Isaiah 28: 9-10 “Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts? For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.”

Just a quick warning:  This page should not be read by teens or children without the approval of their parents!!!

I fight daily with the desire and longing for a simpler life, whatever that means.  To some, it means being in the mountains of Montana, off the grid, like my dear blogfriend MontanaMama.  To some, it means having a sparsley furnished condo and decorating in black and white.  To me, however, it means a clean, orderly home, unhindered by the things we don't need. 

This dream of mine is still so far away, but I work towards it daily.  Cleaning out a box here, organizing a closet there, learning a different, healthier way of making macaroni and cheese.  Simplicity for me means more than just the house, but all that home involves.  A simpler diet, of healthy foods, a simple budget that removes debt from our lives, a simpler schedule, that frees our family to be a family.  (I loved being able to just throw the kids in the car and go eat a birthday lunch with my dad and the whole Fenter family.  Would that have happened if my calendar was stuffed to the brink?  Probably not.) 

Most times, simplicity means subtracting from our lives, to add to the fullness of it, but other times it means adding.  Adding in the bubble bath, unrushed for the kids to play in, the time to sit and enjoy reading my bible, excersize to reduce the weight that hinders (getting there, slowly).  Homeschooling itself, is a simplicity to me, even though it adds a lot of work to my life.  Abby and Abram will most likely miss out on a few really remarkable teachers or the Region choir competition, that I was able to be a part of.  But they will also, hopefully, miss out on some of the experiences I had to face while I was really too young:   I almost became the girlfriend of a gang leader (unbeknownst to my parents), was approached by real pimps asking me if I would like to make big money prostituting for them, was accused of being a lesbian, was given an application to be a stripper at a nearby place, and was told details of a homosexual relationship between one of my close friends and his boyfriend, just to name a few.  No, I was never approached about drugs or alchohol, but some of these were far worse.  I would like to spare my children of such temptations, because whether or not I would like to admit it, I was flattered to be asked about such things at that time.  I had really great parents, and yet these things I faced.  I would like a much simpler life for my children. 

I don't know if simplicity of life will ever mean for me homemade bread every day, and land to explore in, but I also don't want the possibility of a remarkable life crowded out by junk food, too many toys, too much t.v., terrible influences, and boxes full of junk I can't find a place for. 

At this time, my de-junking is mainly dietary.  I want the junk food out of my house and healthy foods to come in.  I don't know how long this will take, but I am looking forward to a healthy body and a healthy family. 

(Oh, and P.S.--My DH bought me some industrial strength garage shelves to organize the stuff I want to keep on!!!!!!!  Thank you, Josh!  What a treat!!)

Isaiah 28: 9-10 “Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts? For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.”

Just a quick warning:  This page should not be read by teens or children without the approval of their parents!!!

I fight daily with the desire and longing for a simpler life, whatever that means.  To some, it means being in the mountains of Montana, off the grid, like my dear blogfriend MontanaMama.  To some, it means having a sparsley furnished condo and decorating in black and white.  To me, however, it means a clean, orderly home, unhindered by the things we don't need. 

This dream of mine is still so far away, but I work towards it daily.  Cleaning out a box here, organizing a closet there, learning a different, healthier way of making macaroni and cheese.  Simplicity for me means more than just the house, but all that home involves.  A simpler diet, of healthy foods, a simple budget that removes debt from our lives, a simpler schedule, that frees our family to be a family.  (I loved being able to just throw the kids in the car and go eat a birthday lunch with my dad and the whole Fenter family.  Would that have happened if my calendar was stuffed to the brink?  Probably not.) 

Most times, simplicity means subtracting from our lives, to add to the fullness of it, but other times it means adding.  Adding in the bubble bath, unrushed for the kids to play in, the time to sit and enjoy reading my bible, excersize to reduce the weight that hinders (getting there, slowly).  Homeschooling itself, is a simplicity to me, even though it adds a lot of work to my life.  Abby and Abram will most likely miss out on a few really remarkable teachers or the Region choir competition, that I was able to be a part of.  But they will also, hopefully, miss out on some of the experiences I had to face while I was really too young:   I almost became the girlfriend of a gang leader (unbeknownst to my parents), was approached by real pimps asking me if I would like to make big money prostituting for them, was accused of being a lesbian, was given an application to be a stripper at a nearby place, and was told details of a homosexual relationship between one of my close friends and his boyfriend, just to name a few.  No, I was never approached about drugs or alchohol, but some of these were far worse.  I would like to spare my children of such temptations, because whether or not I would like to admit it, I was flattered to be asked about such things at that time.  I had really great parents, and yet these things I faced.  I would like a much simpler life for my children. 

I don't know if simplicity of life will ever mean for me homemade bread every day, and land to explore in, but I also don't want the possibility of a remarkable life crowded out by junk food, too many toys, too much t.v., terrible influences, and boxes full of junk I can't find a place for. 

At this time, my de-junking is mainly dietary.  I want the junk food out of my house and healthy foods to come in.  I don't know how long this will take, but I am looking forward to a healthy body and a healthy family. 

(Oh, and P.S.--My DH bought me some industrial strength garage shelves to organize the stuff I want to keep on!!!!!!!  Thank you, Josh!  What a treat!!)