A Day in the Life of a Homeschool Family

Hey friends!!

Wow! It’s been a while! A lot has happened since my last post- both in my personal life and in our world. But you know about the world changes so let’s get down to the life changes!

For those who don’t know, I’ve been homeschooling my girls this year. No, I didn’t choose to homeschool because of recent world events as I’m often asked. It was actually a decision I made before that fateful day in March 2020. 

Anyway, so we are homeschooling now because we believe it is what God has called us to do. If you want to know more about that story of how we recognized the call to homeschool, please feel free to email me!

At the moment, we are on summer vacation (shameless homeschool plug - I get to choose which 180 days to teach my kids! I create my own school calendar and can choose when and for how long we take a break during the year. 😜) We have also been attending another church for the past year,  and I am so blessed to be able to help out in various ways there.

I want to answer a few questions you might be asking as you scratch your head about homeschooling:

1. Why do you homeschool? Well, there is a lengthy answer here, but in short, I started to notice some things that I didn’t like over the last few years, and then as I researched the idea of homeschooling, it became clear that the Lord was calling me to it and had prepared me for it.

2. How do you handle being with your kids all the time?! I LOVE IT! Well, of course there are times when I need to send them to their room so we can all have some quiet time. 😀 But truly, any concerns about this much time together has melted away. I have seen them develop some good character traits and get rid of some bad traits in the absence of negative peer pressure, and I am so grateful! Plus, we are called to train up a child in the way he should go and our best chance at that is homeschooling!

3. Are you worried about your kids’ social skills? No. The things is that they are getting a lot of quality socialization while homeschooling and avoiding perhaps some negative experiences. They socialize with each other, us, church friends, homeschool friends, and other friends and family. Sure those peer opportunities are not everyday (with the exception of the time they spend with each other), but who says that’s a good thing? Homeschool is actually a very old concept, and it’s the way that children through the centuries have been educated so this idea of needing to be around their age group everyday is not necessarily accurate. I see the value in it, but I’ve also seen the problems with it. I understand completely when people ask this question, but some of the most respectful, intelligent, well mannered kids I have met were homeschooled!

4. Aren’t you worried their academics will suffer without the rigorous public school curriculum? There’s a lot I could say about how to choose a good homeschool curriculum, the importance of lesson planning for every homeschool day, the need to prepare for national testing, etc., but I’ll just keep it short with this- they have a class ratio of 1 teacher to 2 students. 🥰

5. How can you AFFORD to homeschool?! Well, now, that was my number one issue at the beginning. We went from a two income household to one. I teach online but it’s just a small supplement compared to what I made before. Here’s how we made it work and are making it work: budget, TRY to stick to budget, cut costs (we sold a more expensive house before starting homeschooling), get creative with income, and number one TRUST GOD. He called us to this so He will help us through it. Check this out: “I have been young, and now am old; Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” Psalm‬ ‭37:25‬ ‭This verse encouraged me about finances long before homeschooling came into the picture. The Lord is faithful.

Just a quick testimony before I close. The Lord has been so faithful to us this year in many areas including providing for our needs, giving me the ability to homeschool, allowing us to see the benefit of homeschooling in our children, and much more. But one thing I had not considered when we started was the opportunities He would open up for me to use my skills in other ways for His kingdom. Being a homeschool Mom has freed up my time to do those things. That has been a tremendous blessing. 

Thanks for reading! Please check back soon. Finally, remember this: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John‬ ‭14:6‬ If you don’t know Christ as Savior, please email me and I’d be happy to share the truth with you. What you do about Jesus has eternal consequences. God bless you my friend.

What to make of recent events....

So a lot has happened in our country lately. With all of this change, there has been much unrest. I will withhold my views on the topic. I simply want to say that I think we all need to reevaluate what's important. Where does our value come from? What gives our life meaning? If you can answer those questions, you are doing better than many. I want to invite you to consider that we as women need to radically rethink what we are being told by media and the world in general. Because if we begin to think that our value comes simply from what someone on TV or in the government may or may not say about us, we are sadly mistaken. As a Christian, my viewpoint is very specific.  I believe in the value that Scripture gives us. More specifically, I believe in the value that God gives us. It does not matter what people think. It does not matter what people do- at least with regards to my value. Because nothing and no one can change the value we have as believers. And if you are reading this, and do not know Christ as your Savior,  I invite you to know him. Start with reading the New Testament. Read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. This will give you a good idea of what is true about Jesus and who he really is. There are a lot of misunderstandings about who he is. He is the one who gives us value. He is the one who loves us unconditionally, and he is the one who raises us up and saves us. Feel free to email me your thoughts on the topic. I am invite all thoughts whether good or bad. Blessings. 

Living the Dream...

Yesterday, I was running errands with my kids in the backseat, and it occurred to me, I'm living the dream...

Now, my definition of "the dream" may not be what you are thinking. For many of us, the typical idea of the dream is summed up in one or more of the following words:  beautiful home, fancy cars, perfect job, loving family, money, and so on. While I do not deny the desire I have for many of those "dreams," they were not the thing on my mind yesterday. I had in mind something more like this:  a fun time doing things around town with my kids.

You see, when you live with a digestive disorder, the basic daily tasks that many take for granted are a major deal. For example, going to the grocery store alone can take everything out of you when you are experiencing a flare up. So, when my kids were young, or perhaps more like when my oldest child was a baby, I dreamed of days like this. I dreamed of days when I could ride around town accomplishing my to do list with my little darling(s) tagging along. I dreamed of having fun laughing and singing in the car with them as I completed the required mundane tasks like grocery shopping and oil changes. I dreamed of how great it would be to live life- a normal life- with my little loves.

Unfortunately, for the first several years of their lives, this did not happen. Instead, I struggled DAILY with feeling good. In fact, after I would make it through a work day, I would often have to crash for a while in front of the TV because that is how fatigued poor digestion would make me. Plus, many days, I dealt with the pain of my digestive issues, which also took my energy. I reached a point where I knew the decisions I was making to improve my health were not enough so my wellness journey began. Two years later, I have an amazing moment when I realize that I am FINALLY beginning to see my little sweet dream come true. 

So what are some of the things that have made the difference for me? Here's a concise list of what I have been doing that has made all the difference:

1. First, I simply believed. I believed that if God willed for me to experience better health, I could with His help. I chose to depend on Christ to heal me and make me whole. Maybe someday I can share one of my most amazing prayer experiences in which I believe He was showing me that He would provide the healing.

2. Next, I found essential oils. Ok, so this is becoming really popular. 

Let me establish my disclaimer right now that this blog is not intended to treat, cure, or diagnose any illness, nor is it meant to replace professional medical attention or advice. Advice and testimonies are all based on use of Young Living brand of oils specifically. Use and application of this information is done solely at your own risk. 

With that being said, I found a Facebook post one day of a friend who used these oils and so I decided to try it. My first thoughts were that this was simply a good smell to put in the air to be enjoyed kind of like scented candles. I had NO idea how much more they were! In a nutshell, I found that I could support normal digestion as well as all other body systems and their normal functions with the use of these oils. This became part of my journey to wellness and as I continue to seek out better health, they will continue to be a part of my regimen. If you want to learn more about them, please visit my site: www.yl4life.org/naturalblessings
If you want me to sponsor you when you purchase a product, include my ID: 2335169 or go here: https://www.youngliving.com/vo/#/signup/new-start?sponsorid=2335169&enrollerid=2335169&isocountrycode=US&culture=en-US&type=member

3. Third, I learned the value of healthy emotions, breathing exercises, and physical exercise. Many of you already understand the importance of these things, and I did as well, but I still did not ACT as though they were important. Deep breathing is a very beneficial tool for relieving stress, calming nerves, etc. I found an app titled Pacifica, which I enjoyed for a while until I learned to incorporate the deep breathing on my own. Also, I continue to work on the healthy emotions and the physical exercise (this being the last piece I still struggle to included regularly). Truly all of these things contribute to calming you, which is important since stress is a trigger for Crohn's.

4. Finally, I began the diet change. Some of you might be scratching your heads right now because if digestive issues are my problem, why is this last on the list? Two reasons:  first, the treatment I was receiving did not emphasize this as a top priority for better health and secondly because I simply love some unhealthy foods such as processed foods and sugars. While I will not say that I am the model for perfect diet choices right now, I can say I have made many changes. I have tried diet in the past and failed because I was looking too far into the future, imagining that I would have to eat like this forever and that made me so discouraged that I quit. While I probably should eat like this forever, I do not THINK like that any more. Instead I think, TODAY I am eating like this. Somehow that change in thinking keeps me going and when I do "cheat" on my diet, I am able to get back on it pretty quickly. 

So what diet changes have I made? Here's a list of some things I'm trying:  the anti-inflammatory diet which includes eliminating all grains, sugar, and processed foods; limiting and/or no coffee. You can Google "anti-inflammatory diet" to get ideas of what that would include. If you're just starting to think about diet being part of your next step, that may all seem overwhelming. Start small. Focus on removing a couple things at a time. Only think about this diet for TODAY. And give yourself grace when you mess up.

Guys, I cannot explain to you how incredible it was when I realized yesterday I was living my little dream. I praise Jesus for this miracle and wish the same for you. If you have similar struggles, I would love to hear from you. Maybe I can somehow encourage you on your wellness journey. Feel free to write to me at naturalblessings2015@gmail.com

Thanks for reading. Blessings! <3

Live Life Happy

Hey all! Just a quick note to say that I have been thinking about how to "be happy". It's something we all think about sometimes and first off we have to recognize that it's just a feeling. I believe true joy comes from knowing Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior & no temporary trials can shatter that. Still there are somethings we can do to cheer ourselves up on a rough day. The number one for me is to pray and read Scripture because those truths will lift you up as a believer. I also wanted to share a few thoughts about how to make someone else happy which in turn makes you happy. Here's a link to some suggested ways:  
http://www.positivityblog.com/index.php/2014/10/08/make-someone-happy/

Now go be happy today and trust Christ as your Savior every day! <3

A Storm & Then The Perfect Day

If you could create a perfect day, what would it include? Would it be a walk on the beach, a trip to an amusement park, or something more exotic? Do you ever catch yourself having perfect days on the seemingly normal days?

Yesterday was pretty close to a perfect day. I was prepared mentally for the day (this is not necessarily a prerequisite to a perfect day). I was with my family, and headed to church. It was a great morning with good truth from Scripture and a few good conversations with friends. Then, the afternoon came, and with it came nap time for my kids. Yeah for nap time! I got to sit in the stillness, catch up on some Bible reading with a cup of coffee next to me, and God's beautiful creation just outside my window. The day continued with some other good things, which I will leave out because they are nothing really exciting to the reader. 

The point is, sometimes "perfect" days come when you least expect them. Sometimes you have just had a rough week and you expect today to be rough as well, and it is not. Sometimes you have felt rushed lately and you assume that you will again feel rushed today, and you don't. Sometimes you need to sit back in the midst of everything going on throughout the day and just enjoy what is around you. 

When you have recently gone through a storm, the simple things can be so much more meaningful. My recent storm that I am now coming out of was a flare up with my health condition. I praise God that I can say I am finally coming out of that battle, and I believe that I will continue to improve. 

What is one of your recent "perfect" days or even a storm you have recently faced? I would love to hear it! 

Just Being Real...

Do you need grace today? Do you need to just let yourself relax about some things?

Recently, I encountered a problem. Without going into tremendous details (and to protect the innocent. Ha!), I found that I was not too happy in a particular situation. It is an activity that I love, however, the environment was just not working for me. Has that ever happened to you? You are trying to participate in something because you believe in it and you have a passion for it, but at the end of the day, when you consider the whole picture surrounding the activity, it is not what you had hoped for and it causes more stress than satisfaction.

Now, by God’s mercy, I am a Christian. I choose to follow Christ, which means that I know it is important that I try to not serve myself. This year, I am really trying to put the J.O.Y. principle into practice (Jesus, Others, Yourself). Yet, if I am miserable in an activity that I adore, maybe I need to reassess if this is the place and time for me and this activity.

So today I want to remind us all of grace. I am not talking about choosing to do the wrong thing because we know we will be forgiven. Paul, the Apostle, did not speak too highly of that mentality in Romans six. I am talking about knowing that we have given something our best effort with all of our love and passion for that activity, and we still find that it is not working. Since I have chosen to keep the details of this situation to myself, I must clarify one last thing. I would not promote ending anything that would go against Scripture. For example, a struggling marriage should try with all their might and get whatever help needed to make it work. A person trying to complete their work with integrity should not give in and be dishonest just because it is tough to be truthful. I am referring to anything you can stop that will not be dishonoring to God.

So here it is. We all need grace. Give yourself grace today as I am choosing to do with myself. Jesus extended this grace and understanding to us because he KNOWS our weaknesses. Pray about everything. Seek God’s wisdom. Work as unto the Lord not unto men. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Thanks so much for reading.

(Please check these out: Philippians 4:6, James 1:5, Colossians 3:23, Proverbs 3:5-6)