Stress, Stress, and More Stress

It has been a crazy year for our family. I feel like I've gone from putting out one fire to putting out the next. I've struggled with homeschooling, housekeeping, etc. and have often felt like the world was caving in on me. I have found great comfort in Psalm 46 over the last few months.

Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength,
    a very present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
    though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
³ though its waters roar and foam,
    though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy habitation of the Most High.
⁵ God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
    God will help her when morning dawns.
⁶ The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
    he utters his voice, the earth melts.
⁷ The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

⁸ Come, behold the works of the Lord,
    how he has brought desolations on the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
    he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the chariots with fire.
¹⁰ “Be still, and know that I am God.
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth!”
¹¹ The Lord of hosts is with us;    the God of Jacob is our fortress. 

^{Verses 1-3 really have ministered to me. I have often felt as if the earth was giving away, that mountains were falling into the sea, and waters were foaming and swirling. I felt as if I couldn't control anything and have come to the conclusion (again) that I'm not in control - GOD IS!}

^{He, alone, is to be my rock, my fortress, my help in trouble! I just need to be still and know that He is God.}

^{Where is your focus this Christmas season? I'm turning mine to Him!} 

Thankfulness on Thursday

Many times I've participated in Thankful Thursday. Today's not an official Thankful Thursday entry, but that's what I am: thankful.

October was a long hard month for me, personally. I'm not really going to go into much detail about it. It's all in the past and I want to look forward. I shut a lot of things up inside of me and spent time complaining and grumbling. I struggled immensely with my sins and am thankful for a restoration with God, friends, and family.

November isn't starting out too well either. I am concerned about many friends in Staten Island and New Jersey. We lived in Staten Island for three years and in Jersey for four. We know that at least two of our addresses were wiped out by Sandy. Friends who are there say it's like a war zone. Then, just this week, our beloved aunt lost her husband. My heart breaks for her grief and struggle at this time and I hate being so far away. But here's what I'm thankful for: watching people and churches band together to rebuild Staten Island and how Sonny blessed Aunt Sharon the last few years of wedded happiness. I can only pray and know that God is ultimately the one who deserves the praise.

Please know that I'm petitioning the gates of heaven on your behalf! I'm thankful that I have the privilege of doing so!

Craziness

Man, I feel like my life is out of control. Homeschool seems to be going downhill. L is not willing to work on even the simplest of tasks. It takes hours and a TON of self-control on my part to get anything done with her. M is picking up on her attitude and I often hear the same phrases parroted out of his mouth. Then, there's my attitude that needs checking as well. Some days I found teaching a classroom full of kindergarteners much, much easier than teaching my two at home. L is definitely showing the pre-teen view of life and everything seems to be my fault. I'm trying to stay calm, especially when she brings up the past and "how horrible of a mother/teacher I currently am." Glen is struggling with back pain since he fell a few weeks ago.

Scriptures from which I am currently drawing encouragement:

Psalm 18:1-3 -  
I love you, O Lord, my strength.
² The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
    my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
    my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
³ I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
    and I am saved from my enemies.

Psalm 121 -
I lift up my eyes to the hills.
    From where does my help come?
² My help comes from the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth.

³ He will not let your foot be moved;
    he who keeps you will not slumber.
⁴ Behold, he who keeps Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵ The Lord is your keeper;
    the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
⁶ The sun shall not strike you by day,
    nor the moon by night.

⁷ The Lord will keep you from all evil;
    he will keep your life.
⁸ The Lord will keep
    your going out and your coming in
    from this time forth and forevermore.

Psalm 28:6-8
Blessed be the Lord!
    For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.
⁷ The Lord is my strength and my shield;
    in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;
my heart exults,
    and with my song I give thanks to him.

⁸ The Lord is the strength of his people;
    he is the saving refuge of his anointed.

May He be glorified in my craziness and weakness!

The Twinkle in his Eye

My husband has this twinkle in his blue eyes. It shines only when it looks at me. To me that special light and his smile are more precious than gold. It tells me that he loves me, that he's there for me, and that I'm his one and only. I can usually tell he's looking at me, even when my back is turned.

Our wedding day - 1991

I consider myself blessed because he has had this twinkle for 21 years of marriage as of this Friday. I'm praying for many more years of this. God brought us together all those years ago, against my desires. When I was younger, I said that I'd never marry a teacher or preacher. I wanted someone who had different likes and interests. I learned not to tell God anything. However, God knows best. He knows that when you have similar likes and interests, there are more things to do and enjoy together.

So I married this man who was a teacher in a Christian school with a passion for the Lord. Ten years into the marriage, the Lord leads us to seminary and we head off for California. Little did we know that we would remain here. Glen has been my pastor for the last seven years; we just celebrated our church anniversary at the beginning of this summer.

Our son's adoption day - 2009

We've weathered a few storms in our life together and they have only been to make us stronger as one before the Lord. Genesis 2:24 - Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. It's been an amazing adventure and one that will continue until death do us part.

The Lord has blessed us and I am extremely grateful for His provision of a godly man for my husband. I will do whatever it takes to keep that twinkle in the eye of my husband. I love you, Glen!

Not Back to School Bloghop

This year, instead of just reading posts about homeschool, I'm going to participate with some bloghops as well.

This week at the Not Back to School Bloghop, the focus is on curriculum. I just love books - all kinds of books. Curriculum can be quite the addiction for me.

For my seventh grade girl, we'll be using the following:

Math:      Math-U-See Pre-Algebra
Writing:   Institute for Excellence in Writing
Literature: Progeny Press
Science:  Apologia - Exploring Creation with General Science
History:   Story of the World, Vol. 2
Bible:      AWANA for scripture memory, Who is God? by Hay and Webb, and Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends by the Mallys

With my kinder boy, we'll be using:

Math:           Math-U-See Primer
Handwriting: Handwriting without Tears
Phonics:        Explode the Code
Reading:        Sonlight (using the book list only)
Bible:             AWANA for scripture memory, Who is God? by Hay and Webb, and Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends by the Mallys

We'll be continuing our weekly nature walks and journals as well as participating in the homeschool support group co-op. It's shaping up to be a great year!

Glowing

Today, on the longest day of the year (aka the first day of summer), I've been reflecting more on the Light of the World. (Yes, pun was intended...) Each week, we take a nature study walk with homeschooling friends. Just because the school year has ended for us doesn't mean the learning stops. I spoke a lot with my daughter and son today about the differences in time for the seasons - Summer and Winter being the longest and shortest days of the year; Spring and Fall being equal daylight and night-time. One of the young women we walk with each week was discussing with her mother and me about how the sun was shining and there was a double glow around her shadow - one lighter than the other. Then the sun and light brought to mind our family devotions the other evening. We read in Exodus how Moses was hid in the cleft of the rock and was able to glimpse God's glory after He had passed. Moses' face and countenance was forever changed. That's the way we are to be EVERY TIME we encounter God and His Word. We are to be changed and shining His reflected radiance!!!

I feel like I'm rambling; it's around midnight and all these thoughts are jumbling around in my brain. I can't stop my brain from thinking and running around and therefore, I can't sleep. I'm gonna leave you all in blogland and head for my Bible. May I be changed and "glowing" tomorrow morning after feasting on the Word of God.

Lazy Days of Summer

The lazy days of summer have hit our home. We took a week camping in the Sequoia Forest at Hartland Christian Camp. It was a wonderful way to finish off the school year - homeschool family camp! The last week has been spent just hanging out, doing laundry, and enjoying the kiddie pool. Usually for summer break, we only have the month of July. My daughter worked hard to finish before camp in order to have June off too. This past school year started last July since she broke her arm/wrist and spent the summer in casts.

There really isn't much planned for this month outside of our weekly nature walks and AIM, L's mime ministry. July will be full of local camps - soccer, baseball, and basketball - as well as Scholarship Camp and National Conference. We're not sure if we'll start homeschooling in August as usual or wait until September.

Maybe this summer, I'll be inspired to write more. I know I've been reading more - just for me! I don't know. Keep checking back to see about our adventures this summer! I'd love to hear about yours!

Bending the Light

One of our recent homeschool field trips involved visiting a light house. Inside the Assistant Light Keepers quarters was this actual light from a tower. I was amazed at the size and clearness of the glass. The brass was shiny and clean. It was beautiful to behold. On one wall was detailed information of how the small light inside is bent and magnified by the glass lens. As we read and learned about how this worked, I was struck with the thought about God wanting me to let my light shine before others. No matter how small and insignificant it may seem (like the lamp in a lighthouse), God uses His lens to magnify and glorify Himself. I'm a tiny little lamp surrounded by an almighty Lens - God Himself! Praise be to His name!


Matthew 5:16 - In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

God's Light

Have you ever had so many thoughts in your brain that you didn't know what to do first? I've spent some time the last month reflecting on numerous things. Have I come to any conclusions? No. Have I made any decisions or commitments? No. I'm just hanging in there day by day - trying to keep life normal and same for my two small people. I know that God gives me grace only for the place I'm in right now. Not for where I've been - so I'm not to look back; and not for where I will be - because I'll want to change the plans He has for me. He only gives me what I need for today - for the moment I'm in. I know that I'm a worrier, planner, and organizer...sometimes to my detriment. I don't always let God have free reign in my life, and yet I know that is what He desires. I strive for it every day, but I want to take things back and handle them in my way. I often feel like I'm on a fence and need to fall off. I just don't know which way to go. That's when I turn to Scripture and read. His word always has the answers I need because my heavenly Father knows what I need even before I need it. Tonight, my light is on sharing with you all that I struggle and fall short, that I'm human and in need of a Savior. What is tomorrow's light? I don't know and will wait patiently for God to reveal what He has for me as the time comes.

John 8:12 - Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

A Giveaway!!!

I was so excited about this giveaway I had to share. It's for 7 days camping/cabin resort about 2 hours from St. Louis, MO. I participated in all eight opportunities to win. However, I can't win, maybe one of you can - visit Homeschool Giveaways and submit your entries before April 20th. Here's to one of us visiting Missouri!

A Good Wife's Guide

I have been given the opportunity to review the book, A Good Wife's Guide, by Darlene Schacht of Time-Warp Wife.

Darlene writes about our roles as a help meet. She covers a variety of topics such as our attitudes, our actions, and our roles. The first portion of the book has chapters encouraging us to fulfill our God ordained roles. The second portion covers the practical aspect of homemaking.

Darlene tackles all her topics, especially the tough subject of a wife's submission to her husband, with scripture and life lessons. The chapters are easy to read and full of information. I'm planning to incorporate some of her quotes on my lesson on 1 Peter 3.

A Good Wife's Guide encouraged and challenged me to be a better help meet for Glen and mother for my children. I'd recommend this book to courting young ladies, newlywed, and wives of any age.

A Busy Full Week

Life gets hectic at times. I feel like all I've done is run, run, and run. Sundays are always full because of church - typical for a pastor's family. Monday held our homeschool co-op and AIM practice. Tuesday we had a day with Dad at the zoo. Wednesday was at the Safari Park (Dad joined us then too). I took Thursday and Friday at home to regroup and catch up on some deep cleaning in the bathrooms and laundry. Now, here it is Saturday, and I spent the morning at church; the family handed out flyers for the Easter services while I manned the building and changed the turn signal bulb in the van which wasn't working. We came home and had our spaghetti dinner. I followed that up with more laundry, scrubbing the van windows and applying Rain-X, and finally making soft pretzels. Add to all that doing the dishes I don't know how many times. I'm tired and sore. This past week was supposed to be part of our spring break. How come I don't feel relaxed?

my tray of pretzels

Tomorrow starts another week and we're off running again. Maybe I'll go have another pretzel to boost my energy!

Then Sings My Soul

Join Amy and others at Signs, Miracles, and Wonders!

Reading Eggs

I've been looking around for a phonics/reading program for my 5 year old son. After many years teaching Kindergarten and using ABeka, I wanted to try something different - more for my sake than for his.

I have been given the opportunity to review Reading Eggs and felt that it might help my son who loves anything video related. He is in kindergarten. I also registered our daughter (6th grade) for the Reading Eggspress.

I found it easy to create accounts (one for me and one for each of the children). My account helps me to track and monitor their progress. As my son finished a level, an email was sent to me stating what letters he has learned and how he is doing. The parental pages also offer age and grade level suggestions.

On the first entry, an assessment is given. For our son, he began at the very beginning level one. L on the other hand answered many questions and was able to begin at her reading level.
M, our son, found the program fun, entertaining, and workable. He really enjoyed the graphics and completing the paths. Here's one page of his complete path. what I liked most about his level was the variety of learning opportunities. Each lesson has ten different activities and reading words starts early (without knowing all 26 letters). I did find at times that he was just "playing the game" - clicking on anything to get the answer - instead of really trying to do the work. That mostly happened when I left him alone on the computer.

For L, she had four different areas to work in: the Comprehension Gym, the Mall, the Library, and the Stadium. In the comprehension gym, the obvious work was comprehension. The mall was used to purchase items earned; the library offered books to read and the Stadium area offered games like spelling sprint and grammar skating.

It was a great opportunity for my children to do something different that our usual work and a great reinforcement for reading. Although I wouldn't use it as my only source of teaching phonics and/or reading, it is a great supplement and encouragement for my children.

I tried to post pictures with Print Screen; however, Blogger was having trouble saving them and kept freezing up on me.

I received a free trial subscription through The Homeschool Lounge Review Team in exchange for my review.

Frumps to Pumps Review

As a former educator who dressed professionally at least six days a week, I dreamed of becoming a stay at home mom wearing my shorts and t-shirts or jammies if I choose. I have been living my dream for five years and admit that I have fallen into the cozy trap. I am often found still in my jammies at 11am and sipping coffee. I came to the realization about 6 weeks ago that I've become a frump. I recognized it when one Sunday morning I got dressed for church in my skirt and sweater and said to myself, "So there I am; haven't seen myself in a while." I've made an effort to "dress up" more than just Sundays. Then I began reading Sarah Mae's text.

Frumps to Pumps by Sarah Mae is a delightful motivational series of brief devotions. She has written 20 brief vignettes to encourage stay at home women to "get dressed and stay that way." I can attest that what she has written is true - life happens and if we're not dressed for it, we're not ready. Each devotion is short, easy to understand, and meaningful. There were many instances where I saw myself.

Sarah Mae writes in such a manner that I felt like I was sitting down have coffee together. She uses Scripture and quotes to support her material. I am now motivated even more to be the woman God calls me to be!

I received a complimentary copy Frumps to Pumps for my review. All opinions and thoughts stated are my own.

Overcommitment

Yes, I have a problem: overcommitment. I want to do a variety of things and have a huge to do list. Be watching the blog for some reviews that I'm writing as well as pictures of homeschool items. Church is keeping us busy and I feel like there is no time for blog writing or reading. I'm just having trouble saying no, so please don't ask me to do anything for a while...... Just kidding, feel free to ask, but know that I might say no.

My list of priorities needs re-evaluated and ranked in order. Better get off the computer and get cracking on my list of things to do. I hope everyone understands and joins me in getting things done.