Author: joyfuldomesticity

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The Next Step

I just took the next step in our parenting… buying “official” curriculum for Gabriel’s next step in homeschooling! It will be on its way soon!

What a sense of accomplishment, and a huge sense of wow-what-a-responsibility, to have clicked “purchase” at both VeritasPress and RainbowResource. I’m really looking forward to digging my nails into these books, and seeing how we like each thing once they arrive. Hopefully, as time goes on, I will be able to share some of our thoughts and experiences with the various curriculum, activities, projects, etc. for your benefit as well as my own.

It’s such a wonderful blessing to have others come alongside us to encourage and exhort us, especially those who are just one or two steps ahead of us. We don’t, in all honesty, have very many people nearby us who fit that bill, so it makes me especially thankful for the gift of online community, where we have access to others no matter the physical distance between us.

Thanks be to God for His incredible gifts! Not the least of which are education, the freedom to homeschool, children to educate, grace to cover a multitude of sins, and books to bury our noses in.

“The world will never starve for want of wonders, but for want of wonder.”
~G.K. Chesterton~

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This is our Summer

Thanks be to God…. six years and ten arrows later… God’s faithfulness is still sure and His mercies are still new.
The time for singing has come, the rain is over and gone, flowers appear on the earth.

And we praise Him. This is a summer of immense blessing… again. And we are thankful. Thankful for faithfulness and mercy that overflow our home. Our cup runs over. Amen.

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Dabbling in Various Domestic Endeavors

I may not have a Pinterest account, but I sure love coming up with new ideas for the beautifying of my home, the loving of my family, and the nutritious & delicious filling of our bellies! Enjoy a wee glimpse into a few of my recent crafty endeavors.

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Smoke, Sky, and Sea

A filmy western sky of smoky red,
Blossoming into stars above a sea
Of soft mysterious dim silver spread
Beyond the long gray dunes’ serenity;
Where the salt grasses and sea poppies press
Together in a wild sweet loneliness.

~from “Twilight in Abegweit” by L.M. Montgomery~

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Family on the Oregon Coast

We had a lovely week on the Oregon Coast with my side of the family. We had fantastic times at the beach, hours and hours in the pool, explored the tide pools, squeezed in a few fun dates, played games and played with cousins… it was a fantastic time. What good little travelers our sweet children are too! It was a blessing. Here are a couple quick glimpses of our super duper fun.P1010157 P1010143 P1010158

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Glimpsing Joy

And in case you needed a little boost of my wee Joy Girl…

Our little beauty baby
Our little beauty baby
Enjoying the park with Mommy
Enjoying the park with Mommy
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My big boy turned FIVE today!

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Rejoicing in my toil

Everyone to whom God has given wealth, and possessions, and the power to enjoy them,
and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil ~ this is the gift of God.
For he will not much remember the days of his life
because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.
Ecclesiastes 5:19

“Blessings, like children, are not ethereal and weightless. Sometimes they feel like they come at you like a Kansas hail storm ~ they might leave a welt! But if you accept your lot and rejoice in your toil, God will give you the kind of overwhelming joy that cannot remember the details. Motherhood is hard work. It is repetitive and often times menial. Accept it. Rejoice in it. This is your toil. Right here. Those are their faces. Enjoy them. The days of your life are supposed to be full of things like this. But joy is not giddy. It is not an emotional rush ~ it is what happens when you accept your lot and rejoice in your toil. So rejoice in your children. Look them in the eyes and give thanks. You will not even remember the work of all this planting when the harvest of joy overwhelms you.” (Rachel Jankovic, Loving the Little Years p102)

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It’s Impossible… and Impossibly Wonderful!

“The task of parenting is simply impossible.
Any sane look at what is required of parents by God is completely and utterly overwhelming.
This is why the task must be undertaken
in grace, by grace, through grace, and because of grace.”

~Douglas Wilson, My Life for Yours p. 123~