Welcome Back

Hello there!

It's been almost six years since my last post on this blog. Wow! That is a really long time. There's a good chance most of you who used to follow this blog are no longer here, and that's OK. Maybe you'll come back. Maybe not. So much has changed in six years. Where in the world do I even begin?

Well, for starters, Britches has GRADUATED! I'm not even sure how that happened. It seemed like homeschooling her would never end. But I blinked and she was grown. Now, she's enrolled at the university in our town. I'm very happy about the fact that she has chosen to stay home for at least this first year, because I would be more of a basket-case-wreck-of-a-person than I already am over all this.

And Little Man will be graduating this year! Again, not sure how that happened. Oh right, I blinked. He's planning on going to the same university as his sister, which makes me happy. The two of them have been inseparable since birth, so I kinda figured he would choose to go wherever she went.

Little Sister is a pre-teen who loves all things music, piano, juggling, and chickens. We have somewhere around 30 chickens for her as pets, and she hugs each one every day and tells them all goodnight before locking them up each evening.

And Baby Girl is about to hit double digits! She is spunky and smart and happy, and I am so glad she's ours!

We are still homeschooling the 3 that are still here. A lot has changed in our approach to school, because my children preferred a different way of teaching. And that's OK. We are still extremely laid back in our delight directed approach. But we do use a more independent study approach now, rather than schooling everyone together with the same unit study and lapbooks. Change can be good.

Brient and I, by the grace of God, will have made it to 21 years of marriage this December. That in itself is a miracle. Marriage is hard, people! It's not for the faint of heart. You have to really dig deep and work at it. They don't bother to tell you all of that at the beginning, probably because nobody would ever get married if they knew how dang hard it actually is. But it is so worth it!

A big thing that's changed is that we are no longer in ministry. That's crazy, because I really thought we'd be working with kids forever. A lot of things brought us to that point, and really, I'm so glad we finally stepped down for good. I didn't realize how absolutely exhausting ministry is, and it was really taking a toll on my marriage, my kids, our homeschooling - pretty much everything. Life is so much slower and more peaceful now.

I have learned a few things in the past six years, too. I've learned that...

~ the only good in me is from God, and when I try to do ANYTHING apart from Him, it is crap and fails.

~ we shouldn't do things because we want recognition, but because we love doing that thing and just want the joy that thing brings.

~ pride truly does go before a GREAT FALL. And I learned that, when we are honestly seeking to follow God, He will use that fall for His good to bring about the humility that He so desires in our lives.

~ nothing in this life stays the same. Not jobs or houses, family or schedules, church or friends, health or the lack of - nothing. It's all temporary.

If you've stuck with me for this long in this post, thanks! Maybe we'll talk again in a day or so. But if it's just me on here, that's OK, too. Because I just need to write. Even if nobody is listening. Or if everybody is listening. I just need to write.