Testimony

The Background Story
This year, I have been leading a women's Bible study on Tuesday mornings. It a study I've been attending since the fall after Elizabeth was born, making this my sixth year. When I learned I was pregnant, I was so excited to get to Bible study, since I would no longer be working. I love this group! There are a few who have overlapped with me the entire time I've been there and many who have come and gone. This is a very transient area with the universities and hospitals bringing people in for brief windows of time. How good it is to see God bind us together by His Word, allow us to pray for one another, and give us friendships that will last forever, even if here and now we move to new cities and new adventures.

When I started going we were often freezing, because the heat never worked very well and the insulation and windows were terrible. And we took turns caring for the children, because the budget didn't allow for childcare. But we consistently studied the Word, prayed together, cared for one another, drank coffee, and ate snacks! My friend and our leader, Meda, kept us focused on God, His promises, His goodness, our need for His grace. Thanks, Meda, for steering us away from so many rabbit trails!!

Now, as I think about how the group has grown an changed - how our children have grown up a little, how many new babies have been born, how the church can afford to pay three women to care for the kids, how warm it is with new windows and good heat, how wonderful the big, new coffee machine is, how many women have come and gone or stayed, how Meda's moved on to a different leadership position, how I'm now leading - it fills me with joy and amazement at how God works.

Earlier This Year
Last summer I began studying the book of Joshua which you can read about here and here. I was also planning to begin homeschooling in the fall and anticipating moving out of Boston at the end of 2009. Throughout the summer there was some talk of me stepping into Meda's place and leading on Tuesday mornings. I really wanted to do it, but didn't want to commit to something, not knowing what homeschooling would be like and not wanting to leave part way through. Then, one morning I got a call from pastor Rick asking me if I'd lead the group. Hm....

I said I'd talk it over with Colin, my dear sounding board. I knew he was concerned I'd get in over my head if I took on more responsibility. But he also knew I was really excited by the opportunity to lead. So, he supported me taking it on. Since I'd been studying Joshua, I told Rick I'd be happy to lead if studying Joshua would be okay, given that I already had my head in it. He agreed and helped me find an appropriate study guide. We started up as usual, at the beginning of September.

What's Happening Today
We did not move away in 2009 and we'll be staying through the end of the school year! It has not been that difficult to balance teaching Elizabeth and leading on Tuesdays. And, we just concluded our challenging study of the book of Joshua a couple of weeks ago. What joy it brought to my heart to hear women share about how God has been weaving things we've been learning into the fabric of their faith. My prayers for the group are feeble and sporadic at best, praying mostly that God's word would take root in us. He is faithful and doing just that, far beyond my weak expectations. Thank you, Father!

During the last few weeks of the study, I realized that I needed to figure out what we were going to do next. There's not really enough time in the year to start up another full-blown book study. I was feeling at a loss, asking God for some inspiration, and talking with the group. Then one morning, (Jan 29 my journal tells me), the inspiration was given. We should tell our stories, give testimony to how God called us from darkness into light and how he's changing us as we walk with Him! It fits so well with Joshua, too - God making and keeping promises to give His people an inheritance. It opens up opportunity not only to get to know each other better, but also to worship and praise our gracious God!

So the journey continues. God's Word and faithfulness endure through all generations. To Him be the glory for ever and ever.

More on the Transition Front

1. We made it; Brian is no longer waking at 4:30am! Hallelujah!! Seriously, people, I thought there was something wrong with me the past few weeks. Turns out, I've just been extremely tired. It's so hard to be into hanging out with friends and enjoying life when you're exhausted! (Obvious, I know, but I was starting to think I was becoming more of a hermit, or worse, more of a jerk.)
2. Elizabeth will begin sleeping in a twin bed tonight! She's 5-1/2 and still in a toddler bed; that's a bed with a crib-sized mattress. I'd been waiting for us to move to get her a bed, but recently she'd had trouble sleeping because she can't lay straight. I was thinking Ikea would be a good option for size and affordability, and was able to get one on Criagslist for a very reasonable price and a 2 minute drive away. Our closest Ikea is a bit of a hike so this was super. A toast to the minivan for being just the right size to bring it home. And thanks to God for providing. (Now we need to sell the toddler bed, anyone interested?)

The new bed!

3. In addition to sleeping later, Brian now naps once a day. That means I need to decide how to do school. Should I still do it in the morning while he's toddling around? Or should we do our activities in the afternoon when he's sleeping? Elizabeth is quite distracted by him, and he's pretty needy, since he's learning to make it longer before napping. I like getting school tasks done early, so we can enjoy the rest of the day. For now, I think we'll try to stick with that and see how it goes.

4. I read this in The WholeHearted Child: Home Education Handbook: "We live in a leisure-oriented society, but home schooling is hard work. There's not much room for taking it easy." Ironically, it empowered me! So now that I'm feeling more rested and don't have a cold, I'm starting to take control of my life (little by little) instead of letting it control me. I often look around and think about all the things I should be doing, but then get overwhelmed and try to avoid it all. The last couple of days, I've been experimenting with getting things done, even when I don't want to. (Something I preach to Elizabeth all the time!) It feels good.

It feels good.

It's nice to sit down at a dinner table that's not covered in crap. It's nice to walk into a bathroom without clothes and misc itmes tossed about. It's nice to wake up to a livingroom floor without toys everywhere. So at this time I'm working on maintaining, instead of letting things get crazy and having to do mega clean up that takes a long time. Life isn't really going to work for me any other way. Must. Fight. The. Laziness!!!!!!

Another thing I've been thinking I'd like to change is my screen time. I'd like to only watch the shows I want to watch and avoid tv any other time. The shows I'm into: Monk, House, the Office and the Soup, and Psych, Chuck and Burn Notice, when they return in the winter. Monk will be ending in a couple of months. We record, so I don't have to watch when they're actually on. I really like that, because even last night, the Office was just too late for me to stay awake.

My other time sink is the computer. My dream is that I could be content with checking my email just a couple times a day. I'm an addict. I waste too much time on the computer. We'll work on this soon. Maybe. (sheepish grin.)

The most recent choice that I've made is to use the half hour when Elizabeth has her rest time during Brian's nap as "me" time. I read a book, write a blog post like this one, take a nap, or whatever! It's nice to have this time to look forward to; it always includes a cup of coffee.

Mmmmm, apples and peanut butter face.

Back to School

I know, it's January. September is still 9 months away. But the reality is setting in for me that we have to decide where, if anywhere, E will be attending school for the '09-'10 school year.

For many, it's a no-brainer, you decided years ago that your child(ren) would attend public school, private school, or that you'd homeschool. I thought for sure that I'd send my kids to public school straight away. Now the time has arrived (almost), and I'm just not as settled on that choice anymore.

I began thinking about homeschooling a couple of years ago, when I realized how much fun it is to teach your own child and discover the world with them. It's amazing! But honestly, I could hardly believe that I would entertain the idea of homeschooling. When I was growing up, the few homeschooled kids that I knew were weird and out of touch with what was hip and cool, at least from my perspective. Nevertheless, I eventually bagged the idea for a few reasons:

• I decided I wasn't hard core enough to do it: the research to choose curriculum, choosing a "style," sticking with it, doing a good job, etc.
  
• I learned of a Spanish K program in Pittsburgh, that would give E a leg up on her Spanish language development. (For those that don't know me, I studied Spanish and have spoken some off and on with E since she was a little over 1 year old. And we'll be moving to Pgh soon.)
• I started thinking about how nice it would be to get back more time for me and my plans for my life.

Recently, however, I've been thinking about homeschooling again for these reasons:

• I shouldn't can an idea just because of the unknowns or because I don't think I'll be as good at it as X.
• The Spanish K program - beyond costing $6,000 for the year (a good price for what you get, I think, but still $6,000!) - is full day, just like the Pgh public schools.
• Now might not be the time to simply think about me, but to think as a whole about what I want our children to be learning during these early, impressionable years of their lives.

So, the experiment begins. Elizabeth seems very interested in learning to read. So, I purchased a well-reviewed book called Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. I'm getting acquainted with it and will attempt to begin teaching E soon.

Baby steps, folks. I'll keep you posted.