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parenting

twenty something me

Happy Twenty Something Me

, 5

Dear young mamas, I can’t help but notice the tired in your eyes. And the way you have to be alert. Always. Watching where they go, what they pick up. And how you sometimes take a deep breath through your genuine, but half-hearted smile as you say Good in response to the usually rhetorical question How are you? And I can’t help but wonder if you wish, instead, to admit fatigue and a little loneliness. Or maybe that you’re disappointed your body doesn’t look the way it used to…and you wish you didn’t care as much as you do. Or […]

school-20

Inspiring Children to Learn

, 1

It’s no easy task. We have a lot working against us in our time and culture. Learning is usually slow, but we move fast. Learning is relational, but we spend less time together. Learning is full of creativities, but but we focus on activities. And then there’s the distraction and dominance of screens. I try not to hold  harsh opinions about things, but man, if you push me against a wall, I’ll claim that video games harden hearts and deplete minds of creativity. When you can control and experience a fantasy world free of pain and consequence, of course the […]

Hold on?

4

Usually I ask my children to do me a favor and without hesitation they step up to the task. That’s always nice. But sometimes…well, maybe more than sometimes….they sigh or roll their eyes or say hold on. In those moments, I’m not exactly sure what to say or how to respond. I’m never really prepared for those reactions. But I’m thinking maybe I should make a plan for the next time it happens because if I don’t come up with anything more graceful, I might explode in sarcasm with something like this: Hold on? You want ME to hold on? […]

worship

On the Fifth Morning

, , , , 2

The morning started out terrible. I made a different spinach smoothie than I normally make…which didn’t go over very well with the children. So there was complaining and pouting and slow sipping….which didn’t go over very well with me. As I scrambled eggs, the children scrambled to take specks out of each other’s eyes, completely blind to the plank they had each brought with them to the breakfast table. The bickering escalated, and the louder they got, the louder I got. Before I share what happened next…don’t worry, all five children are still alive and well…I want to first say […]

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Our Theme for the School Year

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I could get specific about how we desire an environment of creation over education, how we seek inward transformation before learning outcomes, and how we appreciate assessment through participation rather than examination. Or I could confess how I would be a TERRIBLE school mom who would always drop my children off late, never sign permission slips, and rarely check or enforce homework assignments. But the bottom line is, we homeschool because we love the time it gives us with our children. SO much time….sometimes too much time…like this might be the end of me time….but mostly irreplaceable, precious time in […]

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A Backyard Distance Away

, , 4

They walked into my room with we’re about to ask you something looks on their faces. Their super big grins and uncertain eyes gave them away. We know you’re gonna say no, but we want to ask anyway, they said. Hmmm.  I’ve been my parents daughter for 38 years and my husband’s wife for 15….and I still do things to keep them guessing and wondering as to what I might do, how I might respond. But these kids of mine? They act like they have me figured out already! As if the growing inside me, and the countless hours we […]

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The Green Moment {that has me all thinking}

, 3

I’ve been making these green smoothies nearly every morning for a few months now. I seriously think they’re changing our lives. Sounds dramatic, I know. But for real – they’re beautiful, delicious and we all seem to notice physical benefits. When I watch my children guzzle the cup full of spinach I feel like a stellar mom. I mean, forget about those frozen cokes I let them have yesterday. And the chocolate chip cookies I threw in the oven when our friends came over. And those Cheetos I bought to go with sandwiches the other day? Let’s forget that ever […]

boys (6 of 9)

praying for my {big} boys today

, , 3

‘Cause really, who else will? With the same fervency and compassion. With the same steadfast heart and committed spirit. Who else but their mama will pray for them with the depth of understanding of who they are and who they want to be? Their daddy’s prayers are full of spirit. They are heart felt and listened to. They are needed and special in a world where daddy’s tend to leave. But my heart spends hours upon hours with their hearts every day. I tend to those boys, and they purify me. I feed and nourish them, and they swell my […]

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Establish the Work of their Hands

, , 0

It has taken a lot of effort to get this bunch to work with their hands. Many arguments. Countless conversations. Continual reminders. Inconsistent rewards. Maybe a little bribing. And far too many frustrating parenting moments. They just don’t like to work. They’re easily distracted. They’d rather pick up electronics. Their dad envisions with his creative mind a different way of living, a redeemed way of using land, a slower pace to life. And then he works hard to see those dreams fulfilled for his family. A part of that dream is working alongside his sons and daughters. Their hands and […]

Don’t Be Afraid of Emptiness

, 2

I’ve done motherhood both ways. This body swelling all on its own and me going along for the ride. Never having to tell it what to do. Never having to tell my heart how to love because it gently grew in beat with the living soul inside me. And then there are the times when the stretching and pulling happened to my spirit, not my belly. I expanded in ways I didn’t know was possible. And as these two babies grew inside other women’s bodies, the joy of the Lord grew inside me. The natural and unnatural expanding of heart and life […]

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