Hi friends! I wanted to dive back in here for a quickie post. I am so behind on keeping up with my homeschool blogger account (not to mention my homeschool lounge site)...ugh. Life is busy, happy, fairly healthy, routine, dramatic, quiet, loud.....can you relate? :)
My Etsy shop is taking off and I have had 5 sales just this past week. This, of course, is adding to my busyness. Please forgive my lack of communication with some of you. My free time has been spent making Temari (see my etsy shop), crocheting, doing school with the girls, talking to Anna and Becca via skype (to Africa and college in IL, respectively), cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc. Big news: I bought my plane tickets to visit Anna in Africa in January and get this.....we are meeting in Paris (cheaper than flying direct) for four days and then on to Africa for 2 weeks! I can't even imagine...me in Paris! Beyond my wildest dreams! (this trip was a gift from Anna's fundraiser.)
I do have a small prayer request for my faithful prayer friends.....we have applied to another church for a pastorate and feel very excited about this one. Would you pray that His will be done, that we walk in contentment, and that the Lord would open the door for my husband to serve in the ministry? Thank you SO much!
This song is speaking so powerfully to me today. We are in the valley...and need Him there. It's hard, but good.
When You lead me to the valley of vision
I can see You in the heights
And though my humbling wouldn’t be my decision
It’s here Your glory shines so bright
So let me learn that the cross precedes the crown
To be low is to be high
That the valley’s where You make me more like Christ
Let me find Your grace in the valley
Let me find Your life in my death
Let me find Your joy in my sorrow
Your wealth in my need
That You’re near with every breath
In the valley
In the daytime there are stars in the heavens
But they only shine at night
And the deeper that I go into darkness
The more I see their radiant light
So let me learn that my losses are my gain
To be broken is to heal
That the valley’s where Your power is revealed
Outside My Window... the chickadees are chirping and hopping around my feeders.
I am thinking... I love the way the air feels after massive amounts of rain, so fresh and clean.
I am thankful for.. God's faithfulness and love and for my precious husband who loves me faithfully and completely (I am so thankful for the way he pitches in around the house -- yesterday he did all the dishes for me -- he never hesitates to help me!)
From the kitchen...I think I'll do some baking today, perhaps some yummy apricot pecan cookies!
I am wearing...khaki capris and a blue shirt, with a sweater, because the air is cool this morning -- 59 degrees!
I am creating...some more temari and some more dishcloths for my etsy shop, and a grocery/menu list!
I am going...to go out for breakfast tomorrow with the planning committee for next winter's Perspectives class. I am thrilled to be a part of that!
I am reading...Jerry Bridges new book, Respectable Sins. I'm not reading it very fast, b/c so much of my time lately has been busy with crafts for my etsy shop. But, it is a VERY good book and I highly recommend it.
I am hoping...that Jessica gets over her cold soon, that her orthodontist appointment on Wednesday is not too painful, and that we hear soon from some ministry opportunities for my husband.
I am hearing...the dryer running, birds chirping, and Canadian geese honking as they fly south, or at least in formation while they think about flying south.
Around the house...The girls are quietly working on their school work. They work on their own so wonderfully these days! A hummingbird is literally four feet away from me, outside my window. Poor things were so drenched the last few days. Our area saw torrential rains (some towns just south of us received nearly 8 inches of rain).
One of my favorite things...my family -- I love the sweet relationship we all have. We are fun, silly, sensitive, hungry for God, and real. I wouldn't dream of doing anything else than being a mom at home with these girls or married to anyone else but my amazing man.
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: Post some new items on my etsy shop, make flight arrangements with a travel agent for my trip to north Africa to visit our daughter (in January), and prepare for our little day trip to Chicago Saturday to visit our other daughter at college. We are also going to go to IKEA.....very excited about that!
Here is picture thought I am sharing...
These are stingrays at our local zoo....the neatest thing is that we all got to TOUCH them and feed them. They were delightful and this one looks like he is waving at me! They were soft, gentle and so fun to experience! God's creation is wonderful!
If you would like to take part in the Simple Woman's Daybook Monday journal entry, please visit her blog here! Enjoy! Till next time, Julie
What a beautiful day to go on a field trip -- to one of my most favorite places in Michigan: the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park (here's the link). We took Grandma along, which was a blessing to her and to us. My mom is nearly 90 years old! She had me when she was 46 years old and has been a sweet and healthy lady all her life!
We wheeled her around in a wheel chair because the Garden is HUGE and she wouldn't have been able to see much of it on foot. She loved seeing everything!
This is, of course, Leonardo DaVinci's magnificent horse.....stunning to behold!
This sculpture was titled "Julia" so the girls thought I should pose with it! Haha!
It was a great day! Tomorrow, we are going to a local zoo, so that will be fun as well.
Till next time, Julie
(p.s. Thank you to all who commented on the Blogger of the Week award. Such a cool honor! I'll try to get back with you all.....when our week is done, I think!)
Now that things have slowed back down to a normal, familiar rhythm with our youngest two and our homeschooling, I can finally add a blog post. I do not have profound things to say, however, as I find myself tired and a bit weary today. Our two oldest daughters are both out of the house -- one back in her senior year of college (wow!!), the other in Africa for the next year (gulp!!) -- and their absence is noticeable. On one hand, I am thankful for the somewhat easier load and quieter house, but on the other, more poignant hand, I miss them both dreadfully. I know someone thought it was great to say that motherhood was about working your way out of a job (was that person a mother??), but I don't know that I like working my way out of that job. I relish being a mom, I chose to be a mom, I didn't stay home with the girls with any regret or reluctance, I LOVE it! I don't want to go back in time -- I also love this season of my life and am thankful for a new depth and maturity that the Lord is working in me and our family. Thank you Lord for your work in our lives.
I would covet your prayers for our family -- we are continuing to wait on God to open a door to full-time ministry for my husband and it is a painful thing for me (the wait, not the desire to be in the ministry). We have had many closed doors and I am learning to thank the Lord for those, but we so desire to see THE door open. Will you pray that His perfect will is revealed in our lives?
I chose Richelle's name via an online random number generator. Richelle, I'll be contacting you to choose your color choice for two of my handmade, crocheted dishcloths. I'll make those up this week and send them off as soon as they are finished!
Thank you all for entering! I would be so blessed if you would visit my shop on Etsy again, as I work to supplement our homeschool budget.
The deadline is next Monday, September 1st to sign up in the post below (or this one....) to win two of my wonderful, handmade, 100% cotton dishcloths. If you have never used a crocheted dishcloth before, you are in for a treat! Please check out my etsy site to see the different patterns and other crafts I make and post below (if you would put a link to here on your site, that would be sweet, too!).
I am having a giveaway!! Whoo hooo! I am going to give the chosen winner 2 items from my new etsy shop (julieandco) -- Two 100% cotton, hand crocheted, textured, durable dishcloths! If you have never used a crocheted cotton dishcloth, you will be delighted in the durability, scrubbability (is that a word?), and wonderful texture of this item. I will also make them in your own choice of color, to match or accent your kitchen colors.
Please click over to my etsy shop to see the types of dishcloths I make (along with my other crafts) and then post a comment (with an email or some way to contact you if you win) along with a brief little post on your blog site with a link back to my site here! Thank you so very much!!!
I will choose a winner on September 1st! (Thank you to MoneySavingMom for hosting the giveway!)
I'm so happy we started school this morning! I absolutely love this time of year, even though this year my homeschool is pretty small -- only our youngest two girls (oldest is a senior in college and second oldest is in Africa for a year!). What a change and what fun. My girls at home are 14 years old and in 9th grade and 11 years old and in 6th grade. They are excited and happy to start school, too, for which I am very thankful.
We started Tapestry of Grace Year 1 (the classic version, which we are in our 8th year of using and LOVE), Saxon and Mathusee, Apologia Biology and Zoology, Spelling, Writing (in Tapestry), Spanish (Powerglide, although I don't know that I'm happy with that -- any suggestions?), Grammar, art and vocabulary. Fun!!
We "skyped" our daughter in Africa this morning to let her in our our first day of school (which sadly made her cry for missing us so terribly). I am SOOOOOOOO abundantly thankful for the internet and Skype for keeping in touch daily with our daughter. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have that brief connection with her. Our younger two girls have even played backgammon (their all time favorite game) with Anna over skype! Hahaha. We point the webcam down at the backgammon board and have fun playing! What a blessing to have fun long distance like that.
Anyone else start school today??
Till next time, Julie (p.s. I have sold one thing on my Etsy site already! Yippee! I have posted new items if anyone is interested....my shop link is along the side of my blog!)
Random thoughts on our life in beautiful Michigan (the mitten!), serving the Father, homeschooling with our four amazing daughters, and cuddling Maggie, our adorable pug.
