Life of late
Well hello, March!
Wow, where exactly did the first 2 months of 2018 go to? Does anyone else feel like you've blinked and now you're suddenly grabbing that cardi for going out at night and dressing the kiddies in longer PJ's at bedtime?? I hate to say it but I think Autumn is definitely upon us! Don't get me wrong, I actually love Autumn! It's so perfect with usually great weather and just chilly-enough mornings and evenings that it's comfortable and cozy. But, this lovely season is followed closely by Winter and that is not one of my favourite seasons... I'd skip it altogether if I could!
And here I sit...in the dark...I may or may not be hiding from one or more of my children as they put up a fight going to bed. It's a bit later than the usual bedtime (we had our lovely Japanese homestay's farewell party tonight) which somehow means they will put up more of a fight and procrastinate more because they're MORE tired - go figure. One of them is hungry (apparently), but after 3 plates of dinner, I'm not buying it. One of them wants me to lie with them and the other keeps joking around while I'm trying to pray with them so I've walked out...and now they're super sorry...but I've warned them one too many times. So I'm hiding in the darkness of my lounge waiting for voices to fade. I'm tagging in with sleep. One down, two to go.
I refuse to be a pity party planner but I do feel that what is on my mind of late has that theme. I have been really stirred lately to be more vigilant with praying a covering over our life. It's one of our traps, being comfortable and complacent. A dangerous place to be. You know those times when one thing happens and then another and it's only after the third or fourth thing that you stop and wonder why you're taking this without a fight? Well it's been one of those starts to the year.
The last post was our amazing testimony of God's goodness and faithfulness in our life in the area of finances. We are getting ready for the trip just this week, it's come up so fast! Since that blog post we have had (after literally years of no 'incidents') one thing happen after another. A few weeks back we had a tennis racquet collide with our bedroom window glass (the child shall remain nameless)... $200 later... Our gorgeous, amazing youngest child left the bathroom tap running one day after washing his hands...flooded the bathroom and surrounding area...$500 insurance excess... Then just this week, another window had to be replaced after a collision, this time with a lunchbox (the child shall remain nameless)...ANOTHER $200! Then to top it off, I drove over a nail somewhere, somehow and my tire was completely ruined so I had to get a new one. This lovely list of things is literally 1 month worth of mishaps. How ridiculous is that?
I tell you all that, not to have a sulk but to say that this is not how it should be. Sometimes we sit back and accept calamity but this is not part of the deal as children of God. I'm totally not taking anymore of this. Insert numerous scriptures here about protection and safety for us and our property!!!
I wonder what else there is in our lives that we just tolerate?
This year I feel like I've fallen into another trap...business. Not in the worst sense, just in the unintended sense. I'm feeling like I need to simplify life again and plan to do that in term 2. I'm teaching this year. I didn't mention that, did I? Just one class, Media Studies (my absolute favourite). Getting my head around teaching content has been fun but challenging to fit around finishing up my admin job as well as all the real life stuff that goes on. I also only realized once the year was underway, after I had said yes to a whole bunch of activities, that our life is now so full of activities that we barely have time to breathe! Monday is dancing day for Abby, Tuesday is athletics for Noah, Wednesday is Piano for Abby and basketball practice for Noah (which I coach now), Thursday is gymnastics for Jed and Noah's basketball game and Friday we R-E-S-T. I am going crazy! I'm not too sure how biggest families juggle activities without totally compromising on family time. I feel like by Friday I just want to gather my kids on my lap and sit for hours to catch up on the week. I have decided that next term they can choose 1 thing to do after school and hopefully that will help things a bit. Maybe it's also just me getting used to two kids at school. It was only ever Abby at school and her activities to get to. I just think it's so fun playing sport and learning new things. if they want to do these things then I'm all for it! I also think adding homestays into the mix (one of which has been able to speak NO English - so stressful), has pushed things over the edge on more than one evening or morning when home becomes a pressure cooker, trying to get three (very S-L-O-W) bodies moving, doing what you need them to do.
OK, so as much as I'd love this to be a post reporting on life being great (which tt is, don't get me wrong), this is just real life. As much as I feel I've got this, every year, every age of my kids, every phase of family life is completely new and different in it's own way. It's like you need to find a new groove each year and I just don't feel quite like I've found ours yet....
Some great things have happened this year, so I won't neglect to celebrate those;
- our kids have befriended neighbours who have lived next door and in the surrounds for the past three years. They've only just started playing together and have such fun. It's a new blessing to have friends live so close and who add a fresh dynamic to the kids games on home days.
- the kids are LOVING school. I have had such great feedback about the kids at school so far and that is such a huge blessing to hear. Of course the year brings ups and downs, but for now, things are good and we are (for the most part), all happy at drop-off times in the morning.
- the kids are walking to school (Abby and Noah) which is a fun incentive to get up and ready in time to leave home earlier. This has been a really fun little part of this year that the kids are enjoying.
Well I will endeavor to write from a much warmer and sunnier Mexico, this time next week. Just because I can. Lets be honest, I'm not going to be one of those 'throw it all in and travel the world with your family' bloggers/vloggers but I can pretend just for one week ;)
Really hoping that everyone out there is having a prosperous, blessed adventure this year so far! I hope it isn't taking you as long to get into your 2018 'groove' although with changes, come changes and that's always something to work through. May we all grow, enlarge our capacities, jolt ourselves out of complacency and be standing firm in believing for all God says is ours this year!
Till next week!
Wow, where exactly did the first 2 months of 2018 go to? Does anyone else feel like you've blinked and now you're suddenly grabbing that cardi for going out at night and dressing the kiddies in longer PJ's at bedtime?? I hate to say it but I think Autumn is definitely upon us! Don't get me wrong, I actually love Autumn! It's so perfect with usually great weather and just chilly-enough mornings and evenings that it's comfortable and cozy. But, this lovely season is followed closely by Winter and that is not one of my favourite seasons... I'd skip it altogether if I could!
And here I sit...in the dark...I may or may not be hiding from one or more of my children as they put up a fight going to bed. It's a bit later than the usual bedtime (we had our lovely Japanese homestay's farewell party tonight) which somehow means they will put up more of a fight and procrastinate more because they're MORE tired - go figure. One of them is hungry (apparently), but after 3 plates of dinner, I'm not buying it. One of them wants me to lie with them and the other keeps joking around while I'm trying to pray with them so I've walked out...and now they're super sorry...but I've warned them one too many times. So I'm hiding in the darkness of my lounge waiting for voices to fade. I'm tagging in with sleep. One down, two to go.
I refuse to be a pity party planner but I do feel that what is on my mind of late has that theme. I have been really stirred lately to be more vigilant with praying a covering over our life. It's one of our traps, being comfortable and complacent. A dangerous place to be. You know those times when one thing happens and then another and it's only after the third or fourth thing that you stop and wonder why you're taking this without a fight? Well it's been one of those starts to the year.
The last post was our amazing testimony of God's goodness and faithfulness in our life in the area of finances. We are getting ready for the trip just this week, it's come up so fast! Since that blog post we have had (after literally years of no 'incidents') one thing happen after another. A few weeks back we had a tennis racquet collide with our bedroom window glass (the child shall remain nameless)... $200 later... Our gorgeous, amazing youngest child left the bathroom tap running one day after washing his hands...flooded the bathroom and surrounding area...$500 insurance excess... Then just this week, another window had to be replaced after a collision, this time with a lunchbox (the child shall remain nameless)...ANOTHER $200! Then to top it off, I drove over a nail somewhere, somehow and my tire was completely ruined so I had to get a new one. This lovely list of things is literally 1 month worth of mishaps. How ridiculous is that?
I tell you all that, not to have a sulk but to say that this is not how it should be. Sometimes we sit back and accept calamity but this is not part of the deal as children of God. I'm totally not taking anymore of this. Insert numerous scriptures here about protection and safety for us and our property!!!
I wonder what else there is in our lives that we just tolerate?
This year I feel like I've fallen into another trap...business. Not in the worst sense, just in the unintended sense. I'm feeling like I need to simplify life again and plan to do that in term 2. I'm teaching this year. I didn't mention that, did I? Just one class, Media Studies (my absolute favourite). Getting my head around teaching content has been fun but challenging to fit around finishing up my admin job as well as all the real life stuff that goes on. I also only realized once the year was underway, after I had said yes to a whole bunch of activities, that our life is now so full of activities that we barely have time to breathe! Monday is dancing day for Abby, Tuesday is athletics for Noah, Wednesday is Piano for Abby and basketball practice for Noah (which I coach now), Thursday is gymnastics for Jed and Noah's basketball game and Friday we R-E-S-T. I am going crazy! I'm not too sure how biggest families juggle activities without totally compromising on family time. I feel like by Friday I just want to gather my kids on my lap and sit for hours to catch up on the week. I have decided that next term they can choose 1 thing to do after school and hopefully that will help things a bit. Maybe it's also just me getting used to two kids at school. It was only ever Abby at school and her activities to get to. I just think it's so fun playing sport and learning new things. if they want to do these things then I'm all for it! I also think adding homestays into the mix (one of which has been able to speak NO English - so stressful), has pushed things over the edge on more than one evening or morning when home becomes a pressure cooker, trying to get three (very S-L-O-W) bodies moving, doing what you need them to do.
OK, so as much as I'd love this to be a post reporting on life being great (which tt is, don't get me wrong), this is just real life. As much as I feel I've got this, every year, every age of my kids, every phase of family life is completely new and different in it's own way. It's like you need to find a new groove each year and I just don't feel quite like I've found ours yet....
Some great things have happened this year, so I won't neglect to celebrate those;
- our kids have befriended neighbours who have lived next door and in the surrounds for the past three years. They've only just started playing together and have such fun. It's a new blessing to have friends live so close and who add a fresh dynamic to the kids games on home days.
- the kids are LOVING school. I have had such great feedback about the kids at school so far and that is such a huge blessing to hear. Of course the year brings ups and downs, but for now, things are good and we are (for the most part), all happy at drop-off times in the morning.
- the kids are walking to school (Abby and Noah) which is a fun incentive to get up and ready in time to leave home earlier. This has been a really fun little part of this year that the kids are enjoying.
Well I will endeavor to write from a much warmer and sunnier Mexico, this time next week. Just because I can. Lets be honest, I'm not going to be one of those 'throw it all in and travel the world with your family' bloggers/vloggers but I can pretend just for one week ;)
Really hoping that everyone out there is having a prosperous, blessed adventure this year so far! I hope it isn't taking you as long to get into your 2018 'groove' although with changes, come changes and that's always something to work through. May we all grow, enlarge our capacities, jolt ourselves out of complacency and be standing firm in believing for all God says is ours this year!
Till next week!
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