One thing we have been walking through as we work toward our goals, is the idea that nothing happens overnight. For every plan, there are preliminary steps that have to happen to make the end turn out properly. The bigger the plan, the more prerequisite steps.
In order to go to Israel, we have to first […]

We should have crises more often. They can be very encouraging. Folks that have sane, quiet lives may never have the opportunity to be encouraged in the way I have recently. Of course, they may never have the need to be encouraged as I have needed, but still.
The first several weeks of morning sickness […]

My ponderings over the last few weeks have led me to begin a journal to correspond with the beginning of the new year. After praying about exactly what type I would like, I chose this plain, hardbound book with unlined pages, and am almost giddy thinking of all the potential it and the year hold. […]

The last few days our house has been spotless. But, being that my definition of spotless includes everything being in its place all at one time and being clean as well, it is not hard to understand that, while this state has at one time or another in the past been witnessed in our home, […]

Funny thing about that Old Grey Mare ~ she is just not the same as we remember. Yet, she insists that it wasn’t her that moved. Upon close inspection, I realize that if she is the one who has remained constant, then Mr. Visionary and I must have changed. Have we changed, or […]

 
Had I not previously been nine months pregnant seven times over, I would surely have thought that these were the longest two weeks of my existence. Granted, they were indeed fifteen of the l.o.n.g.e.s.t. days in quite some time, and we are a bit worse for the wear, but Mr. Visionary’s trip to Israel […]

Six months they will be on the road. Living in a bus and sleeping in a new place nearly every night would seem to be discomfiting to these kids, yet they were the happiest, most well-adjusted children I have ever met. Ugandan orphans who travel the world singing and raising the money that supports them, […]

As I begin this post, I feel led to remind you, gentle reader, that it takes a certain level of humility to engage in full disclosure in such a public arena. What I am about to share, I do because I feel compelled to in order to encourage and inspire others to tackle the difficult […]

Standing at the far end, I survey the lay of the land, noticing the steep cliffs on either side, assessing the dangers, and developing my strategy for passing through this area unscathed. I quickly suck in my stomach, perch on my tippy-toes and begin the journey, slowly sliding sideways, as the gorge is too narrow […]

I bought laundry detergent. I sold my chickens, too. One cow is gone, so is 99% of my RSS feed list of daily reads. I ditched the Greek curriculum and unit studies, but acquired two newborn calves, and an automatic cat-food feeder. Trying to figure out the common thread here?
I mentioned here that our going […]

During the last 48 hours or so, as Mr. Visionary and I have had our opportunity to partake of the gastroinstestinal virus that has been passed through the family, I have had much time to stare at the ceiling (or the bathroom flooring) and consider. As I laid there mulling over how advantageous it is […]

Systems are good. They work for McDonald’s, large families and human digestion. The more planned-out and  prayed-over  the system, the greater the benefit from using it. The more variables involved in any given process, the more necessary a system becomes.  If even folks like the Duggars, who have crafted for themselves a life apparently void […]

I really hate the old Southern saying, “Even a blind hog can find a few acorns”. Maybe because it sounds so dreadfully stupid in a southern drawl, maybe because I have heard it so many times it has lost its meaning. The worst part is that I think I’m discovering the truth in it.  I […]