Disconnected, Separated, and Reconnecting

This year didn't go in the way I thought, but when does it ever? As much as we plan, the Lord ultimately has control. I haven't blogged in a while. Finding time among the chaos is hard enough, but I've been disconnected from the world wide web for four weeks! Four weeks people! I have to say it wasn't total torture because of the wonderful thing called a tablet with 4G! But it just isn't the same as being able to sit down and work at a full computer.

For those that have been following my crazy life, we had been living four hours north of my where my husband is stationed. He would visit occasionally, which made it better than a deployment, but separation is never easy. Life at Isaiah's Place is a wonderful thing and an amazing opportunity. My kids loved the freedom of country life, Short Stuff was in her "element", and I had the great company of two beloved friends. But a family separated is never healthy, no matter how worthy the reason.

So we packed up our 35' camper, said our good-byes, and moved down south to be closer to dad. Two weeks we camped out at family and visited. The third week we cleaned and painted the rent house. And the fourth week . . . we spent eight+ hours on the road one saturday loading and unloading our belongings, putting everything in its place and unpacking, and making another trip to Isaiah's Place. Ahhh . . . I can breathe a little now.

Photo courtesy of Dina Lea Photography

But this move brought with it a new separation. Short Stuff is now living at Isaiah's Place. And loving it, I might add. We reconnected with dad, but lost Short Stuff. This mama has had to let go a little sooner than normal, but she is such her mother's child. She thrives with independence and Isaiah's Place offers a perfect environment: a combination of access to communication and horses! She does her school work independently and with Diane. She loves having control of her schedule, since she is much more OCD than me. Life without her is different and required some adjusting, but we are all doing well.

Now that we are settled yet again, I am trying to bring some normalacy to life. Get a schedule going. Trying to teach the olders while the youngers stay busy. Support my husband while he finishes school. And enjoy being together.

Christmas Plans Debunked by Flu

Well, as so many suffered with the flu, we did too, right thru Christmas break. I was blessed with the company of my hubby, but we weren't able to travel and see family. So this is what we did instead.

It was a total impromptu thing. The night before, aka Christmas eve, I came up with some ideas of activites to keep my kids busy, teach them about Jesus, and give them the opportunity to share Jesus' love. I made cards numbered 1-10, each one having an activity listed on the back.

I started the morning by reading them the Christmas story from the Bible while dad cooked breakfast. After breakfast was cleaned up they could read card 1.

Card 1: Make hot chocolate to sip on.

Card 2: Donate un-needed toys and clothing. So the kids took 30 minutes and went thru their belongings finidng things to give away, making room for the new things they would receive for Christmas. A simple way to share the wealth and think of others.

Card 3: Make and decorate sugar cookies.

Card 4: Make pinwheel sandwiches for lunch.

Card 5: Make decorations for the nursing home and deliver them. Dad and the non-sick children took these and decorated the patient's rooms.

Card 6: Read Christmas stories before nap time. Only the boys joined me for this one.

Card 7:  Make chocolate dipped marshmallows. This didn't work quite like I had hoped, but the littles enjoyed eating them.

Card 8: Make a birthday cake for Jesus. We not only had fun making and decorating the cake, but we sang Jesus happy birthday and took the oppotunity to tell the Christmas story again. We used this simple story line:  

                                                           chocolate cake = we all have sinned (Rom. 3:23)

white frosting = forgiveness that covers our sins and washes them whiter than snow (Is. 1:18)

red = Jesus' blood, we have forgiveness because he died for our sins (Rom. 4:25)

green = the everlasting life that we can have when we ask Jesus to forgive our sins (Jn. 3:16)

candle = Jesus is the light of the world (Jn. 8:12)

  

Card 9: Make carmel corn. We had to skip this one. We were sugared out at this point and saved it for another day.

Card 10: Watch The Nativity movie. Love this movie and it is a family tradition too.

I maintained the rule that each activity had to be cleaned up before the next could be read. This kept the mess down and the fun up! It was a laid back, enjoyable family day.

Letting go

We are in the midst of the holiday season. The one time of the year that our houses fill with family that you only see once a year, way more food than we could ever eat, and smells of cinnamon and nutmeg.

This year I got to host Thanksgiving! First time ever. I had help though. We planned the meal out and did most of the cooking the day before. There was no stress, no rush. Just cooking.

I let go of the idea of a perfectly decorated spread.

I let go of gourmet dishes.

I let go of the notion of angelic children.

I let go of the idea of thanksgiving homeschool projects.

I let go of things going my way.

And it was enjoyable. I enjoyed serving healthy food, yummy desserts, and spending time with family. We managed to squeeze in Charlie Brown's Mayflower movie. And we took a family trip to a nearby working ranch festival thing. (www.homesteadheritage.com)

Here is to letting go this holiday season and remembering the reason for the season. Focus on Jesus Christ, not what the neighbors are doing. And don't spend too much time on pinterest. ;)

(This is a picture from last year, but it was perfect for "letting go". ;))

The Managed Chaos

So my first week of experimenting with how to tame the chaos in our homeschooling schedule was a success. It wasn't perfect, but it was a success.

The first secret is to lower expectations. I sat down with my hubby and went over my homeschool lesson plans. And we discovered that I was teaching two different science lessons each day. Totally unnessesary however cool they may be. And although history and science are awesome, language arts and math must come first as they are the base to all learning.

The other expectation that needs to be adjusted is the amount of time for seat work. We are a busy family with chores, ministry, and just life. They are all rich learning experiences and should be considered a part of our school day. So seat work is limited to the morning hours. If the work is not finished during this time, and the parent is confident that it isn't caused by over planning, then the school work must be finished before any fun activities. The key to making that work is that mom is finished teaching at lunch. If they need more help with their work, it will be saved for the following school day.

The next secret I discovered is that housework comes before school. Gasp! A dear friend brought this to my attention. And then I realized, if I can't concentrate sitting in a messy house, neither can my kids. So it works like this: Bible study, chores, school, play. They picked up on that real quick. My house stayed cleaned and school was accomplished.

I designated our extra stuff on different days. Sunday evenings are for music, Mondays we sew, and Wednesdays are horse days. Scheduling these things in assures we make time to rest and play together.

I'm much calmer, days are easier, and the kids are less frustrated. To keep this rolling, I also had to admit that keeping a rigid schedule all day long is exhausting to me and destined to fail. So we schedule our mornings, but leave afternoons loosely scheduled. This helps tremendously!

Mixing School and Life

Apparently I am not the only homeschooler out there that is having a hard time balancing school and life. That is how this post has come to be.

Not all moments are that blissful is my house, but we do have a few. I do miss my big cushy chair, but we still enjoy a good book together. It's finding those moments that is getting more and more difficult. (If you notice this blissful moment is back when I only had 4 children.)

I love having a large family and don't regret one moment of it. And to most people's shock, I do want more children. My hard-headed, determined self is gonna find a way to handle all my chaos.

We had much better school days when no one was leaning over my shoulder. I know accountability is a good thing, so I'm not dissing that. But when mama wasn't stressed, the kids weren't stressed and we had much calmer school days.

My other problem is my love of doing and seeing and being. I love being involved in activities, especially when it has to do with my kids. I love leading and teaching. And I love being able to help support my family when the opportunity presents itself.

Every year I start out thinking I will simplify my schedule. I limit myself to this and that. This year I limited myself to Isaiah's Place. Simple enough, right? Well I am also good at creating projects and I have! I love it! But just a couple months in and I am yearning for balance!

I have some great ideas I am going to try over the next few weeks and will be sharing them here if they work! So stay tuned! The Lord has put a few things on my heart and I'm going to listen. 

A Life of Ministry

We are finally settling into a routine here at Isaiah's Place. We busy ourselves with events on weekends, vocational opportunities for my high schooler, school for the others and ranch duties. But living here in the midst of serving people, I am reminded of the ministry I have been called to.

I love being a part of this deaf ministry. I love helping Diane reach her goals and dreams. I love making people happy after enjoying a home cooked meal. I love my kids being able to serve here too. But my first ministry is that to my home, my husband and my children.

Kirk Cameron posted a beautiful blog by J.R. Miller that really encouraged and reminded me to stay the course and put my home ministry first. You can read that here.

Home happiness depends on the wife.

Her spirit gives the home its atmosphere.

Her hands fashion its beauty.

Her heart makes its love.

Of course I want that! Of course I want to be the provider of all that to my family! So as much as I love Isaiah's Place, I must make my family ministry my priority. And part of that is met thru Isaiah's Place, but I must not let it take over. I am writing this blog post mainly to myself as a reminder, but for those that have made it this far, I pray it has served as a reminder for you too.

My home may be small and on wheels, but I can still make it beautiful, inviting, and peaceful. 

Life is Never Still

I am always in a constant state of change. And when the change roller coaster climbs up the mountain, I am reminded I'm not as young as I used to be. No, I'm not old. Bouncing back just isn't as . . . well . . . bouncy as it used to be.

For those that have followed our crazy journey (or recently caught up on it during my last post) know that we previously lived in a 5th wheel camper. It seems our path has made a big circle and we are once again moving into a camper!!

There it is. Our new home!

The best part is where we are parking the camper! We are going to be working and living at Isaiah's Place. I am so thankful that God has given us this opportunity to serve and spend this season of life with Diane at IP.

So now for the hard part. The "simplifying". Which means getting rid of stuff and moving the stuff we are keeping. Ugh . . .

And as I struggle to part with things that I have had for a long time or things that I bought but never used or things I just acquired, I have to constantly remind myself to focus on God and the ministry he has trusted me with. How will _________ help me reach my goals for my family? How will _______ glorify God?

Pray with me as we begin this next journey. Pray that we can make wise decision. Pray for guidance. Pray for finances to be there. Pray for the ministry of Isaiah's Place and the deaf population. Pray that we can let go of stuff and grab on to God's vision.