A Hopeful January

Hello friends, and welcome to the newsletter. I hope you have had a wonderful week with your families.

January has been nice for us so far. It’s not been too hot or too cold. I love how the days are growing longer each day. I’m settling into a nice winter rhythm. I also have a lot of hope for the future.

Sometimes it feels difficult to have hope when we see the state of our world. But I’ve decided to instead concentrate on the good things God has given me, and my purpose here.

Our purpose is to live for the Lord each day, and to do the things He has asked us to do. There is so much hope and purpose in this even if we don’t have a family to take care of. We can serve the Lord by following His will for our lives, and by ministering to the needs of others.

If we do have a family at home, we have even more opportunities to serve God by serving others. They are with us day in and day out, and I know that I am working as unto the Lord when I take care of them.

I have hope knowing that my life is in God’s hands, and there is no safer place to be.

We can have hope at all times if we are alive. This in and of itself proves that we have a purpose and reason for being here.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 15:13

Relating to Our Children While Homeschooling

“Relating closely with my children gives God many opportunities to teach me patience and love. My patience can grow when I have tried various ways to explain a lesson, but my student still has a blank look. Or when I thought a concept was learned, but I discover at test time that my pupil has not yet mastered it. God teaches me patience when the clock goes faster than the lessons, and He tests my love when I’m tempted to say a sharp word.

God is teaching me the power of words to express love and appreciation. Though the words may be simple, they inspire a child to reach for a higher goal.

Educating my children at home has enhanced my communication skills. In order to teach, I have to communicate. Day after day as I share and explain, I am developing my own ability to use words. In our continuing relationship, we also share with each other in various areas besides school lessons.

Flexibility is a gem in homeschooling. Either be flexible or burn out! My tendency to be rigid made this a tough lesson, but God never promised easy ones. Flexibility makes us more useful to God as we learn to allow Him to exchange our plans for His.

Maintaining a schedule keeps us balanced in our flexibility. Flexibility that deteriorates into chaos is not productive. God needed to refine my character so that I would be sufficiently self-disciplined to keep a structure to the day’s activities in spite of interruptions and unexpected changes in my plans.

God’s school has also helped me develop organizational skills. Organizing the household is an important priority for a smooth homeschooling experience. Assigning responsibilities to various children, keeping records and papers filed, maintaining order in the house (including the schoolroom), and managing the laundry, cooking, sewing, gardening, and canning certainly give plenty of opportunity to learn ato organize. Setting goals helps organize our thoughts and are in relation to where we want to be. Goal setting has become an important part of our school day.”

-from Homeschooling with Joy, Compiled by Frieda Thiessen, pp. 68-70

Homestead Happenings

Hello friends, and welcome to our homestead. I hope you have had a good week in your home!

My husband is getting close to finishing the tile around our new woodstove area. It is looking fantastic. There are a lot of boxes and trash on our porch right now, so I will be very happy when all of the construction work is done. It looks like it will be soon.

One side of the tile is completely finished, and I was able to move my china cabinet back where it belongs. It was hanging out in the living room, and I much prefer it where it originally went. I guess this is one small step to normalcy.

I did want to start working on our floors after the woodstove is in, but I think we are moving to some outdoor projects instead. I must admit that it will be nice to have the indoors back to “normal” for a while. It can be difficult living in a construction zone.

I have wanted to go outside and do a bit of work in my garden, but it has been too rainy. I hope to lay down cardboard in my raised garden beds to discourage weeds in the spring. Hopefully I will get to this soon.

I have been organizing the house little by little. I’ve actually really enjoyed doing it. I’m so thankful for the home the Lord has given us. I finished organizing my little girls’ room a couple of weeks ago, and now it feels so nice to have our home mostly organized.

I hope to put in my first seed order this week, which is very exciting. I will be starting a few early varieties under grow lights in a couple of weeks!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this short update from my home to yours!