Just Something Personal

 Choosing to homeschool is a very big responsibility! You are putting your child's education solely in your hands.  I feel where I am in life right now, God has put on my heart to be the best mother I can to my children. I have three boys and God has given me the responsibility to nurture them and love them while bringing them up in Christ. My cousin said it best when I was getting ready to homeschool the first time around, "God gave you these children, so He will fully equip you to homeschool them."  I think this was the most encouraging thing anyone had spoken into my life. There must of been some kind of doubt in me that made this really speak life into this journey I was about to embark on.  I choose to homeschool because I want my children to have a Christian education. With every subject that we are studying this year, there is God. Whether it's memory verses, hymns or stories from the Bible. God is there. God is there during Language Arts all the way through h...

So we did it! That was our first week of school and I think it went very well. Kye is finally getting all situated with all of his subjects. He’s doing an excellent job with his independent work as well as sitting and listening as I am teaching him new things. I was very surprised today when we were finishing up our language arts with The Good and The Beautiful, he was able to tell me his poem that he memorized already! Naturally, Kye would pick the shortest poem to memorize, but he did a very good job memorizing and saying the poem to me. Right now the only new thing I feel like Kye is learning is his language arts. That is just because with the math we are still in a review unit. So within the next week or so, math will begin new lessons and we will be learning new math skills for the third grade. So altogether Kye is doing an excellent job. I honestly feel like most of this week was adjusting the little ones to a good schedule were they were learning but also playing independently ...

Woah!  Today was a day! Like hot and cold these past two days. My middle woke up early again! I’m not sure what’s going on with him but he will wake up at 5:50-6:00 and struggle to fall back to sleep and then it throughs off his whole day.    Then we woke up to the roofers coming to work replace the roof so I thought I could put Luke down for an early nap but who was I kidding! My youngest, Jack slept the latest so we were able to start school early. I switch the order of our schedule this morning so that Kye was able to do some individual work on his own while I was introducing new things to Luke. Luke was just not in the mood to do anything this morning. Everything I put in front of him or told him he had to do, it was just a whining fest.  Eventually, I just sent Luke and Jack in the play room to play independently while I tried to finish up work with Kye. As soon as we got to The Good and The Beautiful language arts section, that’s when he kind of broke down. Kye...

  We did it!  Our first day of homeschool is complete. I woke up early and made the kiddos French toast and cut up some fruit. Excuse me, Luke cut you some fruit as you can see in our new vlog post! Luke woke up at 6 and I tried to get him back to sleep but that was clearly a fail as he left the room ten minutes after I did. We ate breakfast and Jack was still asleep. I thought for sure he would sleep late and we could start school without him.  😂 He woke up shortly after and then we were all on the same page by then. We took our pictures outside (Jack was not having it). And then our day began!  The kids were so excited to see their little gifts and the homeschool area all set up. We started our morning with a read aloud. We read Ten Apples up on Top since our topic is apples this quarter. The kids all got a composition book that we will use for the morning read alouds. They can draw or write whatever comes to mind as I read to them. It was cute to see what they al...

It's the night before Homeschool,  When all through the house; Not a child was stirring, not even a mouse, The notebooks were laid out by the school table with care; In hope that children will be there soon! I am so excited about this school year! I am excited because all three of my kiddos can be involved this year. When I homeschooled two years ago I had a 7 month old and an almost 2 year old. Nonetheless, it was a rough year. I did not feel much accomplished by the end of the year. Last night, I was thinking about our last homeschool year and I was thinking about how I went into the year, with a doubt that I may put my son back into the private school he went to his previous year. I bought the same curriculum the school was using 'just in case we went back'. I just set myself up for failure now that I think about it. I am looking forward to this year and many more years of homeschool with my children. I want to dedicate my life to teaching my children and bringing them u...

Sunday's Sermon came form Matthew 15:21-28. There is a Canaanite women asking Jesus to help her daughter who has been demon-possessed. This woman first asked Jesus for help and gets no answer from Him. Even His disciples suggest they send her away because she keeps crying after them. Then Jesus answers her with this, "It it not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs." With this the woman replies, Yes, Lord. But even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table." Then Jesus sees the woman faith and answers her cry to heal her daughter. What can be learned from this passage? A woman was asking Jesus for help and did she get exactly what she wanted at first? Silence? That's exactly what she didn't want. So she humbled herself and knelt down before Jesus and ask again. Then Jesus sees her faith and answers her prayer. I don't believe this is a passage explaining that if we constantly ask and humble ourselves ...

I listened to a sermon on the 4th and I have been trying to put all my thoughts together to write a post about it because it was so meaningful for me. It helped me realize a lot about myself and my faith. I am still trying to get all my ducks in a row for that post but I just wanted to give a little bit of encouragement. It seems like most sermons preached lately are about this craziness but out of that craziness there is a lot to learn! In Exodus 13-16 we read about how Pharaoh finally let the Israelites out of Egypt. All the Isrealites wanted was to be let go and what was one of the first things they did when they got out of Egypt? They complained. They started complaining about how they 'missed' things from Egypt.  Exodus 16:3 says   The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the  Lord ’s hand in Egypt!  There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food  we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assem...

Today I got my daily verse from the Daily Bread. Hebrews 4:13 "Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eye of Him to whom we must give account." This verse encourages me because I know the God I worship is an all-knowing God. It is also encouraging because I know He is always near. What is so great about knowing those two wonderful details of my God is that I never have a to feel alone and I will never be able to feel the need to hide. Sin is ugly, and when we know we are sinning, usually that sin is done in privacy and fear. When no one else know or we know no one else will find out. That is such a worldly thought, isn't it? We don't want others to find out but in reality that sin won't truly matter to anyone but God. So why do we find the need to hide? Knowing this about God helps show the grace that God is constantly giving us. We may fail but we know we have a God who loves us so much and is so willing to forgive. We must not take that for...

What does God want me to learn through these trials? Lately, I have felt so overwhelm with family life. There has been a lot going on that is causing me to feel stressed out, annoyed and just really overwhelmed. I get to the point where I just ask myself, "What is the point?" Recently, I have been more in touch with the Holy Spirit and  I heard a direct answer from Him. It is not about me. It is not about feeling comfortable with everything in life. This week, I was reading chapter 6 in Francis Chan's book I referenced in my last post. This chapter focuses on surrendering to the Holy Spirit. Like, fully surrendering. In a way to just drop everything and do exactly what the Spirit is calling us to do. Francis says: But repentance means saying, 'Sweet Jesus, You are the best thing that has ever happened to me! I want to turn from all the sin and selfishness that rules me. I want to let it go and walk with you. Only You. You are my life now. Help me to wal...

During today's sermon God spoke to me about something I am currently going through. The sermon was about devoting ourselves to prayer but Pastor Bob also spoke on how we are never alone. While speaking about devoting ourselves to prayer, Pastor Bob broke down the meaning of devoting ourselves. What does it mean to devote? It can mean, 'to make room for something', 'to create space' or 'to be intentional'. All of these are true for me. If I devote myself to prayer that means I am taking something out to make room for something better. I am taking away worry to make room for comfort and time with God. I am taking away guilt to make room for the promise of God's grace. I am taking away loneliness to make room for feeling God's presence. Loneliness has been my cry for a few years now. 'I am lonely. I am all by myself. I don't have anyone else if I don't have comfort in you.' I have been singing that song for too long. God tells me I ...

Well, we are coming up on week 6 of this social distancing, mask wearing, essential outings only, quarantine lifestyle. Ha! If I would have read that 5 years ago I would have been so confused. Who would have thought we would be living this kind of life here in 2020?  It's literally crazy nonsense! Anyway, I am thankful. I am thankful for this crazy quarantine lifestyle because it actually brought a lot of goodness. One thing it has brought me is a bible study! I have not been a part of a bible study in a very long time, due to work, not having childcare and my own lame excuses. That is what it comes down to, my excuses, right? Well, I am now able to attend a bible study through my work. We have a weekly zoom and I am so thankful for that.  We are reading Forgotten God  by Francis Chan. Francis Chan never fails to impress me with his God given talent to write and express God's love through his words. They are so powerful, meaningful, harsh and loving. I wante...

I am so incredibly blessed to be able to go to work were Christ is all around. Going to work to me is like going to church. I am constantly around Godly women (and two men haha) who love Christ and show it in every situation. These past two days I was a part of the  lovely In-Service for mainly the teachers but for all the staff as well. During these past two days we had time of fellowship, time to go over our schools stats and time to learn new ways of teaching and approaching the children as well as their families.  Today we were able to listen to a devotion from a gentleman by the name of Sean McDowell. He gave a great 'sermon'- I will call it, on how we reach out to our students. It was funny because I am not a teacher, I am simply just an aide but not only was he directing this message to the teachers but also threw in there that this is a way the parents can reach their children as well! This is what I took out of McDowell's message.  Answering your child...

Wow!  I haven't written forever and I pray I can get back to writing more because what that did for me was incredible. That was my quiet time where I could draw away from all the worries in life and just focus on God and what He has done for me.  This past year or so has been such a struggle for me. Marriage is HARD! I always knew it would be hard but not this hard! It got even harder when I drew away from God. I thought I could do this on my own when obviously this is a precious gift from God and why would I ever think I could do this on my own. I've struggled so much with balancing everything in my life. I've also struggled throughout this pregnancy. I have never been so emotional in my life. I feel like I lost all control over everything that was in order in my life. And I know the exact reason why. It has nothing to do with pregnancy or hormones. It has to do with my faith. I never denied to anyone or myself that I'm not struggling with my faith. I know for a...

He said to me, "My grace is enough for you, because my power is made perfect in weakness." So I'll gladly spend my time in weakness so that Christ's power can rest on me.  2 Corinthians 12:9 Through my failure, God is always glorified. When I feel my lowest, God is the first name that comes into my head. Through my weakness, I am still strong because of Christ's love that has been poured into my heart. (Rom. 5:5) While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 When I didn't yet accept Christ into my heart.. He still died for me, He still loved me and He still wanted me. So when I feel like I am completely failing at everything I am doing, Jesus Christ is still Lord! He will always remain the same; today, yesterday, tomorrow.   I may fail but Christ never changes. That's the power in my life. No matter where life takes me, I know my God is always the same and I can always count on Him to be there and put all my pie...

Wow! It's been almost a year and so much has happened in my life! I fell off this wagon of writing every night or so but I was inspired to do this! I need to, it keeps me grounded and on the right path.  So here I go again! This morning on my way home I turned on my daily devotion and there were two places in The Bible that were the focal point: 1 Peter 3 and Ephesian. God pointed me when I got home to read the rest of 1 Peter 3 and I'm sure glad I did.  I have been in a battle with myself for a while on where the line is drawn between being taken advantage of and being a Christian who loves. For the past year or so I feel like I have been so loving, caring and compassionate to people who really don't deserve it in my eyes but being the Christian I am, I know that I am suppose to show love no matter what.  In 1 Peter 3 starting at verse 8 Peter starts talking on the topic of 'Suffering For Doing Good.'  As a believer of Christ I am to be like mi...

I think it was up to just now that I realized what I have been doing wrong all this time. I have been telling my self over and over again that I need to fall back into my old routine. I kept talking about changing certain things I do and how I spend my time. I would dwell on reminding my self I need to sit down tonight and take a break. All I was doing was saying things, I wasn't putting them into action. I can remember always hearing my dad saying the phrase 'you need to stop talking about it and just start doing it.' It's so true. We can talk and talk about things that we want to change, but it's not until we just start to do these things, then we see the change we want. It's really as simple as that.  Going over my bible study, I came across Luke 6:46 'But why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say?' I claim to have this wonderfully powerful God but I fall short in doing the things that He is asking of...

Just like in my last post, I talked about how we tend to try and fool others by claiming we are the strong believer we say we are, but the way we act proves other wise. Well, after reading through James 3, James kept right on the same path and continued on teaching us about how we need to watch our words. Our tongue may be one of the smallest parts of the body, yet it is the most powerful. We can hurt some one with just a couple word or even with the tone we use when we use our words. It made me think of the saying, 'Sticks and stones my break my bones, but words will never hurt me.'  I don't know who came up with that saying but they are so wrong. Yes, we should teach ourselves to not let words hurt us, but in reality, some times they can be very powerful and strong.  James tells us it's only those who use their words strongly who are the real mature ones, the ones who are strong in their faith and truly understand the power of their tongue. Our tongues are ...

My life, since the last time I posted something has been the biggest roller coaster! Constantly on the move and trying to get stuff done. It's just been so crazy and honestly I have been putting a lot of important things on the back burners. When I realized that the things that used to be important aren't so much of a priority in life anymore, I started to accept that things are changing and there was nothing I could do about that. I started to accept change that was for the worst. That's something I can't keep allowing in my life. Some things are really important and need more attention than others.  I was reading through James 1 this afternoon and God did it again by having me read exactly what He knows I need to hear. James talks about going through trials and how to get through them. He tells us what we need to do when we face these problems. Rather than accept the hardship in life, we need to fight through it with God on our side. We should receive the...

I was referred to Ephesians a little while ago and I have been slowly going through the first two chapters and getting a lot out of it. Paul is so deep and talks about God's love for us and how He blesses us. It was perfect timing to read this because I just started reading the book Crazy Love  by Francis Chan. These two seem to tie together so well. In Crazy Love,  Francis Chan breaks down everything we know about God but makes it so much more real. He stops us while reading to show us videos on YouTube, to hear him put verbally into words what he is trying to help us understand. It's crazy how much more real things seem when it is broken down in such great detail. I feel like this is something I needed to get me back on my Jesus kick. Just when I felt like I was slipping away, I was introduced to this book and it's helping me grow once again. In the beginning of Ephesians, Paul reminds us that the blessings here on Earth are nothing compared to those God has waitin...

It has been such a while since I wrote a post and a lot has happened within those past two months. My life has been changing so much for the better and then not so much. But it is all a work in progress and God has brought me where I am today so that I can become a stronger person in the future. I am about two months into this new job, working from home a couple hours a day. It's so funny because this is the kind of job I always wanted. I always wanted to be able to work at home and be with my son and not have to travel every single morning. And by God's grace I was able to land this job. I work a couple hours in the mornings before my son wakes up and I am able to have the rest of the day to do whatever needs to be done. Also I am 4 months into building a wonderful relationship God has brought me into. I'm so sure about this relationship that God brought us together and we have a lot of work to put into it but we are so willing to make it happen. My son is a crazy 2.5 yea...