Shhh…..

So, I have a little secret.  I’m going to be transparent for just a second..

I HATE participating in Santa, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy and any other made up holiday character.  I wish we had never started these traditions with our kids but we’re kind of stuck now.  Yes,  I know some many of you disagree with me, and that’s ok!  We can agree to disagree.  I’m not saying we should ban it from everyone, I just personally wish it wasn’t a part of my families traditions.

Why, oh why, are you asking, do I hate this so much?  I know it sounds cliché, but it DOES take away from the true meaning of the holidays.  Santa, I can at least tie it back to Jesus’ birth through the giving of gifts.  I still don’t like it but whatever.  The Easter Bunny on the other hand is just ludicrous!  A rabbit that brings candy all over the world in one night.  Just the fact that it’s a rabbit is ridiculous.  And what exactly does it have to do with Easter;  you know the whole Jesus dying and being resurrected to save us from eternal damnation?  Yeah, I don’t see it either.  So, hang on just a second while I jump over and see what google has to say……………………………………………………………….Ok.  So, the bunny represents some pagan fertility thing.  I really don’t know exactly,  but I didn’t find a worthy enough connection.  I did however find a great article from Focus on the Family regarding how to incorporate the true meaning into the commercialized end of the holiday.  I just printed the 5 mini-lessons on The Passion of the Christ.  If you’re searching for alternatives to the obvious you should check it out.

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For school today the kids wanted to do an egg hunt and I, of course, did not want to just hand out candy like it’s no big thing.  Schooltime focusing and sugar highs have been known to cause some unGodly reactions from the teacher….just saying.  Anyway, I asked if anyone had an idea to make it school appropriate, i.e. educational, and to my surprise, Jonathan, my school-hating rambunctious 7 yr old,  had the answer.  I promise he did not consult Pinterest first 🙂  He suggested we put a math fact into each egg and if you answer correctly you receive a candy.  I was blown away.  So that’s what we did.  I put multiplication facts in Zeke’s, subtraction in Jonathan’s, and addition in Emma’s.  They did fantastic.  Even little Emma who hasn’t really had math this year.  She was adding like we’d been working on it for the past month!

But my quest for aligning God’s truth with this egg nonsense continued until I found a fantastic egg hunt idea that incorporates the story of the crucifixion of Jesus.  I, however, did find my awesome idea on Pinterest, over at Your Homesbased Mom.

Check it out!  Basically it’s an egg hunt with 12 numbered eggs each with a scripture and item representing it inside.  We did it yesterday and I loved it!

So ultimately, we will probably continue on with our character holiday traditions however I will be purposeful in how we teach them the true meaning of it all.  After all, God is more concerned with our heart, is he not?

 

Happy Mother’s Day!

It’s currently 1:34 am, everyone is asleep after celebrating ME today;  well, all Mothers actually.  I just want to brag on my husband for a minute.  He is absolutely the best.  I was woken up this morning by sweet little babies carrying a plate and coffee cup into my bedroom.  I had 2 eggs over easy, turkey sausage, a bagel with butter and coffee….just the way I like it.  The best part, I was then left alone to eat it!  Ahhh, it was AMAZING.  I then looked over to the clock, only to realize it was 10:45 am.  That is almost not a.m. anymore!  They allowed me to sleep in.  How blessed am I?

Then I leisurely, rolled out of bed and typed my Facebook Mother’s Day wishes.  I didn’t have to rush or cut them short.  I even cried a little….ok, a lot, reading others statuses, especially any about my Maw Maw.  I miss her terribly and thinking about the missed phone call on these special days makes the pain fresh every year.  I can only imagine how my mom feels.  I try to think of what it would be like to be in her shoes and long for one more “I Love You” or phone call from my mom.  I can’t even comprehend.  I tears me to pieces just imagining.

So, after my emotional Facebook time, I took a shower.  Guess what?  NO ONE came in the bathroom as I s..l..o..w..l..y showered.  Usually I have at least 2 guests each visit to the bathroom.  Sometimes, they stay a while as if they were invited.

All the time I was doing my thing, my hubby was cooking and cleaning and taking care of kids.  He treated his mom, grandma and I to….potato salad, cole slaw, pasta salad, baked beans,  roasted broccoli, grilled pork chops, chicken and hot dogs.  He even made a dessert that he created on his own.  He made a “crust” out of gluten-free rice krispie treats then filled it with fresh strawberries mixed with whipped cream.  It was so good I think I ate a total of 3….ok, maybe 4 pieces throughout the day!

At the end of the day, Jason helped with putting the little ones to bed.  Thank you Lord!  All in all, it may be the best Mother’s Day ever.

 

This totally sums up my day!

Life Happens

So much for starting a blog and keeping up with it!  I promise I had grand intentions of posting some random, mind-blowing rant daily but alas, life happens.  We have had quite an eventful past two weeks and I have had numerous opportunities to keep my focus where it should be.  I have at times been successful and others, well,  we’ll just go with “not so much.”

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Here’s a rundown of our adventures 🙂

• March 30

Sunday night, hours before Spring Break would begin, I received an unexpected phone call from my sister in Louisiana.  My step-dad had passed away earlier that evening.  Without going into personal details, he went quickly and unexpectedly.  So our Spring Break was thrust forth into a totally different direction than originally planned.

Now, don’t misunderstand me.  We love, love, love travelling to Louisiana and of course it was not even an option to NOT go.  However, I am a list maker and a planner.  I plan for a trip back home for at least two weeks before we leave.  I had less than 36 hours this go ’round.  On top of the time crunch, it was an emotional day and a half.  I’ve lost two other family members in Louisiana since I’ve moved to Georgia in 2000.  However, I happened to be in town both times.  This experience was so different and so difficult for me.  I so badly wanted to be there for my mom.  I didn’t care that I’d be there for her in 36ish hours, I needed to be there NOW.  As I type this I realize just how truly blessed I am to have been so close for each of the others.

• March 31

About 12 hours before we left, our car broke down… on the side of the road as Jason was returning home from work.  Thank you Jesus it wasn’t the van we were planning to make the trip in.  But STRESS nonetheless!!!  We had no choice but to have it towed to our house and leave it there while we were gone.

• April 1

April Fools Day…I wish!  So we finally finished throwing stuff together, literally, around 4am and piled the five younger kids into the van to takeoff.  At this point Jason had been awake and working for the past 22 hours.  We left almost as soon as he returned from a night job.  A few hours into the trip I hear a sound like metal banging under the van.  I surely didn’t want a tire to fly off while I was driving so we pulled over and it was the turn signal light cover thingy.  I really don’t know what it’s called!  So Jason secured it back in there and we were off again….for about 30 minutes.  This time the tire was wobbly and we figured it was about to blow so we got off at the next exit and Praise God, there was a Wal-Mart.  We ended up getting two new tires.  I didn’t know this but Jason was planning to get tires the day before but sat on the side of the road waiting for the tow truck instead.  Wal-Mart said 20ish minutes but, nah, over an hour later we get back on the road.

Finally we arrive at my Paw Paw’s house to visit for a bit before heading to my moms.  LONGEST TRIP EVER!!  Well, until the trip home, anyway.  As we’re leaving Paw Paw’s, I ask Jason if he took that light cover thingy off.  His response, “No, Why?”  No reason, there’s just a hole in the car where it once was!?!  What?!?  The only thing we can guess is that somewhere along the interstate it just fell off!

Finally, and I mean the finally where you breathe out so deeply you slouch down in your chair,  we made it to my mom’s house.  After hugs, kisses and many tears we were able to spend some time with her and just be there for her.

• April 2 – April 10 

The next eight days were spent just being there, doing whatever we felt like my mom needed.  I’m so thankful we were financially able to drop everything and run down there.  There have been many times when I just don’t know how we would’ve made it happen.  Besides Bethany being sick almost the entire time down there, it was pretty uneventful considering the reason for the trip.

• April 10

The trip home was another story.  Jason had left Thursday the 4th with his mom and sister, who drove up for the services.  So it was just me and 5 kids ages 2 – 12.  Let’s just say we stopped for potty breaks more than I can count on one hand!  They do not pee this much at home!  Anyway, so with all the stops and the fighting, arguing and yelling  This was the LONGEST TRIP EVER!!

• April 11 – April 15

Since we’ve been home, and yes I made it without losing any van pieces this time, we have managed to do school one day…one lousy day.  These kids are going to be upset when summer gets here and we still have 2 weeks to go.  But, oh well!  I had to get the house back in order upon returning!  Today I spent hours, multiple hours searching for an envelope that contained all 7 kids social security cards.  I finally found it but today was shot!  All I had to do was think about standing in line at the Social Security Office to get not one, but 7 replacement cards.  I was motivated to jump right up and start tearing through something else looking!

 

So I totally apologize for the length of the post, and totally can’t promise it won’t ever be this long again, but here is why I created a blog with a Facebook page and then fell off the face of the earth!

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Lord, thank you for your provision to travel to Louisiana.  Thank you even though we had misadventures, we were taken care of by you.  Forgive us for the time wasted stressing about the negative and not praising You for it all.  Thank you for a quick and cheap-er fix to the broke down car (It wasn’t the $1500 transmission we though, but a $408 fix).

Lord, please forgive me for not taking the time to get to know my step-dad Rodney better.  I’m forever in debt to him for loving my mom and caring for her.  Thank you Jesus for paving the way for us to be reunited with him one day.  Wrap your arms around my mom and comfort her in the days to come.  Give me the words to speak to give her hope and peace.  Thank you for the friends and family in her life that are close enough to physically comfort and care for her.

Forgive me for taking my eyes off of you and losing control.  Guide me as I parent these precious children you have trusted me with.

In the precious name of Jesus,  Amen.

Learning to Love….. Who?

About a year ago I really felt led to start a blog.  However, I had no idea what the focus would be.  I could easily share about homeschooling or life of a large family.  But I had no direction or name.  I prayed and still had nothing.  So I sat on it for a year.  Periodically I’d pray and ask God to show me some direction for it but still nothing….until last week!  Out of the blue I decided to look at it again.  Within minutes, I had the name!

God needed me to experience some things before the name would make sense to me.  You see, our main reason for homeschooling our kids is to make God our number one priority and our family number two.  We’re in the middle of our first year with all five of the younger children at home and, if I’m being transparent (which is the point of the blog), it’s been a huge struggle on my part.  On my own, I struggle with the whole parenting thing.  I struggle with the whole teaching thing too, and I have a degree in Early Childhood Education!  But as soon as I remember to make Jesus the  main focus of ALL I do,  my abilities change.  I see my kids for who God sees them and created them to be, not the distractions and inconveniences that my flesh perceives them to be.  This has been life changing.  It’s so simple, common sense if you will,  yet so easy to forget.

So I’m learning to love them the way God loves them.  And in reality, I need to learn to love everyone the way God does;  my husband, extended family members, neighbors, friends, enemies, and strangers.  That is where God has me at right now.  This is my season, a season of Learning to Love.

And now these three remain:  faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love.         1 Corinthians 13:13