A Different Easter

A dear friend wrote this after erasing every activity from their family calendar.  Every activity and holiday, but Easter.  Easter can never be erased.  "He rose, He is risen, and He will come again.  That has not changed.  He has not changed.  And maybe He wants that for all of us during this time:  To watch our plans being stripped away until only He is left.  With room to ask Him to fill all the other days with ways He want to transform us into a blessing to share that eternal hope with others." - Ali

We are all missing the traditions from years past: the matching Easter dresses, the community Easter egg hunts, gathering with family for meals, even going to Target for Easter basket gifts.  But this Easter will be different, one that we will never forget.  It's ok to mourn the loss of the ordinary and expected, but to then turn the mourning into joy!  We have been given a gift of time, time to focus on the greatest story ever told!

Here are some links to ideas on how to celebrate this Easter season with joy!

If you are local and would like one of these Easter guides, I'd be glad to drop one off!

 - A Printable 15 Day Guide for Easter that we've used in years past

 - A Printable 2 day guide for this Thursday and Friday

 - Resurrection Eggs with a printable

 - Homemade Resurrection Rolls with a great explanation

 - Resurrection Rolls (with Pillsbury crescent rolls) 

Easter baskets may or may not be feasible or doable this year for some families, but if you're searching for online ideas, these are two of my favorite bloggers with great lists.

 - Preschool Easter Basket Ideas with Naptime Kitchen

 - Easter Basket Ideas for Outdoor Imaginations 

    with Over at Alicias

May your Easter be full of hope, full of joy, and full of expectation of what's to come!

When Your Baby is no Longer a Baby...

I write this a week after my littlest's 6th birthday.  With each new season, I give up a past one.  A few years ago, I no longer had toddlers, then the preschool years were gone, and now as she turns 6, my baby is no longer a baby and my heart hurts.  

I write this with less raw and much more peace.  When we first started our little family almost twelve years ago, I thought we would have four children (all boys!) and even after my third little girl was born, I constantly had this feeling that someone was still missing. But God has not allowed us to have another one and for years, it has left an ache within me. Month after month of "no." Yet, how can I complain with three beautiful, healthy children?  I must daily choose joy and count His blessings.  How blessed I am!

So I write this as a tribute to my baby who will always be my baby and to other mamas out there who may struggle too.

To the mama who has yet to hold her first baby...

The desire is so strong, so consuming.  Don't stop holding on to hope and to His promises.  Remember the man beside you may be hurting too.  Let nothing cause a wedge to come between you. When the words and pictures of others hurt, try to remember it's not their intent to rub it in, they simply don't know, nor understand.  I can say this because I once was one of them and may still fall short.

To the new mama...

I know it's tough, it's lonely at times, and you think this season will never end.  I know you're tired of hearing the wiser ones tell you to cling to the moments, that the days are long and the years are short. It's true.  But my advice is to see that baby you hold in your arms, the one that wakes you countless times in the night, that exhausts you beyond anything you could have imagined... see that little one as your first blessing and possibly your last.  Don't just assume you'll have another baby and you can enjoy cuddles more with the next one.  Savor every moment you can.  

To the mama of preschoolers...

They will learn it all eventually.  Every color will become its own one day and not always blue.  The ABC's and 123's will sound less jibberish and they will graduate from kindergarten without pacifiers.  Let them play, really play!  Read good books, even when there is laundry to fold and dishes to wash.  They'll one day stop asking and that to-do list won't seem as important.  

To mamas like me!

Let's give some grace.  Let's encourage each other when we are discouraged.  Let's stop competing and start completing each other. Let's find ways to be inspired and challenged (especially in God's Word), but not at the expense of our families.  Let's look for the fringe hours to fill up our tanks so the primary hours of our day can overflow with goodness to those we love and are surrounded by.

To the mamas with children all grown up & to women who are like mothers to us...

You are so important!  Us mamas in the thick of motherhood still need you.  We need your wisdom and your advice, even if you think we have it all together.  Google and YouTube can't teach us everything.  How blessed I am to have a mother who continually invests in the lives of me and my sisters!  But there are many who still need such motherly figures to speak the truth in love. 

To all the mamas...

Take notice of the little things.  Count the freckles and capture the quiet moments in your mind (and on camera), so you'll remember them when life seems chaotic.  Praise that man of yours every single time he steps up and leads your family as God has called him to do.  And if he doesn't, then just keep on praying.  

"If I cannot give my children a perfect mother I can at least give them more of the one they've got - and make that one more loving. I will be available.  I will take time to listen, time to play, time to be home, and time to counsel and encourage." - Ruth Bell Graham

Day 18 - Pre-preschool (aka. What to do with the 3 year old)

What does your youngest do while you teach your older girls?  Good question!  Honestly, she does a little bit of everything.  After struggling with my second daughter to do preschool for two years, I decided not to do the same with my youngest.  We try to work on the ABC's & 123's, but I do not have a regimented schedule for her.  

She loves puzzles (We mix 3 together and have her sort them out.) Painting is a thrill for her, but coloring, not so much.  Books on tape from the library keep her quiet for about 15 minutes at a time and spontaneously, I'll find her just looking through books on the floor.  Legos, playdough, and her whiteboard/easel are good distractions when I need her to listen to us read, and not just sit and color (not her favorite!)  

A couple of educational activities that have been a hit include digging through her container of rocks (Dollar Store) for ABC tiles, and sticking foam numbers on a labeled paper.  We have several busy boxes that my sister made for her birthday that have been a tremendous blessing as well.  Some are sorting colors, drawing funny faces on laminated family members, and clothes pinning numbers.  

Overall, my goal is to provide creative activities for her, some educational and some purely to engage her mind in creative play. My Sylvanian houses are one of her favorite things to play with. They are normally stored in their boxes in a closet, so when they appear, the entertainment span lasts for a few hours.  

This is the age of spongehood (and I'm not talking about the one with square pants).  But the kind that soaks in everything.  I'm slowly realizing the more we read, the more creation we expose our children to, the more they'll learn.  My sweet Sophie remembers every song she hears, can count every other number to 50, has learned half of the Old Testament books from hearing her sister learn them, and is now learning the 50 states to a catchy little tune. This is not from repetitious drilling or daily lessons for her, but simply from learning these things together as a family.  Does she still struggle with her alphabet and numbers?  For sure.  But that's ok.  Every child is different.  But I have a feeling we're in for a fun ride ahead, considering her favorite phrases are "But why?" and "I can do it myself!"  Oh, the joys of living with a three year old! 

Day 7 - The Mundane

The picture last night was taken on our first day of school. This is what our classroom looks like at this very moment.  I know...  It will look a little better by the morning.  The tables will at least be cleared enough to work on or we might just move to the kitchen table.  But anything that is said or shown on this blog needs to be real. So, this is a glimpse of the real and mundane side of homeschooling.

Homeschooling can become very mundane just as any occupation can be.  The daily list of subjects to cover, slow progress at times, and few results.  It is easy to become discouraged.  The mundane can cloud the vision and the glorious seems too far away.  

"When you are caught up in the mundane of everyday, seek to turn your heart toward joy, and celebrate the goodness that God brings into all parts of life.  When you are tempted to despair or give up on your ideals, choose to engage your heart in God's grace, which extends far beyond your own reach.  When you are exasperated by your children, seek to love them and see the potential in them, knowing that in whomever God begins a work, He will be faithful to complete it in His time." - Sally Clarkson

  

Today was mundane.  Even with having co-op this morning and a trip to Trader Joe's in the rain, I still had this blanket of humdrum hanging over me.  This is one reason why photography can be so eye opening to me.  As I snap away, counting gifts as I go, the simple game on the iPad and the coupon cutting seem a little less dull.  Writing verses on kindness (again!) were softened by hot chocolate and marshmallows.  Exasperation and frustration wanted to be on the forefront of my mind today, yet by His grace, there were moments of joy and there will be tomorrow too.

Choosing joy...

When words simply don't come and the Word is the only thing worth clinging to, it is enough.  When tears want to fall, there is still a choice to believe He is good.  "God is always good and I am always loved and eucharisteo has made me my truest self, full of grace...  One hundred times a day, everywhere we turn, everything we touch, everyone we see.  The blessings can whispered.  No one even need hear.  No one but the Holy One." - Ann Voskamp

May we choose joy...

...that can be found in even the littlest things, like homemade sprinklers.

The Four P's...

One of the many blessings that I have in my life is my godly husband. It's become a rare treat for me to be able to join him as he teaches our youth ministry on Wednesday nights.  Last night was one of those times... 

He's been teaching through Colossians, one of my favorites.  He focused on the last passage of chapter 1, verses 24 through 29.  It begins with the words, "Now I rejoice in my sufferings..."  Marty reminded us of Paul's specific sufferings in II Corinthians 11, in which Paul received near death beating (times five!), imprisonment, being stoned, shipwrecked, and the list goes on.  

Yet I complain when I run out of coffee creamer and have to drive to Food Lion (two minutes from my house)!  Life sure is hard!  But seriously, it was a great reminder last night that my life really is not as hard as I make it seem.  But when struggles do come that truly seem hard because I am weak, I can rejoice because my God is so much bigger than my struggles and little me.  The four P's that Marty brought out from the passage can be consolidated into this one sentence, "He has PLACED you where you are for a PURPOSE to PROCLAIM His POWER."  

Even as a stay-at-home mom, when I wonder what difference will I make in my life, God reminds me that He has placed me in my home with my family... in my neighborhood... in my church... in my homeschool group... in my city..., for a purpose, not for my benefit or glory, but so that God's power will be displayed and proclaimed.