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Being busy in a time of peace

Our CATS kids made this for the Palm Sunday worship guide cover and it is making me so very happy.

We are entering Holy Week, This is one of my most favorite times of the year, yet for some reason it seems more busy than centering this year. Even with the added meetings, events, homework, and just life things going on this week, I am going to make a conscious effort to slow down and focus on the truly important parts of life.

In other news, Emily and I have embarked on a new adventure in Bible study: We are going through The New City Catechism for Kids: Children’s Edition. So far we are loving it. We are tackling the questions one each week and really talking about what they mean. She gets to watch me as I look up bits of the Bible, hopefully learning how I find things, then we read them in context in response to our question of the week. It is a lot of fun, and there is an app that goes a long with it. And for $2 it is an amazing deal!

In the spirit of Easter, I am going to leave you with this thought from my Sunday…

Choosing to love, trust, and obey God is easy on days like Palm Sunday. It’s a celebration, it’s easy to choose Jesus on Easter, and Christmas, and even on Sunday mornings, but loving, trusting, and obeying God is a choice we as Christians have to make all the days of our lives, not just when it is easy, popular, or when we feel like it. We show our trust and obey our Lord by loving Him and all of His creations all the time, every day. Remember, everyone was welcome at the table with Jesus, even the ones who turned their backs on Him. Let’s love one another as Christ loves us. Unconditionally. Eternally.

Kid questions are getting real…

When your kid comes downstairs well after bedtime and asks you, “Mom, what makes a person illegal? How do we know if a person is against the law?”

My response (while being heartbroken that my baby is trying desperately to figure out how she can quickly tell just by looking at someone whether or not they have broken a law): A person is never ever illegal. No person is ever against the law. Some people might make mistakes and break the rules but that doesn’t make them illegal it just means they have broken the rules. Some people don’t know the rules, though, and are just trying to keep their families safe, and fed, and happy. Just like me, I am a momma bear who would do anything to keep my kids safe, anything at all…even if it meant breaking a rule or two. That doesn’t make me against the law, because no person is illegal…actions are illegal not people. 

Let’s practice love and kindness to all who are just trying to keep their kids safe, fed and happy. We are all God’s people and no person is illegal. 

Home Sweet Home

So, y’all know I am a mom, a full time grad student, and work as a youth ministries coordinator. Keeping my house in tip top shape falls to the back burner almost always. So the photos I am about to post of our living space may shock you if you are used to Pinterest perfect, but it is real life and I am going to talk about it for a minute.

This is our front room, the front door opens right onto this dining room table. We have a table in the kitchen where we eat, so as you can see this one gets used mostly for homework, puzzles, and crafts. There is a new to us desk by the piano that will be going into our family room soon, but for the moment it is piled with laundry to fold, because I am busy. The coat tree is crazy and the hat basket is overflowing (I like to knit). Also, this wool rug shows everything!

I have been dreaming of hosting a small group at my house, but there is absolutely no place for anymore than a few people to sit. See that one couch…that is all the seating we have. Aside from dreaming of small group I am hosting a small gathering of folks after my graduation. It is time to rearrange some things!

First things first, we moved the big table into the kitchen and the kitchen table to the attic. We bought some new to us, pretty rad I think, chairs on the facebook market place. This is not where all of these things are going, but Brad was a trooper and moved all of this stuff while I was dealing with kidney stones and a migraine this weekend (I am doing so much better now)! I so appreciate him! The girls and Princess have put their stamp of approval on the new furniture and have begun jumping on it and building chair forts already.

My parents ordered us a little electric fireplace, it heats up the living room pretty well and I think it looks pretty cool. The  girls have been digging it today too. We still have a long way to go and a ton of things to move, but we are getting there. We have a loveseat that will make its home to the right of the bricks and electric fireplace, the chairs will face it on the left. My S wall will probably be moved over here too…or maybe some Brad art…I will just have to play around.

Our house is small, and wonky, and lived in. Nothing is perfect or fancy at all, but it is our home and I really want it to be a place where real people can gather without judgment, pray without fear, and to feel safe in a world that sometimes seems uncertain.

It is going to be very much “grandma chic” when we are all done because that is what we can afford, what we have, and what we have been given. I am pretty ok with that. I will post updates as our perfectly unperfected non Pinterest worthy home comest together.

List, List Baby

I have one of those crazy schedules that includes kids, homework, work, home, and a whole slew of different things. I try hard to not drop the ball on any one thing, but every once in a while I forget something.

In the past I have covered my laptop with checklists, tasks, meal plans, and schedules of varying types. This school year though I am determined to keep myself a little more organized without jumbling everything all up!

I’ve made a few different types of checklists and will try them out over the next few weeks to see which works best for me…it will no doubt change when kids go back to school and CATS starts back up in the fall. Click here for all of the different check lists 

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As always, everything I share is free for all, however, if you would like to donate a small amount to help me continue making content to share feel free to hit the donate button at the bottom of this page.

Where to begin…

The beginning I suppose. I feel like I need a place to write down my thoughts on grad school, motherhood, faith, and hobbies. So I guess this is as good of a place as any.

My semester started today and there is no warm up period, it is dive into papers and mountains of reading and lectures. I guess I don’t really need a warm up week I am accustomed to the work load my teachers are handing out. The work so far is about typical of what I have been doing for the past year or so. My only complaint, which I can’t really complain about, is our textbooks, which are included in tuition, are all ebooks, I am not a fan of reading hundreds of pages a week on a kindle. My eyes get so strained and that sets off migraines. I am going to try to use the nightshade feature as much as possible to counteract the amount of screen time I must do just to get my reading done.

The kids start school next week. Emily is super excited to get back to her friends and a normal routine. She isn’t stoked about math, but other than that she is happy to be back! Ellie is a ball of nerves. Who wouldn’t be, she is starting middle school and is worried about everything that entails. Truth be told, I am nervous for her too. She is so smart and will do well…it is just my job to worry as a mother.

I am slowly chugging away at my Beekeeper Cardigan. I am on the bottom button band, just have sleeves, a collar, and side bands to knit…so I guess I am about half way done. I was really hoping to get it done in time for fall weather, but I don’t know if I am going to make it!