Times and Seasons

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven... Ecclesiastes 3:1

Wow has it really been a month since my last post?! Goodness gracious!! Well if anyone is still out there I thought I'd let you in on the latest season in our lives here in the flatlands and cornfields of Northeast IL.

First and foremost, IT'S SUMMERTIME!!!  And we are having a blast! Secret Keeper Girl parties, Vacation Bible School, a trip to grandpa's and cousins' houses in the mountains, theme parks, water parks, spend the night parties and bible studies, cook-outs and s'mores, fireworks and bike rides, the county fair and and every other manor of fun are going on around here. We have packed in a lot this summer so far and we are only half way through! There has not been too much time (or energy) for blogging.

Something else I wanted to share with you about why I have not spent an enormous amount of time blogging is that I have been writing in another venue. I am on a team of people who write sermon based, daily devotionals for our church body that are produced every week. I have really come to enjoy my time studying and writing in this way, but it commands a good chunk of my time. (If your interested, you can check it out here.) This however, has become such a joy to me that I never dreamed of! Preparing and working and writing in this fashion is new to me, but I absolutely LOVE it! I am seeing, hearing and feeling God in new ways that are so dear to my heart. So much so that it has been a big deciding factor that is ushering in a huge change in our lives.

I feel like God has given me a vision to do what I do here for Trinity in writing for other churches as well.  And in order to be able to do this, Mike and I have decided to end our homeschooling journey and give our children the opportunity to attend public school. This has been such a bitter sweet thing. Homeschooling has been such an amazing opportunity for us, one that I have loved immensely! It is a beautiful gift to be able to be with the treasures God has placed temporarily in our hands all day long. A gift I do not take for granted. But after much prayer and repeated signs of confirmation, this is where our hearts have found peace.

There is so much that is going to change in the next few months and I am so very excited to see what God has in store. He is so good and faithful, I just know it's going to be great! I know that as much as he loves me, He loves my children in the same manor and so much more than I even know how to love. This has very much been a process of me surrendering them to HIM, and recognizing how very tightly I have held them in MY mythical sense of control! I'm so thankful we serve a God who's so big aren't you? A God who loves me enough to call me out on my junk and yet graceful enough to never shame me for it!

So as we finish this summer season of squeezing life out of every second of the day, I'll try to drop in a bit more with at least a picture or two. Then in the fall, as we find our new rhythm around here I'll get back in my blogging groove. In fact there is a craft fair coming up in October where I will have a booth! I have so many fun ideas to make, show and sell! I'm so excited about that!

I hope you are having a wonderful summer and enjoying whatever season God has you in. He is so faithful! Be blessed in his favor for you, you are the apple of His eye!

Chat soon!