Steady Mom

postcards from hawaii

Dear incredible reader,

Some things defy expression: sunrise over the Pacific, giggling children in turquoise waves, pineapple bushes and coconut trees, sand in toes and clothes and every. single. place. you step (inside & out!), and vacations that line up so perfectly you look at your spouse several times each day to say "Can you believe all this?"

And the only appropriate response when given such a gift--whether a newborn baby, or a home, or a trip like this one--is to fully live it. To unwrap and receive gratefully--without trying to figure it out, without thinking we don't really deserve it, without saying "Oh, you shouldn't have."

There should be only one response to a lavish gift--whether it's a full moon by the shore or the hand of someone you love in yours.

The appropriate response to a lavish gift is lavish thanks.

Unbelievably grateful,

Jamie

"Which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!"
~ Matthew 7: 9-11

when your dreams come knocking...

If there's one thing I've learned, it's that dreams don't often show up at convenient times.

There's never an ideal, ducks-in-a-row moment to get married.

Or the perfect, uncomplicated season to add another child to the family.

There's never a convenient time to begin homeschooling, or take that trip around the world, or move to the fixer-upper that's been in your thoughts for a decade.

There are always a million reasons why today isn't the right moment to start--a million excuses about why you shouldn't write that book, or adopt a child, or birth a home business.

And yet sometimes we feel a tug in our spirits--angels whispering in our ears, circumstances lining up in extraordinary ways on our behalf.

Will we take the plunge, dive in, deal with the messes as they come, and live life whole? Or will we push away the opportunity because of excuses, lack, or fear.

Read the rest of this post at Simple Homeschool.

teaching baking to kids: the results

Last autumn I shared in detail about how and why I started formal baking lessons as part of our homeschool.

If you missed the post, here's a brief recap: Each child over the age of eight in our family receives an "invitation" to study with me and learn how to bake. If they choose to enroll in the class, I present them with a binder and a syllabus of ten recipes we'll learn to make together.

When the student can make all ten items independently, they "graduate." Their graduation celebration (and final exam, I guess) is to host a party for friends where they bake all the goodies themselves.

 

Head here to read the rest of this post at Simple Homeschool.

Get a FREE copy of The Steady Mom's Freedom Guide! *UPDATE* Promotion Now Over

 

*UPDATE* This promotion has now ended, but The Steady Mom's Freedom Guide: Joyful Motherhood on Your Own Terms is available for just $2.99 in four formats: for your Kindle, for your Nook, on iTunes, or as a printable PDF. To purchase the PDF, just click 'Add to Cart' here:    

Find out more about the ebook and read an excerpt. You can also become a subscriber here on Steady Mom if you like what you see--thanks so much for your interest and support!

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Good morning, readers! I'm popping my head in (after a busy week of packing--& unpacking!) with a quick announcement:  

From right now (7am ET Monday, July 8th) through to 7am ET Tuesday, July 9th, you can download a free PDF copy of my newest ebook, The Steady Mom's Freedom Guide: Joyful Motherhood on Your Own Terms, just by helping me spread the word about it!

 

Here's how it works:

1. Tweet, share on Facebook, pin on Pinterest, and/or blog about The Steady Mom's Freedom Guide.

Make sure you link to this post so your friends can find out more.

2. After you've spread the word, click here to head to a page where you can download the PDF of the book.  

(Yes, this is the honor system! But I have awesome readers, so I trust ya.)

That's it! Thank you and my prayer is that you'll enjoy the read!

 

"Motherhood abounds with second chances, both for you and your kids. The goal of motherhood is not perfection—it’s being real and doing the best you can with what you have in any given moment." ~ The Steady Mom's Freedom Guide