Christmas Memories, Lots of Driving, and Time with Family!

 

Wisconsin memories! (I’ve played pond hockey on this pond more times than I could possibly count!) 

Two days until the start of a new year!? There were moments when I thought that 2021 was never going to end, but through it all God has been faithful and true. I am so thankful that in the moments of despair, discouragement, and fatigue, that God has brought us through. 

In 2021, we saw a job change for Roger, our house selling, lots of school and staffing changes, a move into an apartment for our family, Roger starting his new job in Michigan, and numerous other changes and challenges. Through it all, every morning God provided new mercies and grace for every moment. Oh, how I take heart in that! 

I’m looking forward to a new year -2022. I know that God will continue to show Himself strong and faithful. The first half of the school year has been rough on one of our children in particular, so I would appreciate prayers for a better second half of the school year. I am praying that this child, in particular, would see God do great and mighty things in their life over the remainder of the school year. This child has told me numerous times that they’d like to be homeschooled, they are ‘weary in well-doing’, and is just all around struggling. Roger and I have been daily asking God to provide us with wisdom in how to help this child. I firmly believe that God is using these experiences in this child’s life to shape and mold them into who God has created them to be, but at the same point in time, I am this child’s parent. God has given Roger and I the responsibility of parenting. Sometimes this means removing a child from a situation due to constant frustration and discouragement. Sometimes it means praying often and fervently that God will use this situation in their lives to help them understand that God can and will help them through hard things. All that to say- we need wisdom! 

It was a busy week of break, and I am not ready to go back to school -yet! First we have to drive back across the country and then I’ll think about school again! In the last ten days, we finished up school before Christmas break with the school Christmas program, the church Christmas program, and then the drive to Michigan for Christmas with Roger. School was supposed to not get out until Wednesday, December 22, but we unexpectedly had the week off. So the kids and I left on Monday to head to Michigan. 

God provided great weather and smooth driving conditions for almost the entire trip to Michigan (19.2 hours) The last 100 miles hosted terrible driving conditions in snow, blowing snow, and dark roads, but we made it! We arrived at the hotel in Mackinaw City on Tuesday evening- two whole days before we thought we would be there! That was a special gift for our family. One of Roger’s dear friends from one of the islands in Maine, had gifted our family with a gift of money which was especially timely as we had a longer hotel stay that originally anticipated. Roger had to work on Wednesday and Thursday but the kids and I spent the days swimming, walking around the town, and exploring the area. There are not a lot of hotel options in Mackinaw City this time of year, and the one hotel was open Monday thru Wednesdays and the other hotel was open Thursday thru Sunday. So we had to go across the street on Thursday afternoon to switch hotels which provided a humorous situation, but it was a memory! 

We found a local ice arena for the kids to skate at on Wednesday and Thursday, so that was a highlight for them. After six years of not having skates due to my kids wearing my size of ice skates, the boys decided to buy me a new pair of ice skates for Christmas. I got my gift early so that I could use them ice skating on Thursday with the boys. However, when we arrived at the ice arena for skating, Travis told me “Mom, I am really glad that you got new skates. I should’ve said something yesterday, but I didn’t want to say anything cause we were buying skates for you. But, Mom, I can’t get my ice skates on with my socks too.” I looked at Travis’s feet and noticed that he had blisters on his ankles. He had worn his skates on Wednesday without socks so that he could get them on! I told him that wearing skates with socks is very important, and that we would’ve happily have bought him skates if we had known that he needed some that badly! (The kids are constantly growing and sometimes it’s hard to keep up with who needs what!) Anyways, I offered to let him try on my new skates, and he insisted that I should go skating and that he would just watch. We compromised and shared the new skates. Travis wore them first (at my insistence) and then I went skating a little later. When I put on the skates and skated on the ice, Chandler told me, “Mom, you’re actually a pretty good skater for a girl and how old you are!” Um- thank you? I think! Oh, these kiddos surely keep me on my toes! 

On Christmas Eve, we drove down to a bigger city to do some shopping, wash the van, change the oil, eat lunch at Culver’s, and we bought a new pair of ice skates for Travis! It was a fun time as a family, and we will enjoy the memory. Our family likes to go to a Christmas Eve service, but I was having a hard time finding a church via online that was stating that they were having a Christmas Eve service. I found one area church that was having a Christmas Eve service with carols first and then a visit from Santa. Hmm…well, that didn’t sound like what we were looking for necessarily! The Baptist church didn’t have anything posted, but there was one community church that was having a Christmas Eve service at 7:00pm. I knew that it probably wouldn’t be exactly like our church in Maine. We arrived at the church building a little early, and the sanctuary had low lights, candles waiting to be lit, and music playing. That all seemed fairly traditional but as we sat down and listened to the music, one of my kids started snorting (like laughing). He said “Mom, the song that’s playing is “Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer”!” Sure enough it was! I’m kinda a traditionalist (Roger would say “not kinda, she is”) so I really wanted to hear more traditional Christmas music. Someone must have adjusted the playlist because the next song was “Mary, did you know?” And then other Christmas carols. The pastor was very nice and friendly, and the service opened with prayer and then some singing. We knew most of the congregational songs, but then before the message there was a special.  A dear old lady (probably in her 80s) got up to do “Interpretive song”. Basically she twirled and danced and did some sign language to the music. I dared not to look at the boys! I will say that the people at that church seemed to really love Jesus, they were excited to be in church, and they enjoyed worshipping. It wasn’t how I’d do it, but I can appreciate their sincerity! We enjoyed the candle lighting and singing “Silent Night”. When we were on our way back to our hotel, Chandler asked if we would be visiting that church on Sunday morning. I asked him if he wanted to go back. He replied, “Well, that wasn’t necessarily my style. But if you wanted to go, then we will go.” That was a very diplomatic response, but I think we will try another church on Sunday. 

Saturday was Christmas Day. We enjoyed the morning with a family walk, reading the Christmas story, and opening a few simple stocking gifts. We went to the airport for lunch with a few of Roger’s co-workers, and then we came back to the hotel for more swimming and Christmas movies. It was a day that was low-key, but well spent. 

Roger had to work on Sunday, but the kids and I made plans to visit one of the local churches. It’s often very hard to tell from a web-site or Facebook exactly what a church is like, and neither of those can tell you if the church family is welcoming and friendly. The kids and I visited a small church in Saint Ignace. The people were friendly, the music was songs that we had either heard before or sung in our church, and the Pastor preached from the Bible. All of the boys said that they wouldn’t mind visiting again. I enjoyed the few brief moments interacting with the church people. After church, we dropped Garett off at the airport and the rest of us started the 5.5 hour drive to my parents house. We’ve traveled a lot this Christmas break (and I’m tired!). 

We’ve enjoyed a few days at my parents house along with my sister, Jen. The boys and Emma have enjoyed the snow, ice skating, hunting, and other winter activities. It’s been a busy few days, and we start the trip back to Maine tomorrow morning bright and early. This was our last trip out here before moving. Roger will be coming to Maine every month from now until June, and we will be moving to Michigan in June, Lord willing. We do not have a house so that’s a definite prayer request. Also, we’d appreciate prayers for a safe trip back to Maine. Please pray that I feel refreshed and ready to return to school on Monday as well as our children. We want to glorify God with all of our lives. 

Praying that each one of you had a blessed and wonderful Christmas season. It’s an exciting time of year, but I pray that you will take the time to really reflect on Jesus. He is the greatest gift! He is not a helpless babe in a manger, He is the Lord of the Universe. All Glory to God!

Mom Fails and Craziness - but Christmas Break is Coming!

 This past week was one for the books that’s for sure! In a small Christian school, everyone learns to be flexible whether it’s their nature or not, and this was one of those weeks! I’m thankful for new morning mercies. I’m thankful for great co-workers. I’m thankful for cold cereal and pancakes. I’m thankful that my kids will eat about anything. I’m thankful for grace. 

On Monday when I woke up, I responded to the text that asked if I would be willing to sub in a different class. So on Monday, I did that. You can read about it here. This past week we were missing a lot of staff, so that meant we needed to be flexible. I really like structures, routines, and schedules, and most people do better when they have those. I knew it was going to be a long week for my kindergartners as well as my own children without having the “specials” classes (art, music, library,). I reached out to one of my kindergarten parents to see if she would be willing to come in to do an art project with my class. I have plenty of teaching that I could absolutely do, but it’s not teaching if you’re talking to air! My students can only process so much information at a time, so I knew that if they could do something different it would be better for them. 

My friend, Olyvia, said that she would be available on Wednesday morning to do a craft with my students. God orchestrated that! I woke up feeling “off” on Wednesday morning. I think it probably had to do with the weather changing, stress, life, etc. but by 8:15am, I had a migraine. My friend and co-worker, Jess, asked me if I was okay. I kept my head down and said “yes”. I knew if I stopped to talk, I’d probably end up in tears and for what reason I wouldn’t even know! My migraine was escalating all morning to the point that I had turned off the lights in our classroom, and we were using natural light and our Christmas lights. My friend, Allison, mercifully brought me coffee around 10am and along with several extra strength Tylenol, and the grace of God, we made it through the day! One of my kindergarteners did tell me I was kinda grouchy,  and one asked me why I was whispering, but we made it. I was happy to go to bed early, and thankfully our boys can put themselves to bed and find their own food if needed. 

Thursday brought about a little bit of snowfall, which delighted my students! I think the teachers were kinda hoping for a snow day, but off to school we went. I have sixteen kindergarteners, so thats a lot of coats, hats, mittens, boots and snow pants! “No, those are not your mittens.” You have to put on your snow pants first and then the boots.” “I’m sorry your coat is wet, but you did put it in that puddle.” “Your mom would want you to wear a coat.” We are figuring it all out, but it does take us a while to get ready and to get it all back off again. However, I am a firm believer that children need outside time every day! I’d rather spend the extra time to get them dressed than to have inside recess because it takes so long to get ready! We will get faster at it, and the snowfall was beautiful. 

Friday morning brought about some more school craziness as we realized that we were going to be short another teacher. It was definitely a moment where we needed to take a moment and just pray about what God would have us to do. Through a series of events, I ended up in third/fourth grade for the morning. While it was unexpected, I do appreciate the opportunity to get to know the students better. I don’t have any of my own kids in that classroom, so it was a good opportunity to get to know these students. My friend, Bethany, came in the afternoon to help out, so I went back to teaching kindergarten. One of my kindergarteners told me that “it was the best morning ever”! Haha! 

My mom fail: My younger boys and Emma both had play dates on Saturday afternoon, so that meant laundry for mom! Until our house officially closed, we were doing our laundry there. But now I take the laundry to the laundromat on Saturday afternoons. It’s nice to use several big washing machines and have it all done fairly quickly. However, when all the laundry is done on one day at one time, it’s plain to see what we have used for clothing. Towels-check. Mom-check. Emma- check. Garett- check. Chandler- check. Wyatt- check. Travis- TRAVIS! Why does Travis only have one pair of underwear, one t-shirt and one pair of pants in the laundry for the week!? I folded all the laundry, brought it back home, and started looking all over our apartment for Travis’s clothes. I found one more shirt and one more pair of pants. Um- what has this child been wearing?! Travis and Wyatt are similar in height, but Travis cannot wear Wyatt’s pants as Travis has to have the drawstring pants. I went to Walmart and bought underwear, another shirt, and another pair of pants. When Travis came home, I asked him about his wardrobe. He replied that he’s just been wearing the same clothes and rotating through the t-shirts and pants. I was horrified at his lack of clothes and I asked him what on earth happened to his clothes! He piped up, “I think when we were moving houses, my bag of clothes went to Goodwill”. What?! And you didn’t think to mention it to me that you only have about five pieces of clothes!? He replied that he wasn’t bothered by not having a lot of clothes, but sometimes he was taking off one dirty t-shirt for a day and then putting on the other dirty t-shirt….great. Well, several new articles of clothing were not in the budget for early December, but now the fourth son does have some clean clothes to wear. I told Roger the story and I was mortified. Roger just started laughing. He said that he remembers being that age and grubby clothes not bothering him. Gross- just gross. Oh well! Next week I expect to see more laundry for Travis come through the wash! 

We made it through the week, and God is faithful. We are excited about seeing Roger next week, and we are looking forward to Christmas break. As I looked at our family Christmas card, I was reminded again of how blessed I am. God has given me so many wonderful blessings. I am so thankful for Roger and our children.  God has given me a job that I really enjoy - teaching kindergarten. We have an apartment for the school year. God continues to supply our every need and right on time. While I become often frustrated with our children, a mom spoke to me this past week and told me what a blessing my older boys had been to her family. The boys have been given an unexpected opportunity to play soccer through the winter, and that has been such a blessing for them to get out some energy. Emma continues to bless me with her kisses and hugs. I am so blessed. This Christmas season is flying by, but I’m thankful that I can celebrate the real reason for the season every sing day. Jesus is the reason for the season, and He is my salvation. That’s something to celebrate every day! 

House Closings, Parades, Blessings

 

And with a hop, skip and a jump, we are in the month of December! I love this season, but I do not like how quickly the month flies by! We have an activity on almost every weekend, and the kids and I will be leaving for Michigan on December 22. We have 12.5 days of school left, and excitement is certainly in the air! The teachers are trying to pour in knowledge, and it often feels like pouring water in a strainer! We are all looking forward to Christmas break.

It’s been a busy week and one-half since I wrote on the blog. Roger flew back to Michigan last Saturday night. While Roger was here, we managed to haul a boat, a piano and a basketball hoop in the mini van- not all at the same time! On Thursday, we moved the piano to the church/school. Wyatt and Travis’s teacher has been wanting a piano, and we could supply that need. It needs to be tuned, and it was very, very heavy, but we got the job done. The boys have been extremely helpful in moving/hauling things, but for the piano, boat, and basketball hoop, we were thankful for some extra muscles! 

On Friday, we signed on the papers on our house. It was definitely a bittersweet feeling, but also a bit of relief to know that we were that much closer to being done with a very large project!  We certainly enjoyed the moments with him, and we are looking forward to being together again in just a few short weeks. I filled in on the piano at a local church on Sunday, so that always kinda makes Sunday feel a little different. I’m definitely not among the world’s great pianists, so I’m thankful that they put up with me! Travis and Emma went with me in the morning to practice at West Rockport Baptist Church, and Emma stayed for Sunday School. Travis and I made one last and final trip to our home to drop off a small gift for the new owners and to make sure that everything was good to go. That was a tad bit emotional for me, but also a relief to know that it’s done! 

Tuesday marked the official closing day on our house. The buyers had their final walk-through on Monday afternoon, and it was a relief to hear “the house looks great!” I would’ve enjoyed meeting our buyers, but it is what it is, and we are now ready to look for a property in Michigan. Please pray with us that God will provide the perfect place for us. 

This past week of school felt long and short at the same time! The students are excited, and the teachers are tired. But God’s grace is sufficient for every moment- praise the Lord for that! Friday night found us on a parade float for a local town representing our Christian school. It was a frigid night, and we were all very cold by the time the parade was over. It was a fun opportunity for the kids to be in the parade and the older boys did a good job helping prepare and then dismantle the float. It was an opportunity to let the community know that we are a Christian school in the area. But it was cold! 

On Saturday, our two oldest boys had the opportunity to spend some time with a friend and his family. That meant I had an afternoon with my younger three. We decided to go Christmas shopping. In our family, the kids pick names for each other. Then they are responsible for picking out a gift for that person. Sometimes I have to do some “steering in the right direction”, but as the kids all get older, they are getting a lot better about really putting some thought into gift giving. I had asked one of the kids earlier in the week what we should get their teacher. After thinking about it for a moment, he replied, “I’d like to get my teacher a new lunch cooler. His lunch cooler is old.” I was kinda surprised that this child even noticed, but it blessed my heart to know that he put some thought into what he’d like to get his teacher. Anyways, the three youngest and I went to Augusta to go Christmas shopping. The boys and Emma had a good time, and it was a good opportunity to spend some time with just a few kids. We saw several teachers from our school also in Augusta, so apparently we are all thinking the same thing- “Christmas is coming and we aren’t ready!” Wyatt is having a struggle to find something for the person whose name he has picked. We will come up with something, we hope! 

On Sunday morning, I woke up to a big surprise and unexpected blessing. Some dear friends of ours in Florida sent us a gift of money for Christmas! God’s timing is always so perfect, and sometimes He gives us blessings that we haven’t even asked for- we serve an amazing God! These Florida friends have blessed us in the past, and Roger and I have been so blessed by their prayers and generosity. 

Today was the start of a new school week. I generally use my Mondays to prepare for my week ahead as I have kindergarten on full days Tuesday through Thursday. So Monday is used for laundry, grading, grocery shopping etc. However, today I was supposed to spend some time with my friend, Allison. We were going to have coffee together and go to a consignment shop. But God had different plans. I woke up to a text on my phone asking if I would be willing to sub in a different classroom today. Thankfully, my friend, Allison, is flexible and understanding as we rescheduled. Today I subbed in the 5/6th grades classroom. Long division is a far cry from counting 1-50! When I looked at the sub plans, I noticed that the first thing on the list was devotions. I had randomly stuck my Advent Devotional book in my bag, which was totally of the Lord. I opened the devotional book to December 6th, and the devotional thought was on how Jesus was the Perfect Substitute! The devotional book gave an example of the authors experience with substitute teachers, etc. and I just could not get over how appropriate the devotional thought was for today. It was definitely a God thing! I’m not sure that the students learned a whole lot today, but I did try. I hope that above all else they know that Jesus loves them. I had the opportunity to play the YouTube video of one of my favorite songs “It’s about the Cross.” 

Around ten o’clock, Emma came down to find me in the 5/6th grade classroom. She had thrown up and she wasn’t feeling good. Um, now what?! I’m kinda tied up at the moment! I sent her up to my classroom for a bit. I had a twenty minute break at lunchtime, so I took Emma and Chandler home. I’m thankful that we live close to the school these days as I was able to get them dropped off and back to school to walk back into the classroom with my students. It was a crazy day to say the least, but God’s grace is sufficient. Now on to the rest of the week- one moment at a time!

“O Come Let Us Adore Him”