March News!

We are on our third day of “spring”. The sun has been shining more, and it feels like perhaps the snow days are behind us. I think we are all ready for a steady stream of sunshine and some warmth to go with it. We are down to 46 days of school or approximately ten weeks. Normally, I’m not one to count down this far out, but it’s been a long year. We are looking forward to being together as a family, finding a new “normal” for us, finding a home, and just being done with school. God has been faithful though, and He continues to direct and lead us one step at a time. I don’t always like His timing, but I do know that it is perfect timing. 

Last week we had a short week of school and a few days of vacation. It was a glorious break as the month of March tends to be a bit long at times. The kids and I took a mini vacation with some friends from school. We went to New Hampshire to stay in a hotel and play at a water park. My kids had a lot more fun having some friends along than if it had just been “mom”. We enjoyed many hours at the water park, as well as laughter and fun. The Davis’ family was planning this mini vacation since last fall, and we decided to join them. Emma enjoys spending time with their daughters, and Garett and Chandler have especially enjoyed the opportunity to get to know Jonathan. It was a good few days away from “routine”. I’m thankful for friendships. 

The weather was beautiful, and I enjoyed the opportunity to have adult conversations. The boys are growing up, but they’re still not quite to adult conversation levels most of the time! We definitely missed Roger, and having dad along would’ve been a lot more fun, but we had a good time anyways. We left Wednesday after school, and we came home Friday. Garett and Chandler went to a teen activity with another local church on Friday night. They had a good time ice skating as it is one of their favorite activities. I’m thankful that the older boys were able to go with Jonathan and Zoe to the event as it’s  always fun to go with someone you know. 

On Saturday morning, I dropped the boys off at church for a men’s prayer breakfast. I took Travis and Emma and we went to have coffee at a friends house. Clearly, it’s a mom with young kids if we are having a coffee date before 8:00am on a Saturday morning! I’m thankful for a few women that have really reached out to me over the past six months to make sure I’m surviving. I’m thankful for deep theological conversations about God’s Word as well as sharing of burdens and lots of coffee and laughter. God has been faithful. 

While I’ve had some lonely moments, to be sure, God has always provided the right person at the right time. I’ve been “weary in well doing”, but God has carried me through. I’ve been frustrated and upset, and I’ve wondered if I’ve done anything right, but God has wrapped His loving arms around me and upheld us all. I’ve looked at our boys and wondered when they grew up so fast, but it’s a reminder to treasure every hug. Last fall, I would’ve said that I did not want to homeschool next school year, but now I can see that God has been working in my heart too. Our time left with our kids at home, under our roof, is literally flying by! I’ve been reminded of the brevity of life, and I just want to make sure that our children know that they are loved by an Almighty, Holy God who wants each one of them to live surrendered lives to Him. 

We had some excitement at our apartment on Sunday night. We had just finished up devotions, and we were talking to Roger on FaceTime, when the fire alarms went off. It was SO loud! All the alarms are connected, so it was very, very loud. We searched all over for signs of smoke or fire, and nothing seemed off. The alarm kept stating “Fire, Fire” and the red light was flashing which means ‘move to fresh air’. I called the person we are renting from, and we opened the windows. It was about 7:15pm, and the alarms could be heard out on the street. I was a little worried that someone was going to call the fire department for us, but I didn’t think there was a fire. Emma and Travis both found head phones to put on, and I decided to wash the dishes. Why? Well, because it was something to do while we waited for Jason to arrive to check out the alarms. While I was washing the dishes, Chandler came over to talk to me. “Mom”, he said sheepishly. “Yes?” I replied. Chandler said, “This is probably really dumb, and I’m probably way off…” “Um, okay…” I replied. Chandler continued, “The fire alarm can be set off by gases. I’m not sure if it was me, but I’ve had a lot of gas today. Did I set off the fire alarm?” I tried not to laugh outrageously as I replied, “That’s a different kind of gas. Carbon Monoxide is the gas that will set off the fire alarm, not a person’s personal gas.” I did about die laughing when I told Roger about it later. I’m thankful for laughter! 

We appreciate your continued prayers, as we navigate through some unknown “waters” again. God has always been faithful. I continue to rest in that. Our children, especially one middle child, could use your prayers as well. I often find myself tired, and that can affect my ability to parent well. I just want our children to know that God loves them, that they are uniquely created, and that living their lives for Jesus is the BEST way. The world is crazy and chaotic, but there is rest in Jesus. 

“Mud Season” and Other Tidbits of News!

  “Mud Season”is here! This is the season between winter and the time that spring sunshine dries everything out! Our school playground is like one big muddle puddle, and I’m fairly confident that “mud season” is the favorite season of some of my kindergartners. We will probably still get more snow here, but I know that most of us are ready to greet spring!

We have eleven weeks left of school. I’m not generally someone who counts down days or weeks, but this year has been a year like none other. However, God has been good and faithful. He continues to show Himself strong. He provides grace when I want to open my mouth and scream. He created coffee and lots of it. Our children have been loving and forgiving even when I haven’t shown them Jesus. We look forward to being together as a family soon- God is good. Even when I don’t “feel” it, He is still good. 

This past week was a rough one for Travis. He had a rough Friday last week, and by the time he came home, he was upset and distraught. We sat together at the kitchen table for over an hour talking through something that had happened at school. At the end of the discussion, I decided I still didn’t know much and the picture was still unclear. I am not the parent who generally fires off emails to our kids teachers, but in this instance, I did. Travis’s teacher replied within the hour. His reply: “Please call me.” That’s an amazing teacher who is willing to have a parent call them at 7:30pm at night! Travis’s and Wyatt have been blessed to have a teacher that has been a gift to them and our family. I can so appreciate a teacher that really wants to “get to the heart of the matter”. As a parent, I can tend to make blanket statements too, such as “you all are lazy; no one is listening, etc”. And in my experience, it has never ended well. Generally they aren’t ALL being lazy, not listening, etc. but the squeaky wheel is the one driving the wagon master crazy! Anyways, it gave me great peace of mind to talk to his teacher. Roger and I are so thankful that he is the teacher for our sons. 

We currently live in town, in a smallish apartment, but it’s working. On Saturday, my friend, Allison, reached out to me to see if I wanted to meet her for coffee. One of the perks of living in town is being able to just walk over to meet a friend for coffee. Allison has been my friend for almost six years now- wow! We’ve had some “terribly good bad ideas”. The kinds that sound good as we talk about them, but then by the time the event rolls around, we are tired! :) But God is good. I will miss her when God moves us. 

The week was a long one, but we made it through. We were a bit short-staffed at school this week, but again, God was faithful. On Friday afternoon, I had kindergarten and first grade combined which is 25 kids. We’ve been talking about zoo animals in our science class, so we moved all the tables and chairs and sat on the floor. The students had a great time watching zoo videos and eating popcorn. They ate about four bags of popcorn and 2lbs of animal crackers! I would say it was a good afternoon. Did you know that an octopus has 3 hearts? Or that a blue whale can be up to 100 feet long? Or that there is such an animal as a sloth bear? It was fun to see the students engaged and still learning. 

We have a short week at school this upcoming week, and we are all excited about that! It’s kinda odd having a long weekend as we just had winter break three weeks ago, but I can tell the teachers are excited! Instead of having a week long spring break, we have two long weekends. One is during this upcoming week, and one will be over Easter weekend. March is a LONG month, so I’m happy to have a few days off. We have plans to do something fun with one of our friends from school, so that is adding to the excitement! Roger is also making plans to come home again, so we all look forward to those visits as well. And since we only have a little over two months left of school, soon we will be together again. 

We are so blessed. Really! We have a home, family, beds to sleep in, food to eat, people who love us, and a God who has given us the gift of eternal life. Even while the world goes crazy and then crazier, I can rest in the hope that my God sits on the throne of the universe. He is not worried about what will happen next. As we sing often in my kindergarten class, “He’s got the Whole World in His Hands”! 

We appreciate your continued prayers for our family as we navigate through uncertain waters. We know that God will continue to reveal His perfect plan. I’m not a huge fan of waiting, but it’s in the waiting that I am learning to rest in the Rock of my Salvation. 

March - A New Month! Winter Break and Roger’s Visit

 March?! Already! I’m excited about this month because it means that spring is looming! It doesn’t feel like it when it’s cold and snowy, but I know it will be coming. We had winter break from school last week, and we are back in full swing at school now. It was good week off of school for our family. We didn’t really have any plans early in the week, and sometimes not having a plan is the best plan! 

We had a few days of “spring” weather as well as a snow storm, so the weather was all over the place! On Monday, I went to work out class at 5:00am, then I came home and took the kids out to go ice skating by 7:30am. The weather was beautiful so I also went on a two mile run, and while the kids were at a basketball clinic for school, I walked two miles with my friend, Jess. I managed to get a lot of exercise on Monday! None of the boys are crazy about basketball, but they did have a good time at the basketball clinic. The boys are soccer fans, but it’s good to know about more than one sport. I was happy to have the opportunity to walk with Jess. It’s been a hard year in school, in some ways, so sometimes it’s good to just have a friend to talk to and pray with for many things. I am thankful for the teachers I work with at school. 

Roger came home for a few days this week, and we definitely enjoyed every moment of that! I feel like I can “let down” my guard some when Roger is home. He is able to relieve me of single parenting, and the boys and Emma are definitely more talkative when the conversations are in-person. We are a good team, and we work at it. It’s been a challenging few months, and I’ve learned that I have a lot more weaknesses than I thought I had six months ago! It is sometimes way easier to have endless patience with one of my sixteen kindergarteners than to have patience with one of my own children  that is climbing on last nerve! However, God gives grace, mercy and forgiveness as we cross off the days to being together as a whole family again. 

As we return to school, we also are down to the last thirteen weeks of school! It’s crazy how fast the school year is coming to a close, and I am feeling the pressure of how much I still want to teach my littles before the year is done. But it’s also important to me that I help my kindergartners develop a love FOR learning. I want them to learn to do hard things, to be diligent, and most importantly to know that Jesus loves them. We live in challenging times! We need to we fervent in prayer for the next generation, but also actively involved in training and teaching them God’s Word. I’ve been teaching my students the books of the New Testament. I asked them today why they thought I wanted them to learn the books of the Bible in order. One of my students piped up, “So that we can find the books of the Bible and read them, right?” Yes!! 

We thought that the days with Roger at home would be busy and full, but because of the weather and conflict of other people’s schedules, we ended up not being nearly as busy. Chandler was supposed to have a soccer game on Friday, but due to the snowstorm that was cancelled. I had thought that we might have a teen activity on Saturday afternoon, but that ended up not happening. We were supposed to go over to someone’s house for dinner on Sunday afternoon, but due to a scheduling conflict that didn’t happen either. So we spent a lot of time drinking coffee, making food, playing games, and just being together. It was not a bad thing, but our apartment is quite small so sometimes we do feel a little more confined than we would choose to be. 

Roger left to return to Michigan yesterday, and the days immediately following that are always a little rougher than I’d like them to be. We get through them, by the grace of God.  Roger and I spent a lot of time praying and talking about our future, our family, and God’s plan for us. We are tentatively planning on sending Garett and Chandler on a missions trip to the Dominican Republic in April. There are a lot of details that would need to fall into place, but if this is what God wants for them, it will come to pass. My sister takes a bunch of kids from her school every year, and since the medical trip to Haiti was cancelled this past January, none of us have been on a missions trip this year. Chandler is definitely more interested in going on a missions trip that involves a Vacation Bible School rather than medical clinics, and Garett would be interested either way. The big hiccup continues to be the passport equation, but since we are taking all the steps one at a time, we will take that step as it comes also. I will say that it is a bit unnerving to book airline tickets for the boys without one of them having the necessary passport. But the passport agency will not do a short turn-around passport unless you have a ticket booked, and you are leaving the country in less than seven days. But again, God knows! If this is His perfect plan, we will continue to walk by faith and take one day at time. 

Today was a bit of a rough day at school, but at pick-up time one of the parents brought me a gift. Bethany gave me a beautiful little plant and said that she was thinking of me. It meant so much to have someone speak a word of encouragement and love to me. Sometimes we just need to be reminded that someone is praying for us. I often leave school feeling just utterly tired, and then going home to face five children that have some huge needs is often enough to make me tired before I get out of bed in the morning! Did I mention that the grace of God sustains us every moment?! 

Please continue to pray for us as we navigate continued uncertain paths ahead. But as the world around us continues to erupt in chaos and confusion, I can find such rest in comfort in know that God holds the world in His hands. I’ve had food to eat, a bed to sleep in, clothes to wear, a hot shower, a vehicle to drive, family that love me, and so much more. We’ve prayed often and fervently for the Ukrainian people this week, but also for the Russian people. We are all created in the image of God, but wow- we live in a sin ravaged world, don’t we?