I Will Carry You

Sometimes I hear about a great book and I am blessed to have a friend who owns it and offers to loan it to me.  And sometimes I love the book so much that my book-buying-addiction compels me to buy it for my own library.  I Will Carry You:  The Sacred Dance of Grief and Joy by Angie Smith is one of those books I am going to have to add to my bookshelves.

I am able to justify the purchase, you see, because as I told my husband about it, he said he would like to read it.  He doesn't read as fast as I do and I need to return it in a timely fashion.  And I have a couple friends who I think would be blessed if I loaned it to them.  There, I think it's justified. (picture me nodding briskly with a smug smile on my face)

I Will Carry You is mostly about Angie's story of carrying her baby to full term after being told at 18 weeks that her baby was "not compatible with life".  Oh yes, it's a tear jerker in the worst way!  But at the same time, it is a beautiful, simply beautiful, walk of faith and growth and trust with the Father.  None of us really want to walk through such trials, but God is certainly glorified when we trustingly allow Him to carry us through them.  I am inspired, and I think equipped, when others share how God has brought them through the tough times.

Along with her personal experience, Angie sprinkles reflections from the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead in John 11.  Her insight blessed me more than once.  My favorite (and perhaps the most convicting) observation she shared addressed how we pray in times of crisis.  Our tendency is to tell the Lord what we want Him to do.  Angie contrasted this tendency with examples from the Word:

"What Mary and Martha say in their message to Jesus is not as interesting to me as what they don't say.  They don't refer to Lazarus by name, nor do they ask Him to heal their brother.  While we can infer that they were conveying a need for help, they don't actually ask Him to do anything specific. . .(like Mary "They have no wine").  They state the problem and wait to see what He will do about it. . .not the way I approach the Lord with a crisis.  I run to Him with a laundry list of suitable responses and beg Him to accommodate me" (24).

Their daughter, Audrey, lived for about two hours after her birth. "Right before (their) eyes, she passed from this world to the next, and all she had ever known was love" (87).

"I believe that everything that happens in our lives, however awful, is an opportunity to bring glory to Jesus. . .All of us will have times of crisis.  The most we can do is put our hands on the stone (a reference to believing obedience from Mary and Martha's experience when Lazarus died)  and accept what happens next with the grace that says circumstances will define neither God's love for us nor our love for God. . .Instead of spending your days focusing on your sense of hurt or loss, allow the Lord to bless you with the grace to believe that what lies ahead will glorify Him.  It is the closest thing to true worship that we have in this life, and so often we miss it.  I miss it.  It's time to press our full weight into the stone, having complete faith that whether or not there is life in the tomb, there is breath in our lungs to tell of the great Savior who loves us more than we can know" (119).

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree

Briana making beef and noodles with her nose in her book.

Yep, I know where she learned that! :)

Getting Back Into a Routine (and a giveaway!)

 Before we moved from Missouri to Iowa about seven months ago, Alan did Bible study with the children every morning at 7 before he went to work.  With his new job, however, he leaves at 6:30 and the rest of the family is either not up or is just getting up.  For the last six months, our family Bible study has been "hit or miss" as we had a hard time figuring out when would be the best time for it.  Suppertime didn't work out the best, nor did bedtime.  We've finally figured out that 4 pm (shortly after Daddy gets home and children get up from naptime) is the time that is going to work best for us in this season.

Alan has used a variety of resources for Bible study in the past, from simple Bible reading (like a book of the Bible every day, for example I John or the chapter of Proverbs for the day of the month it is, or various Bible stories simply read from the Word) to having the children make a "notebook" with illustrations of the Bible reading and a copied verse (we did this through John's gospel account and the book of Acts) to a study and model of the Tabernacle and so on.  This year he asked me to research some curriculum options to provide him a little more of a framework and after I presented some options I found, he chose The Bible Study Guide for All Ages.

I purchased the first two quarters of this curriculum at a homeschool conference this summer and he spent some time looking over it, then started teaching it about a month ago.  His verdict:  he's loving it!  Now that we are two weeks into the school year and finally settling into a good routine, we are appreciating both the curriculum for our daily Bible study and the time that is working for our family.

It's the most important part of the day; the most important part of our children's training.  If you haven't established a routine of being in the Word with your children, I gently encourage you to make the effort to find a time that you can commit to each day.  And if you don't know where to start, I would recommend this curriculum as a simple and biblical resource.

And here's a great incentive:   Chelli is hosting a giveaway for Bible Study Guide for All Ages over on her blog!  I think it's kind of funny we have both started using this curriculum this year and I'm glad we both love it.  Head on over and enter to see if you can win.  I entered too because I just got the Intermediate and Advanced levels which you can see from the pictures, my older kids are working together with my youngers.  But if I win, I'd get a set of the Beginner books as well--not to mention the Bible book summary cards look like a fun review tool.

As a sidenote, we are enjoying their cd of children's songs around here too.  My music-loving Kiana especially loves the songs and pops the cd in at various times throughout the day.

As our school year is more firmly under way this week, I am especially glad Alan has found both a time and a resource that are working for our daily family Bible study.

Sunburst Cornrows

I sometimes wonder if I should keep posting Kiana's hairstyles on my blog or if anyone really cares, but I learned so much from other bloggers when I was learning to properly care for her hair that I just feel like I should pass it on to anyone else looking for ideas.

Kiana's hair is currently cornrowed into a sunburst style.  I parted her hair from ear to ear and cornrowed the back straight down.  Then I started at a point above her right eye and braided nine rows originating from that point.

It took about 2 1/2 hours (one hour for the back, then an hour and a half the next day for the top/front) to complete this style.  The day before I styled it, I washed, moisturized and detangled her hair, then banded it into five ponytails.

I like the way the back has two layers, and I love the way the interesting angles complement her face.   I think it's beautiful, and it should last several weeks (although she has already been wallering her head on my side, the back of her seat, and on the couch so there's no guarantee).

Illustrations of Relationships

Sadly, reading has been relegated to a back burner these days.  Since these moments to read are so rare at the moment, I have been sticking with relatively easy-reading fiction.  Two such books I've read recently are Hilda and Pearl by Alice Mattison and Gap Creek by Robert Morgan. 

Ironically, they are both books which delve into relationships and the effects trials can have on relationships.  They were both thought-provoking and well-written, although I would say Morgan is the stronger writer of the two.

I found it quite interesting that both books featured strong women and weak men until the women's strength hit a crisis and the men stepped up to the challenge.  What a lesson that is for us women.

Gap Creek was an interesting depiction of marriage, mostly from the viewpoint of the woman (intriguing as the author is a man).  It is set in the Appalachian mountains and features the hardest-working woman I could ever imagine.  I have never lived a life which required such hard work or encountered such hardships.  I think Morgan captured the setting wonderfully and his use of dialect had the characters' voices speaking directly in my ear.

"It seemed I didn't have control over nothing in the world except the work I done.  I couldn't make nothing right, but I could make the floor and the dishes shine. . .The days was thick and cluttered with grief, and I fought my way through every minute with work" (310).

I like the way Morgan showed that first blush of new love viewing one another through rose-colored glasses and then as the new wears off, a couple begins to see one another for who they really are, character flaws and all.  I found it interesting the way he illustrated how much our upbringing influences who we are and how we handle crises later in life.

While I wasn't distracted by it while reading, upon reflection I am quite impressed with Morgan's writing style.  It is almost poetic without being annoying or distracting.  I think I will have to hunt down another of his books.

One disclaimer:  I say this because I know there are some young ladies who read my blog.  There are a couple of marriage bed scenes that might not be appropriate for all readers.  They aren't terribly explicit and are conveyed in a rather poetic manner.  I didn't find them offensive, but some might.

Hilda and Pearl examined a unique friendship between sisters-in-law.   The setting. . .well, it's a little confusing as the point of view switches among the women and a young girl, but the meat of the novel is set in the 1930s.  The women's relationship grows as they experience betrayal and loss.  I appreciated this book because I can relate to the complexities inherent in friendships between women.

I'm not quite sure what I think of this book overall.  I kept reading because I just had to know what happened, but it was slow-moving.  At the end, however, I could see how all the small details came together to fill in the picture of their friendship.  I was also not a fan of the changing perspectives of characters and time period.  I think I liked it more after I finished it than while I was reading it, but it's not one I would read again.

Faking Our Way Through

Art is not my thing.  In truth, I am quite intimidated by art.  As a student, I was of the "tell me what you want and I will perfectly regurgitate it back at you" variety.  Teachers giving me a blank easel or even a variety of media in which to "express myself" was always a source of stress.

And art is messy.  Not that I'm a neat-freak or anything, in fact, just the opposite is the problem.  Art projects make big messes and the messes from art projects tend to last longer than the projects themselves do.

The Lord gave me a child who loves art.  (Go ahead and laugh, I think it's kind of funny too)  Easton is six years old and would do crafts all day long if I let him.  He loves to create with clay, playdough, paint, crayons, pencils, pompoms, craft sticks, scissors, glue, glitter, Legos, blocks, paper towel tubes, tape. . .

So I'm faking it.  Thanks to a long-distance friend, we started the year with a couple of great projects.  We're spreading newspapers and mixing paint colors in our palettes and I'm smiling. 

 They are loving it.  And when I see their beaming smiles of pride and joy, I'm no longer faking it, I'm smiling joyfully right along with them.

 It really was a great craft idea--thanks, Kat, for sharing.  If you'd like to make them with your kiddos too, here is what we did.  1)  Purchase canvases at Hobby Lobby for approximately $3 apiece.

 2) Write each child's name with the blue tape you use for trimming when you're painting (we have used a lot of this in recent months--about $3 at Walmart).

3)  Lay newspaper on the table and turn the kiddos loose with paints of all colors.  We used tempera paint.  They used brushes part of the time, but most of the time they used their fingers.  The contrast in texture turned out rather neat.

4)  Allow the paint to dry for a few hours and then remove the tape.  5)  Take a picture of children proudly displaying their creations.

6)  Hang their names in their respective bedrooms.

Oh yes, and clean up the mess.  I almost forgot that part. ;)

First week of school, first art project down.  Feel free to share other great ideas for this art-challenged momma!

Welcome to Our New Home--C'mon In

Each day I live in our new home I feel more and more blessed at God's incredible goodness.  A year ago Alan resigned from his 17-year-employment and we wondered what would happen next.  It's been a year of change and growth with times of uncertainty even amidst total trust that He would provide as He always has in the past.  But in His goodness, He is showing us better.  Isn't that just like Him?  As the dust settles I'm seeing His abundant blessings everywhere I look from spiritual growth to financial provision to Alan's stress-free job to relationships and opportunities.

One of these incredible blessings is our new home, which we have already found great joy in sharing with friends as overnight guests and dinner guests and we look forward to hosting get togethers with friends from church, from the homeschool group, our neighborhood, and our family.  While pictures don't do it justice (at least not when *I* am in control of the camera!) I'd love to share it with you.

Starting on the northeast end of the house on the main level is the toy room.  This is working out great both as a place to store the toys and a place for the kiddos to play.

Then my sitting room/library is housed in the northwest corner.  I wish I could get better pictures because this is such a fun room!

There are five bookshelves around the room and I could just live in here all day if my family would let me.

I have two little kid rocking chairs in here as well as a large basket of kids' books and it's quite gratifying to see how often one of the little ones sits with legs over the arm of one of the chairs thoroughly engrossed in a book.

South of the sitting room/library (I can't decide what to call it!) is the dining room and between the two rooms is a set of  beautiful wooden pillars which I didn't quite capture.

As is our custom, our dining room once again serves as a place to eat as well as a schoolroom and a center for visiting and playing games.  It is also decorated with bookshelves because that's just my style!  Those patio doors you see open onto the west side of the deck which wraps around the west, south, and east sides of the house.

To the east of the dining room is our bedroom and bathroom as well as a stairway which goes upstairs to Easton, Kiana and Tyrell's bedrooms.  I somehow missed taking pictures of these rooms, but I imagine I'll work them into some other post.

Continuing south through the main level of the house you'll find the kitchen.  The view below is taken from the doorway coming into the house from the east and almost (but not quite) captures how big this room is.  To the left of the widescreen view is my computer desk and bookshelf along that wall.  There is so much counter-space and lots of cabinets plus my first-ever pantry closet!

 Then continuing still farther south is the living room.  This is a large huge room built from knotty pine with high vaulted ceilings and skylights.  This is the favorite room of most people who visit our house and it truly is a wonderfully cozy room.  It's so big I'm having a hard time figuring out how to arrange it, but my sis-in-law helped me arrange it into basically two living rooms:  one area with the sectional couch and television for lounging and another area with recliners (around, what else!, a bookshelf) for visiting or reading.  There is another set of patio doors that open out onto the deck along the south side of the house.

Next we head down the stairs to the basement. . .

At the base of the stairs we turn into Briana's room which is also made of the knotty pine and is also almost indecently roomy.  She has one side of it fixed up as her sleeping quarters. . .

and the other side provides plenty of room for her sewing, stamping, knitting, and other crafts with plenty of room to spare.

Destry's room isn't real fancy, but he has it fixed up just the way he likes it complete with his loft room and even an old easy chair.  It looks disturbingly like a dorm room.

There's also a large bathroom in the basement and this huge area, one half of which serves as a family room slash hangout room slash music and game room.

And the other half is a full kitchen which will come in quite handy for canning in the future.  I'm even imagining doing some freezer cooking down here or using it as a summer kitchen to keep the upstairs from getting too hot.

I can't believe how big this house is, but we are appreciating this blessing and looking forward to sharing it with family and friends in the years to come.

Thanks for stoppin' by.  Y'all come back, ya hear!