sunny days - Homeschool Blogger

A meek and quiet spirit

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 10:04:00 -0500

I am ever reminded (daily) that I need to have this meek and quiet spirit. Personality wise I am neither meek nor quiet...I am rather loud and well loud. So I always though this was something that wouldnt fit me. I have learned however that this is a meek and quiet SPIRIT! God is good b/c he created my personality one way but has lead my spirit in a different direction.

It is so obvious in my life that this spirit needs work. My children teach me every day that I have this need. When I have to ask over and over for something to be done and I start to get mad...reminder. When they are dawdleing, on purpose, over schoolwork...reminder; When they are just plain disobediant I have a choice to either train with a smile and a gentle heart or to get REALLY mad and start yelling.

Now, I tend to do the yelling part that is what comes naturally to me, and they listen when I yell. But is that really what I want to instill in my childrens hearts. Do I want them to yell when they need someone to listen to them, do I want them to feel like being taught or trained something always ends up in yelling and tears. NO!!! I want to teach and train with a smile on my face, rejoicing that the Lord gave me 4 beautiful children to rear up. I need to remember that they are my high calling and that they deserve to have a mommy that loves them and speaks in a kindly manner toward them. That will stop what she is doing and train them in the way that is right.

I have found that this has great rewards. I may have to stop and take longer to teach but in the long run they wont need the training again or as often. I have also found that if I get down to their level and speak into their eyes with a smile on my face they listen ( I dont even have to yell).

So God is good and faithful and ever changing my yucky heart. Me and the family are happy for that. I have loved the last few weeks spending lots of time with the Lord while I recover from my accident. He has been so lovely to me and I am just rejoicing that I have such a Savior.

I will share later all the Scripture he has blessed me with but this is just my thoughts for now.

Blessings,

Andrea

Just Hanging

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 11:37:00 -0500

Yesterday we had a full church day. Shelby my dh taught Jr High so I went to church first service and then Jr High second. I love hearing him teach. It must be a Pastor wife thing, but I think he is so attractive when he is preaching. Good stuff!!!

We came home and the kids played video games and Shelby took a nap. Brie and I did her language arts. She is really poky when it comes to LA, she just doesnt like it. So she has been putting it off and putting it off and now I want it done. She has church camp this weekend and I told her that if it isnt finished she wont be going....UGH! So she is in LA overdrive. I am also prepared to stand by my threat if need be but I would hate to do that. I am hoping she will finish her work. This will also be Drew's first time at overnight church camp. So I will only have my little boys how strange.

Today has been pretty quiet. I stayed in bed longer than usual and read, just hung out it was nice. It is kind of overcast and all the kids are real laid back. We have had a really nice morning just being together. I have physical therapy this afternoon and if I do to much in the am then I am worn out later from therapy. I am really hoping to see some big changes in my healing in the upcoming week and weeks. I am going to ask my therapist what this healing road will look like and for maybe an estimate of time till normal comes into view. I really dont like hurting and being not my full self. I cant get done what I normally do and it stinks. But on the other hand the Lord has allowed a quiet time and that is kind of nice so I am trying to take advantage of it even if I dont always like it.

I am off to help Brie get her booty in geat and do LA then luch and therapy. After that I might cook dinner tonight??? Who knows? I am hoping y'all are having a blessed day.

Blessings,

Andrea

A New Song

Fri, 8 Jun 2007 20:35:00 -0500

Psalm 73: 25-28

Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And besides Thee, I desire nothing on earth

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever...As for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all Thy works.

Amen

So in the last weeks my life has been a blur...truly. So much has happened to just shake up my reality.

First we have an awesome ministry opportunity with Livin it. We do skateboarding ministry and we got in with a great group and have a chance to go to Japan and minister to the kids at the naval bases over there. There is a possibility of a trip to India too. Also my honey has a chance to go to Kasakstan to help build the Freedom Center over there. This is a "school" which is really in reality going to minister to this hurting area the freedom they can find in Christ. So much goings on in ministry. I am so excited and just glad that I am called to bring GLORY to God and that He chooses to use us. I am hoping He will allow us to serve in some of these ways and I am really excited to teach my kids to be servants to others.

The day after our big ministry weekend with Livin it. I was in a terrible car accident. It totalled my car and I broke a vertebre in my neck. For 2 weeks I have lived in a blur. I have only really been clear in thought since Monday. I feel robbed of the last 2 weeks, but also if God can restore the years the locust have eaten away then he can restore 2 weeks hydrocodone ate away.

So I am hurting but good, thankful to be alive. Thankful my kids werent with me. Thankful to be able to kiss my kids and my honey every day. And wanting to live my life full on for God the only thing that really matters. I want the verse above to really be true. To be able to say I desire nothing on earth...wow. In reality I dont desire anything but God in my life and I am glad that he has given me a desire for my family. They are truly beautiful and I love them all so much. My brown eyed girl with her beautiful straight dark hair and then my 3 blond, curly haired boys. They are lovely. And then my beloved...oh how I love him.

So my Gabriel asked to go outside today. I said yes and in a matter of 1.5 to 2 minutes he managed to scare me worse than I have ever been scared in my life. I heard him screaming and so i run outside and notice our car has gone down the driveway and has ended up in the side of the barn. Gabe is running screaming and crying away from the car. Quickly I scan the area for the rest of the blonde boys. I see Eli who looks frazzled but alright...I began calling for Drew and there is no answer and I call louder and am now screaming for him. I yell in the house for him and still no answer. I then think I hear someone crying quietly from by the car. In my panic I think that the car has run over Drew and he is trapped under the car. This is a feeling no mom should ever have to feel. I told the other boys to quickly get in the house, because I didnt want them to have to see Drew broken and hurt. I then run frantically toward the car and cant see under it because it has backed into the barn and a huge concrete bird bath is wedged up on the back of it. Now please remember that I have a broken neck from my car accident 2 weeks ago. I then She-Ra(d) the huge bird bath off the car and procede to try and push the car when Drew walks out of the house. He had been in the shower and couldnt hear me calling but he did hear all the boys crying and thought that the house was being robbed...ha. So noone died and no one was run over, but I really hurt myself picking up the huge concrete bird bath. I am also insanely mad at my 6 year old. He just doesnt think. I know he is 6 but he knows not to play in the car.

Anyway I am exhausted. From the accident and then from my emotional ride of today. Also just dealing with healing and all. So anyway, I want to be focused on what is important. I got a bit sorry for myself today. I have had noone to care for me except my honey and my kids, but Shelby works all day. My mom never came and my mother in law wouldnt dream of coming to help. I have had help with meals from our church and even had my house cleaned my 2 women from the church...what a huge blessing. But I got whiny like why didnt my mom come and take care of me, I broke my neck, I have 4 kids you would think that would warrant a visit but no.

I had to stop myself and just praise the Lord. He has been with me since the impact of the cars hitting each other. It was His voice I heard in my drugged in between sleep and awake state. It was Him I heard singing over me in the middle of the night when I awoke in pain. It was Him that swang with me on my porch swing. He has taken care of me, maybe different than my mom would have, but He has provided for all my needs and the needs of my family. He also made me turn to Him and not to anyone else. I have been in my Midian and it has been wonderful. I am blessed. A bit confused and really exhausted. A bit bewildered by the events of the last few weeks and today, but I can say at the end of the day. Who have I in heaven but Thee and I desire nothing on earth besides Thee...My flesh and my heart may fail (truly my heart failed this morning) But you are the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

I love this part... the nearness of God is my good (yum) I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all Thy works. (Delicious wonderful goodness) God is good! Always in all things and He will always be exalted.

Blessings,

Andrea

Hello everyone...I'm back!

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 23:08:00 -0500

Whew, it has been 6mts since I blogged. That is forever ago. Anyway alot had changed we are totally settled into our home. We have 2 dogs, 3 bunnies, 5 chickens and 1 rooster Hee Hee. I cant stop, we are looking for 2 more outside dogs. I also tilled up my garden last week and hopefully will plant this weekend.

So school is going well, we are taking out time and will go through the summer with some breaks. I enjoyed school this year and cant believe next year I will have a child in Jr High...AHHH. Am I really old enough to have a Jr High kid. Man time flies.

Speaking of old, I had a bday on Sunday and anyone that knows me knows I LOVE my bday. I wasnt expecting anything wonderful and we had a really nice day. But...my honey surprised me with a party. It was awesome I had the best time and it was the best bday ever. He did good. He also got me a really beautiful necklace.

The Lord is so good. He continually just loves on me and bends my will to align with His. He is so good and I couldnt do life without him. The other day He reminded me that He dances over me and sings over me. What a picture to know that The God of the Universe Loves us so much that He dances and sings over us. Just allow that to sink in and picture Him dancing and singing around you...Oh How He loves Us!

Anyway I will try and get on again soon. It has been really good for me just to take a break and pour into my family. I needed some quiet off the computer time.

Blessings, Andrea

Our school room

Mon, 16 Oct 2006 18:56:00 -0500

I worked all day on our new school room. I still need to paint it some wonderful color, but I got it all unpacked. It looks really nice. Everything is put in it's proper place and it looks really nice. I put all the other homeschool boxes away, years we are not currently in.

It just makes me happy to go in there and not have a big mess of boxes and not be able to go into the room because it is so full. My friend came over and couldn't believe the transformation. I can't wait till my honey sees it tonight.

I have had a pot roast in the crock pot all day and the house smells awesome. I wish I would have baked some bread, but I did not get around to it. I am looking forward to the pot roast. I am really hungry. My honey will be home any moment and then we can eat, yippee. A hard days work does work up an appetite. So I am off to get the table set and do a quick pick up.

Tomorrow I am working on the master bedroom. I will let you know how it goes!

Blessings,

Andrea

All moved in

Tue, 10 Oct 2006 22:54:00 -0500

Well, we are all moved in for a week now. It seemed like we moved for 2 weeks. With all of the cleaning in the new house and prep work it took forever. I also cleaned the old house to perfection. So once we got in this house I was just exhausted. So I took my time unpacking.

The house is looking pretty good. There are still boxes around, but I have also unpacked a ton. I need to work on our closet tomorrow. I also need to get the homeschool room up and running.

Speaking of running, our kids have run around outside all week. We have 15 acres. About 3 is just yard the other 11 are wood. The have hiked and played in leaves and just run around like crazies all week. What fun they have had.

We are so looking forward to making some really good trails in the woods this fall. I would love to have our own nature trails to go exploring. The one big thing with all these woods are the ticks. Yuck, I thought they would be gone by now, but they are still alive and well. My son had 10 just tonight and that is with him being sprayed with DEET. Just what you want to have soak into your kids skin!!

Anyway, the ticks will be dealt with in the spring. We will spray or sprinkle something to keep them in line. For now, I think we only have another week or so until they die of cold wheather. It is suppossed to get down to 32 degrees this week. Not during the day, just nightime. That is pretty darn cold though. I am looking forward to cooler wheather though. I love fall.

So that is my update for now. Still alot of unpacking to be done. So happy with our simplified life. Looking to get it organized, but seeing that it will be good.

Blessings,

Andrea

whew

Sat, 23 Sep 2006 20:29:00 -0500

Hi all,

I am pooped. I have cleaned the new house all week. Then I lined all of the shelves in the bathrooms and kitchen. This is an old home so everything needed to be cleaned REALLY well and drawers needed to be lined. It was gross.

Now I know it is clean and I moved in some bathroom stuff today. We moved the family room over and all knicknacks. All of the kids closets, linen closet and toy bins from their rooms.

This week I am going to bring over the kitchen stuff. I also am going to try and bring over all of the drawers from the dressers, everything but heavy furniture. We need to be totally out on the 30th. So I need to get this house cleaned while moving out of it. It has been exhausting for me.

I am really thankful for a wonderful friend that has helped so much. She loaded up her car and helped make trips with me. She cleaned my really funky new bathroom and now we can all use it and know it is clean. She has totally blessed me and just made me feel like it can all get done.

Tomorrow, my honey is going to move over the rest of the garage, I hope. I am going to pack for us a week of clothes and just move over everything else. I am hoping that all goes well this week with no snags and we don't all get snippy with each other.

The kids acted like lunatics all week. We have had no order and the house is a mess, so they have acted nuts. I am not sure what to do to reign them in since everything is upsidedown. I am looking forward to getting everything put back together and back to our school schedule. I need it as much as they do.

One fun thing from today my 9 yr old got to ride the riding mower and help mow the grass today. I think around 3 acreas to mow, the rest is all wooded. They are already making trails. I can't wait till fall when we can really make some good ones.

What fun to have 15 of your own acreas to do nature trails on.

Well, I am off to put my babies in bed and then take a shower. I think I will read a little and then fall asleep, or pass out, myself.

Blessings,

Andrea

MIA

Sat, 9 Sep 2006 09:26:00 -0500

I know I have been missing in action. But I have a good excuse. We have been hunting for a new home. So I have been busy. We have had to keep the rental we are in very clean and picked up for showings, that always presents a challange with 4 kids. We are doing alright though.

We should close on our home in IN on Friday, then we are free of that house...Hallelujiah! So we found 15 acears with an alright house out in the area we wanted. So we are excited. We will be renting to own. This will give us an idea of if this is really the land we want. I am excited.

School has kind of suffered with all of this though. We have been doing a little math and reading, but not a big full day of school. We will start that in October. I am not real worried about the 180 days we can do that anytime.

So that is really a quick update on our business. When I have more time, I will go more in depth.

Blessings,

Andrea

New Beginnings

Wed, 2 Aug 2006 10:24:00 -0500

This is a season of new beginnings. I am praying that it is Sprin around here. Winter has been long and hard. This is figuratively speaking of course, it is as hot as blazes outsid, yuck!

My honey starts his new job next Wednesday. He told his boss today and will work out the week, closing the office down. I am glad to be free of that man (His boss, not my honey).

So we have a new start. I know it will probablly be slow the first few months, but we see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Also we are beginning again with our financial principals. We are doing Dave Ramseys Financial Peace University. That has been a wonderful reminder and tool as to how we should handle our money. So another new start.

We also have the start of a new school year. I always love this time of year. The New books, the new courses, new insights and to see the growth of my children from last year.

I also at a new place with the Lord. This has been a real season of Pressing into Jesus. I have just spent time hiding in His shadow with my head on His chest listening to His heartbeat. This has been a real sweet time and I am now wanting to live out what He has been doing in my life. I would like to see some growth in my life. I really would like all of this to happen while still staying pressed up against Him. THat is the best place to be in good times and bad. How sweet our Lord is.

Blessings,

Andrea

Praises to our KING

Fri, 28 Jul 2006 15:57:00 -0500

I just want to thank all of you who have been praying for us. My honey did get an offer and it looks like he will be starting his new job come Tuesday. Praise be the Lord!!! The compensation plan was wonderful and the insurance is awesome, with vision, dental and medica. We haven't had vision and dental in forever. It made me cry when my honey told me about it. The funny thing he was also interviewing with this company that he has wanted to work for forever. They had about 3 interviews and my honey thought they just weren't going to hire him. Well, the hiring manager called today to have a phone interview on Monday at 8 am. My honey said that unless he is ready to hire immediately he will take the other job. Both are good jobs.

I think it is kind of funny that God has blessed us with a choice. Isn't that just like Him.

So again I thank you for your prayers. I also ask that you pray for us to have wisdom on Monday and decision making.

Thank you and Blessings,

Andrea