i'm no super mom~

I think the most heard comment I get from people when they find out I am a mom of seven, is the classic, "How do you it?" Or some variation thereof. My answer is always, always "By the grace of God." Which sounds like a really pat answer, and I usually try and elaborate a little, but I know myself too well to take any shred of glory for myself. I cling to Him. There is nothing in me, it is all Him.

Here is the best concise answer I've ever heard. And let me just say, the beginning was like a time warp :o)

(Thanks to Amy's Humble Musings for the link.)

Happy Wednesday :o)

for your saturday reading pleasure~

Here are some more links that I think are definitely worth reading...

Holy Habits

A weighty post that once again reminds us that what we do is important. Immensely. And there's a lot more to it than math facts, cooking, and tying shoes; yet life and relationship are tied up in those every day things.
An excerpt... "They say a mother wears an apron and a myriad of hats. I say she wears a collar too. A collar which can never be removed. A collar which cannot be observed by the material world: a clerical collar. For she is a priest in her home, before a congregation of children. ...While a mother continually changes her hats throughout the hours of the day, her collar remains: she is a priest proclaiming Christ’s glories. She cares for souls."


Solving the Crisis in Homeschooling: Exposing the 7 Major Blind Spots of Homeschoolers

Unfortunately, I have been guilty of some of these far too often. An excellent read, I'm printing this one out. Vital for parents who want to keep their children's hearts.


Shelter Is Not A Place. It's a Relationship.

On sheltering our kids in the real world.
Another excerpt... "Shelter is not a place. It's a relationship. Although we need to be wise about keeping our kids safe (let's not be simplistic here), sheltering our kids from every potential evil is impossible. The world is corrupt. Hey, the youth group is corrupt!

I would love to withdraw my family from society and keep them from having to face the messiness of navigating relationships in a fallen world. But that’s just not feasible. Maybe not even desirable. Besides, we have enough sin nature between all seven of us, they’d still get to see plenty of corruption!

Instead, we want to make sure our home is the safe place, the most comforting sanctuary on earth, where our kids are guaranteed acceptance, affection and genuine love. Our relationship with our kids should be a reflection of God's relationship with us - overflowing with grace and forgiveness.

And while we’re doing that, we're introducing them to Jesus, and we’re walking along side them, showing them how to “do life” with Christ at the helm.

We don’t have to know all the answers, and heaven forbid we should try to appear perfect. I fail daily, and have to ask my kids’ forgiveness all the time. But we feel strongly that the more spiritually arrogant we are, and the more we try to hide our flaws, the more likely our kids will become disillusioned with God later on.

I thought all of these were excellent reads and will be keeping them close by. Let me know what you think.

Happy Saturday!

(and Stacey, let me know when you have your baby!!)

worth your time(otherwise known as i really need to clear out my tabs)~

I do this all the time. Click, "Whoa, that looks like it might take some time, I'll come back," or "I really should share that." Over and over until I have more tabs open than can fit across the top.

So, without further ado, here are some various things I've enjoyed, thought about, and think just might be worth your time.

The Temptation of Laziness

Something I struggle with daily. I've got a post on this in the works.

How I Found God's Will In A Sink Full of Dirty Dishes

On finding purpose and sanctification in mothering.

Sticks In Jars

A job/chore method that I am seriously considering trying out. For small or large families.

Tips for Surviving (and thriving!) in the Toddler Phase

From a mom of four in five years. Excellent, excellent post. So well said. I wish I'd written it myself. And not just practical tips, more toward emotional and spiritual thriving!

From Joyful Chaos

A mom of ten talks about life with her first baby and learning to mother in the way that works for her family. The more children I have, the more I value doing what works for us and ignoring what everyone else "says" we should be doing. Life is so much easier now than it was in the years with just one or two. This is not a "you should practice attachment parenting" post or recommendation from me, we are actually a good mix of attachment and scheduling. It just really struck a chord with me as Grace is such a peaceful and content baby, and I really feel that aside from the grace of God (which it is!), it is also because I've learned some things about giving her what she needs. This is the first in a series of posts. I've not actually read the rest of them yet.

Why Would You Want All Those Kids?

From a mother of fourteen on the eve of giving birth yet again. I loved this. Whether you have one child or fifteen, this will bless and encourage you. While short, and she's talking at first just about real life, toward the end she reflects on her relationships with her children and she puts it, getting ready to begin another love affair with a new baby. It gets sweeter each time. That I have learned.

I had some more, but as usual, lost them to little hands :o)

Happy Saturday!

a tired quick hello and a couple of links~

I don't know about everyone else, but I am definitely in a mid-winter funk. All I can say is blah. blah. blah. I am suspicious that a good majority relates to pregnancy aches as we've actually had a couple of weeks here recently with some really nice weather. Regardless, all I want to do is curl up and hibernate until the end of April. Seeing as how we don't have a maid, a cook, a housekeeper, or a nanny, I guess that's out of the question.

I have a post swirling around in my brain pretty much continually to be titled something along the lines of In Which I am Grumpy... that I may or may not get around to actually writing. Seeing as how it's basically one big complaint I'm sure everyone would be thrilled to read it, but it's how I feel and maybe it will do me some good to vent. Or not. I don't know. Like I said....blah.

I had been keeping open a ridiculous amount of tabs open in my browser (not sure why I didn't just save them, I think it helps me to actually see them in front of me) of interesting stuff that I wanted to link to. But little hands must have been exploring, because I lost most of them. Here are two from the last day that I found interesting, seeing as how I have nothing worthwhile to say ;o)

Priests For Life interview a Mother of 20 (short, easy to read, q&a format, and very sweet as her youngest is now 22)

A Few Thoughts...(some things worth remembering from a wife whose husband was on the plane that landed in the Hudson River...very short, but definitely jolted my brain with what's important.)

~And if anyone has some really good vegetable gardening resources for a beginner (read: never grew a thing in my life other than a bean in a cup and knows not even your basic gardening info) please send it my way. Glen and I are wanting to try our hand at several vegetables this year and haven't the faintest idea of where to start. I have a good seed catalog and a square foot gardening book that looks helpful, but other than that I'm in the dark. We're wanting to grow tomatos, carrots, green beans, potatos, onions, squash, zucchini, garlic, and some type of lettuce. Too much, you think? My grandmother (who has always farmed for a living) did advise me that potatos are more work than they are worth, but we're kind of economic depression/persecution/fill in the blank minded in our desire to learn, so it seems like learning about growing potatos could be helpful. I mean, didn't the Ingalls like live on potatos one winter? All resources and advice are welcome! :o)