Springing

It's finally April.
We have turned the corner, I think, as far as the weather goes, and I can now easily count the weeks of school that are left.
This time of year is always a time of mixed feelings.
What the heck am I doing? Who do I think I am? How will my kids find their futures?
I have been teaching them their whole lives and it looks like they are well prepared. They can all reason well, they are excellent critical thinkers. They have their Faith.
But we are not "normal". We have not followed the path to success that the world tells us is so crucial.

Paul turned 15 yesterday!! The youngest son is forging ahead in all things teen, doing well in school, enjoying time with friends, and looking forward to more independence.

Brendan will be 17 next week, and he is graduating in June. Wow. I still haven't wrapped my head around that. He is taking a class at the college and he is doing well. Statistics isn't for the faint of heart. He has to wrap up History and Literature. He is hoping to get a job over the Summer and he will decide whether to go to community college in the Fall. He's not sure yet.

John is working and going to school. He has taken to college very well, as I suspected he would.

It's funny how you think you know what life will look like at each stage, and then how God puts things in place to make it not quite what you imagined. You think there is a "right" way to do things, usually based on what everyone else is doing, and then when you step outside the "norm" you wonder constantly if you're OK.

The "right" way to raise kids is to start a college fund when they're born, enroll them in school, round out their time with sports and music lessons, run them all over creation, start applying to colleges when they are Juniors in high school and make sure that all the pieces are in place so that they can get accepted to the best colleges and hopefully get scholarship money.
This will ensure that they get the right degree, meet the right people and find the right job.
And for many people, that's true. For many people, that's a sound plan.

But what about us?
No college fund.
No school enrollment, although it seems like, for these guys at least, that has worked out for the better.
Not much in the way of sports, since organized athletics seems to be one of those necessary evils that we tried and then left somewhere in elementary school. It's not that the boys don't enjoy physical activity. Biking, hiking, skateboarding, swimming and often walking wherever they want to go, these are all things that they do on their own just because they like to. Still nobody's getting any coaching, except for Paul who has been doing Karate for a long time.
Applying to college? John applied and got into several good schools, but life got in the way, and he took a year to work and figure things out. And I am SO glad that he did it that way! Learning about why you should pursue higher education, for your own purposes, is probably the best "course" of study that you can undertake after high school. It's important to keep moving forward, but the people that are racing to the finish line may get there and realize that they are holding a trophy that they really don't want.

This whole endeavor, to give children the formation and foundation that will take them to the places that God wants them to be, is nothing but a leap of faith. No matter who you are, if you have kids you have chosen to jump off a very steep and scary cliff into a fast flowing and muddy river. You can't see the bottom and you don't know where it is taking you, but there is a long, strong rope to hold on to and it will keep you from drowning if you just hang on. It's nothing but the Grace of God, whether you believe in Him or not. For all the love and commitment we have for our kids, He has a much bigger stake in them. He desires nothing more than to have them with Him for all eternity and He will aways respond when we, as parents, ask Him for Grace and guidance.

I have never been sure that I can do all that I need to do to give my kids what they need to get there, but I have always been sure that He is with me and that He will. I have never been a strong swimmer, and without that rope I would have drowned long ago.

So much is springing forth in this season, and I pray that I can be open-hearted and energetic enough to follow through with whatever God shows us.

Ground Hogs....What Do They Know?

Today is absolutely glorious!
The sun is out, the air is warmish, well at least the wind isn't blowing, and the birds were actually singing in the trees.
Maggie and I had a wonderful walk, and it really does lift the spirits.
I have been in something of a funk for the last few days, and this break in winter was just what I needed.
I have work to do inside this afternoon but now I have the energy to do it.

Brendan and Paul are both sick right now. There is a fluish bug going around and Paul has been hit really hard. Brendan's case isn't so bad, but he still feels yucky and has no energy.
Paul says that he is feeling a bit better today, so I will put off the trip to the doctor.

Well, off to do some cleaning. I am going to change the hamster cage. At least he hasn't made any weather predictions like some other rodents that I could mention.

Changes...

In one capacity or another, I have been a professional organizer for around 10 years, and for most of those years I have been organizing with Sappari Solutions, a great company run by a good friend. I have learned a tremendous amount in the years that I have worked for Nettie, and I count it as time well spent. Over the last few weeks, however, I could feel the need to make a change. I have been feeling like Sappari and I just don't fit anymore. I want to try to fin a way to work that fits my family and my work style. I have cleaned with a friend, and really enjoyed it, and I have some ideas as to the types of jobs that I can get organizing. I want to continue my certification. and I would love to work with the elderly as they transition from the family home to smaller spaces. I also want to work with homeschooling families in one way or another, as a consultant and family organizer.
I need to do a bit of planning and think about a way to put myself out there, but I know that this has come from God, and that He will carry me through to whatever He has planned.

Happy New Year!

Here we go!
If you are hitting a "reset" button in any area of your life, consider taking it to prayer, starting today.
I am looking at so many things that need to be reevaluated, revamped, restarted.
I want to do each of these things justice and give them the effort that they are due.

Last night I went to Confession, to start the year absolved and in a good place with God.
The whole family went, and as we all walk down our personal paths this year, we can each step out knowing that we are in a state of Grace. That's the most important step to take over anything else.

I have many plans and only some of them will get past the "outline" phase.
Somme of them will be shelved, but I want to listen closely to God so that the ones that He wants to "Flesh out" become sentences, paragraphs, and then complete essays.

He knows of the plans that He has for us. Plans for a bright future and great Joy!

On The Cusp of a New Year.

This is truly a blank page.
It's 10:00, on New Year's Eve and there is a whole new brand-spanking-clean year ahead of us.
2016 was a good year, we put a few things behind us, moved forward in others.
There was education on all fronts, new jobs, expanding horizons, and love and laughter with family and friends.
Tomorrow will be another beginning.
The coming year will see a completely new and different Presidential administration. I am hopefully optimistic.
It will be a college year for two of my students. John and Brendan. Paul hopes to start at the college soon himself. Probably not next fall, but soon.
The need to pay college tuition brings me to a new horizon in my career. I still love my work for Sappari, but I am going to need to supplement that income.
There are opportunities on the horizon, and they are definitely answers to prayer. God has been putting people in my life and ideas in my mind, and I can see Him working in all of this.
The key is going to be keeping an open heart and following His lead.

God Bless this year.

Breathing Space

A very wise person recently advised me that I may be a little too concerned with what I should do, based on my perception of what other people think. She suggested that I spend the rest of Advent letting go of thoughts about people's expectations and instead spend time in prayer and reflection about the One who gave me life and what He desires for me. The areas that seem to keep me running in circles are:

*Family responsibilities coming from my side of the family which I can really do nothing about, but which, when I think about how to approach and try to deal with them, make my head spin. I know that I am one of the people that needs to do something, but as far as I can see there are no real solutions. I don't see how I can just abandon the situation, but then again, I have no idea what to do about it. 

*A sense that I am not reaching the right people in my work. I love the company that I work for. I have been involved in the organizing industry for years now, and it seems so right for me. I love working with people and helping them solve their problems. I just don't think that the populations that I would be best at working with are aligned with the cost of the service that we are providing in this company. Not that it's wrong to seek a more affluent type of client, but the clients that I really want to serve are families, preferably large homeschooling ones, and the elderly as they transition from the family home to smaller spaces. I really just want to offer services by the job, or the hour, and work directly for the client, to cut costs for them. I am just not sure how to approach this in my current work situation. 

*The need to make money to supplement our income for the boy's education which leads me to needing to make money somehow, and wanting to do what I love! I really don't get any work through the company right now. I need to find the place that I am needed and can be the most effective. 

*Trying to stay in good graces with friends in our circle, as my own views on what is acceptable are changing. I am really not so sure that rigid black and white thinking has been healthy.

My wise friend told me to open these questions up in writing and to try to find some answers. 

This blog will be the space to do that. 

I am going to try not to dwell, but to pose questions to myself.

The first question is....

Great Wolf Lodgin'

Great time at the Great Wolf!