Whenever the children come to me wanting to tattle, I encourage them to try to motivate or encourage their sibling to do the right thing, before ever coming to Mom. “Don’t jump the gun on the Matthew 18 thing… go through step one before step two.” It seems like a good plan most of the […]

As much as I’d love to say that things are back to normal now that Momma has left the couch, I am realizing that is not quite accurate. There does seems to be a new normal developing, though. It seems to be the usual plan after any season of crisis-mode living, and with my fickle […]

In the comments a few days ago, someone made a statement that has been bothering me ever since. Since “Things-I-think-about-when-I-can’t-sleep” is always good fodder for blog posts, and because I just don’t feel comfortable letting the statement just dangle out there unanswered, I will now attempt a justification response.
When Melanie said, “I am not sure […]

When my girlfriend called to force me into submission blackmail me offer her family’s services in our preparations for some friends visiting, I caved willingly accepted their help. I know her family, and have seen them in action before… they work really hard. So when she and her four teen daughters […]

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 […]

Here’s a question following up from the comments of this post:
I’ve been enjoying the dialogue on your blog about training children with managing their rooms. Once again, I’m amazed at the things I’m just now learning (b/c I was never taught), but now thankfully, I’m finding those “Titus 2″ women out […]

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 […]

It really is freeing. Getting rid of all our superfluous stuff makes the days run smoother and creates a peace in me that is addictive. After a season of thorough decluttering, I want to always live like this! Without the follow-up step to decluttering ~ that of keeping the stuff out ~ I […]

I know practical. I am a boring, no nonsense kinda gal. Although I can usually get the job done, there is often much to be desired in my fleshly modus operandi. I assess the bottom line and trudge in headlong without noticing or caring about the people in the process. But I am learning […]

His weeping was a wake up call for me. His shuddering sobs a reminder of what things are important. I had not wholly forgotten, but the severity of the consequences had faded in my heart. My hopeful sense of expectancy had somewhere, somehow over the years, grown colder. My aching fear had lessened to a casual matter-of-factness.

When, during an […]

I am quite sure it has gotten worse since we moved to the farm. In fact, I can hardly remember anything more than a rare occurence when we were city-folk. And it never happened at an innapropriate time…at least not often. Things are definitely regressing.

I am a very visual person. I can perfectly picture house […]

For which other activity would I be excited to drag seven small children out on a cold, rainy day? Election Day is one of my favorites of the year since moving to a smaller town, but I can assure you that my giddiness stems not from being thrilled about the candidates from which I have […]

A rumpled brow, a furitive glance behind each shoulder…then ‘the question’. With obvious trepidation in their voice and fully expecting the worst, they ask, “What do (gulp) the children think of her?”

If these folks could be a fly on the wall in my home…

“Hurry up you guys! Everybody come quick-she’s doing it!”

From every corner of […]

There are times when I am unsure if I am dreaming. Did I hear it or did I imagine it? In the early morning hours before I awake, I am half listening for it, half savoring the last few minutes of slumber before it comes. It always comes. Without respect for the day, the season, […]

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 […]

Somewhere between allowing our children to be spoiled Prima Donnas and forcing them to be slaving Cinderellas, are a billion methods for teaching and training children to do chores. While methods are outside the scope of this post, we all need some method. In times past, I have wavered between the guilt (helped along by […]

Tevye once said in Fiddler On The Roof, “And how do we keep our balance? That I can tell you in one word: tradition!” I know little (Ok, none) about fiddling on the roof, especially eight months pregnant, but I’ll agree that tradition can be a good thing.
Our children started conniving about planning this […]

My middle son has been reincarnated. Well, at least his personality has. It has appeared in  the form of his younger sister who is currently at the ripe old age of two and a half. What these siblings have in common is their tendency to be stormy toddlers. You know the ones: grouchy, easily offended, with […]

I am not buying it. Pressure or no pressure, it is not what is best for my family. It matters not to me how cute the crafts , how godly the curriculum, or who else is doing it. My kids are not going to Vacation Bible School. ( I can hear the gasps.)

I know it is not […]