Keeping Homeschool Simple when Life is Busy and Time is precious…
Oh, hi there! It’s been well over a month since I’ve been able to post anything on this little blog but I promise, I have VERY good reasons! Our family is actually walking through the journey of fostering to adopt a beautiful baby boy. There is so much more I would love to share about how amazing God is and how He weaves all things together but that will have to wait until the adoption is final… *smile* Then, watch out… because I won’t be able to stop talking about how Jesus works and posting about a million photos of this little one’s precious face! What I can say…
Staying Present {a whisper about unplugging to plug in to what matters}
Have you lived the struggle of staying present in your home? I sure have. I know how so many Moms feel. I’ve lived those days when the exhaustion sets in, selfishness wins, and distractions take over. Especially the distractions. And don’t we live in a world full of time-wasting distractions? Part of the reason I long so deeply to be more unplugged is so I can ‘plug in’ to what matters. Because our culture urges us to live in fast-forward, blasting through the days. The laundry, the sports team, the dinner, the play date, the appointments, the cleaning, the this, the that, the phone, the email,…
Why we can’t let our Schedule Steal our Joy.
It’s mid-morning when my eldest child begs me to go outside and play in the leaves. Here’s what goes on in my head in the span of about 3 seconds: (Insert heaving sigh along with a deep groan.) Really? Honestly? He wants to play outside? We haven’t even STARTED our work (again)… why, oh why is it taking us so long to get anything that looks remotely like ‘school work’ done these days? We are so behind in writing… oh my goodness. No, we absolutely cannot go outside… seriously. We have so much do to- our schedule is FULL today… maybe later but not in the morning. No.…
Living Hands Free {thoughts on striving to live unplugged and a review of Hands Free Life}
It’s been nearly a decade since we tossed our TV for good. Wow, that makes me feel old. I still remember the slow progression of that honking, massive TV from center stage in the living room to the basement to the basement closet to being given away. We’ve never looked back. Hands-down the best decision we’ve every made. Simply tossing the TV started us on a journey we never set out for ourselves. A journey that took this TV-loving (hey I was going to make a big-wig career as a TV producer and had the diploma to prove it) to a striving-to-be ‘unplugged‘, TV-free Mama. And, you know, TV free…
Here.
My dear Grandma is sick. Grams (as I’ve affectionately called her since I was very young) has been in and out of hospitals for over a year now. It has been incredibly hard on her body, mind, and soul. Not to mention the strain on my Gramps (now 92 years old!), and the rest of the family. Last night we visited Grams in yet another new hospital room. This time, she’s in a rehab program where we pray she might regain some of her strength, and her will to keep on going. A sweet nurse bustles into the room wearing pastels and a warm smile. She’s got one of…
The Sacred Ordinary. {snapshots of today}
It’s early morning. I’m sipping coffee and writing in my notebook. The boys are playing a serious game of chess at the kitchen table. Mr. Rules against Mr. Free-spirit. I chuckle inside, listening to their banter. Where did time go? I’m sure it was yesterday these boys of mine were toddlers, grabbing at chunky toy cars and board books. In the days when every day seemed to drag on for a thousand hours and I seemed to forget how blessed I was. I forgot for far too long. And I’ve been through the moulding and shaping and I’m starting to (finally) realize that every single second is a gift.…
Making peace with Winter. (And finding beauty right where you are…)
We rise early on a Sunday morning and he whispers it out the bedroom window, “Wow… look at the trees… the snow!” Absolutely everything is covered in an indescribable shade of glistening white. It’s as if Creator God has sprinkled our whole world with powdered icing sugar. I’m awed, leaning closer to the low country window. For a long time I gaze at our long backyard, my eyes grazing the tall Black Walnut tree and the Evergreens lined up behind a crooked chicken coop. “Cass, why don’t you go for a jog?” My husband knows me and he knows I’ve been in the process of making peace with Winter. So,…
This is the day. (And a Sabbath Scripture…)
We’re snuggled together again on couches on a Sunday morning. Five families and a crazy number of beautiful, energetic children. Our bibles are open to the book of Acts and we’re reading together: “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything because He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man He made every nation of men that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for them and the…
Spuds and the Spirit.
It was a bumper crop of potatoes this year. The field down the lane is still a gold mine of spuds after the farmer gathers the harvest. After the machines rumble through, neighbors are graciously welcomed to collect what is left behind. On a warm Autumn afternoon, the kids and I head out to glean what we can from the wide open farmland. Why waste what is good food? We want to remember abundance is sacred when so many go hungry. So, we glean. We trudge through rows of thick, mucky soil and weeds churned up. We eagerly dig with shovels and fingers, searching. I laugh and…
Time.
Red apples hang from twisted branches, sun kissed and delicate. A bird calls out in the distance as we breathe in the fragrance of dew speckled grass and sweet fruit. The early Autumn bees buzz out the last of their energy. We fill bags and marvel at how a tiny seed grows a tree and a tree, fruit and the fruit – seed again. The Creator is close when you walk with His majesty – with His masterpieces. And they’re everywhere when we’re out here. This is His might canvas. When foot meets cobbled path or wooded green – hearts meet God. The whole earth is filled with His glory. Taking time…
