Refining Process

Much like other aspects in a Christian's life, I find the homeschooling of our three kids to be a refining process for my life. 

 It is funny because you wouldn't think things I love so much, like books and reading and organizing could be so refining, but add them to being with three kids all day, every day and you get REFINEMENT. I have to laugh because sometimes I just don't see it when I am in the middle of a heated discussion about long division and why it is important even though we have calculators. 

God uses all things in a Christian's life to refine the heart. He is constantly chipping away everything old and replacing it with more of Him. Actually that sounds really great. As I homeschool my kids I am becoming more like Christ, when I allow Him to be in control of the homeschooling! Plus, I am being renewed! Renewal is a good thing. So bring on the endless questions, tears, and mounds of papers needing to be dealt with. My God is a BIG God! 

 Psalm 51:10-12 10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from Your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Joyful 2012!

My homeschool support group, Lighthouse, is getting ready for our January meeting on the topic of joyful mothering/homeschooling. I sent this out to our group in preparation for our time of sharing and encouragement this month. I am looking forward to hearing some fun ideas to keep JOY as part of our daily homeschooling routine. When I think of the word JOY, I always think of this time of year, probably because of the Christmas carol "Joy to the World". Take a minute and read through these lyrics of this familiar carol: Joy to the World , the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare Him room, And Heaven and nature sing, And Heaven and nature sing, And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing. Joy to the World, the Savior reigns! Let men their songs employ; While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy. No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow Far as the curse is found, Far as the curse is found, Far as, far as, the curse is found. He rules the world with truth and grace, And makes the nations prove The glories of His righteousness, And wonders of His love, And wonders of His love, And wonders, wonders, of His love. Pretty amazing words, I thought, as we move into the new year. For me JOY is rooted in another word PEACE. "My peace I give to you..." John 14:27 In a devotion in Charles Stanley's IN TOUCH magazine, he explains how Jesus said this to his disciples just hours before his crucifixion. There certainly was no JOY in that situation but his Joy and His peace were not dependent on the circumstances surrounding Him. Jesus gives every believer His peace which leads to JOY. Our faith is how we experience this gift of Peace and ultimately Joy. Charles Stanley points out some truths to remember to help us in our quest for joyful mothering/joyful homeschooling. These same truths are echoed in the words of the carol "Joy to the World". 1. God is in control of everything. 2. He loves me and will see me through all circumstances. 3. To have Christ's peace(and JOY) I must yield my life to Him. 4. I have a limited perspective and understanding of my circumstances and God's purposed for allowing them. 5. The Lord promises to work all things out for my good. 6. I must live in sync with God. 7. Scripture is my foundation for peace. In Touch magazine, December 2011 I am looking forward to our meeting Tuesday and the sharing and encouragement with ideas for joyful homeschooling as we start our new year. Happy 2012! Happy New Year!

Gift of a Christmas TEA

Well, another Lighthouse Homeschool Association Mom's Christmas Tea is in the books! What a wonderful time of blessing last night as Moms gathered to focus on "Preparing Our Hearts for Christmas" brought to us from the heart of God by Mariel Davenport of http://www.growingodliness.com/ Here is a summary of her talk- Using the letters in JESUS' name she refocused our hearts on the true meaning of Christmas. J-JOY, the joy we have in Christ, like the joy the angels spilled out from Heaven the first Christmas night. E-EVANGELIZE, the shepherds were the first evangelists, sharing what they experienced with everyone, just as we should share our personal encounters with God with those around us. S-SACRIFICE, Joseph sacrificed his rights in being Jesus' earthly father, Do we sacrifice for others in His name, or do we dwell in the world of self-pity? U-UNDERSTANDING Mary pondered all of the wondrous events of the first Christmas in her heart, as we need to pause and ponder God's gift to us this Christmas and finally S-SAVIOR, Jesus' name, a name above all names, still today His name is one to be in awe of, remembering that He grew from a baby in a manger to a Savior on the cross. I have always enjoyed this special evening of fellowship and encouragement in my homeschooling group. Tables were decorated creatively with the beautiful colors of Christmas. Everything looked beautiful in the soft candlelight and shimmering gold and silver that filled the room. The food was delicious as always and the conversation was sweet. I got some fun ideas for decorating from all of the incredible displays. I love getting lost in these type of delightful times of fellowship and love, and imagining that this is what HEAVEN will be like, everyone gathered together in, one accord and in fellowship and love, the rush and busyness of life melted away. I truly feel that I unwrapped one of the very best gifts of this Christmas season. Thank you JESUS for friends, fellowship and most of all I thank you truly for the gift of your LIFE and for the second Christmas that is yet to come!

Starting Again

Hello, it's been a long time! I am starting to blog again after a long break. We are starting our new school year and our 11th year of homeschooling. Today was our official first day of school complete with a yummy breakfast and devotions around the breakfast table. I have missed that time of connecting each morning with the kids. Everyone worked on organizing their school areas, cleaning out notebooks, cubbies and file folders. There is something so wonderful about new beginnings. The fresh school supplies are piled up on the table ready to be distributed to the dare I say it, eager students! I have the honor of leading the homeschool association that our family is a member of in our area. I serve with an amazing board of women that are all volunteers! We had our family kick-off picnic for our association at a local park with over 100 people attending. It was a lot of fun, with a lemonade stand complete with yummy cookies. Ladder ball, water balloons and a parachute were among some of the activities enjoyed by people who came to the picnic. It was a great way to see lots of people and for everyone to connect before the busyness of the school year begins. There are many new challenges for this year for our family both individually and collectively. One of the biggest challenges we all face is the new diagnosis of our youngest son as being a type 1 diabetic. It is tough, working out routines, dealing with frustrations and learning to balance this new part of our family life. We are trying to make things as normal as possible for everyone, but sometimes they are just not. I am going to try to blog more regularly, if not for any other reason than for a sort of therapy for me. I don't have any grand ideas that I have a huge following, but I do think it is important to document what God is doing in my life as a reminder of His faithfulness and His goodness to me. Looking forward to more posts.

A different kind of spring break

A chance to catch my breath for a few days has offered me the opportunity to write a little bit. Our area has been hit with tornadoes in an extraordinary manner, not seen for over 20 years in NC. As the aftermath unfolds,many have lost their lives and many more their homes and things that were precious to them. I still cannot believe how close the tornadoes were to our home and yet how far away they were at the same time. Drive up the street and take a right turn and the devastation unfolds. Our family was talking about how remarkable the destruction of a tornado is, how it dessimates one home and leaves another right next to it untouched. Unexplainable... It serves as a reminder once again to hold on to things loosely in this world and to love your family and those you hold dear, magnificently, every day, even when they are not lovely and you don't want to do it, because you never know what the next turn in life's path will bring your way. Lavish the love on them! I am grateful for the pause in school for this week, but seek now to make it more meaningful. I want our family to help the ones around us that are suffering from the destruction left behind after the tornadoes. We are so fortunate to have been spared from the tragedy so close to us. Friends have been effected, we will start, of course, with them. This could be a huge marker stone in my kids lives', where they see faith in action helping the hurting,trying to make a difference in Jesus' name. I am so grieved over the families whose lives have been so tragically touched by Saturday's events. I want it to make a difference in what we do this spring break with our days. I want it to make a lasting difference in how we are as a family, how we relate to one another, to those around us. Praying for all of those across North Carolina that are hurting and suffering. Psalm 34:18 "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit..."

Getting Ready for A Big Tea

I am helping to plan a Christmas Tea for my homeschool group. We are expecting around eighty ladies to come for an evening of tea and delightful finger foods while enjoying Christmas music, a wonderful guest speaker, door prizes and lots of fun. 

I have been working on the lists of who is bringing what and preparing emails with all the information our members need to know so that the tea will go well. As much work as big events tend to be, a tea party for 80 ladies, I love to serve the ladies in my homeschool group, Lighthouse Homeschool Association.  

I feel so blessed to be part of such a diverse and ever-growing group of families all educating their children at home. Table hostesses are working on creating unique tables with Christmas themes for this evening. I cannot wait to see how everything looks. I will take pictures and post them after the event in December. For now I can breathe a little easier knowing that the plans are in place and begin praying for the ladies that will be coming for an evening of Christmas tea.

School has begun!

We have several weeks under our belts as the new school year gets into full swing. We are getting ready to start week 4 of year 4 in Tapestry of Grace! My oldest has had one meeting time for his Biology and Spanish courses and my daughter has tried out for Nutcracker and awaits the announcement of parts for this family Christmas favorite.

Ready or not, school has definitely sprung around our house. I just keep telling myself to ease into the year and add a few things each week. I am being decidedly fierce about our calendar as individuals as well as a family. This time last year dear husband was in Iraq and we were in a flurry of activity. We also were anticipating his arrival home for R&R. Sometimes it seems like a dream that he is home with us now. I want to make sure that we have plenty of time to just be a family and continue to work on our re-connections as the new school year marches on and more and more things get going.

The kids have made a strong start. They are getting back into the world of schedules, books and reading! Anyone who uses the Tapestry of Grace curriculum knows that there is always plenty of reading to be done. Much prayer has gone into the start of this new school year. I have been reminded to add some interesting field trips and fun elective times into our schooling. I often get so involved in the nuts and bolts of school and schedule that I forget those things. My youngest is eight now and he has done many of those fun field trips as a toddler in a stroller. He needs to get to do them again as a curious eight year old.

I am thankful for the new school year and also thankful for the gentle pushes to extend myself and constantly be examining how to encourage my kids to excellence and fun. It is going to be a great year!

Homeschooling Quandary

"Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding,If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, And find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding." Proverbs 2:3-6

I am praying over a homeschooling quandary. I am sure that many, many homeschoolers go through this very exact situation, asking this question. I know this because I am hearing it all around me right now. Do I continue to homeschool all the way through high school? My oldest is a rising 9th grader and we are confronting this question head on in our home right now. I have made a mental list of all the pros and cons. We have had many, many discussions. My husband and I have prayed and continue to pray over the answer to this question.

One thing I know for certain, whatever our final decision it will not be one that is made without much agonizing and prayer. I am twisted up inside thinking about the next four years and how they will effect my son in his life long journey. I am not worried academically about how to provide for him. We are so blessed to live in NC and the opportunities available are so abundant. I know it will be challenging to continue through high school. I also know that God is up to the challenge! Either way the questions are much greater than, can I homeschool through high school?

So we will continue to seek God's wisdom. I know that the answers will come and that they will be the exact right ones for our son and for our family. It is just getting there that is the struggle, right? Once again I find myself in the waiting room.

Let the Spring Cleaning Begin!

I love this time of year. The feeling of newness in the air is intoxicating and has spurred me on to thinking about Spring Cleaning! I love to clean, really I do! I love the feeling of satisfaction I get when I have scrubbed and polished and weeded through all the stuff that seems to accumulate over the long winter. The problem is finding the time to really clean! I am formulating a plan for my spring cleaning so that I can accomplish the big clean up, but in a reasonable way so that I am not up to my ears in dust bunnies and old projects and clothes that are two sizes too small! I am learning as I get older to tackle things with a little more grace mixed in with my gusto so I don't BURN OUT and not get anything done. Besides, spring cleaning my home I feel God's prompting to get my spiritual house in order as well. I have lost some of my "shininess" as I put it! I have been running so hard with so many balls up in the air with my dear husband deployed and gone for us for 15 months, that my quiet time, and my seeking of the Lord has been a brief happening each day. I am cleaning out my schedule this spring too and where others may be increasing their schedules as the warmer weather is ushered in, I am trying to weed out the things that are not necessary so that I can carve out time to spend on my most important relationship with my Jesus. So many things creep in to my daily planning and before I know it they have taken over the sweet garden time I have with Him. No more! Time to start pulling weeds and cutting back the overgrowth of a over-packed schedule. The great thing I know is that when I do that, every other area of my life falls into order. I love order! Order in my relationship with Christ, order in all my relationships, order in our homeschooling and order in the house! I love Spring time!

The Blur That Was October

Well, amazingly enough October 2009 has come and gone. The month has faded into one big beautiful blur! Our family begin the month traveling with dear husband who was home for 16 days on R&R. Our travels took us to Busch Gardens at Williamsburg and the Great Wolf Lodge, followed by a few wonderful days at the beach, soaking up some sun, but mostly enjoying one another and making memories, the weather was a little wet!


Dear husband returned to Iraq October 9 which left us with the rest of October and we continued the whirlwind of activities with birthdays, Ginger's and mine, the State fair with the chocolate covered bacon and finally our church's Fall Festival.



Our time with dear husband was fleeting, but having what one of our friends calls a "Practice Homecoming" was wonderful. I can only hope the rest of our deployment time will fly by as quickly. I surely appreciate having a completed family time because nothing really is the same without dear husband. God continually reminds me daily even when I feel so very overwhelmed how blessed we truly are, and what an honor it is to have my husband who is following God's call on his life to serve his country and set an example for our children. Yes it is hard, but it is so worth it. Hope you enjoy the pictures. I am going to try to get back in the habit of posting more regularly. I will always remember the blur that was October!

The Boys Of Summer

I cannot believe May is just about done and June and summer time is upon us! This last month has really been a blur of activity. We are finishing up with school and getting ready for next year as well. I need to get some new bookshelves so I have started to look into that. I would love to get some heavy duty ones that will hold all of the books that we are collecting with our Tapestry of Grace studies. I love books and I thought I had a bunch, but now I really am getting more because of our Tapestry curriculum. I want to find just the right bookshelves to hold the books.

I have also been really sick this week. I think I must have picked up something at the NC Homeschool Conference last week in Winston-Salem. The kids and I had a great time. Dear son went to many of the Teen track classes, the kids swam in the indoor pool and went to the Talent showcase one night as well. We stayed right next to the convention center so once we arrived the car stayed parked for the entire time. It was a great conference, very different from the other two times I have gone. This year was very laid back because of having the children with me, I did not make every session I wanted to do, but I got to the ones I needed to hear. The kids got to experience the book fair, but I did not buy a lot in the way of curriculum this year. I bought just a few handwriting books and phonics books. I did make one major purchase from Summit Ministries. Bradley and I listened to the a speaker from Summit named John Stonestreet. He was amazing to listen to as he lectured about world views and the importance of having a Biblical world view as a Christian and what that really means. I also enjoyed talking to him in the book fair at great length. I got the curriculum to work through at home with dear son. We are both excited about it.

After the conference crazy Mom decided we should fit some time in at the beach as well. We drove from Winston-Salem to Pine Knoll Shores for some beach fun with the my in-laws. The kids had fun with cousins and we got a little too much sun. The weather was cloudy and some showers so we kept wiping on and off the sunscreen and ended up a little crispy! It was a good peaceful time, and I enjoyed the Sunday Memorial Day service at Bogue Baptist church. I had a difficult time over the holiday weekend and going to the beach and being at the service at Bogue Baptist were the things God used to show me His love for me as I walked through this stressful time. He is such an amazing God, so intimate and personal to me. Even the music on the radio made me feel loved and held by Him.

I praise God as we head into this new month and into the summer time... I know He has much to show us as we start off our summer. I hope that I can embrace all that He has to teach us with as much enthusiasm as the boys of summer in this great picture!

Colonial Field Day Fun!

Our TOG Co op group had their Unit 3/4 Celebration last week. We celebrated with a Colonial Field day with all of the festivities and fun. The lower and upper grammar students participated in games such as ninepins, lawn bowling, horse shoes and croquet. The dialectic and rhetoric students were the "colonial guides" and led the other students in the games. It was great! We all ate lunch together and celebrated with cake. We will take the summer off from TOG and begin anew with TOG Y3 studying from Napoleon up to Teddy Roosevelt in the fall. I am already excited about the new year, but I am grateful for a pause to regroup and organize and REST.

The kids and I will be attending the homeschooling conference in our state later this week. I have never taken them before and I am really looking forward to seeing their reactions to all of the people and the book fair. I will post about our experiences at their first homeschooling conference.

Let There be Posting

Well, about another month has flown by and I have had every intention of posting on my blog, but no time to put my intentions into actions. My dear husband is missing the postings so I need to catch up again and hopefully I can really try to stick with once a week in the future. We have had another birthday, beginning of baseball and puppy training class, the end of our first year of TOG Year 2 (Tapestry of Grace for all of you who may not know), and the winding down of the school year. I am going to post some pictures and more comments with the pictures as soon as I find the cord to go with the camera! That should be later on today. Now we are off to the YMCA to let the oldest take his swim test for summer water activities in Scouts!

Time out!

I need a time out, you know the kind you get when you are running around crazy in a game of tag and you almost get caught and you yell TIME OUT! Things around our house are in overdrive and trying to get a schedule going is just not working out as easily as I had thought it would. My Dad fell and injured himself seriously, one of my children is battling allergies terribly this week and everyone else is just moving like we are in JELLO. Will we master division, will George Washington survive the Revolutionary war, are all Bob Books so much fun ? I am so glad that I know this too will pass, but man, I need a TIME OUT! I also remember playing tag and to keep from getting caught you could sit down and say the name of a cartoon show! Wouldn't that be great if we could do that now! Well, school is winding down for the year, testing is going on, spring fever is in high gear and life is crazy, but it is life and I am glad to be living it, even if it is crazy. Captain Caveman!!! Phew...I am safe! Hope you have a great day playing tag too.

It's About Time!

O.K., I have one final post before turning in for the night or the morning...I promised my co-op class I would post their outstanding display board projects on my blog. They completed display boards with topics from colonial times covered in Tapestry of Grace Year 2 Unit 3. I am very proud of them and all of their hard work. They researched their topics, chose graphics for the boards and wrote up the research in an interesting way to make top notch display boards. These display boards represent their first attempt at a project like this for co-op and they are very good. The topics covered are Jamestown, Louis XIV, the economy during Colonial times, Pocahontas, the Cherokee Indians, and the Lost Colony. Great jobs kids! I am so proud of you...Enjoy their display boards.

The Final Four

I know this title is a teaser, I am not talking basketball right now. I love the NCAA tournament and all of the excitement it brings this time of year, especially since I am a TARHEEL! I am referring to the final four days that my dear husband will be spending with our family before deployment. I have heard through the Army wives' grapevine that it may begin sometime this upcoming week, but as with everything Army you have to be flexible. So I have started thinking of all that I want to do in the final four days with him. Go out to eat at favorite restaurants, play with the kids, get together with friends, watch a favorite movie, TALK, laugh, go for walks, do laundry...pack again and repack, TALK, go over lists of to dos and not to dos...

I am apprehensive about the time coming so quickly too. I know once it is here, it will be gone and that is it! So now I need to get a plan, ask God for guidance, get preparing for the joyous homecoming/departure and get my love tank full by spending time with God in preparation for my husband's four days here. Four days, they will feel so normal, like nothing has changed, but they will be so different, a hello and a good-bye at the same time. What would you do with your sweetie if you had four days? What would matter, what would fall away, what little things would you over look if you only had four days?

My Prayer:
Please Lord equip me, give me wisdom, let us soak up every minute of the time, help me to watch out for too high of expectations, but also not take for granted what time we have. Help me Lord to see the "stressers" for him and the encouragement he needs. Help us to know how to help the kids, what to say, how to say it...Lord just walk with us as I know you will and let's do this the FINAL FOUR!


I will be posting pictures later of our trip to Charlottesville and some neat pictures from our Tapestry of Grace co-op dialectic class and the display board projects the students completed, oh and some Upward photos thrown in as well.

Anticipation

The kids and I are getting ready to spend time with dear husband for the next week or so and I am so excited. Anticipation could not be greater right now! We will be in beautiful Charlottesville some of the time and looking forward to lots of field trips to Monticello, Mitchie's Tavern, Montpelier and more! The trip fits in great with what we are getting ready to study in Tapestry of Grace Y2. The revolutionary war is coming up and then all the way up to the Constitution. We will be walking around where Thomas Jefferson did, and I get so excited about these kinds of field trips. I love to feel and see and experience our great country's history. We will fill our days with the field trips while dear husband is in class at UVA.

Oh if you could slow time down and just live in slow motion for a little bit. I know that as we begin this trip before I know it the time will be over and we will be back to the normal routine. I have purposed to live in every minute so that I can really enjoy everything. There is a fine line between trying to make everything perfect, which can drive you crazy, and just trying to relax and enjoy the time together. I want all the usual things a mom wants, everyone to be kind and loving, to be well from sickness and to pay attention on the field trips, and to soak up the time with one another. Just a few things on my list that I am trying to "control" which is impossible!

So I will get on my knees and turn this precious gift of time with dear husband over to God and let it be what He makes it and rest in Him for the strength and knowledge to know what to do and when to do it. The list is so long... all the things we want to do and say and share. We will make great memories and have fun and it will be like he has never even been away from us. I am thankful for this gift. I will hold on to the memories of the time together and replay them over and over in my mind. I will post some fun pictures of the trip and time together later.

The Snow That Didn't Show!

This week we were suppose to get more snow. I was hoping for some more pretty pictures like this one from a few weeks ago. The weather man had even thought we would get a pretty good amount again for NC. It did not happen for us in Wake Forest. We just got a light dusting, and it has been very cold the last couple of days. It was pretty interesting how it worked out because my oldest dear son was praying that we would not get a big snow because of some plans he had. I had a good time showing him the snow fall total all around us, as some in our state did get snow, just not our area! He was amazed. Thank you God for this illustration for him.

We have been getting back to our regular schedule of daily life since returning from my Grandmother's funeral. The trip went well, and the kids were able to see some of the things that I did when I spent time with my grandparents in the summer. The flexibility of homeschooling is wonderful. I was so thankful the kids could go on this trip and not be concerned about all the school work they were missing. The trip became school for a few days. We learned among other things about several states, coal mining, rail roads, weather, hot springs and my dear son and I had some excellent talks about major events in history. Homeschooling is great!

Our school schedule is getting back to normal as well. We are enjoying our adventures in TOG land week 23. I am learning so much about the founding of the colonies. I really do enjoy this curriculum. I will be ordering my Unit 4 books later on this evening, and I have already ordered Year 3 of Tapestry of Grace for next year.

Well, I am going to finish up now with a some more pictures of our snow days a couple of weeks ago. I never got to post them, so I thought now would be a good time!

Ginger, our new puppy loved the snow and so did the old hound dog Sandy. Enjoy the snow scenes!