I love Jesus, but I cuss a little...

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I love Jesus, but I cuss a little...

... you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.... (Romans 6:16-17; partial)


I have become obedient, from the heart, to the calling before me- the righteous standard of a perfect and holy God. Or have I? I was listening to In His Image by Jen Wilkin last night, and she gave a metaphor that crushed my toes. She said, "When we are faithful to God in smaller temptations, we build strength to face the bigger ones. No one indulges an explosive fit of anger, who has not first indulged a thousand smaller aggressions. If we habitually flee from the temptation to commit minor sins of anger and selfishness, we are less likely to fall for temptation in greater sins of anger and selfishness."

Essentially, she likens our propensity to go all in with our sins to weightlifting. We are incapable of lifting those huge sins if we haven't been training with the smaller ones all along.

Ouch.

This immediately convicted me in the areas of anger and profanity in my own life.

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All About Reading: How it Works for Our Family {a detailed review}

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All About Reading: How it Works for Our Family {a detailed review}

When I first began homeschooling, the responsibility that intimidated me more than any other was teaching my own children to read. I’ve always been an avid reader, and I desperately wanted to instill that same love of books in my kids. What I quickly realized, however, was that my passion for reading did not automatically qualify me to teach someone else how to read. Loving books and teaching reading are two very different things.

With no background in early literacy instruction, I knew I needed a program that could walk both me and my children through the process step by step. We tried several programs in the beginning, but they either bored my daughter to tears with endless drill-and-kill worksheets or pushed forward so quickly that she felt overwhelmed, while I was left lost and scrambling without a clear plan.

That discouraging season eventually led me to All About Reading (AAR).

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The Beauty of Tapestry of Grace in the Rhetoric Years (a very detailed review)

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The Beauty of Tapestry of Grace in the Rhetoric Years (a very detailed review)

Homeschooling high school was always something that I looked ahead to with both excitement and fear. When my children were in elementary grades, I felt confident teaching according to a classical model, but as they grew into the middle and high school years, I felt intimidated by the challenging literature and history—and by my own lack of knowledge in these areas.

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My Favorite Things: "Keeping Toddlers Busy" Edition

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My Favorite Things: "Keeping Toddlers Busy" Edition

My sweet little boys keep life very interesting, especially as I try to homeschool a high school freshman and a 6th grader with dyslexia. It’s basically my mission in life to keep my boys engaged in fruitful activity throughout the day so that I might have small chunks of silence to engage with my girls in their schoolwork.

It’s not perfect, but it works well enough that we march through our homeschool day with some learning accomplished and with (arguably) half my sanity left! Today I want to share a few ideas, several go-to items I keep handy at all times, and my process for both planning and engaging my boys each day.

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The Purpose in Your Broken _____ (marriage, finances, heart)

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The Purpose in Your Broken _____ (marriage, finances, heart)

We all have it. We have all been broken- in so many different ways.

Sometimes our bodies are broken by disease, deficiencies, accidents, or abuse. Sometimes our hearts are broken by loss, betrayal, loneliness, or shame. Sometimes our minds are broken by anxiety, depression, or obsessive thoughts.

Whether your marriage is broken, your relationship with your child is broken, or your finances are broken- that brokenness can have a purpose. It HAS a purpose.

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How to Use a Preschool Morning Binder (PLUS all you need to get started!)

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How to Use a Preschool Morning Binder (PLUS all you need to get started!)

I have a tenacious 3 year old who wants to do a LOT of school. He loves to learn and do things just like the big kids. I love to encourage his desire to learn, so I created a "morning binder" for him after being inspired by Yoga Pants and Pearls when I ran across her on Pinterest. You can check out her take on morning binder here.  

I initially downloaded her cute little printable but my OCD jumped in and reminded me that it didn't match the rest of the materials that I had created to complement The Gentle + Classical Preschool (<--- Click that for a FREE Preschool Curriculum)... So I had to make my own, while also using a few resources I'd already created to assemble a full Morning Binder for my little one. So here's what's in our Preschool Morning Binder (also, it's not a binder but I'll chat about that too).  

5 Steps to an excellent, beautiful Preschool Morning Binder:  

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You ARE a Good Mom

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You ARE a Good Mom

You're a good mom. And I should know- I'm a good mom too, so I'm qualified to judge. 

Here's how I know that we are both good moms: 

I've also felt shame, self-hatred, condemnation, overwhelming guilt, and humiliation over every single one of those things. If you can fail in some way as a parent- I've done it. 

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If I Hear "Mama" One More Time

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If I Hear "Mama" One More Time

In the last 20 minutes, I've literally heard the beckoning of "Mama" 38 times. Literally. To keep my sanity, I started counting. As I lay my youngest down to sleep, I pondered the huge milestones we'd met this week of potty training and weaning all intermingled with the frustration and just plain exhaustion of, "Mama, Mama, Mama."

In my heart, I cried out to the Lord to strengthen, encourage, and bless me for the rest of this day and all that it still held... And for the many, many "Mamas" that had yet to be said... 

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How You're Sabotaging Motherhood (and don't know it)

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How You're Sabotaging Motherhood (and don't know it)
  • Breast or bottle.
  • Forward-facing or rear-facing.
  • Homeschool or public school.
  • Attachment parenting or cry it out.
  • Baby wearing or stroller.
  • Store bought puree or baby led weaning.
  • Cloth or disposable.
  • Early education or delayed instruction.
  • Formal lessons or unschooling.
  • Classical or Charlotte Mason.
  • Textbooks or living books.
  • Crafts or free play.
  • Packed lunch or lunchroom.
  • Organic or not.
  • Essential oils or a doctor visit.
  • Paleo or convenience foods.
  • Homeschool for life or homeschool for now.
  • Time outs... Positive reinforcement... Or spanking?
  • And let's not even get into the decisions we make with our teenagers!

It never ends. As moms, we make thousands of decisions daily, big and small, and no matter where we look, our friends, family, media, and experts are all telling us (directly or indirectly) that we are doing it WRONG. The world shouts that out of all the choices, the one we made isn't the BEST. There's a better way...

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How to Pursue Excellence Rather than Perfection

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How to Pursue Excellence Rather than Perfection

Criticism is something I’ve battled my entire life. It came from extended family members, friends, acquaintances, leaders, and even strangers.

My earliest memory dealing with it was as a small child. Being criticized for being a female while all my cousins and siblings were males was constant. Growing up in a family where my extended relatives praised males was challenging. I never felt enough, no matter how hard I tried.

As a young adult, I worked under a leader who didn’t fully agree with women in ministerial roles. I found myself receiving the same sort of criticism I did as a child. Nothing I did was ever good enough, and every time I opened my mouth, I was told I said something wrong. I was given clear instructions, followed them exactly, but somehow I was still critiqued. It was constant, and it was heartbreaking. It crushed my spirit.

Proverbs 15:4 says, “Gentle words bring life and health; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.”

During this season of criticism, my heart developed a struggle with perfectionism. I felt like everything I did, everything I said, and everything I sought after had to be perfection. If it was, then I wouldn’t hear the stinging words of criticism.

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