Hello Again

After a long time away from blogging I have decided to give it a try again. Before I began though I did some hard thinking about what kind of atmosphere I wanted to create here at Walking Faithfully.

I decided I want it to be a warm, loving and encouraging place to come to. I don't want to spend a lot of time on analyzing or discussing the state of affairs in the world, unless, of course, it is in the course of bringing encouragement and glorifying God. There are plenty of blogs out there that do that sort of thing and do it in a much better way than I ever can. I tend to just get up on a soap box and rant. That is not very warm, loving or encouraging.

Like any place one has been away from for awhile a little dusting and sweeping are required in order to get things liveable again. That's what I've been doing here today. I uploaded a new background and header (which were fun to find and make!) and deleted some old posts that were not in keeping with my new direction in blogging.

I also don't intend to spend a lot of time on the blogging thing. I mainly want to write. I have been in dire need of a creative outlet. At my current season in life I don't really have the time or energy to drag out sewing projects, crocheting projects or any other project for that matter. Blogging is one of those things I can do that does not create a mess or take up space that I will need later so that we can have dinner at the table.

I am also still homeschooling our two children. Legoman, our 15 soon to be 16 year old son, is now in high school and keeping up with his education is a bit of a challenge for me. I also probably worry a little about how well we are doing in covering all the bases for him, yet at the same time I know we will get there and have a sense of accomplishment for a job well done.

Sweetpea, our 10 year old, is an amazing joy! She genuinely loves to learn. She doesn't always love the tasks it may involve but she loves learning! She especially loves her science. We are currently doing Apologia's Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology. Today she made a model of her blood using Karo Syrup, Red Hots, sprinkles and one white Jelly Belly. Our little two year old friend came over today, saw the canning jar full of sugary goodness(?) and wanted to eat it. All I could say to him was, "Yucky!"

'Cuz I'm sure it is...yucky I mean.

We also have some amazing and wonderful things coming up for our family that I hope to share in the not to distant future. For now though they will have to remain a mystery to you dear reader. But if you do think of me and feel led I would surely appreciate your prayers on our family's behalf.

So that is my "hello again". I hope you will come and visit again. Please comment and let me know you stopped by!

Blessings!

"And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the indertance; for you serve the Lord Christ." ~Colossians 3:23-24

Some Simple Thoughts

I think that this little meme is normally to be done on Mondays. But I was about 400 miles away from my computer on Monday so…well…anyway…I needed something to spur on my thinking and I’m doing it today…



FOR TODAY Thursday, October 16th...

Outside My Window...
…it is dark right now. But the trees are beginning to turn to shades of gold and there is a crispness in the air that makes me think of apples and cinnamon.

I am thinking...
…that there is a lot I’m thinking about these days. More than I can possibly put into words. I think that there is a stage in life when you look all around you and things and people are changing. Children are getting older, parents are getting older, suddenly you realize you aren’t as young as you used to be. This causes me to reflect a lot. What is next in my life? Am I doing a good job raising my children? How can I be a help to my parents?

I am thankful for...
…the fact that I don’t have figure all this out on my own. I have my husband who God has gifted with steadiness and clear thinking. I have my Lord who will guide and direct us both.

From the kitchen...
…ummm, not much too exciting lately. I did make an apple crisp last week. The weather is prompting me to make lots of soups, stews and chili lately. I hope my family doesn’t get tired of them!

I am wearing...
...my yoga pants (can I just say I love these things…they are so comfortable…and I don’t even do yoga!), a t-shirt, a fleece sweatshirt and some socks. Yep. You could definitely call me comfy.

I am creating...
…ideas lately. I hope to be making some Christmas gifts soon.

I am going...
…to hopefully stay home for awhile, at least until Thanksgiving.

I am reading...
…James Herriott’s The Lord God Made Them All. Again. For like the umpteenth time. I first read this series in the ‘80’s when I worked the swing shift as a PBX (switchboard) operator at a hospital.

I am hoping...
…that we will be able finish painting our house before it gets too cold.

I am hearing...
…Jon Courson doing his Wednesday night teaching on-line at KAPL. He is going through Proverbs.

Around the house...
…things are pretty snug for the winter. We have been lighting a fire in the wood stove in the morning to take the chill off.

One of my favorite things...
…is sitting by the woodstove in the morning and doing my devotions and having my coffee. So cozy, such a special time for me.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week…
…mainly to get our schooling caught up and make a batch of stewed tomatoes.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

...it makes me think of warm family times to come this holiday season and reminds me to be thankful.

I Can't Do It On My Own

Things here are not just busy....they are a bit disorganized. In fact it's driving me crazy.

I had all these great intentions to get all these projects done around the house this summer...and...well...I had great intentions.

Now, in just a week and a half we start school again. Thankfully I have managed to get our school lives mostly together. You know, books and curriculum ordered and received. I still need to work out a daily schedule and some kind of rubric of expectations for Son.

Can I admit here that I'm feeling just a little...errr....overwhelmed? Not totally overwhelmed, just a little.

I really want to do an excellent, consistent job in educating Son and Daughter. I want to make sure that we cover as many bases as possible and that they will be able to stand on their own two feet when the time comes.

Sigh.

I think that every parent and every homeschooling parent struggles with many of the same feelings and questions I'm struggling with right now. And those are just the parenting concerns.

As a wife and mom I have a whole other list of goals I want to accomplish that concern the running of our home. Housekeeping goals, menu and feeding goals, gardening goals,...the list just goes on and on.

I want to be able to do all things well. I want to have a well oiled machine running here in our home in which the schooling and housekeeping are smoothly integrated. In which the kids recognize and do their part to keep it going.

I see in my minds eye how I want things to look and run and then I look at the reality and there is a minor gulf between the two.

And then....

And then I get down on my knees and I pray and I give it all up to Him. Because I recognize that I'm trying way to hard to do it in my own strength. I'm trying way to hard using my own feeble brain and my weak, weak muscles.

I realize I can't do it on my own.

Again.

This is not the first time I've had this revelation. Oh no. I've had this revelation at least a hundred times in the last year alone. Yet it's a lesson I keep having to go over again and again. Praise the Lord He is patient and willing to teach me again and again.

And since I'm learning my lesson yet again, I have decided to take a blogging break. I know I only manage to post once a week but right now I can't even do that in a timely fashion. So I'm going to give myself a break. One less thing on the plate to worry about, so to speak.

So...for the next six weeks...I'm taking a break from blogging. My idea (I refuse to call it a plan) is to return to the bloggy world around the beginning of October when hopefully things will have returned to some kind of predictable pattern and we are settled in our school routine.

Thank you for continueing to check up on me this summer and I hope that you will come back this fall. I really and truly appreciate every visit and comment I receive from all of you. And thanks for allowing me this time.

I will lift my eyes to the hills -

From whence comes my help?

My help comes from the LORD,

Who made heaven and earth.

Psalm 121:1~2

WFMW - The "Mom I'm Bored" Edition

It's Wednesday again and time for another edition of WFMW. Shannon, our venerable host at Rocks In My Dryer has given a theme this week. It is the "Mom, I'm Bored" Edition and she has asked that we share ideas and tips for keeping the kiddos busy this Summer.

Well, I thought about that and I thought about what we were doing. If you have visited me before you may know that we are homeschoolers. (I don't blog about it much because I don't consider myself much of a fount of knowledge in that arena, I usually am busy gleaning ideas from other folks.) I'm discovering that this is much more of a lifestyle than I ever dreamed it would be and that while formal learning (as in books and worksheets) may be suspended for the summer, learning never actually stops. Also there is a lot of learning that goes on that will never come out of book. Learning that develops character.

Romans 5:3&4 say, "And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope."

Work will often produce tribulation, which leads to perseverence, which leads to character. So my idea for this summer is to put my kids to work.

Now before you start thinking that my kids are some sort of twenty-first century Oliver Twists or something, let me assure you that I plan on letting them have plenty of fun too. In fact I hope that they find at least some of the work they do, fun.

So here are some of the work like activities they will be doing:

#1 - There are the chickens, The Girls, as they are sometimes called. They will need daily feeding and water changing. They will need to be let out of their coop every morning and have their saw dust freshened regularly. That will be Daughter's job. Before that the coop needs to be built. Son will be helping with that.

#2 - There is the wood pile. Husband regularly brings home small loads of firewood which the kids help him unload and which Son is responsible to stack.

#3 - There are the gardens, both vegetable and flower. When it finally stops raining here Daughter will be responsible to help water them. She will also have the privelage of helping to harvest them as well. She has already told me that she is looking forward to that! :)

#4 - Are all the regular daily chores they are expected to do like making their beds, keeping their rooms picked up, folding and putting away laundry and cleaning up after themselves when they are finished with a meal. Son will probably also have days in which he will be responsible for getting lunch on the table as I have several projects I hope to be working on.

#5 - And this is really more of a treat for them than work, they are keeping a reading log. All it is is a simple list of the books they complete and the number of pagers read. They are both natural readers so I rarely if ever have to coax them to do this.

#6 - And this really is the fun stuff...Son will spend a week at church camp (definately NOT work for him) and Daughter will take swim lessons and keep up with her piano lessons (oh yes, and a week of Vacation Bible School for her too).

So there you have it. That is how I'm keeping my kiddos busy this summer. And hopefully building their character in having them learn some new skills, faithfully completing their work and hopefully do their best.

And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men... ~Colossians 3:23

For more (fun!) ideas about how to keep your kiddos busy this summer head on over to Rocks In Your Dryer.

Plymouth Poultry

Allow me to introduce Samantha, Molly, Elizabeth and Gladys.

Plymouth Rock Hens

Yes, I'm still here!

As you may have noticed I took an unplanned, unexpected, short blogging break. The kiddos and I went South to visit my parents and see that, yes, Spring is coming. We're just two or three weeks behind.

It's very hard to see Spring, spend a few days enjoying Spring and then return to the north pole wintry conditions. Ahhh well, the weather man says it will be warming up this weekend...we'll see.

While we were down in the world of Spring we hit my favorite little used book shop in the world. (I would tell you where it is but then you would know where I live and Husband has asked that I keep that on the QT.) I don't know what the square footage of the shop is but I do know this...it is stacked floor to ceiling with books. There is never enough time to explore them all.

My Dad gave me a little volume that he bought there awhile back called A Book of Courage. It has all sorts of wonderful quotes in it inspiring one to keep up ones courage. It was printed in 1924. It's as charming to look at as it is inspiring to read. Quotes come from such greats as Theodore Roosevelt, Samuel Longfellow, Emerson, Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, to name a few.

This quote (following) was especially inspiring to me at this season in life when I am mothering, teaching, being a wife and doing all the myriad of other things I do to take care of my family.

Let us be content to work
To do the things we can, and not presume
To fret because it's little
~Elizabeth Barrett Browning

I think sometimes I do "fret because it's little". This reminded me that raising and loving my children and loving and taking care of my husband is no little thing. It is what I was made to do and I take joy in that. I take joy in knowing that I am doing exactly what my Lord and Savior wants me to do and that I am smack dab in the middle of His will.

The End of My Winter Reading

The Winter Reading Challenge over at A Joyful Heart is almost over. She extended it another week because of her own busy schedule and I was grateful because this is the first chance I've had to sit down and write any sort of post.

I feel I did pretty well on my list. Some other books crept in and since I have a tendency to have more than one book going at a time there are a couple on my list still unfinished. I think I've started them all but there are some that still have a chapter or two waiting to be read.

So here below are the books I planned to read with some brief thoughts on their content, enjoyability and/or usefulness.

Passionate Housewives Desperate For God - I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was challenged by it's call to selflessness and servanthood. I wrote a whole post about it here. This is a book I will be definitely picking up again in order to spur me on toward being that Titus 2 woman I really want to be.

The Hermit of Eyton Forest (A Brother Cadfael Mystery) - I must admit to enjoying a good mystery novel. Sit me down in a cozy chair with a steaming mug of coffee and a cozy mystery novel and why, it's sheer bliss. I enjoy this particular series because it is also historical. (Although I don't particularly enjoy historical novels, just ask my Mom. She's been trying to get me to read them for years!) The author, Ellis Peters, writes not only a great mystery but includes insights into the social structure of Medieval England and the civil war that existed at that time in history. (The 1100's.)

The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel) - This book is in the "juvenile" section of our library. I picked it up because I had so enjoyed The Westing Game by the same author (Ellen Raskin). They are both labeled mysteries but what they really are are elaborate word puzzles. A great, fun and challenging read.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - I missed this one as a kid. Probably because I saw the movie first which, of course, it bears little resemblance to. (This is why Son can not see the Lord of the Rings trilogy uneil he's read the books.) Even so, I found the book just as delightful as the movie. This was a read-aloud and my kids hated to have me put it down. That's a pretty good vote in favor of it, I think.

Black Ships Before Troy - We are about halfway through this one. It is also a read-aloud. Son is enjoying every minute it. Daughter, at six years old, not so much. This retelling of the Iliad by Homer is quite engaging and readable. (Where, I would like to know, was it when I was slogging through the original in Humanities 101 twenty some years ago?) We actually read the Aenead for Boys and Girls just before this. A little out of order I know. Don't worry, I keep reminding the kids this is the prequil to that.

Archimedes and the Door of Science - WOW! You could do a whole semester of science using this book. We haven't finished it yet but even when it gets a little abstract in talking about geometry the kids have enjoyed it. Each chapter explains in an understandable way just what Archimedes discoveries were and how important they are to us today. I highly recommend this book!

HTML, XHTML & CSS: Visual Quickstart Guide - After the first few chapters this is really a "how to" book. I am not finshed with it yet. It's one of those books that, for myself at least, I need to read and do. I haven't had a lot of time to practice "doing", hence the reading isn't happening either. However, what I've read so far is clear and easy to understand.

Age of Opportunity - This is a must have, must get, must, must use parenting book for parents of pre-teens and teens. Paul David Tripp is the brother of Tedd Tripp who wrote Shepherding A Child's Heart. They must have had some awesome parents. I've been telling friends that Paul's book is the sequel to Tedd's book. It is insightful, convicting and practical. For a more indepth review, check out this over at Amazon.

The Borrower's - I love this book. I loved it as a child and I loved reading it to my children. This was another one they would have been happy if I would have just read it straight through. My daughter spent days looking around our 1970's ranch-style house in search of holes where a Borrower might live. (It's a slab foundation and no holes were forthcoming.) She's now been checking for evidence outside. This is another one I recommend.

The One-Year Bible - Well, what can you say about the most awesome book of all time. I try to read through the Bible using this format every year. I don't follow the January to December format exactly. I usually get back to Genesis sometime in August. So, I've been at it this time since last August. I just finished up Esther in the Old Testament and did you know that the Jews celebrate Purim tomorrow!? God is so awesome in how He arranges our lives. I, of course, am not Jewish and don't celebrate Purim but it was neat to look at the calendar and know what that holiday was that was listed there.

Well, there it is. My winter reading list. So I think having completed five out of nine books is pretty good. Especially when a few were read-alouds to my kids. (Giggle) I would tell you what is on tap for the spring but there is another reading challenge over at Callapidder Days and that means a different post. I hope you enjoyed this and will maybe pick up some of these books!

A Few New Things

I am finding it increasingly difficult to find the amount of time I would like to have to do all the blogging I would like to do. That includes trying to write posts.


That is why they are so far and few between.


I'm trying, don't give up on me!


Anyway....I have found time to add a couple of blogs to my favorites list. These blogs are not only among my favorites but they happen to be written by a couple of my favorite people in-real-life.


Shawna who used to blog As Simple As Two Plus Two shut down that blog and started a new one. It's called We Lift Our Eyes Up and true to her wonderful organizational abilities, it is also well organized. It also promises to be a wealth of information for anything from how to cook beans (she is my bean guru) to homeschooling.


My other dear friend Jen is blogging over at Grace and Glory. She and her husband recently adopted three wonderful kiddos from Liberia. They, along with their brother already in residence are truly a joy to be around.


Both Shawna and Jen have recently written posts that have really challenged my thinking on what Christianity looks like in action. Be sure to go and check them both out!


I have also joined a forum for homeschoolers called Homeschool Hackers. If you scroll down a ways you will see the button there on the left of the page. It's brand new, I think the site just went up today. It promises to be a great place for encouragement and ideas for all you homeschoolers out there. Click on the button and check that out!


Yeah, okay, this wasn't the most inspiring post of all time but I hope you have fun checking out the new stuff.


And please....please....keep visiting!