image by mikebaird | flickr creative commons

If a man does not keep pace
with his companions,
perhaps it is because he hears
a different drummer.
Let him step to the music he hears,
however measured or far away.
~ Henry David Thoreau

…

Hello there! I should perhaps re-introduce myself. We used to meet more often, but then I went and decided to homeschool my son, and…

…well, I’ve been a bit busier than I’d anticipated.  *grin*

When I started off this year, I could literally feel the momentum, an unseen force propelling me toward some soon-to-be-discovered adventure. I had big plans, big dreams, and big ambition. I had filled my plate with a big helping of can’t-say-no and a hefty side dish of overwhelmed.

Over the past six months, God has gently but firmly peeled away the layers of my busyness and distraction — often from my clinched fists — and left me finally standing where He wanted me all along.

Right smack-dab in the center of His will.

No distractions. No excuses. No frantic, overcommitted whirlwinds.

Just me and my God, finally putting first things first.

Was it painful? Oh yes. I’ve had to say no to so many wonderful, worthwhile projects. I’ve had to cancel meet-ups and miss out on amazing opportunities. I’ve had to step back from this online space and reassess what I’m doing and why I’m doing it. And I’ve probably stepped on a few toes in the process by not being able to explain why I was suddenly absent.

But through it all, I’ve been reminded again and again that God’s economy is not like ours. His ways are higher than our ways, and when He asks something of you, it’s for a purpose and with a plan in mind. He wants me to focus on my family more than anything else right now, and I intend to reply with a resounding, “Yes, Sir!”

It doesn’t matter whether it makes sense to anyone else. It doesn’t matter that you’re setting aside good things. It doesn’t matter that you’re swimming against the current and making waves in the process. It only matters that you’re following the Master of the Seas as He charts your unique course through this life.

I honestly don’t know exactly how this space will look from here forward. I love meeting with you here and sharing snippets of our hearts and lives. I love connecting with you through blog comments, emails, and social media. I just know, without a doubt, that I can’t let it take over.

So let’s meet up as often as we can, shall we? I might talk about my family more often than I used to, and you’re likely to see the words homeschool, curriculum, read-alouds, and insane more often than normal, but otherwise things are pretty much the same.

Thank you for your friendship, kindness, sweet emails and texts, and most of all, grace. I love y’all!

So, enough about me. How have YOU been, my friends? I can’t wait to catch up with you.

…

Yep, me too.

How appropriate — seriously, not a coincidence! — that today’s Five Minute Friday prompt is CHANGE.

Ready?

GO!

image via jul89, flickr creative commons

SOmetimes you feel the momentum of a change churning, spilling forth and driving you into the unknown. You know God is working and is ever faithful, so you cling to Him as the rollercoaster begins to climb…

It feels like the entire focus of my life has changed in the past three weeks. My sweet, loving, amazing son started kindergarten and thought I knew where this ride was taking us. The excitement built as we bought our ticket for the big event, chose our seats, chatted nervously about how it would play out. Then the cars started moving and we accelerated so much faster than I expected. We climbed and held our breath as the wave crested, broke, and plunged us down, down, gaining speed and spinning toward a loop-de-loop I had only seen at a distance.

Plan B always comes as a shock, but God knew we’d arrive here all along — and it’s going to be an amazing ride with HIm leading the way.

After a bumpy, two-week ride in a traditional school setting, we’ve decided to homeschool our son.

Talk. about. change.

This wild ride is exciting and frightening and overwhelming and humbling. It has already changed our trajectory as a family and I’m anxious for the ride to “officially” start on Monday.

I never thought I’d say this, but I can’t wait to see what changes God has in store for us!

STOP

Sweet friends, I hope this helps explain why I’ve been
almost nonexistent around here for the past
several weeks! We’ve had a lot going on.

I have SO much more to share with you, but it will
have to wait just a bit longer. I’ve been assembling shelves,
setting up our new schoolroom and trying to get organized
all day — I’m one tired mama! I know God led us to this decision
and it’s going to be a great change for our little man.

** If you homeschool and have any
words of wisdom to share, I’m all ears! **

I’d love to hear your story! Please leave a comment below,
connect with me on Facebook or Twitter, or let’s chat via email:
{graceformymess} at {gmail} dot {com}.

Linking up with Lisa-Jo at Tales from a Gypsy Mama

image via robert brook, flickr creative commons

.
“I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.”
~ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

There are days when I feel the anywhere but here welling up inside me, when I want to step over the piles of toys and unfiled papers and unfolded laundry to breathe the fresh air of before motherhood. It’s so hard to stay grounded when your soul longs to soar.

My children are the best thing I’ve ever done, and I love them more than I can possibly say, more than I realized until recently — yet I fight to be the mom I want to be. I try to stretch and contort myself into the shape of someone else, someone I think I should be,  someone more worthy of these precious children and less like me.

God’s word tells me I can soar right here, right in the midst of this mess and chaos and busyness. He says I can have abundant life, one that stretches beyond today into the unseen graces He has planned for tomorrow. Oh how I want His best! When I submit to His perfect plan, He will stretch me into the perfect shape for me.

Lord, stretch me in Your direction. Pull me into the shape you’ve designed for me. Help me soar right where I am today.

How is God stretching you today, friends?

I’d love to hear your story! Please leave a comment below,
connect with me on Facebook or Twitter, or let’s chat via email:
{graceformymess} at {gmail} dot {com}.

Linking up with Lisa-Jo at Tales from a Gypsy Mama

My middle child — my only son — starts kindergarten today.  My sweet, funny, adorable baby boy is setting out for the big world, and I am a complete wreck.

I’m not usually a worrier, truly. I just want him to find his way in this world and grow into the man God intends. He’s an amazing little guy, and so smart it scares me (did I tell you he started reading at age three, all on his own?). He has a big vocabulary and an even bigger heart, and he can be so sweet it makes my heart ache. He’ll go to a wonderful school and has an incredible teacher this year, and for that I’m so very grateful, but he still has a lot of growing up to do.
.

Love him so much!

.Would you say a prayer for him today, friends, and maybe one for my anxious mama-heart as well? Thank you so very much. You’re the cheese to my macaroni.

He’s so proud of his new police car lunch box!

{ahem} And I’ll be in deep. trouble. if I don’t also give a shout-out to his big sister, who starts seventh grade today….

gorgeous…

….and baby sister, who will be home without a playmate for the first time (heaven help us!!) My girls are the best!

what a ham!

~  ~  ~  ~  ~

I’d love to hear from you, friends!
Do you remember your first day of kindergarten?
Any tips for a nervous mama?? 

Ready? Let’s do this!

Go

My precious Grandma with my oldest child. Can’t wait to see you again, Grandma!

MaMa’s radiant smile beams down on us from the living room wall, a moment frozen in time for us to remember her. I tell the stories to my kids: how she was raised on a farm, the oldest of many children, cooking for farmhands since she was old enough to reach the stove from atop a chair. How she married and had four beautiful babies and buried a husband far too young. How she worked two and three jobs to keep her family afloat, survived breast cancer not once, but twice, volunteered at the hospital, made a joyful noise in the senior choir and loved Jesus with her whole heart. How she’s singing in heaven now, rejoicing with the Christ she loved so much, reunited with her husband and the twin sister she never knew.

I want my kids to know my grandma and her hardworking, imperfect, faithful heart. I want them to know her and know Him.

We tell stories to remind our kids that the woman in the photos is a real person who loved them, and we read Bible stories to remind them that Jesus is real and loves them beyond measure.

We connect the dots between past, present and future.

A home on earth, a home in Heaven. A family on earth, and family forever in heaven through faith in Christ.

Loved. Chosen. Forever.

Stop

.
How do you teach your kids to connect with their history?
How do you teach them to connect with their faith?

I’d love to hear your story! Please leave a comment below,
connect with me on Facebook or Twitter, or let’s chat via email:
{graceformymess} at {gmail} dot {com}.

Linking up with Lisa-Jo at Tales from a Gypsy Mama

{ Praying restoration for your day, my friends }

It is good to give thanks to the LORD
and sing praises to Your name, O Most High;
to declare Your lovingkindness in the morning
and Your faithfulness by night…
To declare that the LORD is upright;
He is my rock,
and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
~ Psalm 92:1-2, 15 NASB

We’ve had a long couple of weeks here, friends, and I am worn out. It seems this summer has put me solidly in my place and reminded me how much I need Jesus in my life. He is my rock, an unfailing fortress when I am found lacking.

He is here — right here — in the midst of the chaos and drama and mess. He is here when I’m yelling at my kids (oh yes, and I’m not proud of it) and impatient with the road-construction traffic and binge-eating from the stress of a long day.

And the best part? He’s not shaking His head, wagging a finger at me and planning an appropriate “consequence” for my actions. He’s loving me, wooing me back to Him, dropping little reminders of His love right into my lap amidst the troubles and failures.

So today, I choose to give thanks, to sing praises to His name and remember that He is my rock, so faithful even when I am not.

Thank you, Jesus. I love you so.

~  ~  ~  ~  ~

I’ve committed to memorizing a passage of scripture every month.
This month’s verse is Psalm 92:1-2 & 15, above.
Won’t you join me in hiding His word in your heart?

~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Linking up better-late-than-never with Lisa-Jo and friends
at Tales from a Gypsy Mama

screenshot captured from www.chickfila.com