Love Brightly

Home school is keeping us busy with fun activities like these book pumpkins! (I'll attempt an actual update on home school some other time). I got this idea from my friend Cheryl's blog Cutting Circles . As we learned about Fall, I looked for a fun craft idea that would meet some requirements for Kindergarten, and also look pretty cute displayed in my house. :) These pumpkins fit the bill perfectly. My Kindergartener traced and cut the pages from an old book. (She had several from which to choose as I'm in the midst of a closet clean-out project). She completed a dozen or so pages a day, which took her about 2 weeks. Spreading it out over time enabled her to master her cutting skills, and also built anticipation for the final results! We completed the remaining steps all in one day--gluing, spray-painting, and affixing the stick and ribbon. The girls enjoyed looking for sticks in our backyard. I found 2 scraps of green ribbon in my ribbon box (because I save ALL ribbon!...

I think it was the Cru ministry at Texas Tech that coined this term. At the beginning of the Fall semester, we want to gather freshmen. I know I quote this statistic every year in some form of prayer request or mailer, but it gets me every time: "80% of freshmen are open to the gospel within the first 2 weeks of classes, that number drops to 20% by week 6." Wow.   Statistics also show that the choices students make in college sets them on the path they will tend to follow for the course of their entire life. The first few weeks in a freshman's life is pivotal. So, like I said, we try to gather and meet as many freshmen as we can. One of our strategies is "The Big Something." Every year we mix it up a little bit in the details--it always has free food of some sort, and something fun to draw a crowd. We call it "The Big Something" while we plan for it because we don't know what the name should be until it comes together, but it is such a pillar in...

Since I never completed my post on how and why we chose public school, and since I DID write a post about our parent interview for private Christian school, many of you have asked, "What happened with PCA? Did she not get in? Was it too much money? Why didn't you choose it?" We loved every experience we had with PCA. The teachers, students, administrators--wow, they are the BEST--so respectful, enthusiastic and kind. PCA is like the fun of Disney World wrapped in the Holy Spirit. They integrate family and faith into their schooling and produce a truly stellar education. It was heart-renching to turn down their VERY GENEROUS financial assistance offer. But on the whole, we felt like it was not right for this time. Karl and I value "room for margin." We don't pack out our schedule, finances, or any aspect of life to the max because when we've done this in the past, it leads to more stress and less flexibility. If there's no room for margin in our ...

I held back tears as I walked into the school. While clutching my 8-page stack of papers, my hands trembled--partly with rage, partly with anticipation of confronting the principal. I shook my head while I said to Karl, "I never thought I'd be on this side of the table." I planned to never be THAT parent--the one complaining about my child's teacher. But after 2+ weeks of tears and fears, after a sham of a parent-teacher conference, I trudged into the principal's office with documentation of mental and emotional abuse--8 typed pages worth. If you (reader) are looking for a blog post to confirm your suspicions that public school is all bad, you will not find that here. I grew up in public school. I have walked through most of my life while my mother taught in public school. My sister followed. My aunts and cousins work for the public school system. And no doubt, if Karl and I had not joined the ministry, I would have served alongside them. And while yes, the syst...

Today, I am a window washer, by choice. Splatters of dry rain wipe away with one stroke. Transforming my view, I sigh, satisfied at the finish. Clean dishes, clean laundry, but the dirty closely follow. I work diligently. Perpetual tasks, fleeting results. Little arms I embrace. Little hurts I kiss away. Trifle disputes I settle. Throughout the day, I repeat. Far from the finish. What's my progress? Results not instant like window washing. But I will repeat my steps tomorrow. An army of ants in my bathtub, revealed as I lift away a towel. Again? I am weary. They swarm my sanctuary; I terminate. Insecurities, like ants, swarm my mind. Supposed gone, but You reveal. Again, Lord? You are faithful to terminate. You, O God, are my true sanctuary. Your living, unchanging Word. "Train a child in the way he should go..." I will. With Your help. Meager windows. I return my focus: My magnum opus, my lifework far from completion. Little arms I jo...

So as you know from my previous post , my Kindergartener has had a rough start. Today she said, "I liked school a little bit better today...but not a lot better." Then she said, "I feel like I'm dreaming. Whenever I walk past a mirror or some glass at school, I look at myself and think, 'I can't believe I'm already in school.'" [ ok, is it just because I'm her mother that I find not only her self-reflection but also her ability to articulate it pretty incredible? ] Then she looked me square in the eye and said, "What if I AM dreaming? Maybe you should pinch me." I smiled in wonder at her and said, "Baby Girl, you aren't dreaming." "How do you know?" [ What? Has she seen the movie Inception? My 5-year-old is contemplating whether her current reality is in fact reality? Again, I'm amazed by her. ] I replied, "Because I know that I am not asleep. I am not dreaming, and this is really happening, and...

Our "Baby Girl" started Kindergarten this week. She is all smiles in this picture. But pictures can be deceiving. Actually, she's been dreading the start of Kindergarten. She's cried at the thought of going. She had a wonderful school-like experience this summer, and she's missing her friends and teachers from there. She doesn't want to make a new start with all new people. She's afraid of learning her way around in new buildings and learning new rules. She doesn't want to leave mommy and her brother and sister during the day. All these things legitimately cause anxiety for us grown-ups when we are transitioning. We thought, "Once she has her first day, she will have so much fun, and that will ease her transition anxiety." But we were wrong. Her first day was terrible. All of the fears in her little mind came to fruition: she got lost in the hallway, she didn't make a new best friend "as good as Ivy, or Abby or Emma." Sh...