Patriotism, Birthdays, and a House Closing!

 What a week it has been! Last ten days of school, birthday blessings, Patriotic Program, prepping for a house closing, to name a few things that have been events of the past week! I am so tired, but I am rejoicing in so many things that God is doing. 

God is faithful- so faithful! While the world around us squabbles, erupts in chaos and confusion, and blatantly disregards God and His Word, there is lasting peace in Jesus.

 Just last night, (Friday) our school performed a Patriotic Concert. The Patriotic Program is one of my very favorite school events, so I was thankful and blessed to be involved in some small ways. We had our first all school practice on Monday afternoon, and wow -we had a lot to do bring everything together by Friday evening. But by the grace of God, patience, persistence and hard work, I do believe that God was glorified last night. I found myself in tears several times as the students sang “God bless the USA”, “Father, I adore You”, “How many Kings?” And so many other songs and quotes. It’s hard to believe that this was the last Patriotic Program that I’ll be involved in. When I approached the school board with the idea of a Patriotic Program four years ago, they were immediately supportive and enthusiastically backed the idea. We missed a year due to Covid, but each time we’ve had a Patriotic Program it’s close to  standing room only in the church building. All Glory To God! It’s been a fantastic opportunity to reach into our community, teach our students, and glorify our Heavenly Father. I’ll miss it! 

 In a day and age where patriotism seems to be frowned upon, we MUST be diligent to raise up a generation of citizens that recognize that patriotism and Christian beliefs go hand in hand. Our Founding Fathers recognized their need for dependence upon Almighty God and upon the principles of the Bible, wrote the Constitution. I know this is my opinion that no one asked for, but I believe that every family, church, and Christian school has a responsibility to educate children in both the Bible and the history of our country. It’s easy to say that “we teach history” but are we equipping and preparing the next generation to become involved in city, state, and national politics?  I know that I feel like I was not adequately equipped to understand local and state politics and I want to do better with our own children. It is not enough to just tell them to “go and vote”, we must be diligent to prepare them to be in the battles that war against our freedoms! We cannot falter or be lazy in raising our children! Voting is SO important, so is preparing the next generation! Okay, stepping down off my soap box now, but you get the idea!  

Also, this past week I celebrated another birthday! It does seem like the years are picking up speed! I hardly have time to remember how old I am and another birthday is upon me! It was a full day as we celebrated my birthday in my classroom with a pizza party! My students made me lots of homemade cards, and I received several gifts from my friends. I had lunch with Allison on Monday, but it was a short lunch! I had to run off to program practice, but thankfully she understands my craziness! My friend, Hannah, made me a cheesecake for my birthday that was greatly enjoyed by all my children and myself. Roger and I decided that we would celebrate my birthday as a family when we are all back together again, as I don’t need one more thing to pack! It was a good day, and I’m thankful for another year of life. 

These last few days/weeks of school are LOOOOONG! We are all looking forward to being done, and we are approaching the finish line. I say that the days are long, but they are both long and short at the same time. I find myself with many things that I’d still like to teach them, but I find that my methods of teaching become more and more unconventional. We had a students birthday on Friday, and his parents brought an excavator to school. Super fun for the students and some hands-on learning! A few more days of assessments, field trips, fun projects and field day, and another year will be done. I’ve found myself in tears more than once this past week as I’m going to miss my class of 16 kindergartners. I’ve been so blessed to teach them this year, and while at times I’ve felt like throwing in the towel, God has been so faithful. 

We are preparing to close on our North Carolina property on Monday! Wow! Again, God has done “exceeding abundantly above all we could ask or think”! We are rejoicing in His provision and goodness, and we are SO excited about being back together as a family agin. I’ve started packing up the apartment, and I’m just flabbergasted by all the stuff we’ve accumulated in almost 9 months! Whew! It’s a big job and one that I can’t focus on much until school is over. The kids have mixed emotions about the school year ending. A few of them enjoyed almost the entire school year, a few had rough classrooms and the year was long. Through it all- God has been faithful! 

I know part of it is just plain fatigue, but as we get closer to moving, I have my own mixed emotions. According to Chandler, “Why are you crying about everything these days?” Haha! I’m always emotional at the end of the school year, but this year is a little different as we prepare to say good by permanently. The kids have been in the local Christian school for six years, and I’ve taught in some way for the past five years. The school is dear to my heart, and I really do love teaching. I don’t know what the future holds or what the next school year will bring for our family, but I am very thankful for this local Christian school. I’m thankful for the opportunity to invest in the lives of children. This past week, I asked my kindergarteners if they had any questions that they would like to ask the pastor next week. They were so excited about the opportunity to ask questions and I could hardly keep up with writing them down! I was amazed at the depth of some of their questions! Here are a few: “How do we do great things?” “How does my soul live forever?” “Why do good people go to hell?” “Do babies go to Heaven?” “Are the streets really gold in Heaven and do we get to drive a gold car?” “What age will I be in Heaven?”  I’m excited for my kindergartners to have an informal time of discussion with our pastor, and please be in prayer for both him and my students. So many of my students have asked deep questions about salvation and heaven, and I know that they really do want to know about Jesus. I am so privileged to have the blessing of teaching them, and I certainly do not take that lightly. 

In closing, we appreciate your continued prayers as we finish the school year, pack up and prepare to transition. Chandler will be graduating from 8th grade, and while he’s excited about being done for the school year, formal events are not his thing! According to Chandler, dress clothes feel like fiberglass and they give him a rash! Ahh Chandler! It’s hard without Roger being here for these last few school moments, but we know that God has a perfect plan in His perfect timing. Just a few more weeks, and we will all be together again! Thank you for your love and prayers! 

May Blessings!!

 May flowers are finally here! We’ve enjoyed some wonderfully warm weather this week which has been wonderful for outside recess! It’s also been much harder to focus in school, so we are thankful that we are almost done! 

Since I’ve written on the blog last, we’ve had Teacher Appreciation Week, Mother’s Day, fun with friends, preparing to close on our property in North Carolina, and planning the last two weeks of field  trips and hands-on learning! 

Last week our parent group celebrated the teachers and staff at our Christian school. It was a full week of breakfast, favorite coffees, muffins, goodie bags, a luncheon and so much more! I am so thankful for our parent group that works to appreciate the staff and teachers. I am so blessed to love what I do, and I love to think about making a difference for eternity in the lives of my students. Many of my students (with their parents help) gifted me with flowers, notes, and gift cards. I was amazed by their love and generosity. I’ve been involved in our local Christian school in some way or another for the past six years, so it’s hard to imagine what next year will look like for us. We know that God is good and faithful and that He will continue to direct our steps. I made a slideshow presentation for my class last week, and as I looked through pictures from the school year, I was moved to tears. They’ve grown so much both physically, spiritually, and emotionally. I am so blessed to be their teacher this year. 

On Saturday night, we went over to the Davis’s again. It’s kinda become a tradition now as we’ve shown up at their house every weekend for the past five weeks! We’ve come to love and appreciate their family and friendship. This past weekend, we played softball, Robertson’s versus the Davis’s. It was a lot of fun, and so much yelling from both families! We got along great as a family when we were up to bat, but when we were in the outfield- whew! What’s funny is that both families responded the same way! It was like “then the fights began” when the family was in the outfield! It’ll always be a fun memory and the fact that the Robertson family won! Haha! 

Oh, another big blessing for this week is that our hot water was fixed on Monday! It was the best Monday news that I’ve gotten in a long time! We had been showering at different friends houses, but it’s nice to shower at home! I’m thankful for friends that were willing to let me come over at 5:30am to shower, but after ten days it was so nice to have hot water come out of the faucet again! I wouldn’t say the boys are excited about washing dishes, but they do appreciate the hot water more now than they did ten days ago. 

Mother’s Day was a quiet day. I sometimes wish that my children were better about writing notes, but I’m thankful for the quiet “I love you” or the long conversations around the dinner table at night or discussion about the things in life that really matter like relationships and character traits. We did have lunch together at “Five Guys” which is a favorite hamburger spot. We also went to the park and on a walk. It was a beautiful day, and I’m thankful for the children that spent it with me. 

I also cut Emma’s hair this past week. She kept saying that she wanted to grow it out, but since she has a hard time keeping it clean, out of her mouth, and brushing it, it was time to cut it! Travis told her that her hair looked like a “raccoons nest”! I think what he meant was a “Rat’s nest”?! Either way, Emma’s hair was cut by mom. It’s not the straightest job ever, but ya know, oh well! Emma said that she likes the fact that it’s easier to brush now, and so do I! 

In North Carolina news, we are preparing to close on our property on May 23. There were a few things that showed up in the home inspection that we needed to work through (call my dad about!) but we are submitting our counter offer and praying that it’s accepted so that we can close smoothly. The property needs work, but we are thankful that we didn’t have multiple offers to contend with, it’s out in the country,  and we have a few acres. We are still very much praying about schooling options for next year as well as finding a church family. Please continue to pray for our children as we prepare to transition. We are tentatively planning on leaving Maine on Father’s Day weekend. Ironically enough, we left Wisconsin around Father’s Day weekend six years ago. Roger is planning to fly back to Maine, we will load up our belongings and head south. We plan to attend our local church on Sunday morning, and then leave after church. It’s about a fourteen hour drive, so we will break it up into two days. I don’t really want to pull up to a house I’ve never seen in real life, late at night and exhausted! It’s going to be an emotional weekend for sure, but God has brought us through hard things before many times. We are so, so excited about being back together as a family. That has been very hard on us, but we are so thankful that God has directed us every step of the way. We are so thankful that we didn’t uproot our family last fall. We are thankful that we don’t have a house to sell in Michigan. We are thankful that this job in North Carolina was provided in God’s perfect timing. Roger has been busy the past week as it is fire season there. He flew 10.5 hours the other day, only stopping to fuel the airplane. We are thankful for these extra hours of work though, as it makes it easier for him to come back to Maine to help us move. 

We are so thankful for your continued prayers. God is faithful! I’m so thankful that we can rest in Him. To God be the Glory! 

UNDER CONTRACT! (A house, a race, and other shenanigans)

 

“When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.” This is one of my favorite Bible verses, and it’s often quoted when referring to being overwhelmed with sorrow, grief, or sadness. However, it’s also true when my heart is overwhelmed with all the wonderful things that my Heavenly Father does for me/us. God is good. Even when things seem impossible, God is bigger. 

We serve an amazing God- which if you’ve been following along with us for any length of time, you know that God has answered our prayers time and time again. When we were looking for and praying about a property in North Carolina, we were specifically praying for a place with a little land, a place with some privacy for loud, noisy children, a place with a wooded lot, a place that we wouldn’t have to have much/any mortgage. I was dreaming of a house with a wrap around porch, plenty of space for guests, and a spot to call “home” again. We’ve looked at quite a few properties. Roger has driven past many of them, and nothing has been available. We decided that we were willing to move a little farther north and west with our search, and God directed both of us to point out the same property on Zillow! The property is about 26 minutes from Roger’s work, and it’s in a good location for us.  This past week, we put in an offer on a property! It’s not my dream house, but God has provided us with an amazing location for our large, noisy family. We have an accepted offer on a property with almost seven acres, a wooded area, a house that can’t be seen from the road, and only chickens for close neighbors- oh, wow! God is good, so good! As I texted one of my friends last night, I couldn’t help the tears from flowing as I was reminded of how God has continually provided for our family in the midst of a challenging and difficult year. He’s been faithful. I’ve wavered in my faith at moments, but God has carried us through. We are preparing to close on this property on May 23, which is just a short three weeks away. The property needs work and there is no doubt about that! However, we have five children that are capable of helping us with picking up the yard, painting, landscaping, drywalling, and other miscellaneous projects. Another amazing thing about this property is that we didn’t have any other offers to contend with, and the buyer is ready to sell! We put in our first offer on Tuesday night, and the buyer counter-offered that same night! We countered again, and settled on a price- almost 17k under the original asking price! We serve and worship an AWESOME GOD! (If you want to see the link to the property, I’m happy to send it to you. Just message or text me.) Please pray for the house inspection this week as well as the closing to happen as smoothly as possible. What a God we serve! 

In other news, Roger has been adapting and adjusting to his new job. He started on the 18th, and we have an accepted offer on a property on April 28th. Since we will be closing on the house before school is finished for the year, Roger will have a little bit of an opportunity to “jump start” some projects. We are excited about finishing school. Chandler often prays, “help me to just finish strong.” He’s right! It’s been a year to remember, and we are very much looking forward to being together. But we want to finish what we’ve started. I do ask for extra prayers for our smack-dab-in-the-middle child as he wrestles through some things regarding his grades, character, and choices he makes. It’s been a struggle, but God is bigger. 

Also this past week we had a couple of other fun memories. Last week my parents came from Wisconsin to watch Hannah and Josh’s kids while they attended a wedding. We spent quite a bit of time driving up to visit them and play with the kids last weekend and into this week. I’m a bit biased and I think my boys are great with little ones. But it’s always wonderful to hear someone else say, “Your boys are so good with the little ones.” And they are! We drove up last Friday night to my sisters house, and I could tell my parents were tired when we arrived. Hannah and Josh had left early Friday morning, and my parents had driven the 21 hours from Wisconsin to Maine, pulling into the driveway about 9:30pm on Thursday night. Three kids ages five and under will make you tired! The kids and I were able to help clean up from supper, bathe and dress kids, read to them, and prepare everyone for bed. It was a good opportunity to serve. We drove back up on Saturday morning to visit and play for a few hours, but then we needed to head home. The boys had been planning an airsoft party with some of their classmates, and they were looking forward to that. 

Saturday afternoon (4/23)found us at the Davis’s house with about ten other junior high boys. Almost every boy in Chandler’s class had come out for the air soft party, and it was a fun, fast 2 hours of playing together. It’s amazing how much boys can fight and squabble in small spaces, but give them some space and opportunities to work together, and suddenly they’re friends! We are thankful that Jess and Tim were willing to have a bunch of kids out tromping through their property. I’m especially thankful that Tim was even willing to play with the boys, and Jess and I had a great visit with another mom (Bethany) for a few hours! 

This past week we felt that school both dragged and flew by! I took all the kids out of school on Monday as my parents were in town. It was a fun, full day with visiting and enjoying each other’s company. On Wednesday my parents drove down to get a few boys out of school for the day, and the rest of us came up after school. We spent a lot of time driving last week, but it was worth it to soak up family time. We are going to miss Hannah and Josh and their little ones when we move to North Carolina. 

My friend, Jess, had invited me to a painting class at her church that was happening on Friday night. Two things: I’m not an artist and everything sounds like a better idea earlier in the week! By the time Friday night rolled around, Jess and I were not “feelin” it, but hey, we had paid and also a few other ladies that we knew were going to the class too. Per usual, I am glad I went. My kids hung out with the Davis’s kids while we were at the painting class. I’m not an artist, but at least I can tell what the painting is supposed to be! Emma asked if she could hang it up in her room at the new house-yes, yes, you can! It was a fun evening of fellowship with Jess and other ladies. 

Saturday dawned chilly and cool, but it was the day of our school 5k race. I had already signed up, and paid for our family to do it, so there was no backing out now! We didn’t have as much advertising for the event as in years past, so I wasn’t sure what the turnout would be. However, this was a good community event as families from the school, church and community came out to support the event. Chandler had gotten a shin smashed at his last soccer game, so I told him that he might want to think about taking it easy. Haha! Not if that meant Garett could beat him! The race was on! I haven’t run three miles in…well, I don’t know how long, but one thing I remember is the voice of my cross-country coach in my head, “Run your race. Don’t ever look back. Keep your pace.” Once I started, I was committed and not quitting that’s for sure! I kept Garett and Chandler in my sights for a while, and Travis and Wyatt both kept pace for me for almost a mile. Gradually, I lost sight of the older boys, and pulled ahead of the two younger boys. At the last turn in the 5K someone shouted to me that Chandler was in first place. Good for him, but I still had my own race to run! I finished with a time of 24:35 or something like that, and I was at least a full five minutes behind Chandler! I came in 9th place, right behind Garett. Chandler had won the race with a time of 19:16. I was excited for him, and happy that I had finished the race and not died! Wyatt and Travis came along shortly behind me, and Emma was a ways back, but she did finish! The last race Emma had run she had placed dead last, so this race was a definite improvement! Chandler had won the race and was the first place male runner, BUT his mother was the first place female finisher! Haha! I’m not going to let him forget that! My friend, Jess, placed first in her age category (which is the same as mine). But when her name was called, she said, “I’m not the winner in my age category, Sarah is!” Since I had won for the first place female runner, I wasn’t getting two medals. But now I’m going to forever give her grief about announcing to everyone how old I am! Ah, it’s good to have deep friendships! 

We left shortly after the race so that the boys could go to soccer practice and Emma has two more gymnastic classes. Travis announced that he was “way too tired for soccer and someone else can chase the ball”. He went with me and Emma to her gymnastics class, but the rest of the boys went to play soccer. I’ll just say that it was a quiet afternoon at our house! Everyone burned plenty of calories and energy! 

The hot water heater hasn’t been working since Wednesday night, so we’ve been improvising. Garett has taken cold shower, I’ve found a friends house to shower at, and the rest of the tribe isn’t worried yet about a shower! Emma and I went to my friend’s (Allison) house on Saturday. I spent more time visiting with her, but I did take a shower too! There is no way that I was going to be able to sleep after running in the morning without a shower. I’m so thankful for friends that are willing to help in whatever way we need. God is good- all the time. We will be thankful for hot water again, but Garett told me that God must be trying to teach him something about the dishes! I was like “huh?” Garett says, “Well, first I realized that I wasn’t thankful enough for our dishwasher. Now I realize that I wasn’t thankful enough for hot water to wash the dishes by hand!” Oh, the lessons we learn!  

Thank you for your prayers and love for our family. We are so thankful for amazing friends and family. May God use our family for His glory.