Homeschooling???

So I started reading this book about homeschooling last night and was totally encouraged by it. We haven't decided exactly what school will look like for our kids, but I am very interested in this option. But so far this book has lead me to think about 2 things;

1. How I am spending time with my kids, God has been talking to me about this recently anyway. I feel like I've been more reactive than proactive with them over the last few weeks. Which is just not effective & leads to bad days. So I am trying to refocus & love the time I get with my kids!

2. This totally caught me off guard, the book is about how & why different families have chosen to homeschool. Well the last story I read was about a Navy family, and she ended her story talking about the next time her husband gets PCS (Permanent Change of Station) orders, school will just go with them.

Which got me thinking not about homeschooling but about transitions. It seems that there is no end to them, and I definitely have moments where I would like to know how to make it stop (not possible or good-I know). And in the middle of that thought God reminded me of this:

13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country - a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Hebrews 11:13-16

Not that I am there yet, but I feel like God reminds me of this when we are in the midst of transitions. Even if I could have Brian home right now, there would still be much that God wants us to participate in that would likely lead us right out of our comfort zone again. Glad for a God that I cannot out run, and that is not confined by time & space.

Fire Station

We took a trip to the Crestview Fire Station today with our playgroup. Elise had a good time climbing on the fire truck.

Living

Most of my kids (Carter is already sleeping). The girls were basically playing "I spy". Elise was loving feeling like such a big girl with her big "sister".

Flowers from my awesome husband! Good choice Brian!

The things that keep us going: routine, skype, good friends.

I am so thankful for long distance friends that have just decided to make me a part of their daily/weekly life. Without them I think this would feel much more impossible.

Love, love, loving skype! Praise God the kids & I have gotten to talk to Brian almost every day on skype. I am sure they don't understand this all, but I think it gives them a lot of security to be able to see Daddy so frequently & to talk to him about our daily lives.

Routine-nothing mind blowing, I do the same thing everyday almost regardless of what is going on. I do need to make parts of it more productive though.

This weekend I was trying to think of a name for our blog and then during High School Bible study on Sunday morning Brian shared about his deployment. He shared about how God is already using it in our lives to change us I came across this idea.

I feel like the last 7 years (almost!) of marriage have been somewhat characterized by the things that were supposed to be improbable becoming the things that were suddenly happening and the things God would use to teach us about Himself (and hopefully encourage others along the way).

So at this point if we ever say something is "unlikely" I almost cringe, wondering how long I have before "unlikely" becomes what we are preparing for!

This is us. Approximately 8 1/2 years in the making. The reason for the blog is that for the next 6 1/2 months, we will be thousands of miles apart. So here begins my attempt to share some of the crazy things our kids do every day.