That's What Soldiers Do

   It is amazing to me the dedication and selflessness our American military and their families have. It takes a unique individual to serve this great country.  As I sat in our church service this morning I was so overwhelmed with emotion.  There where speakers who had family members in WWII, Korea, Civil War,  Vietnam, Iraq, Desert Storm, Panama's Just Cause and Afghanistan.  In our small congregation there where family members who had been POW's and marched in the Bataan Death March. There where men who where drafted in WWII and Vietnam and men who went freely. None spent the day boasting or wanting glory. Instead it was a service of thanks to those who paid the ultimate price. When asked for all Veterans to stand these men looked around stood up but felt like theirs was not a service of notoriety.  They where just doing what they should do.
    I have known so many great and honorable men and women who serve and never do they complain or say they wished they hadn't.  They usually tell you stories of their friends who "Didn't quiet make it back home".  They keep the memories alive of those who paid the ultimate price.
    Love is the reason for their service.  Love of their country , love of their family, love of honor and self less love. Some join because it is a family tradition. Some join as a result of something happening in America or the world. Like September 11th.  The rush of people to join after that was amazing. Some join for a better future and education.  Some join the National Guard to be able to serve their country and stay at home.  Well we have seen this is not true anymore.  Guardsmen are now deployed overseas also.
  What ever the reason that is just what soldiers do!  I am so thankful for their families and their dedication and sacrifice. I think of stories like Mrs. Sullivan who lost 5 of her sons to war and I can't imagine the loss she must of felt. So many in our history have paid the ultimate price so that we may be free.  Free to speak against what we don't believe in. Free to worship how and where we want to.  Free to pursue our dreams of love, life and liberty how ever we see fit. I love this country that I live in.  I am proud to be an American citizen.  I am so thankful for those who did pay the ultimate price. I am thankful for those who have served, are serving or will serve.
     I take time out of my day if I see a military person to thank them for what they do.  In our world it is not easy to serve.  Our enemy is not as clear cut as he used to be.  He doesn't fight war fair.  There are not clear battle fronts like in wars past.  Still there are men and women signing up every day to keep us free. To them I say THANKS and WE LOVE YOU!!

To HomeSchool or Not???

 

 I spent so many sleepless nights trying to figure out what was best for my kids.  I wanted to home school them since they where in Kindergarten.  However, having 2 boys that where only 18 months apart and very spirited children kind of made me tell myself no!  You see I doubted myself.    I thought I couldn't do it.  I wasn't smart enough, I didn't know how.  Well when my youngest was in 3rd and his brother in 4th I started to think a little differently.  There Sister was a freshman and doing great in school so she was good.  The boys well it was different. One had some issues with bullies, was having issues with reading and honestly felt he was an undiagnosed dyslexic.  The older son was very bright and very bored in classes.  You see almost every morning they had a headache or stomach and I would have to almost drag them to school.  It was getting harder and harder for me to support them going to a place where they learned very little and where ridiculed and belittled by peers, teachers and sometimes even a principal.
    I finally talked to my husband and pulled one son out of school mid year.  I refused to let him be a victim of bullies and also wanted to help him with his reading.  He was diagnosed as having a decoding error form of dyslexia and also aspergers and some anxiety issues.  So that was why all the meds he had been on didn't work.  This is why he didn't want to go to school to deal with all the kids.
    I enrolled him in an online school which I found out was free and supplied everything we needed. We sat down together for a few hours each day and learned some amazing things. We had fun and loved it.  There where projects and games and videos.  It was wonderful. Then the tests came and he had alot of difficulties.  I wasnt allowed to read the questions to him and help him understand what they where asking.  Then the pace got quicker and it just didn't work well.
So we switched to book work the next year. His brother joined him and we did fairly well.
  You know what they say about siblings right? Well whats good for the goose?  Seems my 10th grader wasn't learning much either and wasn't feeling challenged. She was also so tired of the drugs, alcohol and immorral issues in her school. She asked me if she could homeschool. I was shocked. She was the head cheerleader captain and was very involved in school and had a ton of friends.
I did what any mother would do. FREAK OUT!!
   Ok, how am I going to handle three kids home everyday and be in charge of their education?  Well , I did it!  She took online classes, supplemented some with classes from our local homeschool coop and also took dance and taught dance classes.  She dove into what she wanted to learn and did amazing!  She graduated high school with a 3.8 gpa and never looked back.
   What I didn't tell you was that I was also fostering kids at the same time.  My foster children went to traditional school while my bio kids stayed home schooled.  It was a tough crazy few years but we did it.
   Now fast forward 4 years and we are still at it. We have traded online school for traditional homeschool and coop classes.  We just discovered unit studies this year and have been learning alot of agriculture and earth sciences. We live in Florida now and also added 3 kids by adoption to our family. I have taught my kids to seek out info in the world around them.  To look at life and ask why?  They have learned how to grow their own food this year.  We are also canning our food and then what is left over they will take to the farmers market also!  The money they make will go for mission funds and college plus some put back for supplies for the next growing season.
    My kids are learning so much.  How to work together as a team. (Not easy with 3 teens)  How to take care of plants in the hot Florida sun.  What the meaning of hard work is.  However, they are also learning that you can enjoy the fruits of your labor. (Watermelon, cantaloupe)  Best lesson is that their are rewards for hard work too!  A nice swim in the pond after hand plowing an acre garden is amazing!

I also wanted to mention our "garden"  is actually a farm we are buying.  We are planting about 4 acres and it is all new to us.  You see we are kind of city bumpkins trying to learn it all.  We moved back south from up North so alot of this is all new to us.  Oh and the pond?  It took work too.  It had 4 snapping turtles in it that had to be shot before they could swim.  Tried catching them to no avail.  

So there is a lesson to all this. As a Mother you may doubt yourself and feel you aren't capable of teaching your kids.  Honestly, if you as a Mom don't know what is best for your children then who in the world does?  Home schooling isn't as hard as you may think.  There are so many resources and curriculum's out there to help you.  Check your community also for other homeschoolers and a co-op.  Have some faith in yourself and I tell you it will be the best decision you  can ever make for your kids and your family.  You will be teaching them so much more than they could ever learn in a school room!

 

This Is Not Goodbye

     Raising kids is not an easy task. The years of sleepless nights and the days full of chaos, cleaning, cooking and nursing them back to health.  It is a lot of work to raise kids.  This doesn't even include the hours of worry and stress.  The feeling that you could of done it better or should of done something different.  I am learning as my daughter has left on her mission, that I did the very best I could.  After all she is serving the Lord and chose to do so herself at 19 years old. She left her dance career and a boy who she totally thinks the world of all behind to follow the Lord and serve others.  So, I guess I must of done something right.
   She has been gone for about 3 weeks now and it is still tough.  I miss her like crazy.  I pray often for strength.  The nights are the hardest. I have a house full of teens still but the night time was always ours.  So I find myself facebooking , trying to do my Scentsy business, and writing to her.  Still I sit with tears streaming down my face.  Then I think, am I too weak? Why is this so hard ?  I have gotten great letters and emails from her.  She is so happy and proud and touching so many peoples lives.  She is teaching a man with terminal cancer now.  I know she is an answer to his prayers. Also, a family from a foreign country with 2 small children.  She is helping them be a forever family like us.
   Last night I was listening to her Spotify playlist and found this song from her.  She had the list labeled "For You MOM". Oh my gosh I cried like a big baby and am still crying as I write this.  "This is not goodbye its just I love you to take with you until your home again."  Such wisdom in those words.  Such comfort and joy.  I know that we are an eternal family and I have her forever.  It is never goodbye.  It is now my job as a mother of a missionary to support her and let her go so that others will have their families forever too.
     I know there will still be long nights and tears will still flow.  I am learning how to let go and let God as a friend of mine says.  I am human and a mother.  Do we ever have to fully let go?  I just have to loosen her ribbons a bit until she is home again.
     I would love to hear from other Mom's out there how they handled their children growing up and following their dreams.  Does it get easier?