A Life Worth Living

What does that phrase mean?  What does it mean to you?  What does it mean to me?

What should it mean to all of us?

I am not sure.  I know what I think it should mean and I know what the world tells me it should mean.  But, really...what does it mean?

A Life Worth Living has so many meanings and variations of meanings that the possibilities are endless and mind-blowing.  To ponder all of them would take a life-time and would render the thinker useless to anything else.

So, how do we find the answer?

Jesus.  Simple? yes.  Easy? Absolutely not.

Jesus tells us how to live a life worth living and yet we think it isn't enough.  We think there has to be some world-renown acclaim to make our lives important.  Or that we have to think of some great invention, business, etc. that saves the world as we know it for our lives to matter.

Yes, those are important and we need them but is everyone called to that?  I sure hope not.  I can't figure out how to keep the kitchen clean let alone create never before inventions for the benefit of the world.

What I CAN do is this.  Figure out who God made me to be-my interests, strengths, weaknesses, gifts, talents, desires, dislikes, prejudices, opinions, and hold them to the Light of Gods' Word.  If they stand up to what He deems right, then move ahead.  If not, change them, get rid of them, ignore them.

I can also see each moment in my day as a way to live a life worth living.  That person at Wal-Mart that is annoying me by being everywhere I want to be but slower?  See them for a person that God loves and smile at them.  Compliment their hair or clothes.  Pray for them earnestly.

I can use my time at my job to impact people in small ways.  You never know when a kind word or smile will matter to someone.  If you see a person having a bad day/hard time, listen to the Spirit for a word to say to them. Or just hug them!  God will show you when to speak to someone if you will listen.

I can see my children as gifts instead of burdens.  I can give them the Word of God that shows them Who they are and how God sees them.  Then, they can go out into the world and do that for other people.

I can chose to love my husband daily.

I can see the blessing of having a house and food because not everyone has those things.

I can choose to see the need around me and purpose to do something about it.  It may be a small thing in the eyes of the world but to that person it means the world.

I can love fiercely even when it hurts.

I can see my own short-comings and know that even though they exist God will use me because He loves me and sees something good in me.

I can CHOOSE to live a life worth living.  Every day.

A Life Worth Living is a life that was spent loving, seeing people, choosing love, choosing life, being in the moment, following God, encouraging others, blessing others, being blessed by others, and realizing the short-ness of this life.

We have but a moment on this earth, let's use it to Live a Life Worth Living.

A Sappy Post

My love.  He has been mine for 30 years.  I can hardly believe it.  We met when I was 16 years old and I am so glad God brought him to me.

We will be married for 27 years this year.  Some days it seems like it has only been 5 years and other days it feels like a life-time (do you know what I mean?)  There are days that I can not stand him and he me.  We are human and fight.  But we also choose love and to stay together every day.





















He is my person.

He will always be my person.

No one else.

Homeschool Mosaics

I keep forgetting to post about Homeschool Mosaics.  I have mentioned it but I want to really focus on it today.  Homeschool Mosaics is a medley of many different writers with personalities just as varied.  We are a mish-mash of opinions, ideas, and methods and we all come together to offer our wisdom, advice, and friendship to whoever reads it.  Homeschoolers and the reasons they chose to homeschool are as different as the cars we drive.  They are all cars and get us from one place to another but they look different, we use them differently, and they go at different speeds. 

But they all get us there.

Homeschool Mosaics offers so many articles that I have no doubt you will find something to encourage you or make you laugh. 

From the website:
Our goal here at Homeschool Mosaics is to support homeschoolers – we want to reach you where you are, and encourage you on your journey.  Because we know that each homeschool is different and unique, we’ve put together a group of authors here who come from a wide variety of backgrounds.  Boxed curriculum, unschooling, Charlotte Mason, Classical, relaxed, eclectic . . . you name it, we’ve got it.
We hope that you will find some writers that you can relate to.  Maybe you will also “meet” some new people with new ideas who will inspire you.  We know that sometimes the road seems long and hard, but the end result is so worth it.  And we believe in you . . . YOU CAN DO IT!
Please take the time to get to know us!  And be sure to leave comments and share your thoughts and opinions. Questions are welcome also!
If you like what you see here, we hope you’ll share with your friends.  Feel free to grab one of our buttons to post on your blog.  We’d also love to have you follow us on Facebook and Twitter.  Sign up via e-mail to be notified of new posts too!






Here is a list of the articles I have posted.  My column A Day in the Life is nothing dramatic or earth shattering.  It is just a place I share a little about our lives.  It is sometimes gritty or laughable but it is always real.   If you read my articles you will find out just how crazy life can be in a house of six females!  My poor husband might achieve saint status before this journey is through. 








There are forty contributing writers on our site including Todd Wilson, Lee Binz, Davis & Rachael Carman, Leah Nieman, to name a few! 

Head over to our website and poke around a while; I'm sure you will find something that speaks to you.  Don't forget to leave some comment love on any article you enjoy!

Reposting this bc I needed it

I wrote this almost two years ago but it is still ringing true in my heart today.  I need to read this post often.  Maybe I will print it out and keep it near.

I hope it blesses someone else.

Follow the link to see what I wrote.  ;-)

It can be done and it is worth it.

The difference a day makes

Today is Thursday.  It was Thursday all day.  It was a long day.  A Seriously loooong day.

But let's go back to yesterday.  It was a blissfully quiet Sabbath Week Wednesday.  Nothing of note happened.  It was quiet and peaceful.  aaahhh

Last night the kids went to bed early and watched movies in their rooms.  I read my book and spent some quiet time after everyone else was sleeping. 

I even slept in this morning until around 8am!  It was lovely.  I leisurely checked my email and found an urgent assignment that required the use of my laptop so I quickly retrieved it from the youngest two and took it downstairs. 

But, lo and behold, when I opened it up something was wrong.  The picture I put on the desktop was gone and so were almost all of the icons.  There were items back on there from when I bought it.  I was a little concerned so I checked my documents folder and it was empty.  I am not even kidding.  E.M.P.T.Y.   I about had a heart attack.  I didn't want to panic though so I checked another way to find my documents and they were not there.

I moved on to the pictures.  That folder was also empty.  The panic is starting to bubble up to a blasting point by now and I was starting to sweat.  I checked my downloads folder, the recently changed folder, and looked for some program files that I recently loaded and they were ALL GONE. 

EVERYTHING WAS GONE

I was in a full-fledged panic mode by this time.  Tears were streaming and I was trying to figure out how to get back all the things I had on there and couldn't figure out a way.  There were things on the laptop that hadn't been saved anywhere else. 

Yeah, I know it's dumb and I am going to change that from now on.  But for now, I was a blubbering mess. 

I do have to say that I didn't yell at the kids or even get upset with them.  Not once.  I asked them what had happened and then let it drop.  I didn't say anything else about it the rest of the day.  (I'm pretty proud about that one!)

I started working on that urgent project and posted on Facebook what had happened.  People started praying.  I started begging God to fix my computer.  The girls were praying.  I think they were praying for safety, though.  They were a little unnerved because I wasn't yelling or fuming; I was a little too silent for them! lol  I spent the rest of the morning begging God to retrieve all of my information and to restore my computer.  I knew He could and I knew He cared.  I just didn't know if it was in His plan to fix it or to teach me a lesson about not relying on technology too much. 

The urgent project was finished by 1pm and I decided to check my laptop again to see if there was any way I could figure out what had happened.  When I turned it back on, it was back to normal.  I am not even kidding.  Everything was where it should have been. 

Everything.

God has restored my computer for me! 

I had checked to see if the girls had changed the profile, anything that would explain what had happened.  I couldn't.  It was gone in the morning and then by the afternoon it was back.

I choose to believe that God was showing me that He cares about my computer and every area of my life.  It was just one more way for Him to show me His great love and care. 

And yes, now I am backing up everything to the external hard-drive!  ;-)

Why?

My blog is being scraped again.  If you are reading this on a website other than www.crazyhomedaze.blogspot.com you are reading a stolen copy of my content.


Why do we take our eyes off of Christ?  One minute we are reading our Bible, praying, and seeking His Will and the next we are looking to the left and right seeking out our own path.  We begin to think that we can live our life without Him because things are going 'fine'.  So we continue looking around to other things to guide us and soon forget to seek God's Will at all.

Then things start to not work out as well as we thought they would and then they unravel all together.  We are left alone in a mess of problems wondering why.

We wonder why God would allow us to have all of these problems and then we wonder why He doesn't rescue us from them. 

Suddenly we are much more interested in seeking Him out and praying.  Reading our Bible has become much more interesting since we have made a mess of our lives. 

So my question is Why?  It happens all too often and we don't seem to learn from the mistake no matter how many times we repeat it.  We continually try to do things our way and continually mess it up.  Why? 

Well the simple answer is sin and the not so simple answer is sin.  Ha! How's that for cryptic?  But, seriously sin is the reason we do things like this.  The sin of thinking that we are capable of doing God's job-pride.  The sin of thinking we are able to handle any outcome in a situation-pride.  The sin of thinking we are able to handle life on our own-pride. 

See a pattern here? 

When we take our eyes off of Christ and His will we re-focus onto ourselves and we will always get it wrong.  The Author of this life is the only One who can get it right.  We need to adjust our focus everyday so that we are focusing squarely on Him and His Will.  It is too easy for us to alter our vision slightly and then find ourselves completely off course without even realizing we lost focus.

How is your focus?  Are you daily in His Word seeking His counsel?  Are you praying without ceasing for His saints and The Church?  Are you praying daily for lost souls?  Are you following His leading and the moving of the Holy Spirit?  If not, I challenge you to change your focus and begin again with One who is worthy to be followed.

NEW!! The Christian Home Blogazine/magazine!

My blog is being scraped again.  If you are reading this on a website other than www.crazyhomedaze.blogspot.com you are reading a stolen copy of my content. 


Mrs. White over at The Legacy of Home has started an online magazine to encourage and exhort us on our journeys.  This is a wonderful opportunity to be encouraged as well as encourage others.  Mrs. White is asking for contributions, just check out the end of the post for the guidelines.

Also, look for familiar names-you just might recognize a few!



Head on over to this amazing blog and be refreshed and encouraged.

What Homeschool Moms wish their husbands knew

My blog is being scraped again.  If you are reading this on a website other than www.crazyhomedaze.blogspot.com you are reading a stolen copy of my content.

The day goes something like this:

Wake up sharing a bed, with either the hubby or a kid that has managed to sneak in for a snuggle depending on when hubby had to be at work that day. Move to the kitchen to start breakfast all the while urging the kids to get moving and do chores. Eat breakfast with all manner of tired, clingy children that won’t eat any faster than molasses in January. Clean up breakfast, finally, and try to get dressed. Only you can’t because you can’t seem to have your own bedroom to yourself. Each child has at least one question which has to be asked RIGHT NOW! The questions get answered in between picking clothes and begging them to give you five minutes alone. Finally you just start undressing, hoping that that will cause them to flee. School starts with the usual whining and complaining, not all of which is theirs! Books have been misplaced and all the pencils in the house have suddenly disappeared. When enough items have been found to start school work, the various questions from each child are fired off continually at two minute intervals for the next hour and a half; or until the frustration causes one or all of them to give up. Recess is called so that mom can lock herself in the bathroom for an undetermined amount of time. But just when the quiet settles in the bathroom, fingers appear under the door. Heavy breathing can be heard from the other side along with whispers of “No, you ask her.” The moment is over when the fighting starts and a crash is heard from somewhere in the house. Mom stalks out to find nothing. Everyone has mysteriously vanished. The choice has to be made-go back into hiding and pretend that nothing is amiss or go find them and the trouble they are in. It takes a little longer to make the decision than you would ever admit to but you finally go in search of your offspring. When you find them you swear there is a hallelujah chorus playing somewhere because they are doing their school work. Not wanting to draw attention to the fact that they are doing what they should be doing, mom grabs a book to sit and read with them. As soon as her body touches the couch, the questions begin again. ‘What’s this word’, ‘What does that mean’, ‘Do I have to read this?’, ‘Can we be done now?’ Determined to get as much school done as possible you tell them no, but inwardly beg to be done as well. Pressing on toward the end of the school day, the questions and problems build to a fever pitch until mom says, ‘Just wait for your father to get home and he will help you.’ That is the last ditch statement given when the limit has been reached and a meltdown of epic proportions is imminent-Mom’s not the kids’. Cheers go up as the kids scatter like roaches in daylight leaving a trail of papers, books, and chaos behind them. Before Mom can gather her wits about her, Dad walks into the middle of the disaster zone. Their eyes meet and she instantly knows that she has failed. There is nothing peaceful and calming about the house at the moment and she just realized that her shirt and pants don’t match, she has two different shoes on, and she hasn’t brushed her teeth or hair all day. Supper has barely been thought of and all she can think of is getting some quiet time alone with no one asking unending questions. But alas, that is not to be. Homework, supper, clean up, chores, time with hubby, bed time, and planning for the next day needs done. She climbs into bed with thoughts of everything that needs done tomorrow hoping she can fall asleep before the first kid comes in needing help in the night. The alarm goes off the next morning to begin the whole circus over again.

1. You can not imagine how many questions your children come up with on any given day.

2. Previously independent children become helpless as soon as I start helping someone else or working on my things.

3. As educated as I am, I sometimes forget what day it is even though I have repeated it countless times for each child.

4. I didn’t forget to do the laundry; I actually forgot we even had laundry.

5. I really was planning on making supper until several kids had Math melt-downs and the computer decided it hated me.

6. I feel guilty asking to buy things for our school even though we need them. So, I don’t.

7. Planning the school year is incredibly intimidating and I would love to have your input and advice.

8. Having asked for your input please be aware that I am also territorial about homeschooling and probably won’t take the advice well. At first. Please be patient and gentle with my tender ego.

9. No matter how well the day goes, I still feel like I didn’t do enough. There is always something that I could have done better and I will tend to focus on that.


10. Please be willing to help with homework and to give me a break from the daily grind. I don’t need much time, just a little break to save my sanity.

11. I need you to support me 100% and to show it.

12. I also need time to just be me and not a homeschool teacher. Time away, not thinking about school, will restore my faith in myself and my calling as a homeschooling mother.

13. I want, no, need you to listen to how my day went and to ask me questions about it. Please don’t feel like you have to solve the problems, sometimes it’s enough for you to just listen.

14. Pray for me. Knowing that you are praying for me is a blessing I treasure.

Now, I am ready for the alarm to go off tomorrow morning!

Just Obedience?

My blog is being scraped again.  If you are reading this on a website other than www.crazyhomedaze.blogspot.com you are reading a stolen copy of my content.

Obey: to submit to authority; to follow orders

Willingness: desire; decision-making capacity; by choice; without reluctance

These two words have been stomping through my head for the last month or so. I have been chewing on what they mean and trying to understand them better. I will never fully understand but this is what I have come up with so far.

We want our children to obey. We train them daily in the act of obedience so that they will be safe, learn to make wise choices, and ultimately to obey their Heavenly Father.
Obedience is a must. It just is.
As a child, we must learn to trust our parents enough to obey even when we don’t understand the whys and wherefores of why they are asking. Sometimes it is very difficult and sometimes it is easier. But it is imperative.

Obedience isn’t an optional activity it is an imperative one. In fact, I wonder if our children don’t learn to trust and obey their parents when they are young how much harder their lives will be when they are older.

Especially when God calls them to do something that they don’t understand. How tragic would it be to miss the blessings God has for them because they couldn’t trust and obey?

Now, we want our kids to obey even when or maybe especially when they don’t want to; but that can mean that their hearts are unwilling and they are just going through the motions. That’s okay-sometimes. However, I think we are missing out on an important matter that goes hand in hand with obedience.

Willingness

Willingness is a state of the heart. It indicates an implicit trust of the person doing the asking. By being willing to obey, even when they are scared they are completely trusting that person with/for their well-being. Without the willingness the heart is not involved and I would dare say even a little hardened. We should be striving to win our children’s hearts just as our Abba strives to win ours. He is constantly showing us that He is trustworthy. God wants our obedience and our willingness. He wants our hearts to be so in love with Him and so trusting of Him that we are willing to obey no matter the task. There shouldn’t be anything we are not willing to do for the trusted keeper of our hearts.

In the story of Abraham, I believe we see this concept in action. Abraham had obeyed (and disobeyed) God in many things and on many occasions. Throughout his life he learned to willingly obey God. Abraham waited a very long time for Isaac but he trusted God to fulfill His promise. Then, God asked Abraham to do the unthinkable. God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son. In Genesis 22, we see God telling Abraham to go to the region of Moriah and kill Isaac. What did Abraham do? Did he argue? Whine? Complain? Did he even question what God had just said? Verse 3 says this: “Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac.” He obeyed, willingly. I believe his heart was breaking even while he obeyed. How could he obey that request? That seems like too much to ask doesn’t it? I think we can find the answer in verse 8. Isaac had just asked where the lamb for the sacrifice was and Abraham says, “God himself will provide the lamb…” Abraham knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the God/Father he trusted and obeyed would do what He promised. Abraham willingly obeyed the God he loved even though it seemed like it was too high a price. Abraham trusted God with everything he had because he knew God would do what was best for him. God had won Abraham’s heart.

Winning our children’s heart is a daily task. It is in the little things as well as the big ones. It is being there to kiss the boo-boo’s and to listen to their secret desires, hurts, and joys. It is in holding their feet to the fire even when it is painful for you both. Standing firm so they have an anchor to hold on to when life is scary or messy. It is in being transparent and showing them that you make mistakes too.

As we watch our children learn and grow we can see a reflection of our own walk with God. The lessons we are trying to teach them are the very ones God is trying to teach us.