When God puts something on your heart to do, you better believe He is going to provide a way for it to happen.
It's been a great winter here in the mountains, but as with any winter, it gets long. And we do live in the mountains, somewhat secluded from others. Sure we have neighbors, but most of them don't live here all year.
And we home school, which means we are HOME most days. ;)
So, as 2015 was ending and a new year beginning, I felt God whisper, "Community."
"Okaaaay."
Sunday comes along. I sit in church and hear a lovely friend talk about the need for help in the Good News Club she leads. She approaches afterward. I know where this is going. I say, "Yes."
Now the kids are in basketball and we have committed to GNC and I think all is well. Well, it is going well. I am being stretched but enjoying it. We are getting all the things done and feeling pretty excited about it all.
Cue Monday morning phone call.
Tuesday's piano lessons are canceled. No problem. We can make them up.
Cue another phone call.
Tuesday's story time at the library needs someone to lead it.
"Hmmm. I get it Lord." I say, "Yes," again.
So, there you have it. Listen to those whispers. It is the Lord fulfilling something and it's pretty fun to be apart of!
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Sunday, March 6, 2016
This week
Outside this week.
In nature.
Walks.
Cleaning the front room.
Kids making a house. :)
Jumping in melting snow puddles.
Finding lichen and realizing it's not moss.
Finding more lichen!
Drawing lichen.
And pine cones. Those are hard!
Reading Why I Wake Early by Mary Oliver.
Thoroughly enjoying those poems.
Daughter entering art into an exhibit for kids.
Selling one of her pieces.
Playing basketball.
Piano lessons.
Cabinet maker came to measure kitchen.
Cooking dinner with husband while listening to French cafe station on pandora.
Drinking tea with honey.
Nap on Sunday afternoon.
These are the things I am thankful for this week.
I count them and remember.
I am humbled by this life filled with such things.
I am happy.
No, I am more than that.
Content.
Joy overflowing.
Friday, March 4, 2016
Behold & Engage
What I have learned in life is that you can become opened to an idea and take a wee little bit from it. Then as you go along, you might find it keeps popping up and you get the joy of acquiring more from that topic, like a building snowball rolling down a mountain. Or as I like to think of it, connecting dots and creating constellations in your brain.
You don't start off with too many dots and therefore aren't seeing too many pictures, or constellations. Maybe things don't make sense. But after awhile you find you have a few stored away and they just keep growing. I mean, COME ON! I am with a 3 year old day in and day out and am constantly amazed at what he knows! He's got a lot connected up in that brain of his, but he has got a lot more to learn! As do I.
So, when I had the words Behold & Engage a couple years ago for my New Year's theme, I posted it in my house and I walked past it every day. Sometimes I thought about those words and what to do with them, but most of the time I didn't think much on them.
Until, this year!
Funny how they were flung back into my brain. Actually I found the poster I made in our shed the other day, and then I came across this article. The wheels were turning.
Behold........... the Lamb of God.
Who is the Lamb of God?
What did He do?
Why did He do it?
How did things go for Him? How did people respond? How's could go on and on...
Engage.......... in what God engages in.
Be about His business.
Love what He loves. Hate what He hates. Look to Him as my example.
Then go engage in the world where He has placed me. And repeat as well as I can, by the grace He so willingly gives.
Behold & Engage has grown to mean more to me than it did two years ago. I understand it more because I have spent more time with those words, contemplating what they mean and what to do with them.
More dots have been connected. I see more pictures. I am reminded I have far to go, but have come a long way, also.
I humbly behold and humbly engage. Any other way and it won't be like Christ. It won't get the desired results, which is love and relationship. Let's be honest here; I struggle. I'm a sinner saved by grace that is still being saved and sanctified daily. I don't always get it right. I'm sorry for that. But I (we!) must keep going.
So, in a nutshell, I behold Christ by spending time with Him, reading His holy scriptures, praying, asking, repenting, praising.
Then I engage with the world around me every morning when I wake up and see happy little people excitedly sharing their dreams and thoughts, and every time I go to the store for yet another bunch of bananas. And even at church with fellow believers. You get the idea.
I must be careful what I behold because it will effect the way I engage. Filling my mind with Truth, Beauty, and Goodness, will shape my thoughts in a way that I can share Truth, Beauty, and Goodness.
And vice versa with Lies, Ugliness, and Harshness.
May we all choose rightly, what and how, we Behold & Engage.
You don't start off with too many dots and therefore aren't seeing too many pictures, or constellations. Maybe things don't make sense. But after awhile you find you have a few stored away and they just keep growing. I mean, COME ON! I am with a 3 year old day in and day out and am constantly amazed at what he knows! He's got a lot connected up in that brain of his, but he has got a lot more to learn! As do I.
So, when I had the words Behold & Engage a couple years ago for my New Year's theme, I posted it in my house and I walked past it every day. Sometimes I thought about those words and what to do with them, but most of the time I didn't think much on them.
Until, this year!
Funny how they were flung back into my brain. Actually I found the poster I made in our shed the other day, and then I came across this article. The wheels were turning.
Behold........... the Lamb of God.
Who is the Lamb of God?
What did He do?
Why did He do it?
How did things go for Him? How did people respond? How's could go on and on...
Engage.......... in what God engages in.
Be about His business.
Love what He loves. Hate what He hates. Look to Him as my example.
Then go engage in the world where He has placed me. And repeat as well as I can, by the grace He so willingly gives.
Behold & Engage has grown to mean more to me than it did two years ago. I understand it more because I have spent more time with those words, contemplating what they mean and what to do with them.
More dots have been connected. I see more pictures. I am reminded I have far to go, but have come a long way, also.
I humbly behold and humbly engage. Any other way and it won't be like Christ. It won't get the desired results, which is love and relationship. Let's be honest here; I struggle. I'm a sinner saved by grace that is still being saved and sanctified daily. I don't always get it right. I'm sorry for that. But I (we!) must keep going.
So, in a nutshell, I behold Christ by spending time with Him, reading His holy scriptures, praying, asking, repenting, praising.
Then I engage with the world around me every morning when I wake up and see happy little people excitedly sharing their dreams and thoughts, and every time I go to the store for yet another bunch of bananas. And even at church with fellow believers. You get the idea.
I must be careful what I behold because it will effect the way I engage. Filling my mind with Truth, Beauty, and Goodness, will shape my thoughts in a way that I can share Truth, Beauty, and Goodness.
And vice versa with Lies, Ugliness, and Harshness.
May we all choose rightly, what and how, we Behold & Engage.
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
My 2016 Reading List
This is a shorter list than other years. But in all honesty I have never made a list. I usually have an idea of some books I want or need to read and then I read whatever the wind blows my way.
This is where it's at right now, but I will add random books that come up on my radar that I just don't want to pass up or wait on. Like, Me Before You, so I can watch the movie this June!
Hoping more than anything that when I read I will also take notes and stay steady in my commonplace book. My kids saw me highlight yesterday, that's not a bad choice either.
Jane Eyre
Jayber Crow
The Great Divorce
The Screwtape Letters
Till We Have Faces (re read)
The Count of Monte Cristo
Famous Men of Rome ( Read aloud with kids)
Augustus Caesar's World ( Read aloud with kids)
Bruchko
Consider This (re read)
Poems for a Happy Life
The Iliad and The Odyssey
Understood Betsy ( with daughter)
A Long Walk to Water ( with kids)
Wildflower
The Supper of the Lamb
The Orchardist
Brooklyn
Nazi Officer's Wife
Why I Wake Early
Cheers to reading!
This is where it's at right now, but I will add random books that come up on my radar that I just don't want to pass up or wait on. Like, Me Before You, so I can watch the movie this June!
Hoping more than anything that when I read I will also take notes and stay steady in my commonplace book. My kids saw me highlight yesterday, that's not a bad choice either.
Jane Eyre
The Screwtape Letters
Till We Have Faces (re read)
The Count of Monte Cristo
Famous Men of Rome ( Read aloud with kids)
Augustus Caesar's World ( Read aloud with kids)
Consider This (re read)
Poems for a Happy Life
The Iliad and The Odyssey
Understood Betsy ( with daughter)
Wildflower
Nazi Officer's Wife
Cheers to reading!
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Delight
"Push pause!", I called out.
"Come outside with me, the sky is gorgeous."
Living in the mountains, surrounded by tall Evergreens doesn't provide the best sunsets, but we still try to take in what we can.
One of the things I have tried to fit into our homeschooling days this year is nature study. I got us all notebooks and we really do attempt to draw what we observe, even if it's out of a book or off a computer screen.
Tonight the sky was beckoning to be seen and enjoyed. The pinks and oranges were beautifully reflecting off the slow, wispy clouds. It changes so quickly. One minute you are in the middle of a light drenched forest, the next moment all the light has flitted past and darkness is fast approaching.
August grabbed his notebook and colored pencils. Grace and I snapped a couple pics. The rest just took it all in through their naked eyes.
It was a lovely few moments together.
"Come outside with me, the sky is gorgeous."
Living in the mountains, surrounded by tall Evergreens doesn't provide the best sunsets, but we still try to take in what we can.
One of the things I have tried to fit into our homeschooling days this year is nature study. I got us all notebooks and we really do attempt to draw what we observe, even if it's out of a book or off a computer screen.
Tonight the sky was beckoning to be seen and enjoyed. The pinks and oranges were beautifully reflecting off the slow, wispy clouds. It changes so quickly. One minute you are in the middle of a light drenched forest, the next moment all the light has flitted past and darkness is fast approaching.
August grabbed his notebook and colored pencils. Grace and I snapped a couple pics. The rest just took it all in through their naked eyes.
It was a lovely few moments together.
Friday, February 26, 2016
The balance of it all
Our mountain has been feeling quite Springy this week. It has been sunny for awhile now but the sun actually felt warm on my back yesterday! We are all ready for a change. Feeling pretty blessed to live in a place that has four seasons. Right when you are feeling "over it", in comes the new to refresh us.
The kids had spring fever this week and so when it came to school, it was a lot of reminding to keep to the task at hand. We kept it short with a good morning time together, math, piano, and one day of Latin. I really would like to do more Latin but you really can only do so much before you are stressed and life just doesn't work so well when stressed.
Which brings me to my cleaning projects!
Our cabin is twice as big as it was last year, but still smaller than most homes. We have no closets, not enough bookshelves or dressers, a tiny sink, no dishwasher. I could go on but you get the idea; it's a bit tight here and we don't have all the conveniences that we had been used to. Waa. Waa. Waa. :) Not really.
I have been really content. I have been really humbled, too.
I have run the gambit on how I feel about my home at it's current state, "I love our little cabin in the woods!", "What the heck were we thinking to buy this tiny space?", "No, all it needs is to be cleaned and freshened up.", "Let's try minimalism in this home.", "Minimalism as a home schooling family of 6 just doesn't work for me.", etc.
So, here we are with one closet now, winter is wrapping up, our bodies want to be moving and out and about. I wrapped the kids' school day up on Wednesday and headed upstairs. To the boys' room. They were outside or reading and had no idea what I was up to. So I began. Two bags of garbage, one pile for garage sale, and one pile to put in the shed. By this time they were all up there wondering what was going on and decided excitedly to join me. We rearranged their beds, swept everything, made a hammock for their stuffed animals, and rehung Z's apartment pictures. He loves having his own space filled with pictures of family and friends, posters, shelves, and other random tidbits 10 year old's enjoy.
They had no complaints about what we threw away or put in the pile to sell which was so nice and confirmed my thoughts of, "Most of this stuff is useless to them!"
Z even said to me, "Mom, I don't always like to clean but when I do I like to clean it all." Sounded like a meme to me!
So the boys' room is feeling great and no money was involved. Just a freshening up of what was already there. Now have you, we do still need a dresser and maybe one more shelf and I would love to paint it this summer. But that is miniscule compared to what we have done on this house so far and what still needs to be done to the rest of the house.
I moved to the small school area we have and got that organized and cleaned up.
I moved on further to the front entryway. Now when you walk into our house, you aren't bombarded with an array of things to trip you up.
Then I looked around at the rest of the house, which had quietly exploded when I wasn't watching! Yikes!
I slumped. I hunched over and sighed deeply. Then I picked myself up and remembered that I can't do it all. I can't keep up the laundry, the schooling, the dinners, the relationships, the schedules, all of it, at the same time. But that's okay.
There are weeks like this when a lot of cleaning is on the list. Or seasons where we eat simply, and get a great amount of school and reading in. There are other times when we are out and about in our community playing and connecting with our people.
And in life it balances out. We have a fairly clean house. We eat decently. We do school consistently four days and randomly throw another day in there for good measure. We hang out with friends and family regularly.
It's a blessed life. It's a busy life. A get to life. And I am grateful.
I write this to remind myself of the balance and the effort. It's not always balanced, but I try. The effort really does count.
The kids had spring fever this week and so when it came to school, it was a lot of reminding to keep to the task at hand. We kept it short with a good morning time together, math, piano, and one day of Latin. I really would like to do more Latin but you really can only do so much before you are stressed and life just doesn't work so well when stressed.
Which brings me to my cleaning projects!
Our cabin is twice as big as it was last year, but still smaller than most homes. We have no closets, not enough bookshelves or dressers, a tiny sink, no dishwasher. I could go on but you get the idea; it's a bit tight here and we don't have all the conveniences that we had been used to. Waa. Waa. Waa. :) Not really.
I have been really content. I have been really humbled, too.
I have run the gambit on how I feel about my home at it's current state, "I love our little cabin in the woods!", "What the heck were we thinking to buy this tiny space?", "No, all it needs is to be cleaned and freshened up.", "Let's try minimalism in this home.", "Minimalism as a home schooling family of 6 just doesn't work for me.", etc.
So, here we are with one closet now, winter is wrapping up, our bodies want to be moving and out and about. I wrapped the kids' school day up on Wednesday and headed upstairs. To the boys' room. They were outside or reading and had no idea what I was up to. So I began. Two bags of garbage, one pile for garage sale, and one pile to put in the shed. By this time they were all up there wondering what was going on and decided excitedly to join me. We rearranged their beds, swept everything, made a hammock for their stuffed animals, and rehung Z's apartment pictures. He loves having his own space filled with pictures of family and friends, posters, shelves, and other random tidbits 10 year old's enjoy.
They had no complaints about what we threw away or put in the pile to sell which was so nice and confirmed my thoughts of, "Most of this stuff is useless to them!"
Z even said to me, "Mom, I don't always like to clean but when I do I like to clean it all." Sounded like a meme to me!
So the boys' room is feeling great and no money was involved. Just a freshening up of what was already there. Now have you, we do still need a dresser and maybe one more shelf and I would love to paint it this summer. But that is miniscule compared to what we have done on this house so far and what still needs to be done to the rest of the house.
I moved to the small school area we have and got that organized and cleaned up.
I moved on further to the front entryway. Now when you walk into our house, you aren't bombarded with an array of things to trip you up.
Then I looked around at the rest of the house, which had quietly exploded when I wasn't watching! Yikes!
I slumped. I hunched over and sighed deeply. Then I picked myself up and remembered that I can't do it all. I can't keep up the laundry, the schooling, the dinners, the relationships, the schedules, all of it, at the same time. But that's okay.
There are weeks like this when a lot of cleaning is on the list. Or seasons where we eat simply, and get a great amount of school and reading in. There are other times when we are out and about in our community playing and connecting with our people.
And in life it balances out. We have a fairly clean house. We eat decently. We do school consistently four days and randomly throw another day in there for good measure. We hang out with friends and family regularly.
It's a blessed life. It's a busy life. A get to life. And I am grateful.
I write this to remind myself of the balance and the effort. It's not always balanced, but I try. The effort really does count.
Monday, February 22, 2016
Poetry
Not all that long ago I was terrified of poetry. I didn't know how to interpret it and didn't want to take the time to truly chew on what I was reading. I'm known as a very black and white personality. Tell me how it is. Don't beat around the bush. Don't try to hint. Just tell me already! Symbolism? Alliteration? Couplets? Nope.
Well, after reading blogs post, listening to podcasts, and just deciding to jump in, here I am a few months later, enjoying poetry!!
I don't understand it all. I don't know all the rules. But I am having fun with it and that, to me, is one of the most important reasons to do something.
I started with Robert Frost. I mean who doesn't love and appreciate his famous, The Road Not Taken? I picked up this picture book from our local library and read it a few times with my kiddos. I LOVE this book! Then I borrowed another book on his life with some of his poems spread throughout. Then I got yet another book that the kids and I read through about Mr. Frost and it's been no looking back since!
We have a few printed sheets of small poems to memorize that have been fun. Edward Lear is hilarious and Ogden Nash, too! My daughter and I enjoy Christina Rossetti.
I found A Child's Anthology of Poetry at a thrift store a few weeks back and we have gobbled up so many great poems in our morning time. A fave has been Life Doesn't Frighten Me by Maya Angelou. It seems fitting too, as we (and when I say we I mean, "I", because why would my kids have a fear of poetry? That's just silly. :)) have found that when you don't fear something, you can take it full on and you can discover that the thing you really feared was just a misunderstanding, an unknowing, and that thing just might turn into something you love.
My husband challenged the whole family tonight to write a poem about Winter turning to Spring. It didn't have to rhyme or be anything but your thoughts on paper. This is what we came up with:
The light of days
begins to grow,
thoughts of summer's
warm glow.
The snow of Christmas
flows down the road,
melted flakes fill the
river banks.
Our thoughts turn to
flowers, apples and bikes.
Campfires and floats will soon replace
the snowball and sledding
we've long embraced.
Spring is near and in our hearts,
it's always welcome and held dear.
- Micheal
The Great Thawing Time
The Bible says there is a time for everything.
Right now I find myself slipping from Winter to Spring.
Snow heaps melting,
Days warming,
Happy face on me.
Days are getting longer,
Nature is calling out.
After the last of the melt off
All will be asprout.
So long nights of roaring fire!
Lazy days of reading!
Hello days of mud and mire!
Filled days of seeding.
- Rebecca
Spring
The Spring is coming. The flowers are blooming, petal by petal. All the trees
are blooming, too. And people are having fun in new Spring air.
- Grace
Flower Bloom
The flower blooms, the flower is opening into the sunshine. It's a beautiful sight if you see it in late Winter. It's fun to watch it grow and open. It is opening itself to the sun, a flower on the hillside with a big blue sky, some people come and steal it's seeds. They also salt them, then they spit the seeds and the flower is sad that he will not be able to make more. He is a sunflower.
- Zade
Sun is bright.
Winter cold.
Wild trees and woods.
And even seeds.
- August
Raging fire,
cold snow.
Where did all the heat go?
- August
I never want to let fear stop me. I never want to stop growing because I'm allowing something to get the best of me. I want to press on and continue to learn and have fun doing it! I want my kids to see their Mama and Daddy learning right alongside them! For them to know that education doesn't stop after "school hours" or graduation, but that you can enjoy the ride for your whole life!
I am thrilled to have jumped into poetry.
Shakespeare is next on my list.
And Homer.
What fears are you conquering right now?
Well, after reading blogs post, listening to podcasts, and just deciding to jump in, here I am a few months later, enjoying poetry!!
I don't understand it all. I don't know all the rules. But I am having fun with it and that, to me, is one of the most important reasons to do something.
I started with Robert Frost. I mean who doesn't love and appreciate his famous, The Road Not Taken? I picked up this picture book from our local library and read it a few times with my kiddos. I LOVE this book! Then I borrowed another book on his life with some of his poems spread throughout. Then I got yet another book that the kids and I read through about Mr. Frost and it's been no looking back since!
We have a few printed sheets of small poems to memorize that have been fun. Edward Lear is hilarious and Ogden Nash, too! My daughter and I enjoy Christina Rossetti.
I found A Child's Anthology of Poetry at a thrift store a few weeks back and we have gobbled up so many great poems in our morning time. A fave has been Life Doesn't Frighten Me by Maya Angelou. It seems fitting too, as we (and when I say we I mean, "I", because why would my kids have a fear of poetry? That's just silly. :)) have found that when you don't fear something, you can take it full on and you can discover that the thing you really feared was just a misunderstanding, an unknowing, and that thing just might turn into something you love.
My husband challenged the whole family tonight to write a poem about Winter turning to Spring. It didn't have to rhyme or be anything but your thoughts on paper. This is what we came up with:
The light of days
begins to grow,
thoughts of summer's
warm glow.
The snow of Christmas
flows down the road,
melted flakes fill the
river banks.
Our thoughts turn to
flowers, apples and bikes.
Campfires and floats will soon replace
the snowball and sledding
we've long embraced.
Spring is near and in our hearts,
it's always welcome and held dear.
- Micheal
The Great Thawing Time
The Bible says there is a time for everything.
Right now I find myself slipping from Winter to Spring.
Snow heaps melting,
Days warming,
Happy face on me.
Days are getting longer,
Nature is calling out.
After the last of the melt off
All will be asprout.
So long nights of roaring fire!
Lazy days of reading!
Hello days of mud and mire!
Filled days of seeding.
- Rebecca
Spring
The Spring is coming. The flowers are blooming, petal by petal. All the trees
are blooming, too. And people are having fun in new Spring air.
- Grace
Flower Bloom
The flower blooms, the flower is opening into the sunshine. It's a beautiful sight if you see it in late Winter. It's fun to watch it grow and open. It is opening itself to the sun, a flower on the hillside with a big blue sky, some people come and steal it's seeds. They also salt them, then they spit the seeds and the flower is sad that he will not be able to make more. He is a sunflower.
- Zade
Sun is bright.
Winter cold.
Wild trees and woods.
And even seeds.
- August
Raging fire,
cold snow.
Where did all the heat go?
- August
I never want to let fear stop me. I never want to stop growing because I'm allowing something to get the best of me. I want to press on and continue to learn and have fun doing it! I want my kids to see their Mama and Daddy learning right alongside them! For them to know that education doesn't stop after "school hours" or graduation, but that you can enjoy the ride for your whole life!
I am thrilled to have jumped into poetry.
Shakespeare is next on my list.
And Homer.
What fears are you conquering right now?
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