Thursday: Prayer & Friday: Blessings

I missed writing a blog post yesterday which was the first one in 51 days! It was for a good cause, but I was still sorry to miss as someday I might want to look back at these writings.

Thursday: Between three google meets and preschool lesson recordings, it was a full day. We had originally planned to attend the drive-in service at our church at noon for the National Day of Prayer, but by the time we wrapped up meets and schooling, it was just too late. While I was a bit bummed to miss that service, I also recognize that praying with my Heavenly Father is a gift to me that is offered at any time. I don’t ever remember a time in my life that I have prayed with the fervency that I have prayed over the last six weeks. And I want this state of mind of fervent, endless prayer to continue on long after all of Corona is gone.

Renee and I recorded a few lessons for our preschoolers, but I also treasure the time to sit and talk with her. We’ve discussed plans for the fall, our students, struggles and concerns, joys and victories, and sweet times of prayer every time we come together. I am blessed to get to serve alongside of her in our school. It is getting a bit easier to record the lessons, I think. But it’s a very draining experience as we are both very tired when we are done! We are thankful for the two lessons we were able to wrap up, and we will be back next week to record a few more, Lord willing!

Last night I had the opportunity to pray with a few ladies in person, and that is a treasured memory. I am blessed to call them my friends as well as my partners in prayer. One of the ladies made the statement last night that in the midst of all this that seems so crazy there is nothing that is happening that God does not allow. Sometimes it’s easy to get discouraged or feel disheartened by news, but truthfully God controls it all. It may seem that confusion, chaos and evil are winning, but we must never lose sight that God is on the throne. We are called to be faithful and to pray without ceasing. Stay the course....be faithful!

Free donut Friday!
Donuts and coffee are totally not essential, and I absolutely believe that....unless you are  the mama that completed a week of teaching and homeschooling...then donuts and coffee are essential! Garett had the rare opportunity to spend a little time out at the airport with Roger today. On the way to drop him off, I stopped to get a coffee for Roger and a free donut was being offered with purchase of a beverage! When we pulled up to the drive-thru (because you can’t go into the store anymore) the cashier lady told us that our beverages and donuts had been paid for by the lady ahead of us! Well, even sweeter! That was a special surprise and blessing today!

My sister, Hannah, called me this morning to see if we wanted to come up to her house for a cookout. A change of scenery? A drive on a beautiful day? Lunch? Oh, yes please! The kids and I had a lovely afternoon with a cookout, a nice walk, good conversations, and much needed time together.

Another blessing that happened today is that I got a text from a dear friend from our church. She was injuring about the next school year, and I told her that I am praying specifically that God will grow our school this next school year. Yes, it seems like a bizarre time for a small Christian school to grow, but that’s why I pray. God can and will answer our prayers. Anyways, she told me that she would pray with me and also that she wanted to help with some of the cost of next years registration. What a blessing! God continues to show that He is at work in and around us, and I’d encourage you to pray with us that our school will grow during this next school year.

Maine news: Another 44 cases. One additional death bringing the total number of deaths to 63. The number of active cases is 476. Other news Here. It also appears that retail businesses may begin to open on Monday, and restaurants in modified formats on May 18. There does not appear to be any news for churches though, and that is very disappointing. The matter concerning churches is also a matter of prayer.

Happy Friday!

Emma and Aunt Hannah

Not really surprised that he is driving the bike in the mud! 

Chandler continues to improve on the unicycle 

Thankful for the opportunity to pray and walk along this property yesterday afternoon. 

Day #Sweet Prayer

Sweet time of prayer

Quarantine Miles

One school work page at a time!

Not a hoarder....just a big family! 

“Worthy of Worship, Worthy of Praise” the words from this hymn have been rattling around in my head all day. We are so very blessed to serve our AMAZING GOD! Regardless of news, politics, and the blah, blah, blah that surrounds us every day, we have so much to be thankful for in our lives.


I was in the line at Wal-mart before seven am this morning. I had put it off for a while, but now I just needed to go and get it done! It was totally weird to have to wait to go into Walmart. Thankfully, I was in the first bunch of people to get in the store, but it’s still weird. Thankfully, I was able to get toilet paper (yay!) and some meat. We don’t hoard groceries around here -they just get eaten quickly! I was able to get a bag of flour for my friend, Allison. At seven am in the morning, there was only three bags of flour left! Nevertheless, I am thankful that there are groceries to buy and that we have money to pay for the groceries. God is so good.

Not quite how I feel - but close! 

We also had google meets, school, and lots of outdoor time today! The weather was beautiful and the boys and Emma spent several hours outside. I had a meeting at church today to discuss some plans for the summer. It was so lovely to meet in person, and to have face-to-face conversation. The boys and Emma spent the afternoon out on the school playground and tromping down to the beach behind the church. And wow! They came back so dirty from all the clay mud they had found on the beach. I would’ve take a picture, but I was a little annoyed because they were SO dirty! I had planned to stay at church until our small (very small) church prayer time, but we ended up coming home so that everyone could get on clean clothes!

Our pastor has come up with a plan to have small (very small-less than 10 people) prayer groups. It was a wonderful, truly delightful time to spend praying together. Roger had to work today, but he made it to the prayer group on time. Now our family alone is already seven in a group, and ten are allowed! We have a lot of space in our church building and on the property and three groups were created. 24 people came out to pray. Roger led a group of boys outside around the fire pit in prayer and reading of God’s Word. Emma and I were in a different group, and my kids were delighted to see some faces that they haven’t seen in a while (so was I!). As we approach the National Day of Prayer tomorrow, it was especially nice to spend some time in God’s Word and prayer as we prepare for that. We serve a great and mighty God!

Maine news: One more death, and 28 more cases. An additional 25 people have recovered. The governor is considering some alternative plans to her original plan released last week. You can read additional details here. Know what? God is still in control.

Day# Short and Sweet!

Psalm 63 is one of my favorite Psalms in the Bible. 

Another day of school is in the books! We have 18 school days left before we will be done for the year, and I am looking forward to that. Unfortunately, so many fun events and places to go have been erased from the summer in Maine. We will probably be spending a lot of time by the beach,  and enjoying any sunshine that comes our way!

Honestly, I don’t have much to report today. The children are all alive and well. We have food to eat and dishes to wash. I did laundry, didn’t you?

Emma and Garett both had google meets today with their classes. Garett struggles to pay attention and focus on class meets over the internet, but he sticks with it. He is the one that has his meet in the back room, and Emma sits at the kitchen table. She is still easily distracted, but I think she focuses a little better than Garett sometimes. Emma presented her academic fair information today in her class. She was a bit nervous about telling about monkeys (her topic) while in the class meet, but she did very well. It’s much harder to communicate over the google meets, but she is glad to have it done...so is mom!

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week, and I think for one of the first times ever, we gave e-gift cards to the kids teachers. Normally, I would make a home-made meal or dessert (cooking is my love language, remember?). We’ve done baskets for the teachers before with speciality soaps or treats, and a hand written note. But due to Covid -19, we decided to just go with gift cards for our children’s teachers. The children all miss their teachers very much (and so does mom!), but we are praying fervently for next fall! God can bring about growth in the most unusual of circumstances and that is what I am praying for this next school year.

Maine news: I’m not even going to write it out...you can read about it Here. It is my own personal opinion that I wish that we could find more positive news to highlight rather than all the negativity. I feel for many, many small businesses that are either going to go under (already the list is long) or will have a hard time overcoming this. My husband works for a small business, so on behalf of his work, I’d appreciate your prayers.

Here’s the good news: regardless of what the media portrays or what we hear or read, God is still on the Throne. I can rest in the confidence that we serve a Mighty God, A Holy God, A Righteous God, and One Who is filled with mercy and compassion. In our Bible readings from school, we are reading about the plan of salvation. Sometimes it’s easy to gloss over it, perhaps because of how often we’ve heard it. But the truth of the matter, is that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is still the greatest news ever! If you do not know Jesus as your personal Savior, I’d challenge you to settle that today. (Romans 6:23; Romans 3:23; John 3:16; I John 1:9; Romans 10:13)

Wyatt can make a delicious omelette!

Day# Work and Technical Difficulties!

Work!

A good day to be outside 

Wyatt’s favorite thing to cook lately is eggs! 

God blessed us with more sunshine today, so that was especially delightful!

This morning Garett was supposed to have a google meet lesson with his teacher, and I was trying to get on the computer to get to a meet with some of our students. The internet was extremely slow in uploading our class preschool lesson, which was tying up the use of the iPad. Garett needed to use the computer for his lesson, and time was going to be tight. Ever have those events that seem like unorganized chaos at the moment, but when you look back you can see God’s hand in it all? That was us this morning. Shortly after Garett was supposed to start his lesson, I sent his teacher a message asking if we had the right morning. She immediately replied back that her mother had needed something this morning, and she had dashed off to help her mom- and forgotten about Garett’s lesson. (Garett was not at ALL disappointed!) She felt terrible for missing his lessons, but it was all in God’s timing as I needed to get on the computer for my google meet. And the You Tube video was still uploading! Oh, it was a crazy morning!

Remote teaching is hard for everyone -teachers, students, parents, etc. (It’s probably even hard on the neighbors when we go outside and sing the “letter song” really loudly!) As we navigate through these uncharted water though, I do feel like this is very difficult for those that teach. No one was prepared for this experience, and every teacher I know struggles with wondering whether or not they are assigning enough work or too little work. We struggle as we miss out on our personal connections with our students. As a teacher, you know if the child is having an “off-day” the moment they step into the classroom. We use relational wisdom and cues from our students to know how they are processing the material given and whether or not a “light-bulb” moment has occurred. Please do not think your child’s teacher is taking this time “off” and sipping drinks and eating bonbons! No one desires to get back into the classrooms more than the teachers! We miss “normal” too! Renee and I have had many conversations about our little preschoolers! Even on the roughest day at school, remote learning is much, much more challenging! We want to go back to school too- so start praying now for the fall! :)

Clearly, I got lost on a rabbit train there! The boys spent some time today working on cleaning up brush from an older gentleman’s yard. He has had a hard time finding someone to come out and clean up brush and prepare the yard for mowing this spring. We have a bunch of able-bodied children, and this provided an opportunity for them to be a blessing. I dropped them off, and then went to drop off some preschooler learning packets at their homes. It was so good to see a few of our preschoolers in person! I’ve missed their sweet faces and different personalities. It was a blessing to have conversations with the parents, and to have some actual interaction. I’ve missed that!


Just a reminder that Thursday will be the National Day of Prayer. God can give us victory- over fear, uncertainty, sickness, etc.! We need to continue to pray believing that He is able! I’d encourage you to spend some extra time in God’s Word this week, and perhaps even consider fasting if you are able. God can do great and mighty things, and I rest in that. 

Source

There have now been 1,205 confirmed and likely coronavirus cases across all of Maine’s counties, according to Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Nirav Shah. That’s up from 1,185 on Sunday.

Of those, 1,136 have been confirmed positive, while 69 are likely positive, according to the Maine CDC.

No new deaths were reported Monday, leaving the statewide death toll at 57.

720 people have fully recovered from the coronavirus, meaning there are 428 active and likely cases in the state. That’s up from 422 on Sunday.

Day# Sunday - Sunshine and Blessings

Sunday always feels like the “most off-kilter” day of the week. We treasure the body of Christ, and that is intended function fully in-person. But, for now we wait, along with much of the nation in regards to when we can have in-person worship services again. God is still God, and He is still faithful. I believe that there is a time and a place to follow government mandates and a time for us to worship together in person. For now, we are “fervent in spirit and in prayer”. I know that God is doing things in and through and around us regardless of whether or not we are actually meeting in the church building.

Today I was able to treasure some time with a very dear friend. This dear friend had a rough week, so I made a meal, created a “sunshine” basket (all kinds of treasures and treats), and dropped it off at their house. I have very much missed opportunities lately to make meals or treats and drop by to visit others in their homes. I think God created me to have  acts of service as my love language and that is a very difficult gift to fulfill during a pandemic! I enjoy making meals, bringing coffee, dropping by for a visit, and all the things that are definitely more “in-person” type things!

Roger had to work this Sunday, but this is the first one that he has worked in a while. I was going to try to go to Wal-mart to do some of the grocery shopping for the week, but when I drove into town, the line was too long! I went to the dollar store to pick up a few things that we’ve needed for a while, and I found eggs for $1.00! The eggs at the dollar store are medium and not large eggs, but it’s $1.00 a dozen. Apparently, the Dollar Tree chickens are not yet on strike during this pandemic! Wyatt promptly cooked up 1/2 dozen eggs for him and Travis to eat when I arrived home, so I’m very thankful for eggs!

One other blessing from this week has been the lunches for the children from our school district. Even though our children do not attend school in this district, the school is providing  free lunches to student-aged children in the area. This arrangement was made this week, and every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, the bus comes by and puts the lunches in the cooler at the end of our driveway. Our children have greatly enjoyed going down to the mailbox to check the cooler. And I have to say that the school lunches are way more fun than what this mama was giving them! They each get a pint of milk for lunch, and that alone is a huge help! The lunch comes with a fruit, a snack, and a main item. On Friday, the boys were thrilled to get Caesar  salads in their lunches, and little mandarin orange cups. There really hasn’t been a whole lot for our children to look forward to lately, so I am very thankful for the lunches also. Wyatt already mentioned that “we should write a thank-you note to whoever packs these lunches”. Yes, we will have to do that!

On our way back from our friends house today, we went on a hike. We were driving along and spotted a preserve sign. That’s an indication of a hiking trail. We pulled into the parking area, and all the kids piled out for a hike. We’ve done a lot of hiking during this pandemic! At no other season of our life would we have the opportunity to just hike in some random preserve for an hour and one-half. These are the moments that I hope our children remember!

National Day of prayer is this week on Thursday, May 7. Please be in prayer and maybe think about fasting also if you are able. Pray often! Pray fervently! Pray believing!

Maine news: An additional 33 cases have been confirmed today. One additional death has been reported so the total deaths stands at 53. We have 422 active cases today, but 706 have recovered. Out of the 422 active cases, 33 people are hospitalized.

Day # Saturday Sunshine & Ocean Visits

Breezy but fun! 

We have yet to go to the beach and come home empty-handed! 

Everyone finds a tresure! 

They fight. They squabble, but they are brothers! 

Not all the days around here are easy, and often they are a bit long. But I am thankful for the sunshine that God blessed us with today. Because of the sunshine, we did not have to load and unload trash in the rain; I was able to get in a short run, and I took the kids on a hike to the ocean. We are thankful for the Vitamin D that God gave us, and we definitely used it!

Garett and I went to do trash today, and Garett was worried that he would have to wear a mask while unloading the trash. I told him I didn’t think he would have to as it’s outside, and plenty of social distancing space. When we pulled up, I noticed that one of the helpers did not have a mask, so I figured that Garett would be fine without one. One of the older men there spent several minutes commending Garett for helping “his sister” bring trash to the dump. Garett stared at the man for a moment, and then said, “That’s not my sister. That’s my mom!” Needless to say, I was thrilled! I know I don’t look young enough to be Garett’s sister, but the gentleman was older and probably couldn’t see all that well!

Laundry and outside play was on the agenda for today. For the most part, we succeeded at both. I went on a quick run. (These quarantine miles are tough as no matter which way I run, I have to come back up a hill!) We ate lunch and then we took a hike. While the sun was out today, it was quite a bit cooler on the beach. The kids still had a good time, and we stayed for over an hour tromping around on the beach.

We visited Roger at his work, so that was a nice change of scenery also. So many businesses and people are concerned about our governor’s mandate from this past week. While Roger’s job also involves moving mail and freight, it is still a different scenario if tourists can’t come to Maine this summer. I wrote our governor today...not that I think it will make a difference. However, I have no right to complain about something that I’ve made no effort to change. I would ask that you pray for our state and our governor. Money does not grow on trees (even my children know that) and I am deeply concerned about how quickly our freedoms seem to have been erased in the name of “safety”. Our founding father fought for our freedoms with tenacity, grit, risk, and deep determination. I cannot  sit idle and do nothing. I am writing to our governor and other’s in authority because it’s something that I believe to be important. Pray! Pray! Pray! And Act when necessary and possible!

Maine news: 56 Mainers have died from the virus as of today. There are also 29 additional confirmed cases. However, 689 people have recovered from the virus which is an increase of 32 from yesterday...we can be thankful for that! Our number of active cases is at 407, which is a decrease of 4 from yesterday.

Rejoice! Our God is still on the throne! Above all else, God wants us to know Him in a real and personal way. Today is another opportunity to serve Him.

Quarantine Miles 

Lots of outside time! 

Day# Gratitude

Gratitude- the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and return kindness.

That is the character trait that I am focusing on today! It’s often hard for me to have an “attitude of gratitude” these days, and I often think I’m the one needing an attitude adjustment and maybe not my kids! I am grateful today for friendships. We had the opportunity to have an “in-person” staff meeting, and my heart is so blessed by these staff ladies.  I have been grateful for the many opportunities to pray with other ladies in recent days.  Having an early morning prayer meeting with Mrs. Wheelis has certainly helped me start many a long day out on the right foot! I am grateful for all the parents in our Christian school that have worked so diligently with their children over these past few weeks. (It’s not an easy job!)

Today was rainy. And it rained hard for much of the day, but when it was time for the packet pick up the rain had slowed and the wind had died down. That was a direct answer to prayer.

I am thankful that although the governor has now mandated that we wear a mask when we are out in public and can’t social distance, that I survived it. My friend, Mrs. Wheelis, brought me a mask to wear today. It’s lighter than the cloth ones. My sister, Hannah, who is a nurse, would probably say that I am being crazy. “Of course you can breathe in a mask! I do it every day for hours on end!” (I can hear it already!) And I know all those things. But I still don’t like it. I don’t like the feeling of inhaling and feeling that press against my mouth. I don’t like hearing all my words sound all garbled. I had to go to the grocery store after the packet pickup, and I did wear the mask. But half-way through the grocery store, I realized that I now had my mask down around my neck! (So not very effective!)  However, it’s interesting to note that there is no real way of enforcing the mask policy. Because you don’t have to wear a mask if you have a medical condition that prohibits that, and no one can ask you about your medical conditions as that is a violation of Hippa. All of these things get so crazy in a hurry!

I was speaking with our Pastors wife about a few things that have happened in our state that I feel are in violation to our constitutional rights. I stated that I had already written a letter to the DOJ. She made the statement that now is the time that  “good intentions will not do” but “....this is a time for pro-active, praying patriots”. That really resonated with me, and I agree. We still have the freedoms to write letters, contact our congressmen/women, and take action. You really aren’t in a position to complain about something that you don’t agree with until you have done your part to try to make changes. That’s not to say that we always get our way when we follow the proper protocol, etc, but it is the proper actions for us. Be strong, praying, pro-active believers today and rejoice in what God is doing! We do not know what the future holds, but we do know that God will be glorified !

We had a great online Ladies Bible Study last night. It has definitely gotten smoother as we have been meeting online more often! While it’s not my favorite, I am so thankful for the opportunity to read God’s Word and to pray together. We have been trying to meet once a week, and while I am usually tired by the time it’s time for the meeting, I am always glad I joined on.

Roger was working today, and I had a staff meeting and then packet pickup at the school. I am so thankful that our children can be manage at home for a few hours. Most of the time when they call me, it’s to ask if they can eat something! They do have arguments every once in a while, and sometimes they meet me at the door with all their problems, but it is a blessing for them to be able to stay home. Overall, I think that the children are doing well. We do have long days and moments, but just like God is at work in the big picture of the world, He is also at work in and through us. That’s something to be grateful for today!

Maine news: 657 People have recovered!

Information from this article here

Taking away reported deaths and patients who have recovered, there are 411 active cases of the virus in Maine, which is unchanged from Thursday.

According to the Maine CDC website, 35 Mainers are hospitalized with the virus, with 18 in intensive care. Eight people are on ventilators.

Of the state's 330 ICU beds, 171 are available. Of the state's 316 ventilators, 290 are available. There are 397 alternative ventilators available.

Beautiful flowers for the teachers from our friend, Allison and her girls! 

Wearing a mask