Women of the faith

The other night we had a very interesting conversation around our dinner table. In our study of heroes of the faith we have studied Martin Luther and George Mueller. Karly mentioned that she did not know any women heroes. I almost fell out of my chair. There are so many.
We talked about Corrie Ten Boom. What a wonderful testimony of God's provision. I think my favorite story from The Hiding Place was when they needed medicine and the bottle just stayed full until new medicine was found. Also, Corrie's devotion and faith in God is admirable in all of her circumstances. What an awesome hero of the faith!

And of course, who do I love more than Susannah Wesley?? Mrs. Wesley was the mother of 19 children. Ten of whom made it to maturity. It is said that she would go into her kitchen, throw her apron over her head and spend time praying amidst the goings on in her home. She has generations of faithful offspring following after her godly example.

And my personal hero, Elisabeth Elliot! Oh my! What a beautiful example she is to us all. Her husband was a missionary who was killed. Later she went to this tribe and ministered to them, living with them for two years. She has written many books that speak of lives of purity and graciousness.

I know there are many more! Who are some of your favorites?

Be Blessed!

WWYD?

Recently, on a message board, the question was asked, "What would you do if homeschooling became illegal?" Many thought the question was completely hypothetical. Me? I'm not so sure. As I see our liberties sleeping away and see the American people turning to the government more and more, I see the government taking more and more. What better place to raise up a generation loyal to the ideals of our new government?
Why, oh why, would the government allow us to teach our children something contradictory to what they are trying to implement? That's one big argument I have heard from some hard liberals towards homeschooling. "Why leave this children to be raised in a hateful, bigoted environment with no regulation on what they are being taught?"
Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I believe in living life on guard and planning for any possibility.

What did this question lead to? It led to someone else asking, why do you homeschool?
For us it's not even a choice. God has called us to this. Some days (especially lately) I have felt like the biggest failure being my kids teacher. This past year was full of rough starts and stops to our homeschool. I see the next few months being the same. But I have to trust God to make up for my slack. I know my kids are safe and are hearing truth and not lies. They have good Christian books and videos available to them. They see us struggling, but leaning on God. What more education could I want for them?
Yes, of course I want the basics and even more, but if they come out of our homeschool with a good foundation for trusting and serving God, then we have accomplished a ton!
An interesting point was made by one of the mom's on the message board about illegal homeschooling.
It was not that long ago that people risked fines and jail time to school their children at home.
I know a friend of mine from our homeschool group with a son in college, talks about how she NEVER left home with the kids during the day because it cause too many problems?
Can you imagine?? That was in the 90s! Are we so naive to think it could never happen again? Are we willing to throw away their sacrifice?
What would I do if homeschool was illegal? I don't think I'm going to talk about it here. Too risky. But I do have a plan. Do you?
Be Blessed!

Best purchase ever!

Last night I went to Walmart and bought to pairs of jeans a size larger than I usually wear. They also have elastic waists. AHHHH! So much better. :)
I want maternity clothes, but I am holding out. I figure I will need these transition clothes for before and after. I might still get a couple of tops. They are so cute! I have always shied away from the empire tops because they made me look pregnant. Now of course I want to look pregnant! LOL
Had an OB appointment today and her little heart was just a beating. Also my OB was actually ok with where my blood sugars are. YAY!

Be Blessed!

Yes, I still have other children!

I guess I should talk about them occasionally. LOL They are doing great. We have actually had some pretty productive school days this week. Our first of 2010. We are behind, but if we work a little every day we should be caught up by mid February without overwhelming ourselves with too much work every day.

I realized the other day that in September by oldest will be in 6th grade. On a side note, totally baby related, do you know that she will be 13 when Lily is born? Talk about having another little mama around. :) We talked the other day about what a special position she has in this house as the oldest of all of these kids. Sometimes she gets overwhelmed with the responsibility, but then when we talk about how God must have thought she would be just the right person for the job, that helps. I love seeing how she is still so much of a child. Of course she is growing up too and I am trying to figure out how to nurture her in this new season. She needs a little more freedom and independence. I just have to figure out the boundaries there. She is moving past playing with toys and really needs some new things to do with her free time. Something else I am still working through. Any ideas?

I had to take Tamara back to first grade phonics. We just started Saxon Phonics 1. If this does not work I will have to have her tested. I don't know that I ever really properly taught her all of the sounds the letters make. I am definitely taking the blame for this. I should have just followed through with Saxon Phonics like I did with the other kids. I thought I had a different way to teach her and it did not work. So now she is 8 and still struggling.

Note to self: if it works keep using it!

Because of all the interruptions last year we never made it through the first grade math book. Something suggested was to finish that book by this summer. Go over basic 2nd grade concepts over the summer and start Tamara and Adrian in the third grade math book in September. Just as a trial. If they can't do it we will fall back to the 2nd grade book. Not a big deal. Saxon is just repetitive enough that I think we can make it work.

Adrian is doing FANTASTIC in school! I can't believe how quickly he picks stuff up. I think he and Karly are my natural learners. Kelsie and Tamara struggle with it but they have different strengths. Honestly, I think both would struggle a lot in school and I would hate to see that. At home they can go a little slower.

Jonathan started "school" this year as well. He wanted "bonics" or phonics and math so I got Saxon Math K and Saxon Phonics K. I thought he would struggle with Saxon Phonics K but so far he seems ok. Saxon Math I knew he would be ok with because it's mostly manipulative play. It was way too young for my K'ers so I thought it would be perfect for introducing math to a preschooler.

I am looking at starting IEW with Karly in September. I also want to look into another Latin program for Karly and Kelsie. I am going to get this Latin for Tamara, Jonathan, and Adrian. It's more introductory through singing and fun activities. I'm still trying to decide for Karly and Kelsie. I want something a little independent. I don't mind doing it with them, but it needs to be something I can spend a few minutes doing with them and then they can run with.

We have Prima Latina, and it's a great program, just really not working for us. We have tried to do it for three years now. I want them to learn some Latin, some Greek, Spanish, and one other language of their choosing.

Well, that's a lot of our homeschooling journey. I have switched some things up, added and subtracted. It seems like every July and December I do that.

Of course now I have my eye on the coming months and what I will be able to do and not
do. I am so thankful for a supportive husband who is sitting with me during lessons to see how we "do school" so he can help out.

Be Blessed!

For This Child..

I have prayed!
Oh how the words of Hannah's heart speak to me today.
What a blessing and a joy to be the bearer of a special person from God.
The ultrasound today was FANTASTIC! I was so pleased with the results. A few things to discuss and investigate further but most everything seemed fine.
In four weeks I go for a fetal echo cardiogram. And of course another picture of our newest blessing. I could have looked at baby all day long. :) Especially when baby waved. Awesome.
Now, for the surprises.
At my first OB appointment I was estimated to be between 10-12 weeks. Today my OB had put my estimated due date as July 26th. Imagine the joy I felt when the sonogram technician said they would have to knock some time off of my due date. A fully month. We are now looking at around June 24th. Yes, please. :) Do you realize I made it through almost the whole first trimester completely ignorant of the growing person inside of me? AMAZING!
The second surprise, floored DH and I. If you remember this post from a couple of years ago, God clearly pressed on my heart the name of a little boy. This was our promised baby. His name was straight from God. We just knew that Gideon would soon be joining our family. Well... Gideon will have to wait, because Miss Lily Grace is going to come first. A GIRL! I'm ecstatic! Have you seen how cute the baby girl clothes are?? Have you?? Of course the first thing I said was, " I don't think I can afford a girl!" LOL It was all with a smile and grin. Of course we can afford a girl. God has already planned on it. :)
How thrilled are mom and dad and sisters? The girls keep confirming her name. They are talking of dresses and pinks and purples. I see a girly explosion in our future.
How thrilled are the boys? Eh. They don't care. I for one am looking forward to watching them be big brothers to a little girl. Sounds like fun to me!
So thank you for all the prayers. Please continue to lift baby up as there is one thing we are not sure about. We are trusting God no matter what. I know that I will always have this baby girl. She is named. She is wanted. She is loved.

Be Blessed!

Trust in God.

I have always wanted to be pregnant. Always. I wanted the whole experience of carrying the baby and delivering and just the whole shebang.
This has not been easy. I'm going to be completely honest here. Keeping it real. I know there is someone else out there going through the same thing and she needs to hear she's not alone.
Tomorrow is my ultrasound. I have heard the baby's heart beat on two different occasions. That made him very real to me. That closed my mommy heart around him so completely that no matter what happens now I will always hold him close.
I made some poor decisions before I found out I was pregnant. I have had Type 2 diabetes as a complication of PCOS for about two to three years now. It's never been under control. I have taken medicine and mostly watched what I ate, but if I wanted something else I would eat it. Picture the holidays. Enough said. During the holidays meaning from October til I found out on Christmas Eve, my baby was growing vital organs. He was at one of the most important developmental stages in a baby's life. My blood sugar was shooting up like crazy. Between 200 and 300. I thought it was just me. I tried to cut back on some of my foods and kept taking my medicine to no help.
Finding out I was pregnant and reading about high blood sugar in the first few months made my blood run cold. The doubt and fear in my OBs eyes when he read my blood sugar chart made me want to cry all over again.
I trust in God. I know He is the one who knit my baby together in the womb. I know that God always does the right thing.
What troubles me is that God's right thing and my right thing don't always add up. I just have to choose to trust God's right thing. That is faith that is surely stretching me right now.
Chances are tomorrow's ultrasound will go great. I will see a tiny little baby in there still forming. Still becoming who he is going to be.
But I'm prepared to not see that as well.
I know through it all God is in control. I keep doubting my faith because I dare believe that my baby could not be ok. Because I dare to not be excited about tomorrow. But then I realize it's not really my faith I'm doubting. I do believe that God is going to do what He thinks is best. That His glory will be shown through no matter what.
Even if it's hard and I question it, I know in the end my trust will be in the author of our lives. I know that I can go to Him and cry out and be disillusioned. I know that good or bad tomorrow will be a new day. The next day will be another chance to trust in God. I will always choose to trust in God.
I know, kind of heavy for someone supposed to be rejoicing in this new life. I can't put into words how excited I am about this baby. He was promised, he was prayed for, he was dreamed of, he is so wanted. I just wanted to put out there the doubts and fears. I know someone out there needed to hear this. My prayers are with you, dear one! You are not alone.

Be Blessed!

Something to say

Nows the time

Well, the big news for the New Year is that we will hopefully be welcoming a baby into our lives in the next few months. We found out on Christmas Eve, but kept pretty quiet until my OB appt yesterday. I was estimated to be about 12 weeks along. We go to a specialist next week for an ultrasound to get a little bit more positive dating.
I do have Type 2 diabetes and started insulin yesterday. At this point we are praying and believing God that He kept our little one safe through the first few months when we were not aware of his being. I am following Drs orders as closely as possible and will meet with a dietitian next week as well.
We are excited as this is truly a miracle from God. We were not expecting it, though we knew that one day God was going to grant us this blessing.
Who knew that it would be the joy we needed to end an impossible year?? God did. He is so faithful!
I am finding more and more info for diabetic mommys out there and I will definitely share what I find out.
So for now please praise God with us, for this blessing of life!

Be Blessed!

Our Birthday Decision

I hope you all had a wonderful New Year! Ours was nice and quiet. Nothing much to talk about.

This young lady has a birthday coming up soon. She will be 13 and we wanted to get her a special present. We were going back and forth on what we could get her. We finally decided on a laptop/notebook computer.

As she gets older I would like for her to start to explore blogs of other girls out there who share some of our beliefs. I also want her to have the opportunity to use the computer to do some of her schoolwork. There are also some fun game sites I will let her pursue.

There will be many rules around the laptop though.

It will stay in my room and she will earn the privilege of using it by completing her responsibilities. She will only be allowed to use it for so many hours a day/week. She will have to be in the same room one of her parents is in and sitting right next to us. All new websites, blogs whatever will have to be approved through us first.

Yeah, I'm a little paranoid. But I like to say better safe than sorry. This child is known for coming to us with questionable stuff so I feel pretty good that if she comes across something by accident she will alert us to it. But we will be right there anyway.

I feel good about this gift. I know she will love it!

A weird post for the New Year I know, but I felt bad for not having posted at all. I do have a lot of stuff to share, but I just have to find the time.

Be Blessed!

Favorite post from the past