No One Told Me There Would Be Days Like These

We all know how it goes, when you are expecting children everyone has a horrific birth story to tell you. When you are rocking that sweet little baby you hear all the stories of the terrible twos or threes that are coming. When that awesome 5 year old is bounding around, you hear stories of the teen craziness to come.

 

When you decide to home school, the stories come out too. How the kids will struggle to get along with their peers, or grow up to be socially inept.  They will demand to return to public school in high school. They will never get into college.

 

When you decide to adopt, especially older children, the stories continue. They will never love you. You will chance attachment disorder. They will influence your other kids. As soon as they are old enough they will leave to find their birth parents.

 

All those stories have some grain of truth in them I suppose. I have probably been guilty of telling a few. I know I have been guilty of fearing them.

 

Scripture tells us that: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue..."(Proverbs 18:21). What an awesome responsibility we have with our stories. I am praying that I can give the power of life with my tongue. I want to tell the truth, "He that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness . . ." (Proverbs 12:17. The truth is that some stories just aren't pretty -- some things are hard -- really hard-- and that truth needs to be conveyed. However, I don't want to kill some one's dream or cause their hardship to be even more burdensome. There is a sweetness to the hard, there is a reason for all those hard things we choose to do in having and raising children for the Lord.  I pray that with my truth I don't forget to show forth the glory of God and all the sweetness there is in his ways.

 

After all, no one told me there would be days like these:

 

 

 

Grace

In a moment of fun, Riane sent us a little picture. That picture swirled my thoughts back almost sixteen years ago when the idea of homeschooling crossed my mind. I remember that our one bookshelf held a file folder with a handwritten "home school" on the tab. One friend noticed it and asked me about it. I was kind of embarrassed and just said that we were thinking about it.

Jerome had a lot of questions and I did a lot of research. I even checked into a local pre-school. However, one walk clinched my heart. I had taken the kids on a walk around the neighborhood and passed by the Christian School. I tried to imagine pushing Braydon in the stroller and walking Riane up to the school to say "Goodbye" for her day at kindergarten. The whole rest of the walk my heart was burdened. I really didn't want to say "Goodbye" for a day or even half a day -- I wanted to keep doing what I had been doing. I was a full time Mom and I did not want to hand this part over either.

The decision being made, we pushed forward. There were awesome days, total wash out days, and days I was sure I had made a mistake. I made curriculum changes, and tried a co-op group for a brief time. Every year we would change up our schedule, try something new, throw something out and keep marching on. The questions came from all sides as she grew older. What about high school? How will you teach upper level math? Can you really do science effectively at home? Somehow we figured it all out and just kept teaching it all at home.

One day, she was done. Graduated. She will be learning for the rest of her life, but not at our little home school. I made a ton of mistakes. There are things I wished I had done differently, there are things she wishes I had done differently, but in the end, I got the picture.

It wasn't anything I did. It wasn't a teaching method, curriculum choice or schedule idea. It wasn't me. It was the Grace of God.

"And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:"

 

2 Corinthians 9:8

Happy Resurrection Day

It was a great Easter! I wanted to discourage any middle of the night risers and so baskets didn't go out until 6:00am.

How is it the Easter grass is so much fun?

I didn't plan to have new Easter outfits for everyone. However, the boys have been wanting ties to wear, so it wasn't that long ago we took a family trip for dress shirts and ties. We were out at a fun thrift store run and found Ricky a great suit coat and wouldn't you know it, dresses for the girls -- except Heaven. Then, I popped into a brand new consignment shop and hit the mark.

 

After church no one was allowed to change until we got the obligatory pictures with the cousins.

 

 

After a good meal we all headed out to hunt the eggs.

 

 

The rest of the afternoon was spent playing Candy land, Up words and even Soccer in the yard. We are so thankful that we have great fellowship with our family.

 

We so missed our Riane. She had a lovely Easter in Taiwan, but it wasn't the same. There is a sweet feeling of peace, though -- there is physical separation, but a spiritual oneness in Christ.

 

For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ.

 

~ Colossians 2:5 ~

 

The Arrival of Spring

Finally, spring is arriving. There are signs of it everywhere.

4H is starting back up. Ricky, Adela, Mary and Braydon all participate in a shooting sports club.

Ricky handed over his position of Safety Office from last year.

 

 

 

Braydon took up the office of Treasurer for this year.

 

 

The younger kids survived a 2 hour 4H business meeting!

 

 

 

The next sign of spring:  The chickies arrived!

 

 

We decided to start with layers this year -- our first time ever. Adela is the main person that takes care of the chickens. I can't wait until they grow enough to be pecking around the yard.

 

 

 

We were also reminded that winter could still blow it's fury.

 

 

 

The best sign of spring is celebrating the death, burial and resurrection of our living Saviour.  After our morning church service we anticipate an awesome meal and afternoon with our family. The "single digit kids" will get to hunt eggs. With the cousins here that will be five hunters. We have given up many of the trappings of Easter to focus on Jesus, but we still stuff eggs for the children's fun hunt.

 

 

The girls did the tedious job of washing the plastic eggs that we save from year to year.

 

Ricky was rambunctious and could hardly wait to get started!

 

 

Ah ... the stuffing begins. This is the fun part -- at random times I will call out "Candy Break" and every one gets to choose a piece of candy to eat.

 

 

Done! Final count was 197. That means with 5 egg- hunters they will be allowed a little less than 40 each. I guess that means, hunt until you're tired and come inside!

 

The arrival of a new season, and the passing of time always causes me to pause and consider how fleeting is the time with my children. Instead of a houseful of littles, I now have a houseful teenagers and one living half-way around the world. One of the blessings of this season is watching the siblings become friends with each other.

 

 

The older kids staying up to finish a rousing card game together.

 

 

The seven that are home enjoying the outside.

 



Preacher Man

When Isaiah was first placed in our family and before the adoption was final, I gave him a "blog name" -- Preacher Man. It was something in the way he walked and the way he carried his Bible. For quite a long time he has been insistent on saying he will preach. He doesn't mean grow up and be a preacher he means preach right now!

Every so often before church he asks if he can preach. Especially if I mention that there is a special speaker or visiting evangelist. I guess in support of Isaiah's aspirations, the kids have taken to playing church occasionally. Isaiah can be a little loud. The congregation tends to shout a lot of "AMEN" and "PREACH IT!" Sometimes the church gets persecuted by a rogue gunman with a Nerf gun who breaks in. Then I hear random shouts of "STOP IT! Don't shoot me I am preaching."

Occasionally there has been a "bad guy" hauled out of the little church and taken to a jail in the back corner. Someone from the little church pays a jail visit and he is often saved and then he attends the church too.

Apparently, Isaiah the preacher really only has one sermon entitled "You Can't Serve Sin."  Our family is participating in a church challenge to memorize the chapter of Romans 6. In going over Isaiah's verses with him he had a long pause and said "Wait! this is my favorite part.... 'that henceforth we SHOULD NOT SERVE SIN.'" (Romans 6:6)  "Mom, I preach on that one."

Preacher Man

 

 The congregation

 

 

 

The Choir.