Current Mood: One Sleepy Girly & Ready for Sleep!

Just came to upload two files to the site tonight and there it was…

guilt.

SORRY! My Momma wants me to write here again and I obey my Momma! I will I promise! ha

That said, I like that I do not have to change the graphics to match a different season…hahaha I sadly admit that was unplanned, but I am thankful the fall or winter graphics are not on haha

I will update…count on it!

God bless!
Susie

Current Mood: Scholarly & Tender Hearted

Okay so I have been less and less inclined to be a part of the Facebook crowd lately…and that coincides almost exactly to the date of the time when I stopped posting here…I know, total fail. That said, I am pretty sure I am completely disenchanted with the whole thing and feel so limited by the short blurbs (c’mon you all know me, I love to talk and rarely if EVER write a short post right?) that I find myself NOT updating because I hate not being able to tell the “whole” story. So here I am am…sick that I feel like there are now two full years of undocumented family history that won’t be here but unwilling to let that disappointment cloud my desire to jump back on the I love to write my family history bandwagon lol

SO I have a ton to write, and I will…but tonight I wanted to just write about a couple of things that are on my heart and I do not want to forget.

First, I just got back from my very first homeschool convention! Yes, I know, I have a Junior in High School…it’s crazy. It just never happened that I was in the area of one and had the time or money to be able to go. This year God provided all of that and more and hubby was home to take good care of the children while I went with three of my most precious friends and we got to go stay at the Marriot and enjoy three full days of homeschool craziness! ha

I will say I am absolutely exhausted right now–and that it was not *exactly* what I expected. I think I thought I would come home all rejuvenated and fired up–instead I came home feeling like I need a week long vacation from my vacation LOL Seriously! It was a lot of hard work and constant going, researching, listening, learning, navigating, and yes, shopping. Shopping when you are putting so much thought and consideration into each and every purchase IS exhausting. Okay, so that sums it up basically, but none of that is to say that it wasn’t an incredibly amazing experience all around. It was. Absolutely! The speakers I attended the seminars for where amazing from start to finish, the vendors were incredibly helpful, kind, and generous with their prices, the sheer number of attendees was absolutely astonishing, and awe inspiring, and the time of fellowship with my fellow homeschool Mommies was above all else–absolutely priceless! The complaint we all had was the FOOD. They served the same foods the entire three days and it was SO overpriced, and NOT that good! The way the events were set up made you completely dependent on the food they supplied because you did not have enough time to get food anywhere else. That is probably the one thing they REALLY need to consider doing differently if they hold this in the future!

I did the one thing I never imagined I would do but heard stories of so many times…I had a melt down in the vendor hall. LOL I really did! We walked in, I was already feeling overwhelmed by the number of homeschoolers around me, then I see the size of the vendor hall, and right as I walk in I am faced with Susan Wise Bauer’s booth. I never stood a chance LOL My friends were so sweet to not think I was a total lunatic, and until that moment the stories of people being completely freaked at a convention didn’t make sense to me…now they do. I think especially for people who started homeschooling when they options we had were a) Bob Jones or b) Abeka…well, to see how far homeschooling has come, how accepted, how many options there are for us, how BLESSED we truly are…it is just amazing, and I *am* an emotional creature ha

I have lots more to write but my bed is calling my name, chanting it really in tune with the soft buzz of the fan, so I will have to write more later–

Coming soon–

–The boy’s courtship
–hubby’s amazing trip
–God’s absolute perfection and timing
–My Dad’s cancer updates

and SO MUCH MORE!!!

Love you all!

Current Mood: So Happy to See You!

I just found some more of my note cards, and wow…it’s amazing when something you wrote or studied a long time ago really speaks to your heart! I don’t believe so much in “accidents” or “coincidence”…I think those ideas are just God’s way of remaining anonymous! That said, I will share a few tidbits from my notes because they might inspire you too!

When God hovered over the watery mass during Creation–we should see that what was chaos, God turned to order…same with our lives, whatever the case, God can bring order to chaos. He can take a chaotic mind and bring order to it as well.

Through out the Bible there are too numerous to count the times that God has strategically placed people in different places, times, and events. They are like the representatives of His influence. If we have the Spirit of God with in us then we can be assured that God HAS strategically placed us at this time, in all of creation, in this place, in all the world, at this moment, and rely on the fact that EVERY moment here after is also part of His strategy. We might wonder what that really means? It means that God has a role for us. We are in a position to either fulfill that role or deny it. Our salvation does not rest on our taking the role and relishing it, BUT our happiness most likely IS dependent on it. We “glow” when we love God enough to put our faith completely in Him and allow Him to use us where we are. When we give ourselves to God this way we feel a completeness and wholeness that nothing else in the universe can compete with. No person, object, feeling, or fulfillment can EVER touch that spot that God holds.

So…all that to say…If we are still here, on this earth, then we can know that God is simply not finished with the work He is doing IN us…OR the work He is doing THROUGH us. It is up to us whether we experience either of those in our lifetime.

God bless!
Susie

Current Mood: Amazed & Beloved! & Happy

I have been really getting things organized in our computer room/office…and I ran across these note cards from when we sat down together during one of our devotions and wrote down a special prayer of thanks to God. I thought I would put it here…each person in our family contributed to different parts and I thought it was such a beautiful reflection of our hearts at the time!

Dear Heavenly Father,

We praise you for creating our family, for creating homes, for giving us the emotion of love and for loving us no matter what.

Thank you for canoes and beautiful streams to use them in to fish and bond with our family.

Thank you for the food you created for our pleasure.

Thank you for animals that we can call “pets”.

Thank you for cars that help us live more comfortably and giving us abilities and skills to do jobs to give us the things we need to survive.

Thank you for warm muffins and cookies to share as a family.

Thank you for soft beds to sleep on and help us grow and become the people you created us to be.

Thank you for awesome monkeys and penguins, fishies, and TV for entertainment.

Thank you for the beautiful bond you create in our marriage and for the absolute sanctity of our lives.

We praise you Lord, Creator of All We Know, See, and Hold Dear. We are unworthy of even the smallest token of your affection–yet you have filled our world with your love for us to see every single day.

Thank you Lord God Almighty, Sweet Lover of Our Souls, and the Great “I AM”

I think we should do this again! It was probably about 2 years ago. We pray together everyday as a family, but this was with specific purpose to praise and love God and we wrote it down so that it would have more meaning. If you haven’t ever done this I bet your family would love it. It is a very special time, and of course, I *love* knowing how happy it makes God that we praise Him all the time, but I suspect when we come together to unify our praises it is extra special to Him!

God bless!
Susie

If you have followed me even for the smallest part of time, you will know that one of my “love languages” is most certainly music…this is the latest song that has me completely head over heels with my husband =o) Faced with the possibility of being apart while he goes to Bahrain…he told me this song was for me this week….

You can go to David’s Official Site to hear it for free! Right on the front page…

Lyrics:

Never really said too much
Afraid it wouldn’t be enough
Just try to keep my spirits up
When there’s no point grieving

Doesn’t matter anyway
Words can never make me stay
Words will never take my place
When you know I’m leaving

CHORUS
Try to leave a light on
When I’m gone
Its something I rely on
To get home
One I can Feel at night
a naked light
a fire to keep me warm
Try to leave a light on
When I’m gone
Even in the daylight
Shine on
And when its late at night
You can look inside
You won’t
feel so alone

Verse #2
You know we’ve
Been down that road
What seems
A thousand times before
My back to a closing door
And my eyes
To the seasons
That roll out
Underneath my heels
And you don’t know
How bad it feels
To leave the only one
That I have ever
Believed in
Bridge
Sometimes it feels
Like we’ve run
Out of luck
When the signal
Keeps on breaking up
When the wires
Cross in my brain
You’ll start my heart again
When I come along

Okay here is the slideshow…I hope it works!

There are LOTS (over 100) pictures in the gallery, if you want to take a look there too! This is just a bit of them…if you need a username and password for the gallery just email me!

LOVE YOU ALL!

God bless!
Susie