The Blessings Rise

I've been thinking a lot about Proverbs 31:28 these days.  The first half of it says, "Her children arise and call her blessed."  What I've been wondering about is when the blessing will come?!  Because right now, I'm in the stage of life when my children just arise and call me.  In the middle of the night.  In the middle of an argument.  In the middle of a new discovery.  "Her children arise and call her..."  And in reality, they usually want me to "arise."  They're comfortable right where they are and have no regard for whatever I might be engaged in.  In that moment, I'm expected to rise and come to them.

So, it's helpful to remember the blessings of this season...even though the verbal blessings of my children will likely come (way) down the road.  Blessings:  The opportunity I have to comfort in the middle of the night.  The opportunity I have to influence in the middle of an argument.  The opportunity I have to celebrate in their new discoveries.  The fact that I have children to interrupt and disrupt me in the first place is a blessing I try not to lose sight of...because "I prayed for this child (these children, in my case), and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."  (I Sam 1:27)

And I can take immediate solace in the remainder of Prov. 31:28.  The whole thing reads, "Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her."  For the blessings that often seem absent from my children, my sweet husband more than makes up for them!  Truly, I am blessed.

Things I've Learned at the Kardia Academy

Well, we wrapped up our school year a couple weeks ago!  I haven't been so excited about summer break since I was a kid!  Now that I have all this free time (ha!), I've been trying to process this past year.  I'd like to bring it to you all neatly packaged with lots of pictures and witty captions, but that's just not going to happen.  So here are some unfiltered thoughts.  If I can find the time to do it, more may come later.

1) We did it!!...and for the most part, I enjoyed it!  Like most homeschoolers, I am alternately plagued with feelings of "I can do this!" and feelings of "what ever gave me the notion that I could do this?!"  It's led to lots of dependence on God, communication with Eric and cooperation with Sandra.  Good things.

2) I thrive on structure.  I don't mean structure in the sense that every minute is planned.  I tried that kind of schedule in college and it just didn't work for me.  I need a good skeleton to work with, though.  (This fact has actually been confirmed since school ended and we haven't really had much structure to our days.  Working on that.)

3) By and large, our homeschooling goals were accomplished.  Namely, a more relaxed schedule, more time together as a family and more time for Sandra to just be a kid.

Okay.  That's it for now.  Nothing too profound, I know.  Here are a couple cute picture for you, though.  My kids went to VBS in GA with their cousins Trey, Denver and Gabe.  Fun times!

Plate-Spinning Management

Time.  We all have the same amount of it...yet how can people approach it so differently?  How can some people seem to fly through their days with large quantities of time spent in productive (or at least seemingly productive) activities?  How can some people juggle family life and having a career (either inside or outside the home)?  In the midst of all this, how do I determine what I should be spending (I mean, investing) my time doing?

One thing I've come to realize about myself is that I'm a simple person.  I would like to think that I can multi-task in such a way as to keep 100 plates spinning, giving each the focused attention and energy they need to never wobble...much less come crashing down.  But the truth of the matter is that I just can't.  And it doesn't seem very helpful to compare myself to those "other women" who seem to be able to spin those plates with grace and ease.  (I know, I know...this is probably not their reality...but they sure do a convincing job of making me think it is!)

So, I have to decide what plates are important to God, to me, to my husband, to my kids during this particular season of life and just focus on those.  Right now, it seems that these are my plates.

Don't get me wrong.  There are other plates.  My house needs to be cleaned.  Meals need to be made.  I enjoy time to myself or with friends (sans kids) from time to time.  But here are the priorities.  I can take some of those other plates and put them away.  I'll get them out when I need to and use them, but I don't need to keep them spinning.