Walking in the Shadows

You know the Mom I’m talking about, the one who is always smiling and seemingly never frustrated with her sweet little charges. The one who makes special crafts EVERY holiday and can teach her children fractions and diagramming without ever reading the instructions in the teacher manual. Oh I admire this mom, but I can assure you “I am not that Mom.” Yes, I homeschool my children, bake bread, garden, and do laundry on a daily basis, but “I am not that Mom” who does is flawlessly. Just ask my children! So, why do I homeschool my children? Ah, that is a question I have needed to write about for some time but have been apprehensive for many reasons. My decision to homeschool is just that, my decision (mine and hubby’s). It is not my desire to defend my decision or sway others to agree with me, it is simply a admission of a very average Mom doing what God has called her to do. There are many reasons to homeschool, I could list a zillion (well maybe not a zillion but close). Wh...

(If we could only trust our Father the way children trust theirs) I know we are to walk by faith and not sight, but there are times in our journey when it seems we are truly walking blindly. You know how it is, when you are “feeling” your way around a dark room or you are walking down stairs in the dark and are slowly and carefully putting one foot in front of the other. You want to make sure that when you put your foot down that it has a landing or something solid to hold it. Sometimes, in our lives we are called to walk by faith like that, blindly putting one foot in front of the other not knowing for sure where we will be landing. Last year, we (my family) stepped out on faith and I quit my job in the work force. That was certainly a HUGE step of faith but I could see a little bit ahead of me. Don’t misunderstand, I couldn’t see how God was going to provide for us without my income and I couldn’t see around the bend but I could at least see the road ahead...

So, I did it! I unplugged Friday at 5 pm and didn't check email, fb, surf the internet, watch TV or read the news until Monday morning. I didn't even read any books because the only books I had were on my Kindle and I wasn't sure if that would be breaking the rules. :-) Next time, I will make a point to hit the library because when the kids were watching TV Saturday evening it was hard for me to find something to occupy myself with (you know, trying to unwind at the end of a busy day).  What did I learn?? Facebook really is optional and surfing the internet is a BIG time waster. Well, I don't think I really learned that, I think I already knew it, I just confirmed it by living it. I did not NEED to know what everyone of my fb friends were doing on Saturday night, I slept just fine not knowing.  What did I "take away" from the experience? My need to really limit my internet time. I love to read blogs and check the news out, not to mention research (I lo...

Today’s post is a bit of a confession and a challenge, I hope you are up for it. J First, the confession… I have the winter blues, I mean a really nasty case of the blahs. I just haven’t had that spring in my step lately, ya know? As I look around it seems all I am seeing is the yuckiness if you know what I mean. I am tired of the complacency of people, I am scared of the direction the country is taking, I am beyond sick of sin and the devil and some days I feel like an utter failure in the wife and mother department. So, now that you have the confession, here comes the challenge. Well, it comes next, now I want to pose a question for you. Why do we get the blues? The blahs? The I don’t cares? Why do we get so down and defeated? I believe it is the world! Perhaps it is our love of the world, or it is the fact that we live in it, either way, it is the world and the sin curse that’s upon it.                  Mark 4:19 ...

It’s a cold, icy day here in Travelers Rest and my two boys are outside enjoying the ice as it gathers on the trampoline. As I sat and watched them play I thought “am I crazy for letting them play in this ice” then I thought maybe just letting them be was just what they needed. They are bundled up and won’t catch cold any more than they would if it were snowing, so why I allow myself the Mom guilt for being unorthodox I don’t know. Just as our home is full of noise and laughter it is full of hopes and dreams. As a Mother, it is my heart’s desire to see my children reach high with their dreams and I hope to instill in them that with God anything is possible. Today it may be playing in the ice when others think we are a little crazy, tomorrow it may mean my son believing he can be a missionary in a foreign land. You see, as much as I love my children at this stage in life, I am not raising them to be children; I am raising them to be men and women to serve the Lord. Ever...

(I'm using an old pic today because I couldn't get a new one to upload~ugh computers)  As I sit and write this post I feel on the verge of screaming, crying and pulling out my hair.Yesterday was our first day back to school and our first day getting back on the potty training schedule. And everything went soooo smooth! The boys studied so hard and didn't complain even once. Addison went potty at least 5 times and actually seemed happy about it. I even baked homemade Pita Bread for lunch. Yesterday I felt like Super Mom!! Then I woke up today... It is early afternoon and my little one is napping and the boys are just finishing up school. And I just want to cry! Why? Well, let's just say today was not quite as smooth and I wasn't quite the Super Mom I felt like yesterday. School was a bit more stressful, more tests, more lessons in diagraming (so glad I'm not in 5th grade), more potty accidents, more papers lost, more messes made and so forth. Really, j...

As we continue our countdown to Christmas, I can't help but reflect on this year and the blessings that came with it. 2012 was a year of change for me (perhaps I'll write about that soon) but it has also been a year full of blessings.   I hope you enjoy my picture tour of the blessings of 2012! 1. Protection! My sweet Ethan nearly lost his eye in January. 2. Spending Valentine's Day at the Biltmore House with my loves (I know it's a funny picture with Jason holding the stroller lol). 3. The boys getting their first turkey in April!! This was an answer to prayer for all three of them. 4. My FIRST ever garden!! 5. Family Vacation in May thanks to a dear friend.   6. Bittersweet Goodbye to my Cliffs' Family. 7. Seeing Chipper Jones play one last time in Atlanta with my Daddy.       8. Sweet Tyson. He has grown so much this year!   9. Priceless lessons learned from a dear Missionary. 10. A house full of...