camp after plenty of playtime and it was feeling like downtime. So, I pulled out the book we had been reading and announced, "Who wants to listen?" (Don't ask!) "Nooo," were the lathargic responses. So I just planted myself in the camp chair and started reading – loud enough that everyone could hear me – and within seconds they each wandered over, hovering over my chair.

Where to Find Time:

*Again, start small and enjoy the experience together.

*Utilize Audio Books. Audio books are another means to stimulating those imaginations. Our children devour them, particularly at night and when traveling is a good time. I still recommend reading aloud with your children, just for the treasured experience, but audios are great coupled with reading aloud!

*Don't fill up every minute of your child's spare time. It's tempting with all the organized activities available out there. But give your children the gift of down time and time as a family, too.

Tips for Finding a Good Book:

*Choose original or unabridged books, when possible.

A loss of words put together in the right way cheats the reader. –Gladys Hunt, Honey for a Child's Heart

*Choose books with profound morality.

Moral excellence ought to be inseparable from creative or literary excellence. –Sarah Clarkson, Read for the Heart

*Choose Classics

I like reading aloud books from the classic book list because their excellent use of language is showcased. –Gladys Hunt, Honey for a Child's Heart

Start when they're young – start today – and give your children an appreciation for reading – and then don't stop. It will become a treasured time for you and your children that they will remember long after they've started the tradition with their own families.

Resources for Book Lists

Honey For a Child's Heart: The Imaginative Use of Books in Family Life, By Gladys Hunt

Read For the Heart: Whole Books For Wholehearted Families, By Sarah Carkson

http://www.classical-homeschooling.org/celoop/1000.html (I'm not as familiar with this website, but it looked like a good, extensive list.)

https://www.wholeheart.org/recomended-list-of-childrens-literature/ (Sarah Clarkson)

Also, watch for The Storyformed Life, By Sarah Clarkson, coming soon!

“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.”
― Charles William Eliot

Sharing this post with Sheridan Morning MOPS

10 Unexpected Joys of Our Home Education

2014-03-21T10:10:00.000-06:00

We're finding this rhythm that I have hoped for since we considered the option of home education. Rhythm in the flow of our day – the anchors, the play, the learning, the cooperation, and even the chaos. It's lovely.

It's been a process. A process of committing this decision completely to God and letting go in the areas that I've needed to let go, in order to meet the individual needs of each child best – in order to rip apart that box I try to fit them into. And what I have found outside the four stale walls of conformity (to one another, to rigidity or someone else's standards) is simply joy.

I had imagined every day to be joyous, honestly. But, they haven't been. I haven't dare taken for granted the gift of our home education, but I've questioned it. For a second – here or there. Then breathed deep, satisfaction and gratitude.

The reality is, there is pruning that takes place for such a decision as this – in eliminating all the joy-stealers. And there is brokenness, where minds and hearts need to be re-set. One has to expect the unexpected. But there is growth. And then the unexpected joys begin to surface.

Here are just ten joys we've experienced this year so far:

10 Unexpected Joys of Our Home Education:

1. We relax at the breakfast table.

2. We read aloud for up to an hour a couple of times a day. Their imaginations peak and they beg for more.

3. The children play the way a mama desires her children to play and laugh together (when they are not arguing. Yes, they do that, too). They are growing more in love, service and friendship with one another, in spite of their struggles.

4. Studying ancient history and conducting science experiments is so. much. fun.

5. To witness art in this house is beautiful.

6. The constant conversations, training and consistency, that I could only hope for a year ago, are possible and rewarding.

7. Life skills and work ethic are easily incorporated into our day and education. They all rotate planning the menu and cooking a meal, for example.

8. By daily routine, they are accepting responsibility around the house and for their education, more and more.

9. I am intimately involved in their education. I know what they comprehend and where they struggle. We can slow down, speed up and I discover just how to challenge each of them because after all, I know them.

10. They are learning! How fulfilling it is to see how naturally they learn provided the right atmosphere and resources.

We're down to the last leg of our first year and I am pleased beyond words with the outcome. We're looking ahead to next year and excited about the new resources we are planning to bring into our home.

There are many misconceptions out there and I think one of them is that if home education is right for you then it should feel joyous and rewarding everyday, from the start. But we're working in the trenches here, as parents. Parenting is where we're faced with our greatest weaknesses and are challenged to the core – and home educating is no exception. It simply allows more opportunity to be pruned and conformed to the image of Christ.

But that doesn't just happen. It requires bending low and pressing on. Eventually we will be rewarded the harvest.

And these children? They're worth it.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9

Joy is that deep settled confidence that God is in control of every area of my life. –Paul Sailhamer.

A Snapshot Of Our Year So Far

The Most Important Way to Train Our Children to Serve

2014-03-20T13:11:00.001-06:00

Although my days with MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) are passed, I am honored to contribute in any small way I can to this vital ministry. Therefore, I'm sharing thoughts on Thursdays with our local chapter, on the Sheridan Morning MOPS blog, and sharing it here with you:

When our children already have everything; at a time when our children are growing up in a me-culture; when it is more natural for our children to think of themselves rather than somebody else: we must be intentional about teaching our children to think of others before themselves, to grasp a bigger picture of their world and to serve for the greater good of the world, in which God created them for.

But where do we start? Although we may love for our children to experience how people live in a thirdworld country, that is not piratical for the majority of us.

However, active service is within our reach. Here are three ways to train our children to serve right where they are:

1. Serve Along Side Community

At least once or twice a year, we try to organize or participate in a service project with friends or church members.

We have served at a soup kitchen, myself and all four children with me. The youngest, at two, three or four, were able to put salt and pepper shakers on the tables, set cups out and other small tasks. The older, at five, six or seven, were able to help with the small tasks and serve food. At one point, I had a baby in her infant seat, one on my back and two helping me serve the dessert!

We have joined a couple of families in putting on a pancake breakfast to raise money to buy a pig for a family in Guatemala.

We have invited friends to make bracelets for orphans in Russia, through Craft Hope.

We have invited friends to paint sun catchers with us and then took the sun catchers to a local nursing home, to brighten an elderly person's window and day.

2. Serve Your Community

As a family, throughout the summer, we have picked Thursdays to be our "Thoughtful" day or service day.

We have gone to a nearby park to enjoy a picnic and then pick up trash.

We've brought a plate of cookies to each of your surrounding neighbors. It can be as simple as writing a letter to a child we sponsor.

These small deeds make a big impact, not just on the receiving end, but on the heart of our own children!

However, serving others does not have to be an organized event or happen on a specific day.

3. Start with Family

I believe this is the most important way to train our children to serve.

Serving starts with family, right in our home, and practiced everyday.

We see it when a child holds the door for those of us behind him. We see it when the youngest needs her blankie and one of her siblings jumps up to get it for her. We see it when one chooses to use some birthday money to surprise his siblings with ice cream at the park. We see it in thoughtful words.

These are the kinds of thoughtful or "service" acts our children may already be doing! And these are the things we can encourage and tangibly train, if our children are not already doing them.

So if you find yourself dumbfounded over ways to involve your children in serving others, look closer rather than so far out of reach.

Because we miss the point when we serve others outside the home, but remain selfserving within the home. It starts right here.

The service our children practice within their homes will manifest itself within our world.

A child who holds the door for his siblings will hold the door for a stranger. A child who stops what he is doing to help his sister, will stop what he is doing to help someone in need. A child who spends birthday money to surprise his family with ice cream cones learns how it feels to be generous with his money. A child who puts thoughtful words to paper will bless many.

So, take heart sweet mamas. Training our children to serve is within our reach. We can seek a couple of larger service projects to involve our children in each year, but let's not overlook all the ways we can train our children to serve everyday. You're probably already doing them!

Edited from the Archives

Just When I Want More

2014-03-13T19:03:00.001-06:00

As soon as I get a glimmer of hope for setting some goals to pursue an interest, gift or passion, it seems I'm tossed in the throws of parenting deeper than ever. As I doggy paddle my way out of an allconsuming wave for a breath of sanity, I chide myself for even considering the pursuit of something more. As I attempt to carve that little bit of time out, I become divided and frustrated by anything that forces me out of that moment.

I look at those mothers who seem to successfully juggle their pursuits while toting three, four and six children around and I wonder a little enviously, "how do you do it?"

Do you ever look around at other women and wonder to yourself, “How do they do it?”

I’ve found the simple answer to be this: their journey is not your journey. It does no good to compare because 1) you don’t have enough information about that person you’re comparing yourself to and 2) God is writing your story like no one elses, as you trust him.

Yet don’t we still find ourselves on our tiptoes from time to time, peeking over the horizon, wondering,what next?

Yet beautiful, longing and capable mamas, the thing facing you head on right now is your life – the parenting of these impressionable, moldable, growing human hearts. This, God esteems higher than you can imagine on a daytoday basis.This is your priority, an eternal work. And not just meeting basic needs, but planning, investing, engaging, discipling, training and persevering.

Tomorrow will worry about itself. Be faithful to today.

Because every gift – every opportunity that God gives to use for his purpose and glory will always birth from your faithfulness to this here, now, moment.

Trust that.

And never underestimate the eternal way he is using you in these moments with the lives he has entrusted you.

We can't just have what we want when we want it because we don't truly know what is best for us. Because we don't have that grand, eternal perspective. And if we’re honest, because we really only want instant gratification.

We have to walk this road, faithful to the journey our Creator has laid out for us, trusting in His ways, not our own.

So yes, I too am guilty of wanting more than I have, at times. And I am going to work out some goals as God works out His plan in me. But like a lot of things I've learned to do in my life, I'll wait upon the Lord, faithful to this moment, because I know His ways and timing are perfect.

And I'll remember how thankful I am for everything in my life that did not happen my way, in my timing,for the trade off of the abundance beyond measure that I have today.

And I'll believe that His plans alone are to prosper me and not to harm me, to give me hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)

And just when I want more, I realize I have enough.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. Ecclesiastes 3:1

Edited from the archives

How To Train Our Boys To Be Men at Four

2014-02-27T08:51:00.000-07:00

***

"Don't follow me!" is the phrase my fouryearold boy is uttering toward his nearly threeyearold sister, over the past few days and I want him to see differently.

We don't always know why our children determine to be unkind or even cruel to one another. Who knows where they pick up such thoughts and actions and then mimic them. Or more essential the question, what is at the heart of the behavior?

As parents, what we know is that we are all selfish by nature and the training of a child is constant in reframing that mindset and molding their heart toward kindness, consideration and compassion.

Out of mere helplessness or frustration, we might send our child to a "timeout" for speaking unkind. And although it might stop the behavior, it doesn't get to the heart of our goal for our child to display kindness, consideration and compassion for others. These traits come from the overflow of the heart.

And so it takes thought, prayer, investment and plain ole' creativity
to get to the heart of a child.

This morning, I give my boy a little peptalk on being kind to his sister and he seems to understand. However, as the morning settles into routine, he starts in on telling his sister not to follow him or play with him again.

So I walk over to him and remind him, "Remember our talk this morning?"

A little grimace and a humph. I continue.

"I need you to treat your sister like she is a gift from God to our family because, do you know what? When you let her follow you, sit with you and play with you, you practice what it takes to be a good man, a good husband and a good daddy when you grow up."

His little head makes the slightest tilt, like his innerear instantly perks up.

And then they play.

And they play all day without any further correction.

I can't tell you exactly why, but I have a hunch that in spite of our selfishness, there is this innate longing to be all that we were created to be. This is the heart of the child that we have the great responsibility and privilege to invest in, till and water, as parents.

It's a lot of these little moments that show our boys what we expect of them and what we believe for them. It may not be the same words or circumstances for every child. There is no formula.

It's just finding ways to give them a vision for their future.

Edited from the Archives

Fifteen Minutes of Sight

2014-02-16T18:40:00.000-07:00

It was just fifteen minutes that I was there with him that day.

Days before, family had come to town to visit him–to say their good-byes, as he laid there dying. His long lanky shriveled body lay under the blankets of his twin electronic bed. He refused food, water or an I.V. for nourishment. He said he was ready.

That seemed to give others a sense of peace, but not me.

Ready? What does that mean for a man of little faith?

I tried to ignore it and to accept that this was the cycle of life and it was just his time. I told myself that his own sons knew better than I–the hormonal granddaughter-in-law, growing a baby in her womb, who had only met this man a few years before. I hadn't been very comfortable around the man either, the man who grumbled over matters rather than offering his wisdom and blessing.

I tried but days later, one Saturday morning, I felt overwhelmingly compelled to go. I gave every excuse under the sun not to. Why would I go without my husband and small child? What would I say? It was a completely foreign thought and well out of my comfort zone.

And so I decided to go exercise instead–to try to rationalize those thoughts away.

Yet when I got to the gym, I could not so much as run in place without feeling the need to get somewhere. I was antsy. I was driven. I was compelled to go.

Within five minutes of arriving at the gym, I was on my way out the door again and driving to the nursing home that housed my grandfather-in-law.

I walked in. He look surprised. He could not speak well anymore, dying of dehydration. I can't remember my words exactly, but I remember asking how he was and if he was ready. He nodded his head, yes.

I felt a flood coming and so I quickly asked if he believed.

He said, just above a whisper, "Sort of."

I remember that that wasn't enough for me and he attempted to change the subject with the little he could utter and asked if his son, my father-in-law, made it off okay, back home...but the rain pored just then and I said I was sorry and I brought the topic right back to where I had left off–that I needed him to believe because I wanted to see him again in heaven. I sniffled and caught my breath.

And I felt an overwhelming amount of love for that man laying there. I wiped my tears and said I wanted to hold his hand, but I was fighting a cold that I didn't want to give him.

He held his hand out anyway, so I took his warm hand in mine and I didn't know what to say next so I didn't say anything. I just held his hand. And then I said I should probably go.

He looked me in the eye and whispered, "Thank you."

I smiled and I didn't want to leave, but I knew it was time. And so I released his hand and he whispered again, "Thank you."

I left his room and went straight to the nurses station and asked for some hand sanitizer because I was fighting a cold. Then I walked right back to his room. He looked surprised.

I took his hand, the hand I had held, and rubbed the sanitizer over it. Then he lifted his other hand and so I rubbed sanitizer on that hand, too. I looked at him again and said good-bye.

He looked me in the eye and most sincerely whispered for the third time, "Thank you."

I walked away, then stopped at the door, turned and waved. He lifted a hand and waved back.

Then I went home, walked straight into my husband's arms and wept.

I told him where I had been and I wept because I didn't feel like I had done enough.

He said I did more than I knew.

I had prayed on my way to the nursing home that I would see my husband's grandfather through Jesus' eyes and not my own. And what I saw had little to do with physical sight at all. When I left, I felt inseparable. Our family was heading out of town the next day and I didn't want to go. I didn't want to miss a day to be there with him.

That was the last day I saw him and am told the last day he had been able to utter any words.

He died the following Tuesday night and I don't know what happened between Saturday and Tuesday, but I have a hunch that the man I saw in those fifteen minutes saw for the first time, a glimmer of light.

I'll never know for sure this side of heaven if my offering was enough, but it wasn't up to me to do or be enough. It was up to me to simply show up. And the rest, up to Jesus.

It's Jesus who makes the blind see and the lost found.

And it's Jesus who makes our small offerings–even fifteen minutes worth–enough.

Sharing with Finding Heaven

In Which I Am Free

2014-02-12T20:32:00.000-07:00

***

I'm wonderful, he tells me–this woman who is learning how to be a wife. A woman who often forgets to make him breakfast or to send him off to work with lunch, who rarely irons his shirts and sometimes lets him run out of clean socks before the week is through.

And he tells me how much he loves me and he doesn't seem to even notice all the ways I fall short, like he doesn't even see them. As though he trusts this process, this journey, this story–the one that started when we said our vows...

“...being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6

And I see this work in him and I see it in me and I see it in us. And we are good, very good.

Together, we are better.

God's perfect provision in spite of our imperfections.

And he is as inspired as I by a passion and growth and love for this life we live. And how we desperately love our children, who reflect the bigger story and desperately love Jesus and how we hold on to Jesus at the center of our lives so we can love each other best and we do this, in spite of ourselves.

He slaps my bum just for fun and he holds me close and he's teaching me what marriage looks like–this woman who has had to learn how to trust.

His unconditional love, acceptance, and humility; his patience and unwavering faith, it anchors me in this turbulent life and allows me to set sail and soar–straight to his arms, for there is no other place I'd rather be.

In this holy sea of love anchored by the sacred marriage of two hearts and lives, I am free.

Edited from the Archives

Sharing with Imperfect Prose

What Compromise in Marriage Really Means

2014-02-06T10:20:00.002-07:00

I like percolated coffee. He likes it French pressed. I like mine with cream. He likes it black. We’re on the road with four children for two-and-a-half weeks of the smoldering July, pulling the weight of a camper and a collision of differences.

When camping, he likes the tasty blend brewed simply and quickly with the French Press. Yet, it tastes too instant and slightly bitter to me.

I’m willing to spend a little more time percolating the coffee for a more full bodied flavor. He doesn’t taste the difference.

And we each think our own preference is the better of the two.

But we compromise. On mornings that we are staying through the day, we use the percolator and on mornings we are heading on the road, we use the French press.

And that is what we learn to do in marriage – compromise.

Yet, it’s easy to compromise over coffee. However, when circumstances leave one feeling attacked, under-appreciated, or de-valued, it can leave one defensive and scrambling. Learning to compromise in marriage can still leave one thinking better; one right. It can leave one proud and still bitter.

We’re preparing to journey toward the second destination on the third morning of our trip and I’m still feeding the children breakfast and he’s ready to pull the slide-outs in and hook up the camper.

"Didn't we talk about getting on the road by 9:00 in order to hit all the points in Yellowstone and make it to Jackson Hole by dinner?" he wonders. I hear the disapproval in his tone.

We’re on vacation and I haven’t even looked at the clock. I camouflage feeling that I can't measure up with the need to be right then stumble out the door of the camper, ushering kids ahead of me to the playground while he finishes up.

The tears flow beyond the protection covering my eyes. I’m mad at him and frustrated with me and I point the finger at God.

And that’s okay because God doesn’t get defensive or become bitter, like me, when one points the finger at him. Because directing our hurts toward God actually begins to expose the thief that lays dormant waiting for its trigger.

I brush the evidence from my cheeks and oblige to play a life-sized game of checkers with my oldest son. I try to be present but only go through the motions, as false messages continue to flow into the open, exposed, and truth begins to seep in.

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Psalm 139:12, 13

He walks over and says we’re hitched and ready to go. I don’t look him in the eye. I still want to find a way to be right. He’s patient now and gathers the other three children from the sand pile, watches us a minute, and then says they’ll be waiting for us at the campsite.

We finish our game and I must choose. Choose to stand in a puddle of pride or to walk back.

We arrive and I climb into the passenger seat of the SUV. He takes my hand and apologizes for being short.

I tell him our differences don’t make one less than the other. He knows that. It’s me that needs reminded.

The defensive surge settles and I no longer feel the need to be right. I simply recognize our reality like our coffee preferences and my ability to choose differently. I recognize my ability to be more thoughtful and helpful to him, and to go out of my way to put him before myself – before my ideas, my rights, and my sense of worth.

And something tells me he’s working out the same resolutions in his own heart and mind.

But it wouldn’t matter if he’s not. Because compromise in marriage is not 50/50.

Compromise, in marriage, is more than a settlement. It must be an offering – a 100% offering of self.

“One of the greatest gifts you can give your husband (spouse) is your wholeness. The most effective tool in transforming him may be your own transformation.” Stormie Omartian, the Power of a Praying Wife

There is no condition to this union. Only grace. Because grace is the free gift that fills in the gaps and covers our failures.

And when I lay my burdens before the throne, Christ replaces them with truth, revealing my worth in Him, and opening my eyes to see clearly the man he created differently, yet perfectly for me.

Two days later we prepare to hit the road toward our third destination and I French press our coffee like we agreed, pour two cups, offer one to a much more relaxed man, then take a sip myself. And that coffee just brewed by the simple, quick, and less-appreciated French Press? tastes just right.

No. Better than the percolated kind the morning before.

And over the duration of our trip, the percolator makes its way to the back of the cupboard, shoved behind pots and skillets that are frequently used, as I choose to brew coffee with the French Press each morning for the remainder of our trip.

Thoughts on how to love your spouse intentionally:

1. The next time you feel frustrated with your spouse, take your frustrations to God before unloading them on your spouse no matter how justified you feel.

2. Pray for the Holy Spirit to enable you to give 100% of yourself today by loving your spouse without condition.

3. Think about something that makes you and your spouse different by design. Now go and thank your spouse for that quality.

**Disclaimer: I believe this message builds a strong marriage that works only when Christ is at the center. It is not a message meant for an abusive marriage clearly in need of intervention.

Edited from the archives

25 Take-Aways from the Mom Heart Conference 2014

2014-01-30T08:56:00.003-07:00

The Mom Heart Panel

I just returned from the Mom Heart Conference 2014: Inspired! Reaching Beyond What Holds You Back, with Sally Clarkson. If you are not familiar with Sally Clarkson, then read on.

Sally is a modern-day classic, encouraging moms, with her depth of wisdom, to live out the biblical model of parenting. She has numerous books, including The Mission of Motherhood, The Ministry of Motherhood and Seasons of a Mothers Heart. Sally’s husband, Clay, authors Educating the Whole Hearted Child, Our 24 Family Ways and Heartfelt Discipline. The Mission of Motherhood is in two Chinese languages, The Ministry of Motherhood and Educating the Whole Hearted Child is in Korean. Ministry is also in Dutch, French and two books are in Polish. Both Mission and Ministry have consecutively been recognized by the United States congressional women’s Bible study as the number one book on mothering.

The Clarksons put on an annual conference for moms in Colorado, Texas and California. The Speakers this year in Colorado were Sally Clarkson, Misty Krawsawski, Debi Chapman, Sarah Mae, and Sarah Clarkson. I came away feeling inspired and replenished. The following are some points that stuck with me.

25 Points I took away from the Mom Heart Conference:

Sarah Mae

1. Resolve to be in God’s presence. We cannot reflect God’s light to our children if we’re not in it.

2. Resolve to be different than the world.

3. If we don’t step up as parents, culture will step in.

4. Prepare for the world by equipping with the Word.

5. Don’t give one another permission to compromise.

6. Know your calling. If you are a mother, your first calling is to motherhood.

7. Reduce or eliminate technology. Technology creates a mental state of constant activity.

8. Look at the sin issue of your child and then speak the opposite over them.

Sarah Mae is Co-author with Sally Clarkson of the book, Desperate: Hope for the Mom Who Needs to Breath.

Sarah Clarkson

9. Children need quiet in order to hear God.

10. Shape their perspective with stories. Stories shape a child’s point of view, cultivates imagination, provides a courageous character for your child to identify with, shows how choices are lived out (faithfulness), and gives a vision of happy endings.

Sarah Clarkson is currently writing The Storyformed Life and I highly recommend watching for that one!

Sally Clarkson

11. Love is your aim. Only love can reach and transform hearts.

12. Be a reflection of Christ to your children. Love and humbly serve like Christ.

13. Walk with those who are wise. Put yourself in a place where people will draw you to a higher Spiritual place and thinking.

14. Build on the foundation of God’s Word and truth. Love God and love others.

15. It’s all held together by the Holy Spirit.

16. We must be connected to the vine. Remain in him.

17. If you’re not partnering with God, don’t expect supernatural results.

18. God makes what we do enough.

19. Don’t name your child something you do not want them to live into.

20. Don’t keep disciplining a difficult child. Fill her heart. A child cannot learn until she feels her cup is full.

21. Your message will come out of the life you live.

22. The Kingdom is living in the freedom of who God created you to be.

23. You are not defined by your mistakes (nor are your children.)

24. Be who you are. Don’t compare.

25. If you are justifying your life, you are probably compromising God’s call on your life.

There was so much great insight. I wish you all could have been there! However, a great place to start in gaining perspective as a mother is with Sally’s books. I highly recommend The Mission of Motherhood, if you’re not sure which to pick up first. Read and be inspired!

Sally Clarkson, me and Misty Krasawsik

The crew from Sheridan

My sister, Sarah, and her friend, Leslie, from Casper

Katie, Sarah Mae and me

Getting Creative with Your Preschooler

2014-01-23T09:09:00.000-07:00

My fiveyearold reminded me last night how important it is to laugh with our children. We had an exchange that was funny, as I was tucking him into bed, and we laughed. Then he said, “Let’s do that again. Say something funny.” So we exchanged a few more silly statements, laughed out loud, then said goodnight.

Andrew is one of my middle children, very animated and a conversationalist. He loves talking
with people. He’s also my early riser, so the next morning we sat alone on the couch together, visited and read a book about a boy, his teddy and his dog, together. The story reminded me very much of Andrew himself. And so I thought out loud, “We could write a story about you, your thumb and your blankie! He liked that.

So I retrieved the paper and pencil and he dictated just what it should say, as I prompted him along, “Then what happened?” and recorded it.

Finally, we got to the point where I asked how it should end. I had my idea and he had a completely opposite one. So I thought out loud, “Let’s record my ending and your ending and make it like the “choose your own adventure” stories like Robby is reading (his almost tenyearold brother).

And so we did. Then I read it out loud, altering the endings. And then we laughed and laughed and laughed.

Maybe it was the sweet moment where you just had to be there, but I’ve shared it here for you.

Enjoy this very honest story and hilarious ending, when you think of my son reading this in ten years.

Oh yes, we will illustrate and bind this one!

The Boy and His Blankie

{a “choose your own ending,” story}

Once upon a time, there was a boy, his thumb and his green blankie.

The boy’s name was Andrew and he loved to sniff his blankie while he sucked his thumb. When he was five, he was still sniffing his blankie and his dad didn’t want him to anymore. So his dad tried to take it away.

But his dad couldn’t get it because Andrew was always holding it.

He held it in bed.

He held it in the car.

He held it on the couch.

He held it everywhere he went.

Then one day, Andrew lost his blankie.

And Andrew went to sleep that night without his blankie.

And the next night.

And the next night.

And the next night…

[Mom’s ending]
...And the next night.

Until Andrew realized he didn’t need his blankie anymore.

The End

[Andrew’s ending]
...And the next night.

Until he found it!!!

Now he still sniffs his blankie and sucks his thumb at fifteen.

The End

How to Create a Peaceful Home

2014-01-16T05:46:00.001-07:00

It's a place he enters into that is another source of stress, he tells me as we're washing up getting ready for bed. The place that is supposed to be restful and peaceful at the end of a day and it's eye-opening, this reality that makes me gulp in hearing. But I have to hear it to understand why. Why of all places is our home a source of stress to him?

I had never asked. And he has always appreciated everything I juggle. And he's not complaining. It was just a topic that had come up in our couples study earlier, which we were now discussing and he's sharing honestly, and I didn't realize.

I didn't realize he experienced peace differently than how I viewed it: by how messy or clean the house was, how loud or quiet the children were, how much arguing or correcting was occurring and I thought we were doing pretty good under the circumstances.

But it's the little things, he tells me. It's the tasks left undone for days or weeks. It's having a space that is his, that is always touched by little hands or with my piles, and it's not just me. It's the never-ending household projects he has yet to cross off of his list.

The water trickles as he brushes his teeth and I stand stunned as I think about how I am failing because what good is all of my efforts in creating a peaceful and orderly home if he doesn't feel it?

And I know that I should consider him first. I know that if I uphold him and he upholds me, together we uphold our family and there is cohesiveness. And I know that it is all too easy to fall into the trap of expending all of my energy on the children.

Yet, if I am expending all of my energy with my priorities out of order, how much of my energy am I expending in vain?

We draw back the covers and crawl into bed and our conversation has ended, but I'm still thinking that maybe it's not about having a perfectly clean or a reasonably quiet space. Maybe a peaceful home is simply the space where love and respect abide; a safe place where needs are met and pressures lessened. One upholding the other so that the cares of the world seem small. Peace in the midst of life happening; a place where we create order best when we have ordered our priorities.

from the archives

A New Year: Resolutions or Inspiration?

2014-01-10T07:11:00.001-07:00

A new year always brings on resolutions. Yet, when I think of what I will do or not do this year, it’s easy to measure myself based on the success or failure of that resolution. It seems limiting. And let’s face it, I rarely keep a New Years Resolution beyond a week or two!

So instead of making resolutions, I allow a new year to stir up inspiration. For me….

It inspires a sense of cleaning out:

It inspires fresh starts...

It inspires organization:

It inspires trying new things:

Tweaking the homeschool schedule.

Learning Spanish as a family.

Skiing as a family.

It inspires setting goals:

Lots of goals!

And with all of this cleaning out and being open to new things comes a sense of spiritual awakening; making room for and anticipating something mysteriously new.

So, for me, the question is not what I will do this year, but what will God do?

Sure, I still might attempt to floss every night diligently or attempt to put exercise back into my life, but what boils within at this time of year simply cannot be limited to a New Year's resolution for me. Because it's really all about making room for the immeasurable joys God has in store for me over this next year.

How about you – do you have a New Years Resolution?

I wonder what new things God has in store for you over then next year.

Updated from the archives

Heavenly Glimpses

Living Out of the Box Around a Thankful Table

When You Need Your Child To Know God Not Just About God

A Quest for Home: Part Two

A Quest for Home: Part One

And Then God Shows Up: How Our First Homeschool Year is Concluding {and an encouragement for you}

6 Ideas for Downtime this Summer {Plus a Bonus Weekly Agenda}

Five-Minute-Friday: Mess

According to Their Bent: 5 Training Points For Boys and Battle Play

Five Minute Friday: Friend

The One Thing We Need in the Face of Defeat

In Which Believing is Seeing

What If We Refused?

In Which We Nurture Them Into Bloom

8 Reasons To Read Aloud To Your Children {Even When They Are Old Enough To Read Themselves}

“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.”― Charles William Eliot

10 Unexpected Joys of Our Home Education

The Most Important Way to Train Our Children to Serve

Just When I Want More

How To Train Our Boys To Be Men at Four

Fifteen Minutes of Sight

In Which I Am Free

What Compromise in Marriage Really Means

25 Take-Aways from the Mom Heart Conference 2014

Getting Creative with Your Preschooler

How to Create a Peaceful Home

A New Year: Resolutions or Inspiration?

“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.”
― Charles William Eliot