Daybook Entry

For Today...February 20th


Outside my window... Florida winter still, a breeze, cool 50's and sunshine in the afternoon, paradise

I am thinking... that as tired as I am, I love my quiet mornings with the Lord

From the learning rooms... My Father's World...we just love this curriculum. It has truly blessed my entire family with the sweet way it teaches our children and the fun it gives us in experiments. I also learned these past few weeks to just slow down! Training my children with peace is so much better than driving them crazy to be Einstein's. (And it's Friday, so it's science day!)

I am thankful for... the love of my life (my husband) and the lover my my soul (my Lord). I am also thankful the peace the Lord is teaching me even in uncertain times.

From the kitchen... still unsure on this way, it's just about breakfast time though and if it were up to my four children, it would always include fruit

I am wearing... nightgown, robe and house shoes (for just a little longer since on Friday's we have no place to be)

I am reading... Esther, It's Tough Being a Woman. It's a 10 week Bible Study at my Church

I am hoping... (same as the last few weeks, but God's timing is almost upon us and I won't give up on my Lord's timing) that my husband finds work this week and that we continue to grow in the Lord through this time of refinement.

I am creating... a cleaner home. I have been dedicating more time to this a bit every day instead of trying to cram it mostly all in one day.

I am hearing...the babies wake up and giggle at each other across their bedroom. They yell at the other one to wake them up and then they both pretend their bed is a trampoline and giggle and fall, giggle and fall, repeat over and over (it's very cute, but not very quiet anymore).

Around the house... the still-quiet of the morning is starting to break as each my children emerge slowly from their beds and the sun sets higher in the sky

One of my favorite things...reading and writing about simplicity

A few plans for the rest of the week... it's now almost the weekend, and we are having a dinner with some beautiful friends on Saturday. I can't wait!

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...


~ Sweet Surrender to the Moment ~

My Five Year Olds

I wanted to get some photos of my girls, so today we went in our back yard and just had fun playing with flowers and running through the grass.

A Blessed Birthday

Last weekend we spent my birthday with my family. My parents watched the kids for us while Dale and I went on a date. Later that night my family had a birthday party for me at the house. Thank you Mom and John!





Dale and I went to Cape Canaveral National Seashore for our date and it was beautiful! Breathtaking. I love how God romances us with beauty.



We were all so excited to be having Meema's lasagna
and homemade pineapple cake.


"There is no doubt that it is around the family and the home that all the greatest virtues, the most dominating virtues of human society, are created, strengthened and maintained” ~ Winston Churchill

I Shall Not Want

It has been hard for me not to want. With my husbands unemployment status we don't have enough money in the bank to pay the bills next month. How can I not want even just the money to pay our bills? The birds of the air are well fed, so shall I be? But with no money, how? And, yet I'm not supposed to worry about it? I don't want riches and glory. I only want the basic essentials. I'm not trying to be greedy. I'm just trying to be responsible to feed my family and pay the lenders we owe. So how do I not want that? How? How?

David penned the words himself....I Shall Not Want. (I Shall NOT...) I was begging of the Lord this morning to reveal to me exactly how this works. How can one be in such need and not want?

"After all (David) he had been hounded and harried repeatedly by the forces of his enemy, Saul, as well as those of his own estranged son, Absalom. He was obviously a man who had known intense privation: deep personal poverty, acute hardship, and anguish of spirit. - Therefore, it is absurd to assert on the basis of this statement that the child of God, the sheep in the Shepherd's care, will never experience lack or need." (taken from Phillip Keller)

I have my own personal story that can attest a twist to this a bit. We typically know what we want in life and we go after it. For me the desire was to adopt a third daughter. I wanted a third daughter with all my heart. The Lord opened a few doors and we had the referral of a beaming, beautiful 4 year old Asian child living in California. The day we thought we were booking airline tickets to go meet her and possibly bring her home, things changed. With the Lord's prompting and the family who had her deciding to wait on a decision, we had to walk away from this precious child, that had become the child of my heart. To say that this was painful would be an understatement. We had clothes and bedding for her. We tucked it all away, got on our knees and cried and asked Lord how to move forward. Within 2 days we had the referral of a 2 month old baby girl from Guatemala (that is yes, now our 21 month old daughter toddling around our house.) And when we saw her, yes, we knew that all along she was meant to be our daughter. But there is more. You see God had to take away what we thought we wanted (the precious 4 yr old child) to give us something else....something else we wanted so deeply that we did not even know the desire of our own heart. The Lord himself alone knows the deepest most intimate desires of our hearts and he chooses to bless us with those, even though we ourselves don't know what they are. For me, the Lord took away that precious child I thought I wanted and gave me, not only Lily (which I knew I wanted) but gave me a son. My son, he was the deepest longing desire of my heart and I didn't even know it, but God did.

There are times that the Lord is stripping us of things we cling to with much emotion. The stripping process is extremely painful. But what the Lord intends to give us is the desires of our hearts that we don't even yet know exist. My son is my constant reminder of this.

So the Lord is stripping me of much right now. He may strip me of our financial standings, of our home, of many things, but when it is all done, I will look around me and say "This is what I really wanted. The Lord knew where I needed to be and what I really wanted." So I am working on "I Shall NOT Want" because what I think I want is really, in the end, not really at all what I wanted.



(And, the beautiful, precious child we lost the referral of, is now adopted by some very sweet friends that dreamed of a daughter for many years. God also fulfilled the desire of their hearts. He has a plan and He DOES want to bless us, but sometimes it is not without painful stripping first.)



The Lord IS my Shepherd. I Shall NOT want.
~ Psalm 23 ~

What Really Matters?

Has not the one God made and sustained for us the spirit of life? And what does he desire? Godly offspring. - Malachi 2:15 RSV

I am learning so much about what really matters. I have so far to go, but I wanted to share a small tid-bit on my heart today. I struggle as a stay-home, homeschooling mom. I do struggle. It's not a fantasy. It's a calling and not everyday to I give my heart 100% to that calling. I am still a selfish human, still learning to surrender to my Shepherd. This simple verse though in Malachi is not really so simple. It states what God desires....he desires Godly offspring, not just offspring, not just cute, sweet, fun loving, eager offspring but GODLY offspring...that means we have a huge job to do. And as a homeschooling mom I am responsible for everything I choose to teach my children, what curriculum I buy, what/how much we do each day, redirecting our focus if it gets off course. I want my children to be anything they want to be in life. I want to give them the world....that is what most parents say right? But, I am re-dedicating my focus to give my children the Kingdom, that is so much better, so much more biblical than giving them the world.

Last week I was learning to Get Up and Start My Journey for the Day and this week I am learning to redirect my focus on my motherly and educational teachings, and remember what really matters...the Kingdom. God is coming soon and the sooner the better. I want our home to be ready to meet him face to face and say "we lived it all for you my King, all for you my Love."

Daybook Entry

For Today, February 2nd 2009

Outside my window... nice warm Florida winter and bright sunshine

I am thinking... that life is still a little too busy for me to properly train up my children

From the learning rooms... math only so far today, the babies were screaming way to much and I am seeking advice in this area from some been there, done that mom's. We may do some reading later today and the girls will make the salad for dinner tonight.

I am thankful for... my friends that prayerfully support me and for our homeschool co-op

From the kitchen... lasagna for dinner, that my mom made for us. We will be making homemade bread to go with it. I am still in prayer over this area in our life. It is so easy to overspend and over indulge because we can easily excuse our calling in this area to be good stewards by thinking it's okay since we need to feed our family. I am learning to really pray about this area and be a good steward without compromise.

I am wearing... yoga pants, burnt orange, long sleeve cotton tee and cozy socks

I am reading... A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by Phillip W. Keller, given to me by a friend a few years ago.

I am hoping... that my husband finds work this week and that we continue to grow in the Lord through this time of refinement.

I am creating... still working on schedules from last week, finding the right rythem for our family

I am hearing... my girls are actually arguing in the kitchen about how to properly sweep up the coffee grounds that spilled out when they toppled the trash can

Around the house... just as every afternoon, we have lots of toys out for the babies, the girls have artwork set up in the kitchen and I have clean linens sitting on my bed, waiting for it to be made up.

One of my favorite things... reading a good book and having a hot cup of coffee

A few plans for the rest of the week... a new schedule of therapy three times this week for Autumn.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...

~ This was taken during our date on Friday. ~

Thank you Peggy for helping us to focus on the simple things! Please visit Peggy's site to read more blogs @ The Simple Woman's Day Book.

Chinese New Year 2009

Our local Families with Chinese Children group hosted a picnic for our annual Chinese New Year Celebration. There was lots of wonderful food, great friends, grass to run through and a beach to play on.






~ January 25th 2009 on the Indian River ~

Down on the Farm

~ Homeschool CoOp Field Trip, January 23rd 2009 ~