Work In Progress…

My life always seems to be a series of projects.  So much to do and so little time to do it.

Apparently my daughter has inherited this obsessive tendency.  Albeit noble in nature, I fear her projects will consume her life and her sanity.  She has decided that it is essential to her pursuit of college to begin an organization for community outreach.  So far she has been successful in retaining a handful of volunteers, including her older sister, research into the various community service organizations located within an hours drive, and a schedule for herself.  Yes, she has a very good start.

Next she has decided that it is a social must to organize a knitting club for her and her friends.  Yet to be determined are the times, frequencies, and places of meetings.  We all know that she must have something additional to fill her blank spaces of time.

And finally is the current goal of extreme importance. That is to say, earning money.  If she continues her current babysitting jobs, she will need “$x” by October (date precisely determined by her with reasons unknown to the rest of us) in order to complete Driver’s Education and obtain her driving permit.

I’m proud of her self-motivation and work ethic.  My doubts lie in where do I help her draw the line when it is so blurry for me as well?   We’ll see how this plays out over the course of the next few months.

God is good!!

The weather was perfect until we packed it all up.  As soon as the van was loaded to take things to charity, the rain came…and it hasn’t stopped since.

I sold a bed to a freshman that was leaving for college the next day.  The dryer was purchased by a father whose son just lost his dryer in a flooded basement.  Examples of the people that needed things we had.  I didn’t sell some of the homeschool curriculum I was hoping to sell.  And then I received a call from a friend considering homeschooling.  Example of a person that needs to borrow something that I have.

We kept our energy.  We kept our sanity.  We made lots of money.  We got rid of lots of clutter.

God answers prayer.

The first day was fairly successful. We had a steady stream of people all day and between the two families cleared over $500. I was able to unload a washer, a bed, and a couple tables.  The problem is we still have a lot to sale and the stuff is NOT coming back!  On the homeschooling end, Saxon Alg1/2 is the only big item that sold yesterday.  Let’s see what goes today.

I’m exhausted, but it’s almost over.

Well it’s the 11th hour of yardsale preparations. We have managed to go through the entire apartment and the storage unit in just two months. Praise God!! He kept me organized and my mind clear! I can hardly believe it! We won’t be able to see the total fruits of our labor until we load everything up on the donations truck at the end of Saturday.

So, for whoever is interested…

The 11th Hour To-Do List

• Get Opening Change from Bank
• Post signs around town
• Pray for no rain tonight
• Make countless trips from storage and home to yardsale sight (this mutli-family yardsale is being held at a friend’s house)
• Price any unpriced items
• Get large van and transport large items to yardsale sight
• Bake banana bread and coffee cake to sell tomorrow morning
• Make one last sweep through the apartment
• Confirm arrangements for children’s activities
  • DD take DS to piano
  • DH drop off DS to Camp
  • DD’s babysit
• Pray, pray, pray for God’s blessing over this yardsale for those buying and for those selling!!!

Wow, I did it again. I managed to get myself so busy that I couldn’t update my blog. I’m so sorry for my lack of faithfulness here. So, as a teaser, I’ll list the things that I have on my blog to do list.

• Daughter’s new project
• Death in the family
• Tubing!!
• More on yardselling
• Homeschool updates
• Daughters in mission
• Mini vacations

This one’s for you Ginger…the other side of the lake yesterday afternoon, only a tad closer than the winter pic.

I tried brightening it up a bit here.

How many times did you have to write an essay on this topic? In the sport of back-to-school and considering we are already back to school here, I’ve decided to write a short bit on my summer vacation.

Normally one would think of a vacation destination as a sunny beach or an amusement park containing all of the commercial themes, characters, and shops expected of such over-priced, over-crowded places. Or maybe a tropical paradise reached by a 110,000 ton ship containing all of the finest dining. Or how about a mountainside with crisp clean streams and breathtaking views. Well, at least that’s what one might think. My family likes to do the unexpected.

The week was both action packed and relaxing. There were many activities to do for the entire family. During the day, we enjoyed lazer tag, miniture golf, movies, arcades, paintballing, swimming, and shopping. Our hosts for the week were very welcoming and lovely to be around. They provided us with a warm environment to relax after a full day of activities. This cozy bungalow had two bedrooms, a full kitchen, bath, laundry, and satellite television and was located in a scenic mid-western town. The adults enjoyed a nice cup of coffee under the trellis every morning.

It was a wonderful week. Oh, and meet our hosts, Salvador and Willie…

Joy. Joy in suffering. I sit and reflect on the message from our church service yesterday morning.

Philippians 1:12-24. Because of Paul’s circumstances three things happened,
1. Jesus Christ is made known;
2. Jesus Christ is preached; and
3. Jesus Christ is exalted/magnified.

Paul rejoiced in his circumstances/sufferings because his focus was not on himself, but on Christ. And because Paul’s focus was on Christ, God was glorified. Paul knew Jesus’ love for him and he knew Jesus’ sufferings on his behalf. “To live is Christ, to die is gain.”

This morning I learned that a very, very dear woman, friend, wife and mother lost her battle with breast cancer last week. Because I’m 500 miles away, It is still surreal to me. On the one hand my heart aches and on the other it rejoices. If ever God brought to completion a good work, it was Shannon.

The day I met her, I was attending a corporate Christmas party with my future husband. It was the first company function he had attended accompanied by a date after his divorce. It was a miserably uncomfortable place for me to be. That is until we sat down to dinner with Scott and Shannon. This couple didn’t advertise their faith, but were welcoming and kind. And that is how every encounter I had with her continued, on the receiving end of hospitality and kindness. She shone that light in the midst of darkness.

Through her sufferings, both physical and emotional, she never lost hope. She never lost joy. She knew she would leave a loving husband and two young precious daughters behind. But she never lost joy. She continued to homeschool, she continued to be a prayer warrior as much for others as for herself.

So as my heart aches for this new void in the world I remember the words of the author of yesterday’s service, “Don’t ask ‘why?’, ask ‘to what end?’”. God is exalted by her life and by her sufferings. She will remain an inspiration to me until the end of my days. Shannon, you are loved and missed.

Article about Shannon: http://www.courierpress.com/news/2006/sep/09/deepening-of-faith/

Yesterday, during our observance of Independence Day, we attended our library’s annual presentation of “We the People”.  Each year a group of people from the library and community dress in costume and read excerpts from the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.

While we gathered and sang patriotic songs, listened to readings of our country’s foundational documents, poems, and other presentations, the kids were able to relate to our recent Tapestry studies.  Over the last two weeks we’ve discussed the Presidency of John Adams and his difficulties including following a great man like George Washington, dealing with the French Revolution, and opposition of his Vice President Thomas Jefferson.  And yesterday they were able to see and hear George and Martha Washington, quotes from John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and more.  What divine timing.  I only wish I had pictures to share.

Due to vacation, we stretched this week over 2. We also began working in our other subjects and developing a schedule.

I’m still working out the kinks of discussion time. It’s difficult for me to avoid lecturing. We are using Fridays as our discussion times. This particular week took us 3 hours to cover D/R history, R literature, D/R church history, and R philosophy. Not bad, but like I said, a lot of lecture.