Confession time . . . I thought diagramming sentences was fun!

(GASP!)

I know, I know, I'm a bit strange.  But I couldn't help it!  I loved the predictability of parts of speech.  Algebra gave me hives, but my love for words and organization and rules made diagramming sentences a perfect fit for my dorky, wordy, essay writing self!

Unfortunately, my dear oldest son does not feel the same way.  He prefers . . . ummmm. . . Ninjago and netflix!

Thus yesterday's lesson on adverbs left me with a serious tension headache and him without video games. 

I wish I could say this is a rarity - that homeschooling is usually a precious time of bonding, smiling, and enjoying the gift of learning together.  But that would be a lie.   Homeschooling is hard.  Parenting is hard.

Although yesterday I felt like I was going to have a mental breakdown, God's mercies are new every morning and today went much better.  My boys worked diligently, listened respectfully, and completed their schoolwork quickly.   I desperately wish that was because last night in my sleep I had a vision that laid out the perfect recipe for homeschooling and behavioral bliss.  Ha!  When I woke up this morning (after actually dreaming about talking dogs and snow that turns into food - don't ask!) my sons and I were still human.  Still sinful, broken, selfish people. 

So today before we started our day, Caden and I took a walk.  I apologized for my stressed out impatient attitude yesterday.  I explained why Josh and I require that he do schoolwork that he hates and why we expect obedience.  I reminded him that I love him so much and my desire is to obey God by doing my very best to prepare him for adulthood.  I explained that I want him to be able to do WHATEVER God calls him to as an adult!  He was sweet and told me he understood and apologized for his behavior.


So, we both entered our day reminded of and grateful for Jesus' grace and forgiveness and desiring to love each other better throughout the day.

Tomorrow is another day.  Maybe it will be a day like today . . . or maybe it will be more like yesterday.  Either way, I am grateful that God never gives up on me.  He's patient with my failures as I am learning to be more like Him.  Thank you Jesus.  I promise to keep fighting the good fight!

Josh and I have often joked about how our family could have it's own reality tv show.  When you spend so much of your life in the car, you find interesting ways to entertain yourselves (think: bizarre versions of "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" and ridiculous games of "I'm Going To Grandma's House").  Not to mention all of the craziness that comes from a family of four living in 150 square feet.  We spend a lot of time acting silly, laughing, and adventuring off the beaten path.

However, had a camera crew been following us around last week, I'm certain they all would have turned in their two weeks notice and went looking for greener pastures.  Between Thursday the 4th and Tuesday the 8th, we traveled 1100 miles, loaded in and out of a hotel (cleaning up puke in the hotel that night), moved the trailer twice (involved a couple hours of work both for set up and tear down), spent four nights awake either throwing up or dealing with the one throwing up, slept very few hours, did dozens of loads of laundry, and dealt with dramatic ministry dilemmas!

Wednesday the sun came out, though!  We were confident by then that the stomach bug had passed and that afternoon God answered some  ministry prayers in big ways!  By the time we made it to our church service Wednesday night we felt renewed and extra excited to praise God with brothers and sisters in Christ!  We enjoyed a blessed night of worship that left us feeling refreshed and renewed!

Yesterday, we enjoyed a relaxing day off as a family! 

It's amazing how in our moments of trial, life can feel like it's too much to bear and yet God's mercies are new every morning!  Great is His faithfulness!

In light of the fact that we will soon be in this same city, at the same RV park, getting ready to minister at some of the same churches, AND I'm preparing to go to Ohio to visit my cousin again . . . AND we just suffered a stomach bug a week ago, this seemed like a very appropriate "throwback" post.  Enjoy! ;)

Lions and Tigers and the Stomach Flu, Oh My!
original post Feb. 3, 2015

Hello again,
I am home safe and sound from my trip to Ohio.  It was an...interesting week.  Actually it was a wonderful visit with family, even with the stomach bug I caught in the middle of the week!  My cousin called me when I was at the airport ready to head her way to warn me that the stomach flu was going through their house.  Perfect timing for a visit. ;)  Wednesday I was pretty sick, but it lasted less than 24 hours and honestly if I had to be sick, it was nice to do it in a cozy home with a couch and real bathroom rather than our trailer. :)

The boys did great while I was gone.  They did schoolwork, booking, guitar practice and even fit in a bit of video game time.  I missed them horribly, as always, and was so glad to come home to them (although saying goodbye to my family in OH is always so hard too).

I mentioned in my last blog that we were headed to the zoo on our day off.  Our zoo trip got off to a rough start with Noah cutting his neck pretty bad (it's hard to even describe how that happened, but indeed it did).  He recovered quickly though, as he always does and we were able to enjoy our time off together.

This past Sunday morning was another wonderful morning of ministry.  We were blessed to connect with yet another church that we believe will be a long term ministry partner.

This week we're back to "normal" life again. School, booking, practice...Oh wait, I forgot the leak in our trailer (thank you very much Boise for your freezing temperatures last fall!) that Josh spent all afternoon yesterday and all day today trying to fix.

Just another week;)

Last Sunday

Oh Man!  I'm not in Kansas anymore, Toto!  Brrrr

I did not expect this to be so much fun!

Wednesday evening's meal of choice / Thursday evenings Listerine pedicures.  (Yes, it really was Listerine.  Our toes were minty fresh!)

 Lots of guitar players came out of the woodwork Sunday morning! :)

drip! drip! drip!

You know, the other side of the mountains. . . and it feels like the other side of the world.

This time one week ago, I was tromping through 18 inches of snow and 12 degree temps to chase my mammoth of a puppy. 

Then we went to Seattle for a few days.  We tolerate the traffic because we love the people there!

Now I'm sitting in an air conditioned (thank goodness!) coffee shop in California.  It is 75 degrees outside and I'm melting! - can I just say again, Our life is sooo weird!

I'm not going to write much because my brain is not functioning on all cylinders.  I just wanted to let you know that we are still alive, although there have been moments in the past few days that I think we would have rather not been.

On the way to California, Noah got sick (I'm talking "middle of the night wake you up puking in a hotel" kind of sick).  Then we managed to pick up our trailer and get it to the RV park before this lovely stomach virus hit Josh and then Caden.  Basically, we have all been awake most of the night for the past four nights!  Add that to some pretty intense ministry difficulties and we are feeling a bit weary.  Pray for us, will you?

We are still here though, trucking along!  God's grace is sufficient and we know our trials are small compared to the trials of many we know. 

I'll try to write something a bit more upbeat next time.  I promise! :)