Jim's 38th Birthday

 38 years Jim has been on this earth. It has been an amazing year. Jim has grown closer to God, closer to me and closer to our children. He is growing in courage and learning to be who God has created him to be.

With the pandemic Jim majorly stepped up and did an amazing job as we were unable to meet with the church for several months. We loved our family Sundays that included Bible study with breakfast, Systematic Theology study after kitchen clean up, watching our church worship from a far, and sermon discussion with lunch followed by family game and movie time. What an amazing job he did as we delved into going deeper with our children. While we don't do this all on Sunday now, it set us up for even deeper conversations after our corporate worship and Sunday School and gave us even more to discuss and teach in our week. This grew our family together in mighty ways and we have seen God doing amazing work because of the faithfulness of Jim to God's instruction to train up his children in the ways of the LORD. We're so blessed with an amazing spiritual head of our home.

I continue to see God welling in Jim a love for family ministry and training parents, especially fathers who work many hours, to train and disciple their children. It's a super exciting time as we work on plans to make a ministry to do just that. Jim is naturally shy, but as God expands His vision and shows Jim what He desires, Jim is growing in courage and love for following God and what He's calling him to even when it's hard. 

On top of this, Jim continues to work tirelessly at Piedmont in the PACU to provide for our family. God has been so gracious to provide far more than we ever expected with this job and still have a semi-normal schedule so that we have Jim on weekends and he's home Wednesdays during the week. He are so blessed to have a wonderful job that allows him to provide well and be present well for our family. 

We are beyond blessed! I'm so thankful for Jim and his incredible life. I love watching what God does as He grows Jim in Christlikeness. 

Father, thank You for Jim and his Godly influence on our family. Thank You that he loves Your Word and teaches our family straight from it without hesitation or reservation. Thank You that he teaches, trains and disciples. Thank You for the love he has for all of us. Please continue to grow him in Your strength and make him even more like Your Son, Jesus. Continue to lead Jim as he leads our family and teaches us what it means to follow You with all that we are. Thank You for Your continued provision, even in this strange year. Thank You for drawing us closer to You and to each other. I pray these things in Jesus's Name, Amen!

Our Eleven Year Old Lillian

Our first daughter, Lillian, is 11-years-old today. Her birth is one I have never forgotten. From the moment we knew she was in my womb, God used her life to show us that trusting Him and listening to His voice is the way to live.

Lillian is such a precious young lady and God has worked so much in her this year. It's been amazing to watch Lillian flourish into a young woman and learn to embrace who God has created her to be. During this year we have seen God save her and Lillian has grown so much in her faith. She's been studying the Word, memorizing James and Proverbs 31 and growing in prayer. God has given her a love for her home and she enjoys taking care of her little brothers and sister, cooking and baking and is learning to sew. This love is definitely from the LORD as we have seen such a change in focus since she was saved. It is beautiful to watch her light up as she talks about making things for her home now and when she grows up. She so desires to be a woman after God's own heart.

This year Lillian has grown so much in her baking skills. Cookies, cakes, pies, tuilles, cream puffs, muffins and just about anything else you can think of she is willing to try and usually succeeds at making on her first try. (Soft pretzels are a family favorite) Her flavors are amazing and her textures are right on. She does both traditional baking and baking with alternative flours and sweeteners and both are delicious. It was amazing that she developed her own blondie recipe made with alternative flour and sweeteners so that those with sugar sensitivities could enjoy. This year she is working on presentation and finesse as she decorates her cakes. She has also started selling cakes, so Lillian's Bakery has commenced.

Reading has also become very important to Lillian. When she's not baking she's usually reading. She enjoys her American Girl books and is working through The Baxter Family series by Karen Kingsbury. There are many other books she reads, but she goes back to those over and over again. 

Lillian also enjoys being outside. Whether reading in the grass, exploring our yard, picking flowers or helping Esther explore she loves to be out and about in nature. 

And people. She loves to be around people, especially other women. She is wanting to learn from those who have gone before and asks all kinds of questions. Lillian sees the value in asking questions and learning from others. It is such a blessing to see this in her. She has grown up so much this year and it is amazing to see how God is working in her and through her.

Father, thank You so much for our sweet Lillian. Thank You for the life you have given her and the joy and laughter she brings to our family and home. Thank You for the work You are doing in her to make her a woman after Your own heart, making her like Jesus. Continue to grow her in loving You, Your Word and Your Way. Teach her to hear Your still small voice and let her follow You wholeheartedly! In the Name of Jesus we ask these thing. Amen!

Eragon

Jim has been telling me for years to read the Inheritance series by Christopher Paolini, and this year I decided was the year to start it as I want to study different fantasy books to learn and write one myself.

Jim knew I would enjoy this book and he was not wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed delving in the the world of Alagaesia and following Eragon as he steps into a life he had never expected. A poor farmer boy raised by his uncle, Eragon finds a large blue stone while he's out hunting in the Spine and his life is forever changed. 

While I thoroughly enjoyed the world and the complexities of making your own world and magic system, the book was very predictable. I know there is a general outline for story telling and even more so for fantasy stories, but this was highly predictable and I definitely called much of the story as it happened. I'm still waiting to see whether some of my predictions are true as the story unfolds in the rest of the series, but most of the ones I made in the first book came to pass. 

That being said, I still enjoyed the story and will probably read this again in the future, especially if our children want to read it. For a first book written by a teenager, it is definitely well written and well thought through. I definitely felt with the characters and found myself cheering and booing internally as I read. It even brought tears a couple of times. 

If you enjoy fantasy books, I definitely recommend this one.

4 Stars 

Reading Challenges:

I'm using Eragon in the 2021 Reading Challenge by Tim Challies as a Book by an Author 30 or Younger in the Committed section

A Fiction Book for Fun in level 1 with 2021 Intentional By Grace Reading Challenge

A Book Chosen by Jim in the Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Life Challenge.

Five True Dog Stories

This delightful short read is part of our Core A curriculum with Sonlight.

This book, as the title indicates, has five stories about dogs who did heroic deeds to help humanity throughout the years. Each story had its own flare and you see how different types of dogs are geared for different things. It's neat to see dogs doing what God created them to do to help humans. One fought crime another worked to protect people crossing the Swiss Alps. It was a vast array even in five stories. 

Our children enjoyed these stories a lot with many laughs and a few tears. Each chapter was a quick and easy read so everyone could sit through a chapter without issue. This was a great read for the whole family to enjoy. 

4 Stars for this family read.

Reading Challenges:

I'm counting this as a book I've read before in the 2021 Intentional By Grace Reading Challenge. 

Our Seven Year Old Sam

 

Seven years. And what a seven years it has been since we welcomed our precious Sam into our arms!

This spunky, energetic boy has been a blessing from the start. His life brought about a new era in our family with God using Sam to push us into a deeper faith. God is still using him to do this. 

Sam loves life and loves everything in life. He wants to be a part of it ALL. When asked what he wants it is likely to change a dozen times in five minutes because he wants everything and enjoys everything. He wants to be in the middle of the party. He loves people. He loves making people laugh and Sam does this on a regular basis. His desire is to be happy and to make others happy.

Sam loves to watch anything and everything he is allowed to and then turn around and act it out for you. His memory for films is astounding and he quotes movies and educational videos left and right. He loves to learn and is growing in all his skills with books, but if he can watch it to learn it, he would rather do that. 

Right now Sam is growing in his reading skills and comprehension, basic math and writing. In the past couple of months he has really shown a deep desire to read and write and understand. It's so fun watching him put things together and get so excited that he figured it out. He is also really into schedules and calendars, desiring schedule and order, which is amazing to see in him. Sam also asks questions about anything and everything. He wants to know it all and his mind is a whirlwind of wonderings and musings and we enjoy hearing him come up with some funny ideas. He's so creative.

Sam is learning Bible and wants to know the things of God, though we have not yet seen salvation. He reads his Action Bible and talks through the stories with us. He is memorizing Scripture and growing in this. Right now he's working on James 1 and knows verses 1-8, along with other Scripture from catechism and Sunday School. It's amazing to see God working in him.

Some of Sam's preferred activities outside of movies are LEGOs, playing games and being outside. Being outside is at the top if the weather is nice. He loves to explore, pretend and imagine as he goes about our property. He does also enjoy playing in the rain when it's not storming. He loves being out in God's creation. 

Sam has a deep appreciation of food. There is not much this boy will not eat. From fish to chicken, apples to lemons, asparagus to zucchini, not to mention sweets he enjoys it all. And he loves to eat all the time. Food is definitely one of his favorite things. 

Sam keeps us on our toes and we are so thankful for this sweet young man that God has given to us. 

Father, thank You for Sam and how You have already used him to touch others. Please continue to grow him in wisdom and knowledge of You and bring him to Yourself. Continue to give him a deep love of people and of life and use that to show him yourself. Thank You for all You are doing in Sam and through Sam. We are so blessed by his life. In the Name of Jesus I pray these things. Amen!

Stories from Around the World

This delightful story collection is part of our Core P with Sonlight.

Stories from Around the World is a collection of stories that are based in different countries, just as the name suggests. This is probably our third time reading through this book and we all have enjoyed it every time. These stories give you a peek into different cultures, what they believe and value or they have life lessons like Aesop's Fables. 

This time around my oldest noticed themes and said with one of the later stories, "I knew they were going to get married." He found a common element among many of the stories. This is good for finding connectivity but I think he was also a bit annoyed by it. 

That being said, most stories valued hard work, doing what is right and looking out for others. While many of these stories are not even close to Christian, they did provide opportunities to talk about what God's Word says about the idea of the story. 

I would give this story collection 4 stars.

Reading Challenges:

I'm counting this book as a Book that Looks Easy to Read Level 2 in the 2021 Intentional By Grace Reading Challenge

The Mission of Motherhood

I have been trying to read this book for several years. I'd started it a couple of times, but because of the reflection questions at the end of each chapter I kept getting bogged down and not completing it. After realizing I just needed to read it, I finally sat down and did just that! 

The Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson is a book every mother needs to read. Nothing in this book was new to me, but her soothing tone along side her direct statements allowed me to receive these messages fresh and anew. Sally does a beautiful job of walking you through your roles as a woman, wife, mother and homemaker, grounded in Scripture. 

Sally lets you into her life. She talks about her struggles, her victories, her successes and her heartaches. She shares her work both at home and on the road and how she prays over what she does. Her children were still at home when this book was written, so it was definitely written from a more practical perspective.

One hard thing in this is some of her fun suggestions do feel a little overwhelming in my current child rearing stage of life. I love the ideas and I hope to work on incorporating them, but I also know that I can make these types of things work for our family that is twice the size of hers. 

On the whole I really enjoyed this book. I'm thankful for her candid view of motherhood and pointing to the eternal work that we are doing in raising our children. Since I read this over a few months I don't have excellent notes on everything but I do remember a couple of things bothering me from a Scriptural perspective, though I'm not sure what they are at this point. 

I do like that each chapter has Scripture and questions to think through as well as suggestions. This can be very helpful in any parenting season.

I would give this book a 4.5 star rating. I do think all mothers would benefit from it, but it wasn't quite five stars in my book.

Reading Challenges:

Tim Challies 2021 Reading Challenge I'm using this as a book on parenting in the Obsessed section of the challenge

Christian Reading Challenge 2021 with Jami Balmet I'm counting this as a book on Parenting/Family Life