Monday Monday

We are about to enter into our 8th year of homeschooling. I have never been great with school photos. Seems like my head is elsewhere (planning, organizing, cooking breakfast, etc.) but not this year! We are ready! Let the "formal" studying begin.... on Monday. ;)

I sure hope they treasure this time together as much as I do.

Incredibly Loud

There are moments when, all of a sudden, or maybe it has been working it's way to a pinnacle and I was ignoring the signs, my mind needs to shut down. Not just sleep, but rest. I could feel it last night when I had to go to bed RIGHT NOW. But then, what did I do? I watched 3 (THREE!) episodes of a show. Now, I love the show and it was enjoyable to watch, but what I really needed was rest.

So, this morning I tried to get up earlier than normal so I could have some time to myself and get things done. By the time it came around to getting into the car to head to church, I could feel myself falling apart. I wanted to cry. My daughter asked me to braid her hair and it was hard. It shouldn't have been hard. I felt ashamed and guilty. Why couldn't I just pull it together? Should I go to church and struggle through the whole service or stay home and have quiet time. There was a war going on in my head and I just couldn't find the balance.

I talked with Micheal and ended up feeling like I needed to stay home. He completely supported me and loaded up the kids for church by himself.

As I took the garbage out and was trying decide on what to do for the next few hours the Lord whispered, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ."

I knew it was in Romans and quickly opened my Bible and read chapter 8.

The sighs escaped out of my weary self, the tears dripped down, the God's peace filled me up.

This has been a very busy summer. I wanted to have fun with my kids! I wanted to make great memories and DO things. But I lost my balance.

As I was reading in Romans and - oh, my lands, what an amazing book! - I was reminded that I am weak without God's Spirit inside of me. Romans 8 talks a whole lot about His Spirit and as a Christian I am in Christ and His Spirit is in me. The peace that comes from reading those words and being able to somehow - BY HIS SPIRIT! - accept those words of truth into my life is the best feeling in the entire world.

I was reassured of His love for me. His presence in my life. His Spirit guiding my every decision. I was filled again with the Spirit of life and love and joy and truth. I had my touchstone again. Balance. You know when you feel all dizzy when you stand up sometimes and you find something strong and secure to hold on to. Yeah, that is Christ for me. He holds me up and while doing so, the fog clears, the blurry vision is turned clear and I feel strong again.

Today I struggled to make the right choice. I didn't want to let people down. My son was playing the drum with his Daddy for worship for the first time and I wanted to be there to support him and enjoy that time together. I wanted to fellowship with other believers who I haven't seen in a couple of weeks. To be an encouragement to them and listen to their stories. I wanted to soak in the Word together.
In the end, and at first I was feeling selfish for the decision, I stayed home. I rested in Jesus. I prayed like I haven't prayed in a long time. I relished in God's love and forgiveness. I sought the quiet and He met with me.

In a world that is incredibly loud, I need to make space and time to rest quietly.

Lord, help me.

Almost School Time

We got home on Tuesday evening from visiting the coast. It was a very needed time with family and oh, so fun to be at the beach!

Micheal had done a concrete job for a neighbor so we all got to sleep in the next day. He wasn't working his normal job. What a treat!

Then we all got to work. August helped his Daddy outside in the 95 degree heat and the other kids did some reading, cleaning inside, and helped at the end of the day with picking up the tools and scraps and whatnot. They also painted the trim pieces for outside.

I have been planning for school. I did a lot of the work earlier this summer but with most of the books in - just one more!- I now have a better idea of which ones we will get to together and which ones will be free reading and which ones I can only hope to get to. ;)

I have our Morning Time pages printed out, our term 1 memorization pages placed in all our binders, and the schedule of what our days will look like.  Morning time we do all together and that includes Bible, poetry, literature, memory work, and lots of discussion. We are breaking up our history and science readings this year. It is going to feel a bit different as we change things up with August doing more and Grace and Zade needing to be in different books, too. We have done SO much together in the past and that just won't work now.

After Morning Time ( don't know why I am capitalizing those words but it just feels right!) we do independent work and then they each will have Mama Time in which I will work with them through their science books and geography. Liam will get pictures books read to him and also time in the kitchen with me.

This year we are studying the Middle Ages and we are all very excited! We turned on Pandora yesterday and designed our front pages for our binders. The kids asked when we start and said they are looking forward to a new year. Music to a mama's ears!

About a month ago I was reading Psalm 90 and it really was encouraging to me. We then read it together in church and it was confirmed to me that verse 17 would be our "verse of the year."

And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us,
      And establish the work of our hands for us;
             Yes, establish the work of our hands.     

I am praying for a wonderful year of growth, fun, and understanding. A gaining of knowledge, better habits, and right relationships. I pray for humility, love, and good attitudes!!! 

Lord, bless the work of our hands. Please enlarge our hearts and sharpen our minds. Thank you for your grace and mercy. May we ever be acknowledging You. Amen.  

Summer Bucket List

Quite a few years ago I made a list of things we wanted to do in the Fall. I made a cute 12 x 12 poster with everything written down and would cross things off as we went. 

I haven't done that since, until this Summer. At the very beginning when things were exciting and there were so many possibilities I scribbled down some ideas on a scrap piece of paper. 

I found that piece of paper yesterday while cleaning up and this is what it included: 

 River    Camp    Berry picking    Stargazing    Campfire   
 Basketball    Volleyball    Small road trip    Birds of   Prey 
 Finish front room    Kitchen    Swimming    Sleepover
   Pizza & Movie     Make jam     Write letters    Zoo    Oregon    Roaring Springs    Date with each child   
      Date with Micheal     Garage sale  

I was surprised we had done so much! It has been a really fun summer! I'm looking forward to finishing off the list!