Mom, I'm going to major in English Writing...

Warning...I confess to some of my poor homeschooling mistakes...

Today I got a phone call from my oldest son and these were his words, "Mom, I'm going to major in English writing."  He had hinted that he really felt like he wanted to change his major a couple of weeks ago.  He was majoring in Information Systems.  He had a late start in this major so he had programming classes this year and just was not enjoying it too much.  But he was thinking that next year, he would probably enjoy what was to come.

So after registering for his classes and thinking about the classes on his schedule, he just was not happy and called us to ask us what he thought about changing his major.

My first thought was - you can major in whatever you want to, just not English!  That wasn't on his mind at the time - it was more like Public Communications or something in communications.

And then he met with some trusted advisors and professors from his school and realized that what he really loves is writing.  He actually told me that he didn't have to write a "real" paper this semester and he missed it! So, my son is now an English writing major and he is quite happy about this and even about what career choices lie ahead for him. (Yes - I did google this so thankfully, there are some career choices for him!! )

Why am I writing this blog today?  I just want to encourage my fellow homeschooler mommas of young boys.  I will tell you a little bit about my son, Jonathan.  When he was very little, he was very bright and learned very easily.  In fact, just starting out homeschooling, I had it pretty easy.  But one thing that I learned very early was that he hated anything that had to do with writing.  He hated his handwriting assignments (even though he had great  handwriting).  We loved the Sonlight curriculum and they really promoted copy writing. When he was in the third grade, I believe, we were trying this English curriculum and it was not going well at all!  It seemed like anything that had to do with writing or workbooks, etc., he just had no motivation and we had to just make it acts of obedience to do the work!  I didn't think this is what homeschooling should be like!

One day, our of my frustration with trying to get Jonathan to do some of this work, I learned about Switched on Schoolhouse.  Jonathan liked computers and video games - maybe this would be the answer!  I called them and ordered the whole series for his grade!  (I don't advise that - but it was a desperate moment for me, I guess!)  When it came, we had one happy school boy!  Jonathan loved doing his work on the computer and I loved that he was loving doing his school!

We finished up that year and made some changes for Jonathan the next year, but since that time some form of computer course was always part of his curriculum.  We did some other English curriculum, too, over the years like Shurley Grammar.  We think that one of his three-point paragraphs was about why he didn't like to write...

But the funny thing is, and I hate to admit this, I just did not spend time with him and his writing!  With SOS, there are a lot of projects.  Sometimes we would get behind and I would just delete those because they would take extra time and he would work on all the other assignments.  We would often even joke that somehow he made it through high school without writing a research paper!  How did this happen?!  (Although, he did write a few papers...and he did write a research paper in his biology class.)

So - you can imagine my surprise when he called me to tell me that he wanted to major in English writing! You homeschooling mommas out there with reluctant writers, hang in there!  They do grow up.  They may or may not love to write once they go to college, but they will figure out what they love to do and you will be amazed!  

Martin Merry Christmas

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Homeschool beginnings...again

Last year, I was posting pictures of my kids beginning their first days at a private school for the first time!  When they were all in elementary school - I tried to take pictures of their first day for each new year.  Somehow, we started the school year off again - all homeschooling again - and there was no flare, no fireworks, etc.  In fact, it all just started up again and we are back into the groove of having more routine to our days and learning throughout the day.

It felt almost scary to me to be homeschooling again.  In fact, I had one tearful day last week feeling overwhelmed that it is up to me again to provide a good education for them and to be pretty much responsible for the curriculum we choose, encouraging them to be diligent, and work hard every day.  That does not come easy.

But as we have settled in to week two, I have to say that the joy we experienced in homeschooling and the benefits we found for our family come in little snippets - and I recognize them and rejoice that I've been given the opportunity to teach them and to learn from them.  Little things like reading a book aloud together and discovering history together.  Little things like having time to talk together at night and discuss the day and pray together.  Little things like going out to lunch and getting haircuts with my girls on a school day and watching them interact and being part of that.  Little things like watching them be diligent on their own to complete an assignment or practice or clean up.  I missed those things last year.  Oh, they were there - just in a more hectic fashion and much more complicated.  

Would I want them to be back in school again?  Well, someday I might write a blog about what going to school did for my children.  It was a wonderful experience and completely worthwhile for our family.  But that was last year and what God wanted for our family.  This year he wants us at home.  I don't always know his plans or the reason for his plans, but I am trusting Him for a year that surpasses them all!!!

So while I have no new year pictures to share this start of the school year, I'm praying for many lasting memories for each of my children, lots of learning to be done, and hearts molded to love and listen to God as they become adults!

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A couple of months in

Well, we've now lived in Austin for almost two and a half months! We hit the ground here after about two weeks of moving in - and we were running full steam!

Charis & Joy started school on August 16th, the day before my birthday. I was so nervous and anxious that first day. And - I cried for a while after they left! I missed them so much. I had been with these girls for the last 16 and 13 years! I knew it was going to be very different for me this year.

I'm pleased to say - that after two and a half months of "real school"...both are getting very good grades and doing very well. Charis really loves it - when I thought she would be the one who might not like it so much. Not sure why - maybe because she's a little more shy and she kind of loves to do her own thing. But she has really enjoyed it. She loves the teachers and she loves, loves, loves, art, band, and choir! I think she would probably go just to have those things! But she also loves the classes and is learning a lot. I'm so proud of her!

Joy is loving school, too. She loves all the friends and people and especially the instruction. I have to say that for her, she just really needed teachers. She's getting 100% in algebra! Who would have thought?!! :) She really wanted to try out for cheerleading...but had to say no because it really was going to be time consuming. She is struggling some with practicing as much as she used to on her violin and really wants to make it her priority still.

Jonathan has settled in to our new home and found a job at Office Max. After about a month of being home and doing some online classes, we were so thankful this came up! It really was an answer to prayer, so we are thankful. Although - he's not too excited as I write because this week, he has to work 7 hours a day for five days! That's 35 hours! He was really hoping it would be more "part time" as in 20 to 30 hours a week. I"m sure it will all work out, but he's feeling a little bit like all his time is being taken by school and work. Imagine that!:)

Daniel and I are homeschooling still. It's going well this year! We're doing something called Classical Conversations. We go on Mondays where he has Foundations in the morning where they learn a bunch of facts in every subject. They memorize these facts over the year - it's pretty impressive! Then in the afternoon, he has Essentials where he's learning grammar and writing. It's a great writing program! I'm so thankful for this as it's given both of us a social outlet right from the start.

I actually have been asked to teach his Foundations class as the gal who was doing it got sick and couldn't keep up. So - now I have another part-time job!! I really love doing it!

I've been working a lot doing transcription, too. As soon as I was put back on the regular schedule - I have worked at least 3 days a week (nights or over the weekend) and then I have five piano students. It's been a lot - but it's all working out okay.

David's been doing a lot of volleyball officiating, so that has helped a lot! My money from transcription doesn't really come in until November - so for September and October - he's more than made up for what I would make!

David's also doing well at his job. Yesterday, he received an amazing "compliment" in the form of the head data architect for the company - the guy the recently brought in to run the data for the company - called him and told him he wanted David to come on with his team part-time and help them out with a big project they have. It was like he looked around at the data architects and picked David as the one he wanted! David was floored and excited! On that same day, he got a call from his friend from Wal-Mart saying that his name came up and the gal who interviewed him asked if he was "happy" in his new job! So, I'm excited for David.

We also have found a church and all of us have become involved. David and I are leading a small group, and we're excited because the people who have joined seem wonderful! We have had a couple of meetings and have really enjoyed it. Jon, Joy, & Charis have all enjoyed working in the children's ministry, too. And - the preaching has also been wonderful as well. So, it's been great so far.

Time to get back to work!!!

We're here!!

I've been meaning to write a little bit about our recent move, but I have been busy - you can imagine!!

I have to start off with saying that I think my faith was weak...but that I also believed that God was in control and would provide what we needed even if it meant financial hardship for us. But in the last two months, waiting for what was God's provision for us was extremely hard and, at times, I was not sure that anything would really happen. And to add to that - if you read my last blog post...I also had some medical concerns that were very frightening. I'm so happy to say that the tests came out okay - no cancer or anything! We were so extremely thankful for this as it only heightened my anxiety last week!

Our "family verse" (started out at our wedding!) has always been Proverbs 3:5&6 - Trust in the Lord with all your heart and in all your ways acknowledge Him and he shall direct your paths". This was on the cover of our wedding program that Tim, David's brother, designed, and for a gift, he gave us a large print of this that has been hanging in our home ever since.

We have definitely seen God just directing our path in this whole move as we did our last move. In fact, all six of us can look back at our move to Oklahoma and count the number of ways in which God was working in our lives to change us and to grow us and to bless us! And so - we look to this move to Austin and wonder how/what God will do in our lives here.

Since we have known we would be moving for the last six months, we knew a few things had to happen: we needed a place to live, we needed someone to buy or rent our home in OK, and we needed to all be living together!!

We spent the spring looking at homes to buy and excited about some of the possibilities but knowing that we had to sell our home first. We put our home on the market March 7th and spent some money and decluttered...and NOBODY even looked at it!! We had it on the market for almost 4 months with even one person to look. After some phone calls to some area realtors, it became apparent that it just was not looking good for the economy where we lived and the homes that were selling were all foreclosures.

So we began the search for looking for a rental home in Austin and putting ours up for rent in OK. David was working in Austin and had found a "room to rent" in a very big house near Lake Travis. He had a wonderful situation, and we were so thankful. He was also able to come home for a week at a time and work from home, so when he came home, he could stay for awhile. Things had worked out well for us so far. But in May, we also realized that he couldn't rent a home unless he was ready to move in right away because they were going fast in Austin! So, we waited until June 1st as we had planned a move-out day of June 30th. That was our plan.

David was coming home the weekend of June 13th, so he had permission from his boss to come home and stay until we moved then. He left our home May 15th after Jon's graduation and began to look for a home to rent. He couldn't really look until after June 1st...and then, would you believe, there weren't many options available where we were looking! Since the girls will be attending a Christian school in the area, we were hoping to find a place within 15 minutes of the school. And - our realtor was out of town on vacation and just wasn't as helpful looking for a rental as she had been for a home to buy!!

So - here we are with just a couple of weeks to finalize where we would live and there weren't many options. On the Sunday before David was to come home, he still did not have anything that would work for us and the realtor only had one home to look at and the renters there weren't cooperative, so he couldn't even look at that one! He remembers that night before church just going through the list of homes that we had looked at to buy that were close to the school and picking about four of them. He asked the realtor to see if any of them would be willing to rent to us. On Sunday afternoon, he got a call from her saying there was one who was willing to talk about it with us and show David the home. It was truly an answer to prayer! That last week that David was in Austin, we were able to apply for and get approved to rent this home - and it is almost perfect for us! And the amazing thing was it wouldn't be ready until August 1st, so we had another month to figure out what to do about our home in Oklahoma AND David's boss gave him permission to work from home until that time. Also - the guy David was renting a room from allowed him to just pay half the rent in June and so he was out of that rental situation, too!

So now, we have a place to live! And would you believe that we are just a block from the school?! Already it's been wonderful as we've had a couple of meetings to go to and it's so close!

One of the things we have loved about life for us and living under God's timing and His provision and leading is that we can see Him work in all of our housing situations since we've been married! As I recount them in my mind, I just am filled with joy overflowing!!

Anyway, in spite of this, I think I was still worried that we would have to leave our OK home without renters or empty or something. It was pretty scary for me looking at that possibility not only because of the financial risks but because of the risk to our home leaving it empty, etc.

In the middle of July, we had a couple come out to look at the house. This couple kind of reminds me of the devil in disguise! They had the one thing going for them that was so tempting - they had money! For some reason, this young man's Indian tribe in California pays their members $13,000/month!! So he and his girlfriend and their baby son came to look at our place. They were not married, they both smoked, they were pretty messy (at least their car was), and they had two pit bulls!! Oh my!! They were ready to rent it for August, too! But after a call to my realtor the next day, there was no way our company would cover pit bulls in our homeowner's insurance, and she told me to steer away from anyone with those kinds of dogs.

So - we had to tell them no. That was hard!! I don't think David was struggling like I was...he was the calm for me and kept telling me to just trust the Lord. He was going to take us through this and would provide what we needed!

The next week - one week before our move, we lowered the price. We had one couple (not married) come look at it, but I think it was just way over their heads. They took the application and then didn't call or come back. But on Tuesday evening, the night before we were to leave, we had an e-mail from a guy that said this..."If you'll lower the price to ..., we're you're family". His signature had "R.N." by it, so that was at least intriguing for us because he had a real job!

So David wrote him back and said - we can't lower it that far, but could probably come to another number. If he was okay with that - then could he tell us why we should rent to them. Then we got a nice long note from this young man telling us all kinds of wonerful things!!! He was a Christian, married and had four kids under 10! He and his wife homeschooled their children and she was part of a ministry called Kids of Virtue (or something like that). He had just finished his R.N. training in Little Rock and had just taken a job at the hospital in Siloam Springs and they would be moving out here very soon!

We were both kind of like in awe!! This was the perfect family we were looking for in our home! He came out Thursday and looked at it and loved it! He even came back on Friday to sign the lease and get his membership cards from Flint Ridge, etc, and got the key!! This home was an answer to their prayers as they had wanted to live out of the city but in a nice home that was big enough for them to grow in! And we desperately needed renters! He had lunch with us on Thursday and we so enjoyed getting to know him. He is hoping to join the National Guard and also do medical missions as God allows.

So, you can see that we are just sitting back at this point and just saying WOW!!! God is so good! How could I NOT trust Him?!! Thank you Lord!!!

I don't know about tomorrow....

Yesterday was one of those days you wish you could never have to go through...I had to have an ultrasound of my gallbaldder - and when the doctor called to give me the results, she said that I, indeed, did have gallbaldder problems - but what was more concerning to her was two dark spots that appeared on my liver.

I would need to have an MRI - did I want to do that before I moved or after? Wow! I was totally unprepared for hearing that - especially a few days before our move when I'm just up to my ears in moving issues and packing, etc.!

So - the evening held a few tears - some phone calls to my sisters and my mom, and just resting in David's arms. And today - there have been a few more tears as I have thought about how this could come out. Of course - the cancer word is the one that I think of most. I'm not ready to die! I love my kids and my husband so much - I'm not ready to even think about leaving them.l

But in the last day and a half, I have thought more about that than I have ever thought about it, and I'm still not ready to entertain those thoughts. I had the MRI today - it was very cold and very tight-fitting. I've cried out to the Lord many times throughout today as it all came to mind. And a friend tonight - Rhonda Calvert - called me back after I had talked with her about it to just pray.

So - after a bit of prayer and thinking about this more - I thought I'd write a bit here. I kind of feel like it's all my fault - especially if it is cancer. I'm so fat - I've overeaten for so long. Did I think that I was just going to be immune to all the troubles of obesity? Was all the food worth it? No way! Not at all!!! Lord - please rescue me tonight from all the wrong thoughts and from all the wrong ways I have lived. I want your blessing and I want to be completely yours.

On another amazing path, however, God has brought a young family into our lives through the internet and craigslist - and there is a chance we might rent our house to them. I've been praying for a miracle - and wondering what miracle God might do, and it looks like it might it just might happen! Tomorrow, we'll have lunch with the dad and let him see our place and Flint Ridge, etc. It's pretty amazing if it all works out.

More on that tomorrow!!