What God Taught Me This Week

I've always known that God hears my prayers, but now I know if you pray specifically, He'll answer specifically.

So our house is still for sale. As of this last Saturday, we hadn't had anyone look at it since early June. I had let myself again get to a very frustrated point (as you could probably tell from my last post). Saturday morning I woke up in a bad mood and frankly wanted to stay in that bad mood. Obviously Matthew could tell and suggested we go for a walk over to Milliken where the kids could run free and look for ducks at the pond. We began straightening up the house just in case someone called to see it while we were out.

"I am so sick of cleaning this house for no one to see it!" I said as we headed out.

Matthew kindly said, "Would it be that bad to clean it for us?" There was really no sarcasm behind his statement and it hit my heart in a way that I knew he was right. Keeping up with the housework has never really been on my list of favorite things so the house was usually cluttered and unkept. Somehow hearing Matthew say what he did and spending the next few hours enjoying God's beautiful creation changed my heart and refreshed my spirit.

We came home and after lunch, I swept and mopped all the floors, and cleaned the kitchen. Also that evening I read my Sunday School lesson which I would teach the teenage girls the next morning. God worked on me again as the lesson was titled, "Why Does God Sometimes Say No?" This is in reference to our prayers. The lesson goes on to give three answers: God wants to grow and strengthen you, God will always glorify Himself, and God has a greater purpose. He was clearly getting my attention as this process of selling our house has done all three. Of course I wanted it to sell the first week on the market but if it had I would not have developed the housekeeping habits I now have, I would not be able to rest in His comfort knowing He knows when and who will buy our house, and I am getting more daily excited to see where God is leading us after the house does sell.

That being said, I prayed Saturday night for God to please bring someone to see the house even if they didnt' buy it. We had just gone so long with no activity that I wanted a little confirmation that our house was still in play.

Well, Sunday afternoon found us laying around enjoying God's day and the phone rings at 4:20pm. Someone is looking at our neighbor's house and wanted to come see ours... right then! We scurried around, pulled a sleeping Braewyn from her crib and drove out of our neighborhood. About 45 minutes later (we just drove around, deposited some money at the bank, etc.), the showing agency called to say the agent was done showing our house but that she and the potential buyers LOVED it and were headed to the bank the next morning! We were thrilled! Monday came and then Tuesday and Wednesday. Today I emailed my realtor Rappy to see if he had heard an update and here's what he said, "The buyer does not qualify!" From the level of interest shown, I'm really feeling sad for them because our house just might have been their dream home.

And that brings me back to the beginning. Yes, I prayed for someone to see our house but not buy it and that's exactly what God let happen. I am not mad but just reminded at how sovereign a God He is. I thank Him for this new lesson in growing my faith, but am revising my prayer.

"Lord, please bring the family You have in store to buy our house and in the meantime, please grant me patience." Yes, I know people say don't pay for patience, but I'm at the point of driving myself crazy if I don't.

Lastly, here is the promised batch of before and after pictures to remind myself primarily of how far our house has come and really what a great house we are living in for this season of our lives.

This was usually how you would find my kitchen...

but now most days it is clean when I go to bed.

Our livingroom was cozy but just full of toys...

and now it's just a livingroom instead of a toy room too.

We also went from having a catch-all office / exercise room / playroom and...

an overcrowded bedroom which Philip and Braewyn shared to...

Philip's own big-boy bedroom with a fresh coat of paint and room for toys...

and a sweet baby nursery for Braewyn that is open and spacious.

Our master bedroom was never a peaceful retreat which master bedrooms should be...

but now it is!! Even when one of the children come running through.

We also had the house and driveway pressure-washed. I had NO IDEA how clean a driveway can look after pressure-washing. Wow!

And I also stained the back porch to complete the project. We've had a busy six months, but I believe that all the hard work up front and day-to-day upkeep now, will pay off in God's timing.

Quick Recap

We spent the last week (Thurs., July 2-Wed., July 8) in Kentucky with Matthew's wonderful extended family. They have a pool and so both kids became quite brave little fish. Here's a general rundown of our family.

Matthew is enjoying his job, at least most days I believe, and praying daily for our house to sell.

I'm deliberating about potty-training Braewyn now or after we move. And that brings me to my other issue... daily wondering if our house will ever sell and trying hard (well, not as hard as I should) to keep it from slipping back into the messy state it was in prior to listing it on the market. The place looked amazing all of April and May. Now the yard is getting burned up by the heat, all the marks around the house I erased with the "Magic Eraser" are back, and little piles of clutter are beginning to grow. We should have taken that first low-ball offer, but... God's timing is perfect!!!

Philip is enjoying his summer and fully obsessed with Transformers. He did learn to swim a good bit more from taking swimming lessons again this summer. He tells the most interesting little stories, usually about Transformers, and is looking forward to school this fall. Today I ordered the curriculum we'll use as we homeschool for his K-4 year. I chose Hands On Homeschooling because each month has a key Bible verse, a different Bible story each week which ties into the verse, games with the letters and numbers, manners, physical education, social studies, crafts and even cooking. I hope to get the material in a few weeks giving me August to read through it before beginning at the first of September.

Braewyn is speaking more clearly every day and using longer sentences too. She doesn't seem too interested in potty training so I might wait until August. She has come to love her baby dolls and our out-of-service cell phones. Quite the little girly, girl. I believe she would love to wear a face full of make-up and pierced earrings if we would let her. For now, we're sticking with chapstick.

Please pray for little JB

Matthew's cousin Mollie had her first baby on Wednesday, July 1. He appeared to be a beautiful, healthy baby whom they named JB. However after some blood tests, things appeared to be a little off. JB is still in the hospital and tests are still being run. It appears his adrenal gland might be too large and is causing his levels (i.e. glucose, potassium, sodium) to go incorrectly up and down.

Please pray for Mollie, her husband Michael and new baby JB. You can read more and see photos of this precious little man on their blog, Jackson World, which is listed on my sidebar.

My Day Job

My full-time job title is Mother. I love and care for my husband of course, but the majority of my waking hours are spent tending to Philip and Braewyn. I try my best as this is more than just keeping them occupied and out of harm's way. God has blessed Matthew and I with two unique, incredible, little (for now) people who are very impressionable at this stage. Lori recommended a book last Thanksgiving which I bought a few weeks later. Unfortunately, I started and stopped reading it twice since then, getting side tracked with other things. A few friends keep a running list of the books they are reading on their sidebars. I'm starting my list with this book, "The Ministry of Motherhood" by Sally Clarkson, as it really is a great book. Also seeing the cover on my blog will inspire me to read it completely through this time as I'm not removing it from the blog until I finish it.

Knowing that it was the Lord who entrusted Matthew and I with the kids, I desire to raise them as He wants. A paragraph from page 3 sums up my thoughts on the subject which Clarkson expresses more percisely than I could.

"They don't need the sweet platitudes of faith that will momentarily placate their emotions. They need the authentic strength that comes from the true foundation of a biblical-worldview and a proper understanding of the real Christ who is worthy of their worship. They need an unwavering, internal moral and spiritual compass that will help them weather today's storms and tomorrow's and will guide them for the rest of their lives. They also need to see what real faith looks like when lived day in, day out, so they will have a pattern to follow."

I pray to minister to the people in my own house, those people who need me the most.

Our Day

Today Philip began swimming lessons. He's on the far right and his best buddy Nic is on the far left. He is taking lessons at the same location and from the same teacher he did last summer. He seemed to have a great time even though he said he didn't remember when we asked him how it went. I hope I won't be hearing that answer for years to come.

Also both kids have new looks these days. On Saturday I took Philip for a hair cut. When Darlene, our hairdresser, asked if I just wanted her to trim it up like always, I first said yes. Then I said how everyone told me summer was the time to try a buzz if Philip wanted one. She said she could do it but would leave it a little longer so as not to have him looking scalped. It's a cute look for him, but I'm wondering how a buzz grows out to his original hairstyle if we want that again.



Braewyn is occasionally letting me put her hair up in pigtails. She would rather just run around with wild hair, but it adds to her cuteness when I do get a rubber band up in those locks. Here she is after dinner tonight, but before our walk.


Here she is after our walk and after hitting the pavement hard just 50 feet from our front yard. Thankfully it was just as we were returning home from a 2 mile walk and not as we were starting out.

First Half of June

This month is flying by. The first week was spent at Science Camp. Philip attended the Preschool Camp at our local science center. He had a blast learning about bones on Monday, rocks and soil on Tuesday, electricity and lasers on Wednesday, stars and constellations on Thursday, and snakes on Friday. Braewyn and I enjoyed time together wandering around outside or in the other museums for the hour Philip was at camp. The second week was spent getting ready for VBS. I did take the kids for a walk one morning to check a friend's mail and we made ourselves at home playing in her kids' wooden play house. Tonight is the last night of VBS and Philip and I have had a wonderful time. I'm helping with the rising-5th graders who are a lot of fun but have a lot of energy. If we give them even a minute of unscheduled time, the room becomes quite noisy. Philip has enjoyed his Pre-K class and I cannot wait to see his group sing tonight at the Family Night program. Not sure if I'll have to be on stage with my group or not. I've learned the motions and kind of know the words to the songs. Not sure if I can do both at the same time!

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VBS Prep Work

Our church is having Vacation Bible School next week. I'm really excited to be teaching the rising 5th grade boys and girls. However it seems that I didn't begin preparing early enough as Philip, Braewyn and I spent the last two hours hunting down a few last items. On our list was a boomerang, cotton balls, sandpaper, construction paper, bottled water, laundry bags with drawstrings and Chenille Craft Stems (a.k.a. pipe cleaners; guess the Lifeway company who prints our VBS material is steering away from tobacco product paraphenalia!). After scouring Big Lots, Maxway and Dollar General, I found cottonballs, construction paper and bottled water. Those stores sell everything under the sun EXCEPT what you are looking for. I headed there first as the prices are dirt cheap and they do carry the most random items. However the aisles are so narrow and the abundance of things make it a nightmare to find one simple item, such as a boomerang. I'm starting to wonder if boomerangs are sold in this town. Would that be considered a sporting good item, or maybe a self-defense tool? Anyhow, the hunt was made all that more eventful with needing to keep track of Philip and Braewyn who can be lost in three seconds flat in those type stores. Braewyn is a wonderful, caring child but her strong temper will definitely keep me on my discipling toes. She had a full breakdown in Big Lots when I put her in the cart. Philip never cried but repeatedly kept trying to make me think I had forgetten the objective of our trip. In his mind, it was to buy him a toy. I enjoy spending time with my little ones and watching them grow. However, next year I'll make plans to do my VBS item shopping in the evening while Matthew plays with Philip and Braewyn at home.

Update on House Selling Process

Well, things are going very well considering the market. We had four showings last week and one scheduled for tomorrow night. All that being said, and now without complaining but just stating the facts, it is hard work keeping our house in perfect "show condition". I suppose I added a degree of work to myself by enrolling Philip in science camp this week. He's attended it each morning this week from 10-11am and has had a blast (post with photos to come). This just means that I've gotten the three of us fed and dressed plus scurried around putting EVERYTHING in its designated place each day this week. Selfishly I'm praying (that is an oxymoron!) that our house will be sold in the next two weeks as the last two weeks of June, Philip attends swimming lessons -- that will be 8 days of scurrying!! The light I've found in this situation is a renewed gratefulness for being a stay-at-home mom of preschoolers instead of a woman hurrying out the door EVERY morning to work or even to drop kids off at school. Next week we might not go anywhere!

Prayers for the Gosselins

As I just returned home from Walmart and there glanced casually at the covers of the tabloids, I am again feeling led to ask others to join me in praying for Jon and Kate Gosselin and their family. Yes, I'm concerned for them even though I don't know them, but my main reasoning is for God to be glorified in their situation. No I'm not going to start praying for any and all celebrity couples who face divorce as that would take up my whole day. My thinking here is that the Gosselins are known Christians. They have spoken at churches and moreso, having read their book, "Multiple Blessings", they publicly claim Christ as Savior. My God who made the heavens and the earth is capable to do ALL things. I fully believe that if He chooses to soften their hearts toward each other and back to Him, they would give Him the glory as any Christian couple would. Marriage is hard work, i.e. the divorce rate being over 50% in America. As a wife who is a Christian, I cannot imagine making it work without having Christ in our lives. That's about all I wanted to say. It's not in the Lord's plans to earn popularity for popularity's sake, however we should pray for His name to be glorified in a way that those who do not know Him as Savior would desire to make that decision. Reconciling a marriage which has sunk to the level of the tabloids' descriptions (true or not) would be impossible in human ability alone. Let's pray, believing God is able, and just wait and see what He plans to do. I would be perfectly fine if the Gosselins somehow miraculously disappeared from public view and 20 years from now we hear that they have celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary giving God all the glory for it.

Haven't Sold the House Yet

So here's the latest on this house selling process. We went on the market on April 6. Nothing for the first two weeks, but I was still very excited to know my house was on the internet and there was a sign in our front yard. Going out was like a game because the house had to be "show ready". It also made for a wonderful homecoming as the place had never looked better. While gone to Maine we had the one showing, and then FIVE more showings the following week. On that Friday (May 1), Rappy (our realtor) called saying we had an OFFER!! And he mentioned that there might be another coming. Well, that sent me over the edge and I began telling everyone that we might be having two offers and we were smelling a bidding war!! Woohoo! Anybody with sense knows that the worst thing to do when anticipating something big is to count your chickens before they hatch.

There was no contact with the possible second offer person and the first real offer fell through after we went back and forth with two counter offers. In my heart I truly wasn't upset that it fell through and had actually prayed in the process that if the woman couldn't afford it, she wouldn't take it. Yes, I want a new house but not at the expense of someone's financial ruin.

Ok, that was two weeks ago now and there's been NO ACTIVITY. Here's the part I didn't want to see happen... me losing hope that anyone will ever show up again and get so frustrated every time I tidy the house before going somewhere. My human nature tells me to just forget about it (i.e. making everything look perfect) when I'm running late (usually always) or just feeling that it looks good enough. But then I remember asking the Lord to bless this time of selling our house and to use it for His glory (i.e. people recognizing that this process was all of His power as I am hopeless in keeping a tidy house). I want everytime I leave my garage to know that if the showing agency were to call, I can say, "Yes, I'd love for you to show my house in 30 minutes." One of these days when I do drive out of the garage, I WILL receive that call, and that WILL be the family who buys our house, and we WILL be on our way to buying our new home.

Guess it just boils down to me very much disliking anything which requires a lot of perseverance. I'm a microwave girl, cable internet user, drive-thru window orderer. But just to use another anonymous phrase, whatever does not kill us, makes us stronger. And further more, I want to grow closer to my Lord during this process and more like Him. Today was the last day of our BSF year. We've examined the life of Moses by studying verse by verse the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Moses was just a regular guy and yet because of his intimately, close relationship with God, he wasn't. Moses spoke regularly and audibly with God on a mountaintop, performed miracles before Pharaoh in Egypt, witnessed plagues and the Red Sea opening, led a million people on a 40-year "hike" through the desert, listened to them complain for those same 40 years, and then died peacefully just before the people entered the land God had promised them.

The frustration I might feel after chasing two children, keeping up with laundry and meals for one family, and tidying this house for a month's time is laughable in comparison. Moses is remembered with these words, "Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, who did all those miraculous signs and wonders the LORD sent him to do in Egypt — to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel" (Deuteronomy 34:10-12).

I pray to be like Moses who became like God by going to Him daily and seeking His power instead of his own.

New Blog Link In My Sidebar: Jackson World

Matthew's cousin Mollie and her husband Michael are expecting their first baby on July 13. It's a little boy who will be called J.B. (full name Joseph Brooks). Mollie and I have become close friends and that friendship is sure to grow as she becomes a mom in just a few months. We're excited for them. Philip is excited to hold J.B.! I'm looking forward to reading their blog and reminiscing about those first few weeks of parenthood. Thankfully, they are mostly a blur by this point. I say that and yet I wish I could remember just how tiny Philip and Braewyn were at that point and how there was no need for discipline at that time! A really sweet time.

Our "Baby" is 2-years-old!

On Saturday, Braewyn turned 2. We had a wonderful day together. The kids began the day with sprinkle doughnuts for breakfast, always a good start! For lunch we headed out to Spring Fling, our local downtown festival, and spent more money than we intended on food. However we had a great time together as a family and saw a cool dog frisbee show (these were world-record holding, frisbee-catching dogs!!). We headed home to let the kids nap and Mommy to bake Braewyn's cake before heading to Ruth Ann's house for the birthday girl's party (we had it there in the hopes of maybe having a house showing that night... no such luck.). Braewyn enjoyed spending the evening with her Mommy, Daddy, "Bubba" (Philip), grandparents, big cousin Michael, little cousin Holden and Aunt Andrea.

Here are the photos to recap the day. I was touched by how Philip really seemed to want to let Braewyn feel special on her birthday and wasn't jealous at all. He's getting quite mature for his age!

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Today was Braewyn's first day in the Bible Study Fellowship children's program. The "policy" states that a child can begin the class day following her 2nd birthday. Philip began the Thursday after his 2nd birthday, but his birthday being January 22, he participated for the last half of the class year (it runs along with the public school calendar). Braewyn attended today and next Thursday, but then we'll all start back on September 17. She could have skipped these two weeks, but I've honestly been waiting ALL year to enroll her in Bible study. I don't ever want to let a chance go by when I can help instill the truths of God's Word in her little heart. Her teacher said she did great and acted liked she'd been coming for months. There was a little mishap as the kids were dancing, Braewyn bumped into Philip, tripped and fell to the ground. Her mouth landed on a toy and she has a puffy, pink lip. Guess I'll wait until next week to get her 2-year-old picture taken! She's a tough little thing; I know she'll be excited to go back to BSF next week.

Photos from Maine

It's been just a week since we returned home from Maine. The trip feels like a dream now. Being in Maine is as different from South Carolina as a foreign country would be. Life is slow there, but maybe we're just going too fast here. I'm so thankful we were able to take this trip and for my children to explore a beautiful, faraway corner of God's beautiful world.

A side note... my Dad grew up in Massachusetts and I was actually born there. When his grandmother died, his parents moved to Tenants Harbor, ME to live in her house. They lived there for 20 years until moving into a nursing home a year or so ago. Now my cousin Jeff and his family live in their house. All growing up, we would visit Maine but just stay around my grandparents' house or walk to the harbor of Tenants Harbor. This time, we stayed at the Thomaston/Rockland Hampton Inn about 20 minutes away and saw lots of local "attractions" I never knew about. The boat you'll see "sails" (it doesn't have a sail?) to Monhegan Island several times a week. That is about 10 miles off the coast of Maine. We excitedly hitched a ride, free of charge thanks to Jeff who works for the boat company, which took an hour. It was one of the highlights of the trip. The others on the boat saw it as we would in taking the bus across town. Very interesting. I asked a woman if there was a school on the island (there was a sign reading, "No medical staff on island. Enter at your own risk."). She said there is a school for Kindergarten thru 8th grade. This year there are five students enrolled!

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Is third time the charm for us?

Tonight we had our third house showing. The second showing this past Saturday appears to have gone very well as our realtor called me around 1:00pm that day saying the people were definitely interested but just wanted to find out who owns the woods behind us in chance they could buy that too. That makes us interested to know if tonight's showing was them again or a new prospect. Either way, we have ANOTHER showing tomorrow night from 6:00-7:00pm. Perfect timing as we'll be at church anyway! Thanks, God. This afternoon I cleaned the house like a mad woman so it'll just need tidying tomorrow. I'll keep you posted.

Back from Maine and House Showings

These last few weeks have been busy with keeping the house tidy as every time I leave the house I want it to be "show ready". It could take four months or just four weeks to sell our house, but I'm viewing this time as a season to be found faithful before the Lord in trusting His timing. The first week we were on the market I began to get a little frustrated that no one was calling to see it (now realizing that I was being overly ambitious and that this process is more often a slow one). Now that wait is over in that we had a showing last week. A woman looked at it and the realtor's comments afterwards were "Home shows great!" but that the woman worked some distrance from here and was looking for more square footage. It at least broke the ice from my thinking that "No one is ever coming to look at our house!" Now it's just six days later and we need to be gone from our house from 10am until noon as someone else is coming to see it today! Philip was invited to a birthday party at that exact time. God has good timing.

Secondly, we got packed and flew to Maine last Thursday, April 16, spent five wonderful days visiting family and sightseeing in a very beautiful corner of God's world and then flew back on Tuesday, April 21. I'll post all about it including photos and videos this week. The kids had a ball as Philip loved climbing on the big rocks which make up the Maine coastline and Braewyn loved having her Papa around and walking miles and miles on those little legs. Matthew, the kids, my Dad, and I very much enjoyed the trip.

We're on the market!

Our realtor Rappy came back on Monday. Before he even came in the house, he was putting the "For Sale" sign in the yard. Matthew and I were ecstatic! All the hard work of the last month was finally paying off. I still want to post all of my before and after (and then more after pictures after we completed the "Rappy list"), but here is the virtual tour from Rappy's website. He has an awesome wide-angle lens camera with cool stitch photo software. Therefore what was just still photographs become a panoramic tour of our house and yard. Very cool!!

What I Learned Today

A few weeks ago, Matthew and I were in Academy Sports and I came upon the most amazing items. Did you know you can buy a blood tracking light? Or a videocamera which you mount on your rifle to "capture the hunt and share it with friends!" I was amazed. No one in my family hunts so I've never really browsed the hunting section of a store before, but Matthew was looking for a new pocket knife and this stuff was right beside them.

Anyhow, that's the way I am, always curious about things, wondering how things work, etc. Yes, "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood" was my favorite show as a child because of the videos of him going into the different factories. So after seeing the blood tracking light (somehow it intensifies red pigment so it sort of glows in the dark under this light) and wanting to run home right then to post about it, I thought I could probably post something nearly everyday of what I had learned that day. Either I'm really clueless or I just happen to stumble upon interesting things due to the curiousity (no comments please).

After all the build-up, here's today's new thing I learned...

Swim diapers cannot be substituted for normal diapers. We ran completely out of diapers for Braewyn today. I had planned to go to Sam's last night to buy a box, but we all went to Matthew's softball game last night and Sam's today. We didn't get to Sam's until 6:30pm so the real diapers were all used up and off we went to dinner with Braewyn in a swim diaper. We ate at a great new place called Wing Stop and I actually learned two things. Yes, her pants were soaking wet at the end of dinner due to the faulty swim diaper and she loves dipping carrots in ketchup. Braewyn ate only 2 or 3 bites of chicken, but she ate a lot of french fries and carrot sticks both dipped in ketchup!

I Take Back My Grumblings

(Read "Argh!" post below first if you haven't already.)

Yes, writing the previous post did let off some stream, but it wasn't an hour later when I was put back in my place. As dinner was cooking, I helped Philip put away some toys while I was sitting a few feet from our stereo speaker which was playing the radio. Suddenly I realized the song, "In Christ Alone" was playing. One line says, "I find my hope, I find my strength in Christ alone." It reminded me that my frustration was self-induced. I had become overwhelmed and begun to wallow in it instead of going to my Source of all guidance.

Not only do I know Jesus is always waiting, eager to provide the strength I need ("Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28), but we are currently learning in BSF how detestable complaining is to God. When we complain about anything (especially something involving a blessing from God), it is sin. We are saying, "God, You can't bring me through this situation. God, why did You let me get in this mess?"

The Israelites spent 38 years in the desert wandering around and surviving on manna because they had not believed that God could do all He said. They grumbled several times and received the punishment for it. This week's lesson from Numbers 21 recounts the Israelites saying they detested the manna, God's perfect provision for them. He then sent poisonous snakes among them, biting many of them and causing many to die.

Here I am living in a wonderful home and actually preparing to move into a new (at least to us) home with even more space which I know will be perfectly suited for us as God will direct our decision. In my sinfulness, I began to act just like those Israelites. Then again, aren't we all daily forgetful of God's blessings which fall new every morning? Thank you Jesus for daily forgiving me of my grumblings.

Argh!!!!!!

At this moment, I want to walk out of my front door and throw away the key! We're hoping to call our realtor and say, "Our house is ready to list on the market." But the bad thing is that the condition of this house is getting worse, not better. All the furniture is moved to its proper places, but in every room there are many items just laying around. I don't know what to do with it all. Maybe a good idea would be to take a large box and gather everything to take to the dump. Also with this huge mess everywhere, I feel I'm wasting my time gluing down unstuck wallpaper edges in the bathroom and touching up kitchen cabinets with a q-tip. If someone walked in now, they wouldn't even notice the wallpaper or cabinets.

Can you tell I didn't get a nap today? Yes, that's the real problem. We're staying up until midnight trying to get things done, I'm losing track of the dishes and laundry for spending time clearing out closets and staining the deck. I was going to lay down after getting home from lunch and getting the kids to bed. Braewyn fell asleep on the way from my parents' house to lunch which means she had had her power nap and wasn't really tired when I put her in her crib. After reading books to Philip, I smelled poop to put it bluntly coming from Braewyn's room. I should have entered right away, but did so after attending to a few other things. What I found was a dirty diaper on the floor, a girl rolling around in her crib and everything in it soiled!!! Girl and all contents out of the crib. Philip comes walking out of his room about that time too and I decided it was getting too late to try to resettle them.

Oh well, there goes my nap and any chance of getting the much needed energy boost needed to get anything really productive done today. Philip and I attended Bible study this morning so I guess that counts for something. We are no closer ready to selling this house. I suppose I should find something to feed my family for dinner.

Productive Day

Between last night and today, Matthew and I (with some help from Philip too!) spread 6 Bobcat scoops of mulch and planted 114 flowers around the yard. Yesterday, a man came and pressure washed the house, front/back porches, and driveway. I was completely amazed. It looks beautiful. Having your house pressure washed while you're inside is like being in a drive-thru car wash for a few hours. I loved it! The sound of spraying water is very soothing and the end result is awesome (the absence of nine years of mildew and spider webs!!).

I've already begun praying over our flowers for God to bless them with a long and prosperous life. They'll be prosperous if they live long enough for us to get this house on the market and then entice someone to buy it! Mulch, flowers and pressure washing are now checked off the "Rappy" list. We also bought a new front door wreath from Michael's while out buying flowers this morning. Another check. As for the dishes and laundry... don't ask. I'll just say the outside of my house is looking WAY better than the inside right now.

The "Rappy" List

You may have heard of the movie, "The Bucket List" about two elderly men who create a list of things they want to do before they kick the bucket. Well, I've not posted in a while because Matthew and I are constantly working on things from our "Rappy" list. We are in full swing getting the house ready to place it on the market. On Wednesday, March 3, our realtor Rappy Williams (hence the list) came to our house to give us our first once over. He's awesome and very experienced (20 years in the business!!) -- thanks, Kelly, for recommending him! Well, we followed him around our house inside and out for an hour, all the while me scribbling down his suggestions to do to the house. He also gave us a four page print-out which he gives to all potential home sellers, "Rappy's Checklist for Preparing Your House for Showings".

And here's the breakdown. I'll start with the good news.

Things Accomplished
-- Change Kitchen fluorescent lightbulbs
-- Replace kitchen brass knobs with nickel knobs
-- Spray paint all exterior light fixtures black
-- Change lightbulbs in garage, laundry room and master closet to brightest available
-- Move hall light fixtures to bedrooms, and replace with two-bulb fixtures
-- Attach molding to bathroom mirrors to cover flaking spots
-- Clean out area above washer/dryer
-- Put extra piece of vinyl under kitchen sink area
-- Spray oven cleaner in tubs to remove soap scum (THIS REALLY WORKS WELL!!)
-- Replace shower curtain in master bath
-- Separate kids from one bedroom; clear out office to become Philip's bedroom (pictures to come; their rooms are awesome now!)
-- Empty office closet to become Philip's closet
-- Spray water stain on ceiling with bleach
-- Rearrange master bedroom for more spacious look
-- Remove multi-sort laundry basket from master bath
-- Wash globes (the decorative glass pieces around lightbulbs) of ceiling fans in dishwasher (you'd be amazed at how good they come out looking; try it with yours!)
-- Seed entire yard with a rye/fescue mix
-- Remove screens from all front windows
-- Move two bushes from front yard to side yard

Things Still Needed
-- Replace carpet in master bed
-- Pressure wash house, driveway and porches (a man is coming tomorrow to do this)
-- New mulch in flowerbeds and around trees (being delivered tomorrow also)
-- Extra colorful plants in flowerbeds (Lowe's has 3/$1 this weekend, yeah!)
-- Remove paperbox
-- Change lightbulbs in bathrooms to white instead of clear (waiting until list time)
-- Clean out master closet and Braewyn's closet
-- Clean all blinds and windows
-- Clean kitchen appliances inside and out
-- Wipe all baseboards
-- Touch up kitchen and bathrooms cabinets
-- Clean out garage
-- Empty front closet of excess coats (why do Matthew and I NEED 8 coats each? crazy!)
-- Buy front door spring wreath
-- Find time to keep up with LAUNDRY and the DISHES in the meantime

Philip is a Child Model!

Matthew's brother Jonathan is the Director of a children's museum called Imagination Station. We visited the museum while spending Thanksgiving weekend with Jonathan and Lori. We actually got a really cool behind-the-scenes VIP tour and during the time there, Philip bravely held one of the snakes. We are so excited to announce that Jonathan chose a picture of Philip and the snake to be a part of the museum's promotional flier! If you are ever in the Wilson, NC area, be sure to stop by Imagination Station. You can tell the Director you know his sister-in-law!

Updates on the Chillin's

Philip had his 4-year-old check-up on Friday. He's known for several weeks that he was getting shots at this appointment, but Friday morning he didn't show any signs of hesitancy. He did get a little anxious once our pediatrician left after examining him and he knew the next ones through the door would be the nurses with the needles. I was actually tense all morning because I had not seen him get shots in two years and was dreading it for him. He received four shots but thankfully two nurses give two rounds of two shots at the same time. Needless to say he was crying. To quote Philip telling Grandma about the experience, "I wailed." To make the situation worse, Braewyn needed a second dose of Hepatitis A vaccine also. I chose for Philip to go first as I knew his "torture" would be worse, but seeing her brother so upset really got to Braewyn. She received the one quick stick and calmed down quicker than Philip did, but it broke my heart the way she cowered behind me while I was holding Philip's hands during his shots. The upside of the appointment is the news that we have a strong, growing, well-developed 4-year-old on our hands. Philip now weighs 33.3 lbs and is 39 1/2 inches tall. These measurements make him 25th percentile for weight and height. His pediatrician said he is petite but well porportioned.

Braewyn is still doing amazing in the potty department. It's crazy because aside from putting the Pooh Bear training potty in their bathroom, she's potty-trained herself! She actually said, "Potty" while waiting for the pediatrician to come in for their check-up. I told Dr. Shelly this and she said I could take Braewyn to the bathroom while she checked Philip's eyes and ears. Braewyn went peepee in the office bathroom! Saturday morning, Matthew and I took the kids to Krispy Kreme as a treat after their shots the morning before. Again Braewyn asked to go potty and there she pee'd and pooped! Hooray, Braewyn. We're leaving her in diapers until the move as I've always heard big changes can cause regressions. However, the way she wants to go potty at home alot, those big girl pull-ups would be very helpful as she could pull them up and down by herself. She's a silly little thing. Here's the list of Braewyn's potty policies:

- Must be naked from the waist down when pottying at home (this includes socks!)
- Tells Mommy to stand in the hallway (she pats a spot on the wall where she wants me to stand!)
- After pottying in the training potty, she carries the removable pot around the house for all present to congratulate her (it's hilarious hearing Philip's response when he's not in the mood, "I know you pee'd; go take it back to Mommy.")
- The best part is that she doesn't even know reward systems exist; she is completely satisfied with verbal praise alone! (we went through MANY chocolate chips with Philip and Braewyn is even more of a sweets lover than he was so this is a VERY good thing!)

I'm Still Here!

Sorry it's been a few weeks since posting. Matthew very sweetly gave me a new camera for Valentine's Day and I've loved taking pictures with it. The catch is that I've yet to sit down and read the manual so I don't know exactly how to upload the photos to the computer. Probably would be a simple process which I'll try to get to tomorrow. I have lots of great photos from the kids playing in the snow this morning as we awoke to around 5 inches of the white stuff! Also the kids' room and living room are both "show ready"! (Remember we're getting our house ready to sell?) The frustrating part is that each of these rooms currently look very un-ready to sell. Thankfully, each room in the house is making its way to ready with just straightening needed. Many items from around the house now reside in a rented storage unit and deep cleaning (hooray for the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser!) is going on on an almost daily basis. I'm calling a realtor tomorrow to make this whole process official!! Good night.

Philip's Rookie Year

Philip joined his first sports team this year. Actually a 3-year-old, he began practicing with the 4- to 6-year-old Upward Basketball team in December. He played in two games and then became "official" when he turned 4 on January 22. He played another game and then at the following practice (they had practice each Monday night) told his coach he was done for the season. We told him that he could do that as we felt like it had come to that moment of either stepping down or pushing him beyond what would be good for him.

Philip gave basketball a good try and I feel that if he wants to play next year then these weeks of practice and games will provide a good jumping off point. He did warm up to his coaches and sat still during the devotion time at practice. However, his age and skill level just proved to be too much of an obstacle. Thankfully, he never saw himself as below average which he wasn't (he's just a beginner!). Unfortunately his imagination got the best of him because as he lost interest in basketball, he would enter his superhero fantasy world and begin doing his Transformer moves... yes, this was on the basketball court during a game with people lining the walls of the gym. He's gets an A+ for not having stage fright! At practice, Philip was all excited about doing the running and stretching exercises but as for the dribbling and shooting drills, he thought he didn't need that part.

We had a ball watching our baby participate in his first team sport, collect iron-on stars for attending practice and good sportsmanship during games, and gain social skills as he made new friends. Even though I'm amazed at how big he is getting, Philip is really so young still and has a whole life ahead of him. It's going to be really great watching those God-given talents emerge and him find his passion in life.

One Room Down, Several To Go!

For those who missed my earlier post, we're hoping to list our house on the market in March. As "clutter" people, the entire house needed a good dose of TLC. A wise friend (who sold her own house a few months ago) suggested cleaning one room at a time. Great advice and now our kitchen is ready to show! It's amazing how cleaning off the counters and refrigerator door really inspires me to keep the sink free from dirty dishes.

Here's the before.


And here is the spic and span after.

Things are coming along...

We've had a good day. Philip and I are still enjoying our books and activities found in "Before Five in a Row". This week's selection is "Caps for Sale". This morning we read the book, I read Proverbs 6:10-11 to Philip which speaks of sleeping while one should be working brings poverty (in the book, the peddler takes a nap and monkeys steal all his caps), and then I showed Philip what 50 cents looked like in pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters (in the book, the man is selling his caps for 50 cents each). It was a fun activity and helped Philip to get a first taste of counting by 5's and 10's and the worth of money. He's taking 50 cents to church tonight to give as his offering, and it will be two quarters, not 50 pennies!

Braewyn has been going pee on her little Pooh Bear potty sporadically for a few weeks. Every time I change her diaper these days, she says, "Potty?" before I can get the new diaper on meaning she wants to go try. Sometimes her diaper had been barely wet and she'll go more on her potty. This morning, Philip was in their bathroom but Braewyn started banging on the door and said "potty!" Philip said he was done (he's beginning to get modest around her which is good) and opened the door. She went in, I helped get her diaper off, and she peed and pooped in her potty!!!! We were all so excited. I had heard girls were easier to train but I never expected she would be doing this well two months before her second birthday. I am just keeping her in diapers for the time being with our plans to move in the next few months.

And that brings me to my last subject, our upcoming move!! We'll just be moving a town over (honestly on the other side of the highway because it's the line which divides one school district from another). My mom came over last Friday and helped me overhaul our kitchen. The countertops are bare save a spice rack, a wicker basket holding apples and a knife holder. We're trudging along little by little, tackling one room after another. Aside from dusting the ficus tree in the living room and arranging some pictures, that room is done. The kitchen just needs a few more cabinets wiped off and some things taken down from on top of the cabinets. The office, master bedroom, kids' room and closets still need to be tackled, but we're making progress. I can't wait to post my before and after pictures. The kitchen ones might be up tomorrow. We're calling a realtor in March and then begin house hunting. That part is what I can't wait for... actually walking through houses instead of continually looking in the real estate books and searching the MLS number on the internet to see photos of the inside of the houses!!! I'll keep you posted.

Philip's Comment of the Day

I could probably post something every day which Philip said that made me laugh. Today's is this. He actually said it last night but I didn't get a chance to post until now.

Me: Did you have fun in your new 4-year-old Preschool M&M (music & missions) class tonight? (He just moved up from the 3-year-old class.)

Philip: Yes, I met the two girls I have guarded in basketball. And I met a girl in a black shirt and a girl in a red shirt. I played superheroes with her. She didn't know we were playing superheroes, but she was just running away from the bad guys.

My Mission: Deep Clean and Declutter

I choose to accept this mission as my house will self-destruct if left to its own defenses. And the second main reason is that we hope to list it with a realtor in March. We've been planning on moving this spring for about a year. As spring is almost upon us, it's crunch time to get the place in order and actually begin the ball rolling of selling it, finding a new house, and moving into that one. I feel confident that it will sell as we have a corner lot, only house on the street with a double garage and are located somewhat close to downtown.

The hitch is getting our belongings either out or straightened up to a degree of someone else walking into our home and wanting to make it their own. I have already boxed up 2/3's of the kids' toys and moved those to the attic. We plan on doing some furniture rearrangement (maybe getting a storage unit to house an extra couch and bookcase) to make the rooms look more spacious, painting the office which never got painted in the 9 years we've been here and has lots of stray marks on the walls, deep clean (i.e. remove the grime) the kitchen cabinets, stove, microwave, refrigerator, doors, and lightswitch plates. Oh and lest I forget, keep up with the laundry, dishes, and general tidying (we have a bad problem of not putting things back where they belong).

Believe it or not, I am really excited about this process because I know it leads to one day Matthew and I going "house hunting"! I almost wish I could do that first to see in what shape other people's houses are in. I do want to leave our house "better than we found it", slightly impossible as it was brand new when we bought it. Actually now it has a lot of character and I'm praying someone comes along with the same character preferences. I've already taken "before" photos of each room and as I complete rooms, I'll post the "before" and "after" photos.

What a brilliant idea!!

Matthew and I were watching a show called "Modern Marvels" which featured how cheese is made and all the new developments coming along in that industry. They were talking about buffaloes (sp?) now being milked and that milk being used to make cheese. Matthew said he actually saw buffalo cheese offered at the Lotus conference he attended a few weeks ago in Orlando. This (the sight of a buffalo being mechanically milked) just struck me as very odd.

Me: "Buffaloes are dairy animals? Are they in the cow family?"

Matthew: "They are mammals. All mammals create milk. You created milk."

Me (having my brilliant idea which caused me to break into gut laughter): "I could make cheese. Human milk cheese. It would have been a perfect side business if I had kept pumping after weaning Braewyn!"

And then Matthew started into his recitation of the scene from "Meet The Parents" when Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller discuss milking cats and humans.

(As I type this, I am STILL laughing to myself but also wondering how many of you think I am COMPLETELY off my rocker!)

I have a FOUR-year-old!!!!

Last Thursday (the 22nd), Philip celebrated his 4th birthday!! It has gone so fast and I am continuously amazed by the wonderful boy God is shaping before my eyes. We have such great fun together, and I so enjoy his inventive stories. I am likewise being shaped by God as I try to discipline Philip daily so that he might grow into a godly man.

Although Daddy was far away at Disney World for a work conference last week, I wanted Philip to have a special birthday dinner. We invited over Grandma, Aunt Elise, Nana and Papa. I decided to pour the cake batter into my Bundt pan thinking I wouldn't have the two layers as I normally do to ice. Upon icing the round cake with chocolate frosting, I realized the cake was perfect. Philip's favorite snack are chocolate doughnuts, and now he was getting a HUGE one for his birthday.



Grandma gave Philip this very appropriate new ballcap. And look at those baby blues!



On Saturday, we had his "friend party". Since seven little girls happened to be the only guests at his party last year, this year we decided to only invite boys. It was a hit. They each came dressed in a superhero costume (as was suggested on the invitation). We played Red Rover, ate pizza and cupcakes, and attempted to smash into a Transformers pinata. The pinata was not scratched by the boys' bat hits and then the ribbon pulling which was supposed to open the hidden secret trap door didn't work either (I think the candy I used was too bulky). Therefore Matthew kicked the side of it off and the candy then fell to the floor causing all present to shriek (me, from almost getting a pinata in the head as I was standing right in front of it and not knowing Matthew's intentions!!).





And here's Philip feeling very proud after completing his new wooden dinosaur model with help from Daddy. Thank you, Hannah and Madeline!

God... big and small!

Tonight our youth pastor Jason did an amazing job of describing how awesome the God we serve really is. He began with something he knew the youth (and I) have heard a lot, "Almighty God loves you and has a plan for your life." He said tonight he wanted to help us see exactly how true that is and how God has placed His fingerprints on everything throughout the universe, all bringing glory to Himself. Just seeing the snow fall yesterday and the leaves turn from green to yellow to brown and then fall to the ground a few weeks before that, it all really takes more "faith" to think it happens coincidentally than the simple faith of believing that God really did create it and controls it all.

We can clearly see this world all around us, but Jason showed this picture of the Whirlpool Galaxy to explain that God displays His love for us to the far ends of the universe. His love was first perfectly displayed when Christ died for us on a cross.



Wikipedia lists this description, "The nucleus of the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51). The Cross marks the location of the black hole at the center of the galaxy. The cross was first interpreted as two dust rings circling the nucleus. It was later determined to simply be foreground dust lanes silhouetted by the active nucleus. Bright ionization cones can be seen extending perpendicular to the largest dust feature." The photograph was taken by the Hubble Telescope.

Jason then spoke about how people can believe God on the big things, but not find peace in the little things in life. Jason used an inspiring video clip to demonstrate the degree of miniscule detail the Lord went to in creating us as humans. Our physical make-up comes back to the Cross by the basic "glue" which holds all of our bodies together, a protein called laminine. Here is a picture of the laminine molecule.



Wikipedia says this about laminine, "a protein found in the extracellular matrix, the sheets of protein that form the substrate of all internal organs also called the basement membrane. It is the major non-collagenous component of the basal lamina, such as those on which cells of an epithelium (a tissue composed of cells that line the cavities and surfaces of structures throughout the body) sit."

I have not done Jason's message to the youth any justice as it brought me to tears thinking about how I let petty things of this busy life distract me from the Lord's majesty. If I focused on how amazing He is and miraculously loves me unconditionally to a degree I'll never understand, not a thing in this world should be able to pull me away from a constant state of worshiping Him.

I praise Him for my husband and children and yet they are whom I lose my temper with most often. I praise Him for my home and the opportunity to stay home with Philip and Braewyn and yet I get frustrated with all the cleaning and upkeep it requires. I praise Him for saving my soul by sending His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross and yet I rarely tell others how much He loves them and that He died for them too.

Jason said God uses every single thing to bring glory to Himself. Every single thing except one thing... your heart. God allowed our hearts to be left to our decision, whether to bring glory to Him or to seek to please only ourselves. Oh how so very, very thankful I am to have chosen to follow Him and experienced the multitude of blessings He has poured out on me.

One More Photo

I left this photo off my last post. It captures the most common moods of my kids: Braewyn being impish and cute, trying to convince you she hasn't done anything wrong; and Philip being an action-packed superhero with some really enormous mission to attend to. They're my Sweet Muffin and Munchkin!!

Philip and Braewyn

January has already contained lots to post about. The kids have been enjoying their Christmas presents including comfy new pillow and blanket sets from my Aunt Cindy and Uncle Greg.



Philip had his first basketball game last Saturday morning and he participated very well for being still so new to the sport. The Upward Basketball league is a great way to introduce kids to a sport because it's not so competitive. The 4-6 year olds don't even have scores kept during the game. Also it's cool the way they teach them "man-on-man defense" by using matching wristbands. Philip was to "guard" Kendall, a little girl he knows from Sunday School. The only problem was that her dad is her coach and at this age the coaches are on the court leading the kids around in plays. Kendall followed her dad around and Philip had to follow Kendall around. She had the ball one time and Philip tried to get it but backed down. Later he told me he didn't like playing with her because he didn't want to take the ball away from his friend. He got a yellow star for good sportsmanship!!







(Thank you so much, Jessie, for taking these great pics during the game. I videotaped every moment Philip was on the court as the first time "basketball mom" that I am. I'll try to get a few minutes of that posted soon.)

I've also begun using a great book called "Before Five in A Row" to guide us through some preschool like activities in preparation for homeschooling Philip next year with a real K-4 curriculum. I find one of the listed books and read it to the kids. Then we do all sorts of fun activities explained in the book which ties other learning opportunities to the storyline of the book. Our first book was "Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?" Such a cute book. Our activities included matching outfits for a Jesse Bear I made from cardstock and material (very fun but long on the preparation end, however I look forward to pulling it out again with Braewyn next year too!) and sorting colored pieces into groups. This week we're reading "Blueberries for Sal". To let the kids "pick blueberries" as the little girl in the book does, I poured dry kidney beans over the livingroom rug. They had fun hearing the beans "kuplink" into their pails.







Finally, Braewyn took Walmart photos off our to-do list yesterday after she tripped right in front of Philip's bed and sailed nose first into the metal bedrail. I was scared she had broken her little nose as it turned blue and was swollen. Today there is no swelling but a nasty rubbed spot. It doesn't help that she has a fierce runny nose which of course she doesn't want me to wipe. I very carefully dab.





Girlfriends stick by you even when your nose is scraped up!

And to not leave you with that awful image of Braewyn in your head, check out these curls!





Matthew is naturally curly and I have some body to my hair. We'll see if Braewyn will want to use gel to keep them bouncy when she gets older.

Clean Bill of Health

Thank you so much to all friends and family who prayed for me this morning. My colonoscopy went well and my doctor said he did not find any polyps. Thank you, Jesus! I can now rest easy for five years and know that I'm not crazy for wanting to keep on top of this as my doctor recommended I come back in five years. Aside from feeling cleaned out, the best part of this procedure are the comments I make in my pre-colonoscopy nervousness and post-colonoscopy drugged state.

Before hand I told at least one nurse and my doctor, "I ate green jello last night so I hope my insides are not green. If they are, that's why."

Afterwards as I was coming around from this awesome anesthesia (Jo Ellen, how badly did I spell that?) which knocks you out in less than 5 seconds and then wears off in about 15 minutes, Matthew tells me I said this to the SAME nurse FOUR times as she came in and out of my recovery "stall" (I wasn't in a room but more of an alcove behind a curtain but everyone is put in that kind of "room"). "I have two preschoolers at home. I'd love to just stay here for the rest of the day and sleep." There's deep truth behind something you say FOUR times!!!

Feeling Good but Hungry

I'm pretty calm about tomorrow's procedure. It really must be the prayers I've requested from friends and family. And probably also the fact that I'm STARVING! Now I just want the colonoscopy to be over so I can eat something. My heart really goes out to people who have gone through medical issues which kept them from eating for an extended amount of time (Mom and Jessie are who I think first of). Today I've had a mug of hot tea (no milk so it didn't taste quite right), a mug of chicken broth, 2 servings of Jello at one time (a box makes 4 servings and I ate half of what was in the bowl I made it in), a glass of white cranberry peach juice, and at 2:30pm, 4 Ducolax laxatives. At 4:00pm, I begin drinking 8 ounces every 15 minutes of a lemon-lime Gatorade and Miralax concoction until all 64 ounces are down the hatch. Interspersed during that drinking process, I'll begin going to the bathroom, a little at first and then a lot towards the end. When I had my first colonoscopy , I remember thinking that last cup of Gatorade went in one end and immediately out the other.

Sorry if this was too much information. It's honestly not a bad process at all and I do remember thinking last time, "I might just do this every other year just to clean out my insides."

I did get a call from the outpatient nurse today and I am to report tomorrow morning at 8:45am. Thank you, Lord, for letting me have an early appointment so I can come home and EAT something!!

My Colonoscopy on Tuesday

I had a colonoscopy six years ago due to some bleeding which turned out to be due to lifting some heavy boxes. Since then Mom was diagnosed with colo-rectal cancer which means I have family history of that disease. Mom's surgeon recommended that my brother Mike and I have colonoscopies at age 40 instead of the standard age 50. It is recommended to begin checking 10 years prior to when your family member was diagnosed (Mom was 50). That would mean a span of 13 years from my first check until the next. As a worrier and hypochondriac, I wasn't comfortable with that. Also just the fact of having two children and the changes those events brought to my body, the colonoscopy will settle my fears over random aches and pains I experience.

With that said, I ask for your prayers for me to have peace leading up to the procedure on Tuesday morning, precision of my doctor in using the scope, and for God to take away my cough which I've had for about two weeks. My crazy mind wonders what can go wrong if I cough while sedated with a scope up my insides! I pray to report back with a great report.

My Mental Journey Through the Topic of Educating My Children

If you had asked me two months ago if I would consider homeschooling my children, I would have quickly said no. My reasonings were truthful yet selfish: I don't know anything about teaching school, I'm not organized enough, I look forward to the day I can send my children off to school so I can have some time to myself again, and maybe I would like to get a fun job at Hobby Lobby or something! I love Philip and Braewyn completely, but there are days when I am very ready for Matthew to come home and "take over". The idea of spending everyday always together seemed a little overwhelming when I thought about it being for YEARS to come.

Well, around the first week of December, I kept hearing friend after friend mention she was planning on homeschooling her children, the subject was mentioned in a magazine article I read and a brochure for My Father's World homeschool curriculum was on the information table at our MOPS meeting. I thought to myself, maybe God is really wanting me to think about this! I knew this was definitely not something to make a spur of the moment decision about. I mentioned to Matthew that the idea of homeschooling was in my mind but not in any formal fashion and I would just be pondering it over and "researching" it by asking friends who do homeschool and/or are planning to do so.

The more I thought about it, the more I got excited about the idea. At the same time, I continued praying for God to show me His clear direction as I didn't have a complete feeling of peace about it. Also, I struggle with getting Philip and Braewyn to comply to simple requests when they're not in the mood so I wondered how taxing homeschooling really would be. Philip was also showing signs of failing to obey authority figures outside our home (didn't do his craft in Sunday School, sat down during basketball practice because he was tired) which made me wonder if keeping him home would only perpetuate that problem.

I continued talking with friends about which curriculums they use and planned on getting together with a few in January. As I do with anything that perks my interest, I next went to the internet and searched for "homeschool curriculum". Boy, did that blow me away. I spent a few good hours reading over all sorts of plans and honestly became overwhelmed and confused about which I would choose if I did so.

That feeling of peace was still not in my spirit, but I knew my God is faithful and so continued to think this subject over until He sent me my answer. I then also spoke with some friends who have children in our public school system. They all told me they really felt good about the experiences their children have had. Many of the teachers are Christians and although they cannot teach Christian material in the classroom, they display a wonderful Christian example to the children.

Thankfully, God has brought me my answer just in the last few days with a peace that is so comforting. Matthew's opinion on this matter was obviously a key part in my decision as well and this whole process has been "verified" by something I read while studying the Bible. First Matthew favors the idea of public school (I don't want to misquote him, but I think he basically believes that kids become most well-rounded socially and academically in that atmosphere). I would never overrule him on such a substantial decision for our family as this so that came into play. Secondly, I was reading about David being told by God to attack the Philistines while he was in hiding from King Saul (1 Samuel 23:1-6). He told the people he was with who asked him if he was sure about that. David went to God and asked again if that's what he should do.

About these verses, Beth Moore writes in "David: 90 Days with a Heart Like His" (pg. 135), "David did not ask God a second time because he doubted God, but because he needed to be certain. In the same way, you or I might ask God to reconfirm His direction -- not because we doubt God's Word, but because we question our understanding. To doubt God in the face of clear direction is disobedience, but to double-check our understanding and interpretation of God's will is prudent." I did not want to disobey God is He truly wanted me to homeschool, but I just didn't know if that's what He was really telling me

All that being said, God has helped me re-evaluate my motives, and the "plan" Matthew and I have (unless God speaks to us again) is for me to homeschool Philip for preschool (a.k.a. K-4), and then send him to public Kindergarten and further grades. I feel complete peace about this decision. I am certain that God wanted me to think about homeschooling because it brought me to saying that if yes, He wanted me to do so, yes I would do so. What God is suggesting is not always what He wants you to really do, but He just wants to see your faithfulness in saying yes to do so (i.e. Abraham almost taking his son Isaac's life).

This spring, I'm loosely doing K-3 preschool homeschool by using a book entitled, "Before Five in a Row" (activites are provided to use along side a children's book), learning letters and numbers by playing Old Maid and Go Fish, coloring, etc. Next schoolyear, I will be using an actual preschool homeschool curriculum (still working on deciding which one) for him on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday as we continue to attend MOPS on Tuesdays and his last year of BSF on Thursdays. This will give us a lot of time together, much of which Braewyn can join in.

Now the question is which elementary school will Philip attend. We are selling our house this spring to move into a different school district. There are four elementary schools and so the location of our new house will determine which he attends. I am excited to see where God leads us and what experiences He has in store for us down the road. It is an amazing feeling to live in the center of His will!!

As my favorite Bible verses say, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will direct your path." Proverbs 3:5-6

Another Video

This video almost brought me to tears. Brittany, one of the teenagers at church, mentioned to me that there was a video for the song "Everything" by Lifehouse on YouTube that was actually a youth skit about all the things that try to tear teenagers down. I've just watched it and it breaks my heart. Matthew and I have been teaching youth Sunday School for 8 years. Teenagers are dear to my heart because the world they live in today is so much more blatantly trying to drag Christians down, really anyone who doesn't want to get caught up in the drinking, drugs and sex. I shudder thinking about what they face everyday not to mention trying to keep my mind from thinking about Philip and Braewyn being in that atmosphere one day. I pray to the Lord almost daily for guidance in raising them and that they might each accept Christ as his/her own Savior so they would seek His guidance for themselves.

That being said, even if you don't come into contact with teenagers regularly this video can make you think about your own life too. What is Satan using to draw you away from God? Is God even a part of your life?

Time to start over!

January 1st has always given me that feeling of taking on huge projects, goals, dreams, etc. because this is a brand new year and the possibilites are endless!! Normally the daily grind of day-to-day activities wears that "everything is possible" energy level down after a few days, but I've found something that might help. I've always loved watching good movies and this video contains clips from some of the best. Hey, Mel Gibson is in it. That would make it worth watching alone. Seriously though, God has an amazing plan for you. And He does want to help you find out what that is. Here's one of my favorite verses from the Bible because it clearly states that God is for us, not against us.

"Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4

I forgot Jesus

In my Christmas day recount, I forgot to mention that we did celebrate the true reason of the day. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, I wanted Philip to be fully aware that the holiday is in rememberance of Jesus' birth. I would tell him Christmas is Jesus' birthday and we celebrate by having a birthday party for him. We exchange gifts to show each other how much we love each other and think about how much Jesus loves us. Therefore, on Christmas afternoon I made Jesus a birthday cake. We ate it with ice cream after dinner that evening.



(I know the writing is a little sloppy. It was time to decorate the cake and I realized I was almost out of writing icing so I was pinching the tubes with all my might.)