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Just Pray

This parenting thing is not for the faint of heart. When my kids were little, all my friends with older children (e.g. older than mine were at the time) would always tell me how much harder parenting is as the kids get older. "Yeah, right", I thought. Raising twins was never a cake-walk from the moment I became an immediate mother of two! I thought that surely nothing could be harder than two newborns, or two toddlers, or two pre-schoolers. Well, here's what I think today: parenting the little ones is physically exhausting, while parenting the olders is emotionally exhausting. Want to know when parenting is REALLY hard? When you see your childhood struggles rearing their ugly heads in the lives of your children . Ugh. It stinks. Nothing can throw me back faster to my childhood hurts than when I see similar things happening with my kids. Talk about Momma Bear mode? This is like Momma Bear with a wounded paw mode. Not. Pretty. Right now I see my kids walking

Children Won't Wait!

Over the weekend, I managed to squeeze out enough quiet time to be able to read the August digital edition of my favorite homeschool magazine. Note: "squeezing out quiet time" looks like this: me sitting in comfy chair with feet up; child #1: "Mom! I'm hungry!", me putting feet down, going to kitchen, making them food, returning to chair with feet up; child #2: "Mom! Will you move the truck out of the driveway so I can play basketball?!"; me putting feet down, moving truck, grabbing glass of water because I'm now thirsty, putting feet back up; phone rings; husband (on phone): "Whatcha doin'?"; me: "nothing". And THAT, my friends, is what I mean by "squeezing out quiet time." It's a miracle I did get it read. Anyway, back to my story... One of the articles had a quote from a book that really touched me: There is a time to treasure every fleeting minute of their childhood. Just eighteen precious years to in

Let's Get Out of That Boat!

From one mom to another - guess what I got to have earlier this week...go ahead, guess! One. Entire. Hour... ...of floating in the pool... ALL      BY          MYSELF! Can you even believe it?! The only sound I heard was the neighbor dog barking to be let in. But seriously. No children. No splashing. No one to bump into my float. I went from: floating on my back in the sit-up raft, to floating on my stomach on the other one. (Very important not to get an uneven tan, you know.) Then, when the heat got too much to bear - because we ARE having a heat wave here in Michigan - I just got off and swam a bit. Seriously. Are you feeling it? I was actually ALONE for an HOUR IN the POOL! I know. I am still in disbelief as well. But, don't worry. In case you fear that I just lied there wasting away my brain cells or something, I actually did a lot of praying and pondering. Actually, I wish I didn't have one of those brains that won't stop thinking. But since I c

Mom Moments

Mom. It's the title I'm most proud of. The biggest blessing I've ever experienced. My daily prayer is that I don't screw this up. Well, not exactly, but I most certainly want to get this right! Life is fleeting. Time with these precious beings living under our roof will be gone before we want it to be. God has given us these little blessings, and therefore we have a responsibility to train them up according to His will. I do NOT recommend taking this motherhood thing lightly. God's Word has a lot to say about training up our kids and not leading them astray. Some days, the whole thing can feel pretty overwhelming! Today, I'm just enjoying my kids. Preparing to spend time in the pool as the heat index reaches 100+ this afternoon. Thinking about some fun mom moments from the past week. Wanting to just savor some of the recent blessings just a little bit longer. Here's one of my favorites: last Friday I was at the Speak Up! Conference and left the hous

Bashful Beginnings

"Lord, are You talking to ME?!" I've been saying this a lot lately. Trying to discern if the promptings I'm feeling are actually God trying to direct my paths - or just me trying to create them. It all started when I said "Yes!" to the Speak Up! Conference. I love to write. I have a passion for God's Word and allowing it to make an impact in my life. I want to encourage others with the things God is teaching me. But it might all just be a pipe dream. This might not really be anything God wants me to do. Two summers ago is when all this really started. I was able to be part of Lysa TerKeurst's "Made to Crave" DVD filming. (You can read my initial thoughts on that here .) Having not even known when I said yes that the study was about turning our food issues over to God, is just one of the many reasons I knew God was up to something big. It was only THE biggest roadblock of my life. Well, in a nutshell, that experience was the cata

Friendships: Part 2

"Like a Garden" by Anna Holden King                     Friendship is like a garden, Of flowers fine and rare, It cannot reach perfection, Except through loving care, Then, new and lovely blossoms With each new day appear, For friendship, like a garden, Grows in beauty year by year. I found this poem on friendship and thought it was good enough to share. Seems very insightful, doesn't it?  Friends are like a beautifully maintained garden. Such a great visual. Gardens, when given the proper time & care, are gorgeous! So is the promise of our well-invested friendships. Really the garden analogy could be carried on quite far. (I'm thinking of pesky weeds, and how the novelty of the garden can wear off once the hard work of the weeding sets in.) So, even though my search through Scriptures on friendship was a fast one, I thought I'd share my insights so far. Here's a smorgasbord of verses & my personal thoughts : Friends ca

Friends

I have a little time to reflect, on this cold & rainy June 1st day. Seems nice to actually have some time just to sit and think. The big kids are relaxing with Mikayla's friends downstairs, and lil' Squirt is at a sleepover. The house is clean. The dishes are done. That means I can write! I've been thinking a lot lately about friendships. I have realized that my outlook on "true" friendships has certainly evolved over the years. In school (I went to a tiny K-12 Christian school - with a graduating class of 18), since I wasn't part of the "in" crowd, I just assumed people didn't really like me. My closest friends constantly changed because people kept coming and going (moving away or just switching schools).  I couldn't wait to graduate and get away from feeling like an outcast. I was very surprised when nearly everyone in my class showed up at my graduation open house though. Turns out I must have been more well-liked than I thought I

Food for Thought

Caught up in the mundane. Busy with the essentials. Blessed beyond measure. Yep. That about sums up my life. Yours too? Know this: I am not writing this post with a spirit of complaining. I look around and very quickly realize just how blessed I am. I am just busy keeping my plates spinning. Trying not to worry about which one will fall. Crossing my fingers that none of them really will. Such is the life of a Mom, right?! As I write this, I'm listening to a great talk by Andrew Kern ( listen to it here ). He is talking about the culture that we live in. He says that we are a culture full of anxiety. Yes. When I get caught up in the spinning plates, that's what I'm feeling. Anxiety. One of the things he challenges us to do (and which I want to make my personal "summer homework") is to take Philippians 4:8 and write each adjective onto an index card. Then, we are to take only 1 minute a day to write about what comes to mind when we think about living our liv

Non-Negotiables

I do believe summer is around the corner! These warmer temps are making me get excited for the reality of a much slower schedule this summer. Summers are normally always slower for us (that is, compared to the school year), but this summer - we're working even harder than normal to keep lots of white space on the calendar. This Momma is burned out! Well, I'm feeling much better now that the roar of basketball season & CC are behind us. Even though Little League is also a busy time of year, having the more relaxed pace of school during the day makes them not feel so rushed. Plus, it's only 6 weeks of busy-ness instead of 6 months. Although, as I type this, Luke is having his guitar lesson and I've got fajita stuff simmering on the stove so we can have a quick bite to eat before we head out for Mikayla's game and Luke's team pictures. But, just the fact that I have brain cells left to blog means that things must be slower. As we finish out the school year (t

White Space Balancing Act

So, I am realizing that I have a problem with over-booking myself. I mean a chronic problem. I'm not talking about double-booking either. I mean just plain putting too many things on the calendar each week.  I have heard from many people that creating white space on the calendar is one of the best things we homeschool moms need to do. It's really rather funny that this is an issue. I mean, after all, isn't lack of socialization a common reason non-homeschoolers list for why homeschooling wouldn't work for their kids? Right. I have yet to meet a homeschooler who has any problems in this area. The problem...is staying home! The reason I feel the need to blog about this today is that we've just reached one of those "it will be good when" moments in our schedule. You know, "It will be good when ____ is over. We'll have more time for ___." You probably have those too. For several weeks I've been thinking how much more time I'll have to:

Ready, Set, Write!

Ahhh...a beautiful thing has transpired since my last post: another great season of homeschool basketball has come to an end. I always know that basketball season is going to be busy.  I try to mentally prepare myself. I do truly enjoy all the people and the places it takes us. But, by the time we get through four months of twice a week practices (times two), 30+ games between the two teams, and one ultra-intense two-day tournament to finish it all off...it's time to take a break! And, so we did. This basketball season was book-ended by a family vacation (on purpose). Shanty Creek before, and Florida after. The BEST vacation I get every year is when we head to Florida. There my Mom is waiting to spoil us rotten. Maybe me more than anyone. For one week, I don't have to worry about meal-planning, cooking, or even laundry. It's the best! Regardless of the weather, this trip is a hit. So here I am now, all refreshed and relaxed. Looking at more white space on my calendar

Here's a great song that goes perfectly with my previous post...

When God Answers

It's January in Michigan and the sun is shining. That makes this a GLORIOUS day! I'm enjoying some quiet time and bursting with excitement about how the Lord is answering my prayers. I couldn't wait to share them with you! One of my 2012 goals was to: spend more regular time in prayer in the mornings after Dave leaves for work AND to reach a deeper level of connectedness with my "Tween" twins. I'm nearly in tears now thanking God for such swift & obvious answers to both of those. Let me back up... Even though we homeschool, I sometimes feel like my kids are growing up so fast that I don't even really get to fully "know" them. Life seems to be so constantly busy that weeks and months go by without me feeling like we're getting any quality 1-on-1 time. I found myself at the beginning of January feeling this overwhelming sense of urgency to re-connect with my kids. Particularly the twins. I know how important these "tween" year

When the Lord Speaks

As I was reading through my personalized Verseability cards (see previous post), I came across this verse: "Jennifer, the Lord your God, will make up for the losses caused by those things in your past that have brought you disgrace and harm." Joel 2:25 This verse resonated with me so much! One of the things that seems to weigh heaviest on my mind is our finances. I'm so thankful for the blessings and provisions that God provides us daily. I'm also never too far away from the pit of guilt and shame caused by some pretty poor financial decisions from the past. I'm working to stop that crazy cycle. We're working to become debt free. Progress is slow, but still progress. This week, though, I had a dream that was all about a scary financial place. I can tell that the enemy is trying to keep me in a bad place. Trying to keep me stuck in the rut of guilt, shame, and worry. And then God spoke to me through this verse. A verse I didn't even remember ever hear

Check Out: Verseability!

Just a quick note to let everyone know about a GREAT resource! After saying yes to my friend Cindy Bultema's A to Z Scripture Memory Challenge  and sharing about it on here, I was blessed to be "introduced" to Versability  and Darlene Dykstra. Yesterday Darlene surprised me with a special delivery (because we live so close) of my A to Z Versepack! AND, she even threw in an extra special surprise: a personalized versepack! I was so excited to open them up! What a blessing it was to me to open it up and see each Scripture personalized with my name. Talk about God's Word coming to life! I can't wait to add those verses to my morning quiet time. I know I'll be extra blessed by seeing my name in each verse.Thank you, Darlene! I just wanted to share this with you in case you are also participating in Cindy's 2012 Scripture Memory Challenge. Darlene has offered the amazing price of just $5 per Versepack (just mention She Sparkles for this special pricing). Each

The Wellness Challenge HAS Begun!

How's the beginning of 2012 going? Have you taken time to reflect, prioritize, and plan? I know it's hard with our busy lives to find those quiet, reflective moments...but they're SO necessary. One of my big goals for this year is to make time each weekday morning for those quiet times. The few times I've done it so far, have blessed me abundantly. I truly love those quiet moments with my Heavenly Father. Makes me wonder why I ever leave them out of my day. Anyway... Here are some of my personal tips for each part of our 2012 Wellness Challenge: Eating: We all know our bodies. And, as much as we'd sometimes like to deny it, we (probably) all know exactly what we should and should not be eating. In the old days (a.k.a. two years ago), I was the queen of making my food choices this big mystery. I never seemed to be able to string together enough days of good eating to see weight loss. But, what I learned this last year, is that all I really have to do is: STOP. M

2012 Wellness Challenge

Happy 2012 Everyone! As usual, this past year just flew by and a brand spanking New Year is upon us again. I have to admit: I have always loved that brand new year "mulligan" feeling. Yes, I know that God's mercies are new every morning. There's just something extra freeing about taking down last year's calendar and starting fresh with a new one. Of course, if you're a busy mom like me...there's no such thing as an "empty" calendar. I just printed out my January calendar page from Outlook and it has a whopping 4 days of white space! (For now.) Regardless...it IS a New Year! Now that the Christmas and New Years' Eve celebrations are behind us and we still have a couple of days of "holiday" left, it's time to ponder. Time to find a little quiet corner and enjoy some reflection on 2011 and some much needed mental preparation for 2012. I don't want my fast-paced life to mean that I'm just a passenger on this crazy ride.