{photos by Ethan Hall}
Here we go…. setting out on another year of schooling. Preparations at our house just got bumped into super-speed mode. Due to scheduling changes in two of my older children’s work on a local farm’s butchering crew, we are having to start school a week earlier than we had planned. (Hopefully you can’t hear the panic in my voice as I say that.)
Continue reading “Sandals for the School Year”
{I wrote this several years ago. The photos were taken by Katelyn during a family day at the Blue Ridge Parkway, although not the same day referenced in this article.}
“Look at this, Mom!” My daughter ran up and handed me a lacy green fern leaf. We both gazed at it for a moment, a delicate and detailed specimen.
Our family was enjoying a day together with friends on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We had just gazed Continue reading “God of the Very Small”
Toby and I had a fun year last year. I use the word “fun” carefully. Of course we had plenty of chaotic and crazy moments. It was stressful at times. But it was also a pleasant experience, as I watched him learn and worked with him for about an hour every day. Teaching Toby to begin to read last year in “kindergarten” was one of the highlights of my homeschooling experience thus far. I ended up really liking the approach that we took. I have tried various things over the years, and kind of landed here last year. So let’s just get practical! I do love talking philosophy and theory, but there is a time to say, “What did you actually DO?”
Continue reading “Teaching Beginning Reading in the Homeschool”
Dear Young Ministry Wife,
You have embarked on an adventure with your husband, serving in Christian ministry side-by-side. Like any adventure, there will be victories, challenges, disappointments, unexpected twists and turns, and no doubt you will both gain wisdom and experience along the way. It’s not a journey for the faint of heart.
You may feel nervous. Excited. Wondering if you will be able to be a “good” ministry wife. Maybe you are dreaming of the possibilities Continue reading “Dear Young Ministry Wife- Part 1”
Once there was a little seed. It was a beautiful seed, black and shiny, and it thought of itself very highly. It wanted to be set in a prominent place where it could be admired by all who passed by. It took great care for its image and comfort at all times, and despised the thought Continue reading “Lessons of the Field, part 2 (Parable of the Seed)”
Such a glorious time of year; plants of all types growing and blooming all around. Across the road from our house in the farmer’s field, some kind of golden grain waves in the wind. Don’t you love seeing a fresh new plant burst forth out of the soil? It’s a miracle, and I’ve never met a person who didn’t enjoy the process of planting a seed and watching it grow. It’s a good time to pause and consider this question: “In order for these plants to grow and bloom or bear fruit, what has to happen first?” Think about something Jesus said: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a kernel of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” (John 12:24)
Continue reading “Lessons of the Field- Part 1”
Graduation season. A familiar time of year; we send a card or attend a ceremony and offer our congratulations. Only, this year, it’s different. The winds of time are blowing and I constantly hear a little chorus in my head, “One more year, one more year, one more year.”
How clearly I remember Continue reading “One More Year. Or, in the process of letting go.”
Those days when you go from changing a dirty diaper, to breaking up an argument between the toddler and the four-year-old, to nursing, to looking for shoes, to getting a snack, to nursing again, to wondering where your little boy found those knee-length pink socks he is wearing, to trying in vain to find a clean kitchen towel, to helping the kids do something creative and then wondering why you did it because it only entertained the kids for about 3.25 minutes Continue reading “Keeping the Joy in Mothering – Part 1”
Treasuring Home 