Monday, August 10, 2020

We Can Do It


To the mom's who are gonna homeschool...hang in there. We started last week and it is a process. Hats off to teachers who prepare and plan all the time with so many variables. Experience tells me to give it 2-3 week and it will level out. It feels clunky, chaotic, and overwhelming at first. And the kids get irritated because ...kids are kids! LOL (I've been doing this for 25 years and I am down to 2 kids! This should be easier...but life is life and challenges come.)


This year we are diving into some worldview curriculum. We have a culture trying to influence them this way and that way. They need to know how to stand on their own two feet and how to process all that is coming at them. And I do mean coming at them. It's not hidden and coming slowly in...its in and screaming.

My love/hate:

  • I love the ability to tailor school to my kids.
  • I hate they aren't all the same because it would make my life easier.

  • I love they are uniquely created.
  • I hate that as a mom sometimes I feel I fail them in different areas.

  • I love that the Lord guides.
  • I hate that I forget to call upon Him for wisdom at times.

My encouragement to you:

Dive in moms! You can do this. It won't be perfect. But with a little grace, determination, and joy ...you will all come out okay.
  • Laugh at the mishaps. (those are the memories)
  • Flex/change the things that don't work. (we get to adjust)
  • Persevere through the tough times. (sometimes you are going uphill)
My current situation:

Don't mind me...I'm over here trying to make sense out of what I planned while I tackle technology that doesn't always want to do what I want it to do. haha Thank goodness I live with a tech guy and a man who points me to God's word when momma looks more like a deer in the headlights than the kids do!

(In case you have forgotten...I am a blog and blab posting gal! This means I don't proof read or correct my grammar! I am so sorry for those I make nuts! If I stop to check...I'll NEVER blog. And my blog is like my journal. Somehow God uses this to get me back to Him. So enjoy my less than perfect life, while I live out loud and share how God teaches/reaches me.)

Monday, November 11, 2019

From Toddler to Soldier



When did our little toddlers grow up to be real soldiers?  How does this happen so quickly?  I am positive Barry and I blinked too long!  This was just a couple years ago...right?!

The days of trying to load ALL the kids into the twelve passenger van, keep them content and mom sane were a daily goal!  This one loved to go TO THE BACK!  The very back!  (probably to be mischievous!)  I am sure of it! haha 

Our rides were always entertaining!  NOT!  Inevitably someone was mad, someone was sad, someone was irritated, someone was oblivious, and in all the frustration we would hear his giggle escalate from the back of the van as he could take an entire van load of people, from mad to laughing, in 2 seconds or less!  To this day...he can still get us all doing big ole belly laughs!

 This little guy was our shy one.  The one who hid from a camera, ducked to the back of the room when people came over.  He would frown when a store clerk would talk about how cute he was.  He was seriously a cutie!  Yet, we would find gold mines of videos of him being HIGHLY entertaining!  Not a shy reserved bone in his body!  Priceless!     

  This blond headed, blue eyed boy, who would dig in dirt for hours and I know could goof off and get by with a lot!  Because SURELY he wouldn't have done that!  This son the dreamer, could change careers every few weeks if allowed. So you can only imagine when he said he wanted to join the Army, our first response was...you know you can't change your mind in a few weeks...right?!


I'll say this...when this boy would set his mind to something...it was DONE!  
If we got his attention, he was focused and a very hard worker!  Now, no longer the cute little toddler he is the big handsome soldier!  Training those little ones is so important.  Before you know it they become adults doing BIG things! It's no more pretending about wearing camo because he has been issued the real deal!  

No more slacking off, to see if one of his siblings will do it, or IF mom and dad will notice.  He does things with precision and care!  No more ducking when being talked to, now he is yelled at with eyes wide open!  He can now stay all kinds of dirty when on the job, in the field!  
This boy loved getting messy!  

Now every time we see him...I sit and stare.  My boy is doing his thing!  
He takes care of others when he used to be so irritated at his siblings.  It's not easy being the middle one!  Just ask his middle sister!  I'm sure there is competition to who was overlooked the most!

Keep training and loving on those little ones!  Because you are gonna blink and they will be doing big things you used to see them only dress up to do!    
These days WILL go quicker than you think! 

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Someone TURN On The TV

For Pete's Sake! 

I can birth 9 babies! 
I can home school 8 children! 
I can drive a car and teach driver's ed! 
Shoot!  I even drove a 26ft moving truck from TN to OK! 

I can box a house up and unbox a house in record time! 
I have even learned how to use an InstaPot!
I can work a home business with a team of 3,000! 
But for the LIFE of me, I cannot figure out HOW to watch TV! 

Why is this so hard!  What is the point of these remote controls?  Why do we have so many dang buttons on these things!  And we still have 5 remotes!  There is nothing smart about these things!  They are a thorn in my side! 

I don't watch TV much.  I just wanted to have some noise in the house while everyone is gone!  The problem is, if they are gone...nothing is being watched! 

Oh, and these things aren't kid proof either.  They know how to get to 'ALL' the things.  The only person successfully locked out of stuff is MOM! 

I had my rant!  I'll just go back to work in my quiet home!  No worries...the family will be home soon and we will be watching whatever they want because MOM can't figure out the remotes!


Sunday, September 29, 2019

Sovereignty and Chess

Mind blown!  Seriously!  I am finding I am in a stage of life where I can actually participate in a Bible Study throughout the school year!  It's kinda exciting!  My kids are old enough to care for themselves and accomplish school while I am away.  Usually a Bible Study for me was during the summer or a very short 6 week window.  I longed to do more yet something like 8 kids trumped my wishes! LOL 

I love how God can continue to be so real to me in new ways I never saw!  Sometimes those new ways of seeing Him can happen in a second and sometimes it simmers and takes time to fully grasp its full meaning. The Sovereignty of God is one of those things that has had to simmer for me.

I haven't questioned His Sovereignty but I don't think I was really fully grasping it.  Of course I laugh as I say that...can we really ever fully understand Him?!  It's like a child who thinks they've got things all figured out and you as a parent snicker knowing more will be revealed as they age and grow.  They are confident they know, but we know they barely grasp the reality of what they think.  So our Heavenly Father must either snicker at our naivety, or maybe He is even saddened at our assurance and over confidence.  Don't you see it in your kids sometimes?  Sometimes its funny as you know they will grow and learn.  Other times it is heartbreaking as you see, they don't see.

As a parent, we take on so much of that like we have control or we have the power.  We might hold ourselves responsible for something that really we have no power to change.  We can influence so we do have that power.  But God...GOD is the Sovereign One. If you had asked me about His Sovereignty I would have said YES...He is Sovereign.  But I don't think until today I fully comprehended what His Sovereignty looked like from my angle.

Doing a study on "The 5 Aspects of Biblical Womanhood" (which I HIGHLY recommend for all women!) She explained Sovereignty in a way I had never seen it.  God puts the chess board and pieces before us, we can move any way we want on the board.  We have freedom, with limits.  Yes, He is so wise and great that whatever His creatures do, He still brings all moves to fulfill His purpose. Oh I can make some not so smart moves. (freewill)  But my freewill does not mean I have lost my ability to serve Him. Every move has a consequence.  But He can work, all my moves, according to His purposes. Romans 8:28 

So many times as a Christian I can become immobile because of fear if it is a right decision or not. So I wait, worry, fear, question.  Is that what God wants me to do?  No way!  I have freedom to move and choose.  God will work all things to his glory.  There isn't just ONE move to be done.  At the same time, my moves do matter.  But they shouldn't be crippling me into indecisiveness.  I wonder how many times the enemy tries to cripple us?  I know for me...a lot!  Part of my personality is indecisiveness.  Something I have or should I say still learning to take control so I don't sit doing nothing.  We all have something that God brings in control and the enemy loves to push OUT of control.  Do we let him?  He has no power over me and yet sometimes I allow him to have more power.  Usually happens when I put my eyes on me or my circumstances and off the Lord. 

I feel like I have been in a state of STUCK for awhile.  Questioning every decision.  Wondering if I should have, could have game.  Maybe its just this stage of life.  Kids are grown, I see so many ways I could have done it better.  I find I am questioning everything.  I know my downfalls.  I know where I could have, should have, been better.  The enemy whispers, see...Yep, you should have!   Yet my Savior says, Follow Me, I will show you...it wasn't all about YOU!  Who told you that?!  I am Sovereign.  Your moves do not thwart my plan. (Thank the Lord!) 

No more...no more Satan!  It's time for me to stop allowing the questioning to keep me immobile!  It's time to get my eyes firmly back upon my Father!  I'm ready for Chess (event though I have no idea how to play) but luckily my Father has a skill unmatched by anyone.  Even the enemy! I have lots of moves behind me, but I have lots of moves still ahead of me.  It's time to keep making moves and stop feeling frozen because I'm fearful or believing I don't have much to offer. 

Who are you believing?  The whispers of the enemy or the Sovereignty of your Father?