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"We were made to enjoy life and our Creator, and we were meant to choose to live in His beauty and provision.
"When I choose to notice, every day, the beauty of my children instead of the duties my children bring my way, I am worshipping God."
~ Sally Clarkson, The Mom Walk
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1. The creatures
The little guy in the top photo came to visit on Sunday morning. Well, to visit and to nibble some lilacs at the same time. Our move here has taken nature study to a whole new level.
2. The views
When things get harried inside our home, I just step outside. I take ten deep breaths looking at the backyard, where I cannot see another person or house in sight.
Nine times out of ten, I'm then ready to deal with whatever is going inside.
3. The thought required to go somewhere
We're not really in the middle of nowhere here, yet we're far enough away that heading out to run errands requires a teeny bit of effort and planning.
This means we just don't do it as much; we stay home more, which suits this introverted mama just fine.
4. The freedom and independence
Sometimes I don't see my children for hours. Well, not exactly, but one of the reasons we made this move was to give our children more freedom and independence in a safe environment.
I love that they can head outside and be kids together or alone, with all that entails. They can be loud without disturbing neighbors--they can play and construct big projects or games. They can even argue and have the space to work it out without help--sometimes, at least!
5. The inspiration
It is impossible to live somewhere like this and not be inspired, whether you're an adult or a child. For our homeschooling family, this is key.
Being inspired is a huge component to the education Steve and I give to our kids, and we need to be inspired ourselves in order to inspire them. This home completely fits the bill in that department.
Not a day goes by that I don't marvel that what started as a dream, ended up as this reality. God gives good gifts.
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Jonathan's first time seeing the ocean
I made rest a priority.
Not just for me, but for them, too.
This began with nap times--encouraging my kids to nap and then when I had multiple kids, encouraging them to nap at the same time.
I panicked a bit when it appeared that they were ready to drop nap time altogether. As an introverted, stay-at-home mom who intended to homeschool, going without any down time completely did not appear an attractive or realistic option.
And so I began the process of teaching the kids to have an afternoon rest time.
This is so valuable that I honestly could not imagine our lifestyle without it. In the beginning, it was about survival and stability.
In the beginning, it was not always easy. There were many interruptions (still are, come to think of it). There was gentle training. Some days it felt more like a training time than a rest time.
Now, it adds peace to our afternoons. Now, I am able to take a nap if needed and care for myself. Now, my children do some of their best reading and writing creative work during this hour and a half alone. I do much of my creative blogging work during this time as well.
Now, I'm able to know that I can continue to homeschool because I built rest into our day. I wanted to equip myself to stay in this for the long-haul, so early on, I made a plan. Now I'm at the point where the plan proves fruitful each day. You don't need to be a homeschooling parent to benefit from rest.
If you're an overwhelmed mama reading today, may I encourage you to make rest a priority? You deserve to enjoy your days as you serve your family--resting enables you to do just that.
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Today I have a guest post published over at my friend Jessica's blog, Life as Mom. It's called Stop Whining and Start Living: Understanding the Power of our Words.
From my post:
"There was a time when I used my words in a bad, self-defeating way. When my husband arrived home from work, I greeted him with tears and a litany of tales from our two toddler boys’ craziness.
(But oh my goodness – weren’t they cute?!)
I couldn’t believe how hard I worked all. day. long. This motherhood gig wasn’t exactly how I had imagined. I felt I had every justifiable right to discuss, in detail, the challenges from my day.
I didn’t realize that with each negative remark I made life even harder on myself.
In Western culture complaining has become a birthright, a way of life, a habit. So much so that many of us don’t realize how much we speak negatively — about lives that many of our third-world neighbors would eagerly trade places with us for.
What exactly is wrong with complaining and a little venting anyway?"
I'd love for you to join me over there to read the rest.
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