Wednesday, November 29, 2017
Friday, November 24, 2017
Transition - Part 2
Transition is pretty much just a fancy word for change.
Most people don't like change. Change is hard. It is unknown and unpredictable. Even changes that we want and look forward to, like learning to live as a married person, or getting a new job, or having a new baby, can be difficult to navigate.
I am in a pretty intense season of change, of which our daughter H moving out is only one part. It is really hard and painful at times, but also really, really good. The Holy Spirit is showing me, mercifully in bits and pieces, how many bad habits I had developed, particularly when it came to how I related to my children and how I attempted to resolve conflict. And there just hasn't been a lot of time and mental space to learn to do things differently until now. The crisis of the week (or day) took most of my time and energy.
So I am very, very grateful that God is so patient with me. Patient in timing. Patient in revealing things when I am ready to see them. And patient with me as I process the information and suss out what He wants me to learn. He is so very good! What a good, good Father we have in God.
I am also very grateful for such a patient husband, and such patient and resilient children, who love me in spite of the mistakes I make with them!
Here is some of what I am learning:
~ how secondary trauma has affected the way I view the world
~ how having anger directed at me by one person has affected the way I anticipate interactions with others
~ how those anticipations and assumptions are almost always wrong
~ how forgiveness is the perfect antidote to anger
~ how to put healthy emotional boundaries in place
~ how to better see things from another person's point of view without getting defensive
These are BIG things to learn. GOOD things!! But it is a process and I am not finished yet. (again, thankful for God's patience!) It is a really wonderful thing to be 55 and still learning new things. :)
Transition is hard. But it can lead to better than before. That is what I want. That is what I am praying and working for. And by God's grace, that is what is happening in my life.
Most people don't like change. Change is hard. It is unknown and unpredictable. Even changes that we want and look forward to, like learning to live as a married person, or getting a new job, or having a new baby, can be difficult to navigate.
I am in a pretty intense season of change, of which our daughter H moving out is only one part. It is really hard and painful at times, but also really, really good. The Holy Spirit is showing me, mercifully in bits and pieces, how many bad habits I had developed, particularly when it came to how I related to my children and how I attempted to resolve conflict. And there just hasn't been a lot of time and mental space to learn to do things differently until now. The crisis of the week (or day) took most of my time and energy.
So I am very, very grateful that God is so patient with me. Patient in timing. Patient in revealing things when I am ready to see them. And patient with me as I process the information and suss out what He wants me to learn. He is so very good! What a good, good Father we have in God.
I am also very grateful for such a patient husband, and such patient and resilient children, who love me in spite of the mistakes I make with them!
Here is some of what I am learning:
~ how secondary trauma has affected the way I view the world
~ how having anger directed at me by one person has affected the way I anticipate interactions with others
~ how those anticipations and assumptions are almost always wrong
~ how forgiveness is the perfect antidote to anger
~ how to put healthy emotional boundaries in place
~ how to better see things from another person's point of view without getting defensive
These are BIG things to learn. GOOD things!! But it is a process and I am not finished yet. (again, thankful for God's patience!) It is a really wonderful thing to be 55 and still learning new things. :)
Transition is hard. But it can lead to better than before. That is what I want. That is what I am praying and working for. And by God's grace, that is what is happening in my life.
Thursday's Thankful Things
Our traditional Thanksgiving morning breakfast....cinnamon rolls and tangarines.
Card games with the cousins.
My view while making pies. :)
Daughter G's job has always been to set and decorate the tables.
I love each person around this table!
My nephew and soon to be niece-in-law.
Post dinner nap.
Somehow we manage to make room for dessert. ;)
So many blessings. My heart is full of gratitude to God!
Wednesday, November 22, 2017
Sunday, November 12, 2017
Our Week in Review
Did you know that the Alamo and the events depicted in Les Miserables took place during the same year?
Yep, they did. 1832. We studied both of them and for Friday night movie night we introduced Little Man to the wonders of the 2012 Les Mis movie (we had him cover his eyes for two scenes). His siblings had all seen it previously and go around singing the songs quite frequently, so Little Man could sing along with almost all of them even though he was seeing the movie for the very first time. We are big Les Mis fans here, so it was a delight to share that with our youngest.
Do you have a favorite Les Mis song?
I am so in love with home schooling! God has been renewing my home schooling joy this year, and I am so, so thankful. There are always new things to learn, and it is such a delight to learn together with my children. I am doubly thankful that after 17 years God is giving me fresh excitement for the task of teaching my children at home.
When looking at the big picture we are definitely in the home stretch. Only 5 more years after this one and Little Man will graduate. I know these next 5 years will fly by. So my focus has shifted from active teaching to facilitating and cheerleading as my children take on the responsibility of learning for themselves. Our days (and my priorities) have changed so much over these past 17 years. It's kindof surreal and awesome and humbling to reflect on this journey we embarked on 17 years ago, and see God's faithfulness to us in so many ways. He is good!
Little Man, checking his math with dad one evening.
And me, on a college planning lunch date with son L. We had a very productive time, gaining clarity on a direction to pursue, if not a specific college yet. I love him so! He wants to be effective for God's Kingdom, and I love that about him.
We also got to attend another wonderful wedding this past week. I love weddings! They are such a beautiful picture of God's love for us (which of course is what God's Word says they should be!). When I am at a wedding I spend as much time looking at old married couples in the audience as I do at the young couple up front. Young love is beautiful and exciting and sweet, but old love is deep and rich and has gone through intense heat to make it more pure. Older couples who have lived out their vows through "richer or poorer" and "in sickness and in health" inspire, challenge, and bless me. I am thankful this beautiful young couple has such good examples of marriage to pattern theirs after!
In other news, son C's winter soccer season has begun. This is not indoor soccer, which is played on a smaller field and you can hit the ball off the walls. This is outdoor field sized soccer which happens to be played inside a big dome. His select team is playing winter soccer for the next 4-5 months, until the outdoor fields are ready to be played on again in the spring. So....in some ways it will be a long winter. ;) This is a new team for son C, and he has lots of new things to adjust to. But he is excited because this is a dream of his, and I just want to support him any way I can ("facilitate and cheerlead", remember?).
One day this week I looked out the kitchen window, and there in the back yard were Little Man and 18 year old college man (son G) choreographing a light saber battle with two lit up light sabers. I just stood at the window and watched them for a long time. It was something that probably wouldn't have happened if we weren't home schooling (and hence Little Man being home during the day around son G's college schedule). It made my mama's heart very full and so, so thankful. We are rejoicing that son G has TWO part time jobs now!!! He had experienced quite a few closed doors of employment before these two opened, and we are (again) thankful! So very much to be thankful for.....
What are you thankful for this week?
Yep, they did. 1832. We studied both of them and for Friday night movie night we introduced Little Man to the wonders of the 2012 Les Mis movie (we had him cover his eyes for two scenes). His siblings had all seen it previously and go around singing the songs quite frequently, so Little Man could sing along with almost all of them even though he was seeing the movie for the very first time. We are big Les Mis fans here, so it was a delight to share that with our youngest.
Do you have a favorite Les Mis song?
I am so in love with home schooling! God has been renewing my home schooling joy this year, and I am so, so thankful. There are always new things to learn, and it is such a delight to learn together with my children. I am doubly thankful that after 17 years God is giving me fresh excitement for the task of teaching my children at home.
When looking at the big picture we are definitely in the home stretch. Only 5 more years after this one and Little Man will graduate. I know these next 5 years will fly by. So my focus has shifted from active teaching to facilitating and cheerleading as my children take on the responsibility of learning for themselves. Our days (and my priorities) have changed so much over these past 17 years. It's kindof surreal and awesome and humbling to reflect on this journey we embarked on 17 years ago, and see God's faithfulness to us in so many ways. He is good!
Little Man, checking his math with dad one evening.
And me, on a college planning lunch date with son L. We had a very productive time, gaining clarity on a direction to pursue, if not a specific college yet. I love him so! He wants to be effective for God's Kingdom, and I love that about him.
We also got to attend another wonderful wedding this past week. I love weddings! They are such a beautiful picture of God's love for us (which of course is what God's Word says they should be!). When I am at a wedding I spend as much time looking at old married couples in the audience as I do at the young couple up front. Young love is beautiful and exciting and sweet, but old love is deep and rich and has gone through intense heat to make it more pure. Older couples who have lived out their vows through "richer or poorer" and "in sickness and in health" inspire, challenge, and bless me. I am thankful this beautiful young couple has such good examples of marriage to pattern theirs after!
In other news, son C's winter soccer season has begun. This is not indoor soccer, which is played on a smaller field and you can hit the ball off the walls. This is outdoor field sized soccer which happens to be played inside a big dome. His select team is playing winter soccer for the next 4-5 months, until the outdoor fields are ready to be played on again in the spring. So....in some ways it will be a long winter. ;) This is a new team for son C, and he has lots of new things to adjust to. But he is excited because this is a dream of his, and I just want to support him any way I can ("facilitate and cheerlead", remember?).
One day this week I looked out the kitchen window, and there in the back yard were Little Man and 18 year old college man (son G) choreographing a light saber battle with two lit up light sabers. I just stood at the window and watched them for a long time. It was something that probably wouldn't have happened if we weren't home schooling (and hence Little Man being home during the day around son G's college schedule). It made my mama's heart very full and so, so thankful. We are rejoicing that son G has TWO part time jobs now!!! He had experienced quite a few closed doors of employment before these two opened, and we are (again) thankful! So very much to be thankful for.....
What are you thankful for this week?
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
New Office
As promised, here are some pics of our new office. The only thing missing is the beautiful new shade I plan on ordering for the window, but it has to wait a couple of paydays. The futon couch folds down into a full sized bed. Daughter G slept on it when she was last home, and has declared it "very comfortable!"
One of the baskets in this cube storage unit holds the sheets for the bed, and pillows and blankets are in the closet. Because we started with basically an empty room, we got to put in only those things that were useful and/or meant something to my hubby. So there is a place for everything, and everything in its place.
We love it!
One of the baskets in this cube storage unit holds the sheets for the bed, and pillows and blankets are in the closet. Because we started with basically an empty room, we got to put in only those things that were useful and/or meant something to my hubby. So there is a place for everything, and everything in its place.
We love it!
