Seasons

Tonight I was at Elijah's soccer practice and one of the Ladies was asking everyone what they were having/had for dinner. I said I had a peanut butter and chocolate croissant as I was unloading the dishwasher. She said, "I'm glad my family isn't the only one who eats like that."

Well, we don't always eat like that. Right now we are in one of those "seasons" where we eat a lot on the go or quick and easy foods. We are gone 3-4 nights out of the week and busy like everyone else, so we do what's easiest on any given day of the week. It's not always been this way, but I truly believe we go through seasons.
There have been seasons where I cook 3-5 nights a week, staying mostly home in the evenings and it was a good season. Their have been seasons where we ate at home because we simply couldn't afford to eat out. Our current situation which is crazy and only getting crazier ensures that I don't cook a lot. It's really not worth the effort.

My current season has me home schooling the kids. It has been an amazing season and I pray that it will continue to be. We eat a lot of meals together, more than a lot of families, because we are in a season where that works. I get to have a lot of random conversations with my kids, that if they were in a "regular" school, I would miss out on. I am enjoying seeing them grow into their personalities. I should clarify that just because we get to eat a lot together doesn't always mean we have a lot of conversations at the table. Sometimes at lunch we are all there, reading books while we eat...and I love that my kids are such avid readers that they WANT to read during lunch. (And on a side note, I LOVE hearing my kids giggle and laugh at the books they are reading, it makes my heart smile!) It gives me a little mini-break in the middle of the day, where I don't have to talk or teach. Some nights at dinner we even (gasp) watch a show together while we eat.

We all have seasons in life that we go through, seasons where we volunteer a lot at Church and seasons where we just can't. Seasons where the house stays really clean and seasons when you have to let it go to focus on bigger priorities. We have seasons where we are able to eat together as a family and seasons where schedules are too different and it's hard. Seasons where we can be home with the kids and seasons where we have to work. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 tells us there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.

I say, no matter what season you are in, make the most of it, let the guilt go and know that you are not alone. Some seasons are harder than others and some seasons you breeze through. The important thing in all seasons is to keep God first and the rest will fall in place.

I didn't realize

So, today the craziness began...I had an appointment with the realtor to talk about putting the house on the market. I thought I was prepared and ready for it.

What was unexpected was the amount of stress I felt when I woke up! I immediately went into a frenzy, cleaning and organizing and doing those last few things I had forgotten to do yesterday. Which, of course, stressed me out more. I worked for three hours on the house doing little things, moving things from here to there, sweeping the kitchen floor and making sure the kitchen was clean. Then I ran out to Target to get some croissants and fruit so I would have something to offer her. As we were driving away from the house Elijah said, "I forgot my shoes!" Really?! He's lucky he said something before we got too far or he would have been walking around Target with no shoes and I wouldn't have cared at all (except maybe a tiny bit because it was cold this morning!).

Anyway, we get to Target and they didn't have exactly what I wanted, so I settled, as we were walking toward the check out Elijah ran over my ankle with the cart. IT HURT! I was so upset and ready to cry at that point. He felt terrible, I didn't fuss at him or anything, but they could feel the stress I was under. I felt horrible for them.

We got home and I fixed myself a croissant, adding chocolate to it and poured a huge glass of mellow yello, chilled for a minute and then went and worked on school with the kids. Kayla said a few minutes later "I think the soda is helping." Yep, it was so bad that she could tell the caffeine was helping me to relax.

I should stress that I was not stressed about the realtor herself coming, Jen helped us buy our house and I LOVE working with her. She is amazing. I think I just all the sudden felt overwhelmed by the whole process. By the time she got here I was totally fine, excited to see her and talk about the house. I was very thankful that she didn't give me a long list of things that need to be done!

Did I mention, that I totally forgot to offer her anything to eat or drink? Yep, it was one of those days.

I still feel a bit overwhelmed with the whole process of moving to another country and the sorting and organizing of what goes, what stays and what do we get rid of. But, God is in control and everything will work out exactly how it should and I need to let it go.

Now, I am going to take the kids out to play in the 40 degree cloudiness and let it all go. Eventually I will come back in and figure out what to make for dinner (although I really don't want to mess up my clean kitchen!)

By the way, there will be a fabulous new listing on the market this weekend, in the Steele Creek area ;)

A New Adventure

So, about 3 weeks ago I was talking to Matt and he said he had a phone call from the Unit Chief (head of all international staffing) asking him to consider a job in Turkey, Japan or Athens, Greece. His initial reaction was "no" to all three. But, we started talking about the pros and cons, prayed about it and talked some more.

 

We have been praying for God to open doors for Matt in his job. We have been praying for a long time. Since before we moved back to Charlotte. So, while we were debating Matt finally said, this has to be our open door. In his job, you don't get called into a position, you apply and may the best man or woman win. When we moved to Nairobi he applied and got it. When we moved to Singapore we got a phone call and the assistant to the unit chief asked him to consider moving to Singapore, we had the weekend to decide. It was a very obvious open door. I'm not sure why we didn't see this as such right away, but it's obvious that it is. The Unit Chief HIMSELF called Matt. He told him if he didn't want any of these jobs, to let him know, not just dismiss it, because he wants him to stay overseas. That is where Matt's strength lies and his unit chief realizes that. If nothing else it was confirmation that Matt is good at his job.

 

If Matt decides not to take one of these jobs, is only other choice is to be in Charlotte, stuck in a job he does not like, until such a time as a job that he would want comes open. Matt has a list of places he would love to go, but none of these were on his list.

 

But, when God speaks and the door is open, you have to make a decision. You can choose to walk through the open door, being obedient. Or you can close the door and go your own way. I had done a tour of Turkey before and while I enjoyed the tour, I wouldn't want to live there. We had also been to Hong Kong Disneyland, but wouldn't want to live in Japan. In both places we would have to learn the language and I'm not good with languages.

 

So, in case you haven't figured it out yet, we picked Athens, Greece.

 

Main details:
We are leaving the last week of May 2014.

We will be living there for three years.

We are putting our house up for sale.

We will come home and visit every summer.

Everyone we know who has lived there say the Greeks like Americans.

Everyone we've talked to that has lived there or visited has enjoyed it.

The kids were upset at first, especially Kayla, but as the days go on, they get more and more excited.

I'm sorry if this is the first you are hearing of this and that offends you...it's difficult to get the word out to everyone in a timely manner.

We would appreciate all the prayers we can get for a smooth transition.

We are excited about seeing Greece, we have studied it in school over the last few years and it will be exciting to watch History come alive!

We will most likely be living in an apartment, and will know more in a few months.

You can plan your vacation to come see us!! We would love visitors!!!!

Obviously the downside is being so far from family and friends. We will take our Vonage phone with us and you can call if you want to (keeping in mind the time difference of course!). (I'm not quite sure of the time difference yet, but when I figure it out, I'll let you know!) I'm not trying to make light of the situation, we will miss you all terribly, but we will keep in touch.

This experience will continue to grow and stretch us beyond our comfort level.

You can follow us on this blog (keep me accountable to write more!), Facebook, send an email or send us notes through snail mail, we will answer any and all letters.

It's not easy to just up and move and go to a country where you have never been before. I'm not overly worried about it, I know Who goes before me.

 

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:11-13

Days like this

Today was one of those off days...you know what I mean...You start out with very little sleep, no energy and no motivation. It's not a good place to start out. Especially when you have a million things that need your attention. And, I homeschool the kids. Which means I have made a decision to teach them, on the good days and the bad, unless I am sick, and need to stick to the schedule so we are not finishing the school year in July! Well, I wasn't sick today, but I also had no patience and no motivation. I just wanted to get through what we had to get through and be done.

Today I am feeling overwhelmed with all that is on my plate. The funny thing is, the more overwhelmed and stressed you get, the less you feel like and actually do. The less you do, the more overwhelmed you feel. Most days I am very accepting with my lot in life. I chose to Home School and I have made many other choices that have led to where I am. Some days, like today, I'm not happy with anything. It pretty much doesn't matter what you say or do, I'm not going to be happy. On the days when I am wise, I recognize that no matter how I feel or what's going on, God is not surprised, He's brought me to this place and I have to choose how I am going to react, so on those days I handle things pretty well. And, the things I don't think I can handle all that well, I let them go.

Today, I let my mood dictate over eating and lack of patience...but I did finally wise up. Elijah asked me to sit on the couch with him and watch tv, so I did! It was great to have cuddle time and it's hard to be stressed and overwhelmed when you are cuddling with your baby. If I had been wiser I would have recognized this morning that it would have been in my best interest to blow off school and get some things done around here and then had more time to relax, but lesson learned.

Here's praying that tomorrow will be better!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Not humorous

I was told today that I am not humorous. The person who said it was dead serious and totally thought that was me. It really bothered me, so I am going to write about it here and hopefully let.it.go!
I can see where this person is coming from, as this person almost always sees me outside of my comfort zone. It also made me aware that even though I might be out of my comfort zone, I need to make an effort to smile more and appear to be happier.
I am not a happy all the time person, nor am I a troll who never smiles...I like to think I am somewhere in between. When I am in my comfort zone I cut up quite a bit (ask my kids!) and am quick to try and defuse a serious situation with humor. I love to laugh and I love to smile. But, it is impossible to walk around with a smile on your face all the time...So, to those who think I never smile...here are a few pictures of me in a more "natural" state...

 

And a few of these are even OUTSIDE my comfort zone...I don't like being up front in front of a crowd...but I found my smile.

So, how do people perceive you? Is it the truth? Or the truth as they see it. I am going to work on changing this person's perception of me, even though it will be difficult, but I am going to let it go. God knows my heart and that is what matters.

"A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver." Proverbs 25:11

Heaven is real

Today was an interesting day at Church. This morning our Sunday School class was talking about hell and how it is real. We have been working through the book The Gospel for Real Life by Jerry Bridges. We looked up the verse in Psalm 75:8 which states "In the hand of the Lord is a cup full of foaming wine mixed with spices; he pours it out, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to it's very dregs." We were talking about how God gave his one and ONLY Son to die on the cross...gave him the cup to drink of our sin, and even when Jesus asked His father, God, not to forsake Him, God turned his back on His Son, so OUR sins would be forgiven. Have you ever thought about how much Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice for you and me? It's very thought provoking, but it is so much more. How are we showing Jesus that we are grateful for Christ's sacrifice? Are we living a life that is pleasing to Him and telling others all about Him, so one day we can join Him in Heaven?  I've read the book Heaven is For Real by Todd Burpo, but, where is the book Hell is for real?? Because it is. How much do we really think about that? And, how does it affect our living? One day we are going to die and we will either go to Heaven or Hell...which way is our living leading us??

"Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

Matthew 10:39

An ordinary day

February 1, 2014

It has been about a year since my last confession...um, I mean post ;)

Life has been super busy and that is putting it mildly...but I am sure everyone feels the same way. Today I had the blessing of having a perfectly ordinary day with my kids. There was no where that we had to be, but I decided I wanted to go shopping. Ever since Elijah's doctor's appointment yesterday, where I noticed his tennis shoes are practically worn out (seriously surprised that his toe had not come through the material! No tread left on the top part of the shoe) it's been bugging me that they had reached that state and I had not noticed. He needed new tennis shoes and I needed to do something easy to mark it off my ever growing to-do list. So, we headed out to Kohl's this morning and he immediately picked a new pair of shoes, making it quick and painless. I love how decisive he can be! After that we headed to the mall, then the library and Target to get some groceries. We got home mid-afternoon and everyone was worn out.

It wasn't an overly exciting day, but we were thrilled to be out shopping, getting some deals and enjoying each other's company, not having to do anything or be anywhere.

It was nice to just be out of the house, away from normal stresses.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17