Although I haven’t posted in a long (long!) while, I assure you, we are still here! And, by God’s grace, our journey still goes on. Our family has grown - oh, has it grown - but our house? It has not! Stay tuned as we work on growing that house. And the family…well, they grow, like it or not. My oldest turned 17 in December, and just like I did at his age, he is graduating a year early. So we are in the midst of graduation preparations at our house. And since I’m the teacher (we homeschool, after all), that means a lot of preparations fall on me. It’s bittersweet, really. It’s such an exhilarating joy to realize that he has done it and I was the one that facilitated it all! Yet sad that it is the beginning of a new phase in life, where children begin to leave the nest. He won’t be leaving immediately because he will be continuing to build his landscaping business and live at home, while saving for his future. Yet, I know the day is coming.
And now there are 7 more children to talk about! My second son is 15 and leaning to drive. He saved up and bought a car even before he had his permit! He’s a fantastic musician: singer, guitarist, drummer. And a comedian, for sure. He keeps things fun around here. Next is our 13 year old daughter. She’s also a musician: a budding singer, guitarist, pianist; also, painter of all the little girls’ nails around here, and for that they sing her praises. After her is our 12 year old daughter, a tomboy in some ways. At Family Camp she was the fastest female runner in the 5K of any age, among a hundred or more runners! She’s quite the drummer, too. She has a quiet disposition, which is very welcome in this noisy house. Our 9 year old daughter is also mostly quiet, sweet, and likes to help out. Then there is our 7 year old daughter who marches to her own drummer: an artist, a foodie, an extravert, and born with no filter. We are working on that! She, however, makes friends wherever she goes. The five year old girl of the family is next in line, and she is very loving and affectionate, and I believe she will be a singer as well. Last is our almost two year old - a very verbal, active, yet snuggly child. Everyone loves her!
Our homestead has included big gardens (and canning!), milk cows and the accompanying calves (beef cows, too), meat chickens and laying hens, even dogs and cats. There have been successes and failures. Sometimes we felt like giving up. But isn’t that life? There is no great success, no accomplishment at all, in fact, without risk. And with risk comes failure, at least sometimes. But failure is how we learn and grow, so even it is welcome (hesitantly, though it may be). Lord, help me to remember, when the failures become overwhelming, that you have promised to work all things together for good to them that love you. Help me to look for that good!
