Change of Venue
Starting today, I am changing the location of my photo shoot posts to my other blog,
SNAP!!. I will give a shout out on Things Pondered whenever I have new batch to view. Today you can check out my latest images of a very cool family I snapped on Sunday.
Labels: photography
A challenge from the heart...
My brother and sister-in-law gave me a book for Christmas which I just started reading a couple of days ago.
Revolution in World Missions by K.P. Yohannan has already, and I'm only on the fifth chapter, grabbed at my heart.
The author is the founder and director of
Gospel for Asia and his challenge is for Christians "to examine and change their lifestyles in view of the millions who have never heard the Gospel."
After reading just a few short chapters, I believe his narrative has the potential to radically change the self-centered, indulgent mind-set of American Christians to a more eternally minded way of thinking. I challenge you to pick up a copy. I promise his stories will make you uncomfortable. But often times discomfort brings change. My prayer is that many of us will, after thumbing through these pages, come away transformed with a mind for action!
Labels: books
Family Reunion
I had a small window of time on Christmas Eve to pull off a few snapshots of some church friends and their visiting extended family. Here's what we came up with in that 30 minute opportunity in which God held off the rain for us!
Catherine HIckem, author of "Raising Your Children with No Regrets" and founder of
Intentional Moms has a weekly e-letter which I subscribe to. This weeks message was a great reminder to me. I don't want to butcher it by paraphrasing so here it is in quotes:
"God had a plan to give His children the world, but they didn't receive it. Still, that never deterred Him from continuing a relationship with them and meeting them where they were, not waiting for them to get to where His heart longed for them to be.
This Christmas, remember that God intentionally allowed you to be right where you are, with the children you have been given, so you could become more like Him."Have Merry Christmas as you celebrate this wonderful truth!
Labels: holidays, parenting
Blast from the Past...
About 14 years ago I had a toddler and an infant in my care, just getting my feet wet in mothering. Next door to us lived a precious family with a beautiful daughter who happened to be just the right age to babysit these two little ones in our possession. Today, that young teenager is a
grown woman, now married and even though we've since moved from that neighborhood, I've never lost touch with the family who I still think so fondly of. Today, I had the honor of photographing our aforementioned former babysitter & her loving husband. What a joy it was to capture their images! Time surely does quickly pass us by as I experienced first hand today as I snapped away at a beautiful local park in sunny south Florida just days before Christmas. What a gift!
Labels: photography
5 Obsessions...
I got tagged by my sister-in-law,
Penny, to reveal five obsessions. Well, here they are and in no particular order, as anyone who has self-professed, undiagnosed, mild OCD will tell you, they are all equally important!
1. my hair (I incessantly pull on it, twirl it and pick at it!)
2. cleaning
3. organizing
4. reading
5. photography
I'm tagging
Sarah,
Chad, &
Kim. Can't wait to see what other obsessions are lurking out there!
Labels: friends, fun facts
The Strategy of Satan
I haven't started any new books lately, but I thought it would be worth mentioning that I am re-reading a favorite that, in my opinion, every believer should have in their personal library. The author is Warren Weirsbe and the title is
"The Strategy of Satan." It's an old book from my bible college days and I have it all marked up. I've started writing a bit of an outline from it in my journal and jotting some of my thoughts and prayers alongside. Pick up a copy at Amazon for only $6.99. It will be worth the investment!
Labels: books
Holiday Parade
Yesterday Andrew and his Local Sea Cadet Division marched in the annual Jupiter/Tequesta Holiday Parade. We spent a couple of hours as a family enjoying the festive feel of the procession of elected officals, high school marching bands and brownie troops. The weather cooperated and even was a bit cool & windy making for a nice Florida "winter" day. I would venture to guess that there are no small towns lining the east coast of south Florida, but our trip to Jupiter sure gave off the warmth that often accompanies such bedroom communities. It was a nice, illusory respite from the hustle of suburbia at Christmastime!
Labels: family, fun pict's
Last night was our 5th annual Life Group White Elephant Christmas Party. We filled our stomachs with delectable food, enjoyed fun conversation and had a rip-roaring gift exchange. Our Life Group is an extension of our family and I can't imagine celebrating Christmas without these, my dearest friends! Here are a few candids from the evening...
Labels: church, friends
King of the Hill
I just returned from Walmart. I barely made it out alive! People's nerves seem to be shot already and we are still over two weeks away from Christmas!
Most of the guests parading through the aisle's of the megastore, frantically filling their carts with food and wares, seem to believe that they, and no one else, have sole proprietorship of the giant warehouse of 'stuff.' It's as if they are the emperor and expect the rest of the lowly peasant's sharing the space to part, like the Red Sea did for Moses, as they make their way in your direction. The real problem is the fact that many of the so-called 'peasants' beileve they are royalty as well. It's "King of the Hill" playing out in my local Super Store....someone is bound to get hurt!
What have your shopping experiences been like so far this season?
Labels: ponderings
Confessions of a Homeschool Mom
I haven't written much on the topic of homeschooling for quite some time which is odd in that the title of my blog identifies me as such. There is good reason for my silence. I am and have been in a 'place'. There, I said it!
My brother does a regular post on his blog called "Student Ministry Confessional". Well, this is my version of that and I'm calling it "Confessions of a Homeschool Mom". So here goes my first attempt at sharing about the 'place' I'm in, starting with the most minor, but still bothersome, matters.
An issue (yes, it's an issue--for me it really is!) that has bothered me for a very long time, and I've never expressed it to anyone, is the fact that every time I type the word 'homeschool' my spell-check underlines is as a misspelling. It takes a huge amount of restraint for me to leave the squiggly red underline. Being a self-professed perfectionist, I just can't help myself and after a time of hoping the disturbance goes away on its own or even thinking for a brief moment that I can actually ignore it, I usually go back and put in the space that the computer is screaming for. I've been wanting to express that frustration for some time and feel much better doing so. Today, the red line stays!
Paperwork. I hate it. Once again, being the perfectionist I am, I do not like clutter, I need organization to feel at ease. Just the nature of teaching children at home demands paperwork. We do our best to keep things in order, but it's a constant battle. Throw into the mix the local Home Educators office demanding documentation for this and forms for that and it's just the ticket to make me a bit insane at times. It's unavoidable, but a huge aggravation to me! I believe it's just another way God is ironing out some of my wrinkles.
Now to the heavy stuff. High school with two teenagers. It's maddening! We have homeschooled our children for nine years now. We've experienced some difficulties at times, but overall it's been very rewarding and generally a great blessing. I'm still enjoying the aspects of that with my 10 year old son. But having 9th and 11th graders to manage is making me lose my mind! The thing I never counted on when we marched into this long haul of home education is the fact that once you hit high school you're no longer their teacher. You become a 'guidance counselor.' That may sound easier than teaching to some of you, but to me, it's horrifying!
Here's what I'm learning....
Teenagers change their minds...a lot! We had a plan of action for my son. I was pounding the pavement and scouring the internet to gather information and make connections, creating for him the perfect portfolio for his dream. A mission trip to New York later and it's all out the window! Now we're starting from scratch. I've been in a bit of denial, refusing to adjust his Community College courses and thinking to myself that he'll come around. Not happening!
Then there's my daughter. Always an A/B student, she's struggling to make C's in this, her first year of high school level classes online. I know this can be typical of many students adjusting to their freshman year of high school, but I didn't see it coming.
That said, I believe I've identified part of the problem. It's actually two-sided. One side of it is the struggle of teenagers to manage all the technology surrounding them. Cell phones & texting, facebook, myspace, etc. And people say homeschoolers lack social skills due to isolation??? That is not the case in most families I know, namely my own! Then there's the fact that my oldest has embarked on his first job, gotten his drivers license and started community college classes within a couple of month's of each other. That is the side we, as parents, have had to help them learn to manage. Ultimately, however, it is their responsibility to figure it out, sometimes having to fail before learning the hard consequences.
The other side is my own struggle. The constant dying to self. Giving up morning coffee with friends, shopping trips, having my entire house clean at one time, giving up facebook to allow for more time to manage schooling, getting computer time in early so as not to compete for time during the day while the kids need it for school, and on and on it goes....
Finally, and this is the biggest struggle for me, is the loss of friends who are ahead of me in this journey. I'm now the 'mom with the answers,' Don't get me wrong, I still have friends who are in front of me, but God has placed distance, literally counties & states, between us. I feel like I'm floundering around, trying to find my balance, just learning to walk. How can that be after so many years of doing this thing? I guess the answer is that I haven't been at it as long as it seems. It's a whole new phase for me. High school & teenagers is a different ball game and I'm just learning the rules. Many times this year I've felt like throwing in the towel, handing them over to someone who can do a better job than I. That's how I feel this week. At least until yesterday...
God brought a new friend along. Someone I've know casually for some time, but never really connected with. She is one of those who is ahead of me in this odyssey. Her encouraging words were like honey, healing to my weary soul. She gave me a little shot in the arm in which I'm not sure she'll ever know the impact it had. I'm grateful to her but mostly to God. The timing of our brief encounter and the circumstances behind it all point to my Heavenly Father for orchestrating it. I know she would agree, God does work in mysterious ways!
cartoon courtesy of www.nhunderground.comLabels: homeschooling
Durrua Family Photos
Here are the latest family photos I did just this morning of the Durrua Family. They have some beautiful property with some fun backdrops and I had a blast with them!
Labels: photography
As promised, here are a few favorite shots from our North Carolina Family Adventure....
Me & my baby!
Penny's Aunt & Uncle's beautiful farm house where we spent Thanksgiving dinner
Grandpa Paul sending the horses in for dinner
Roman gets to feed them
Grampy and JJ, with his little 'walking stick,' enjoying a hike together
A couple of sunset shots from the farm house porch
Benjamin with his home made bow & arrow
My niece & nephew came for a visit and enjoyed an adventure on the river behind our cabin
Chris & Roman on the river
Labels: family, fun pict's
Carnival!
Almost every year since I can remember our family has attended my dad's union Christmas picnic the first Saturday in December. It's actually a barbeque style event in which they host a carnival for the whole family. Our kids have loved it and this year my little nephews got to enjoy it for the first time.
This is the first year I avoided all rides....40, need I say more? Just the thought of getting spun around in a giant strawberry makes my stomach spasm! My brother took the role of the "fun uncle/daddy" and joined the kids on various gut-wrenching rides. It was hilarious and made for some fun photos. Here are a few of my favorites...
Labels: family, fun pict's
