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Lorraine Curry's
Easy Homeschooling Eletter

Issue #81 February 2007

In this Issue: Motherhood and Beyond

FREE Ebook by Susie Glennan with purchases this month:
"Learn to Read with Fun and Ease" $4.99 value.
Susie details a unique and fun idea from her teacher-father that your kids will love.

 


Fields with God - Preface

As a homeschooling parent, my children were my life. It was extremely difficult when each left the nest, especially when the youngest-two sons- seemed to leave at the same time. Fortunately, before these things happened, God had taken us out of town and moved us to the country, setting us down on forty gorgeous acres. It is here, in the fields, that God meets me and heals me, giving me power to overcome and bright hope for the future.

I've arranged this book by the seasons and summer is undoubtedly my favorite season. How could one not love the warmth, the sun, the growth, the flowers, the fireflies, the green, the nights of summer?!

God also wants our lives to also have mostly "summer" chapters.

These pages are God's gift to me, and I pass them on to you. May you find encouragement for the "down" days we all seem to have, even hope in the blackest night. May you know the perfect unconditional love of God for you, and may you know, really know, one more very powerful thing-

God is everywhere.

He is in you, in your relationships, in your children, in your DNA, in your bones, in your eyes, in your heart, in your home, outside your home, surrounding your body, in the city, in airplanes, in vehicles, on the interstate, in stores, around the people you love, in the trees, in the soft breeze that whispers your name, in animals and . . . in the fields.

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Fields with God
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Fields with God - The Lost Articles (not in book)

Restoration: Spring

I take to the pastures for the annual and ongoing thistle purge. Yesterday I donned shorts and sat on the front porch and last night, watched the sun set there. It was dreamy - the first really nice day of spring. Turkeys gobbled, doves cooed, while I basked in God's perfect peace. Today I hung out clothes for the first time this year as Canadian geese flew northward to their homeland.

What is it about spring that makes me feel this way? The sun? The quiet? The outdoors? The birds? The breeze? The newness?

My entire being feels a power of restoration. My spirit is one with God in perfect peace. My soul/mind loses its troubled nervousness and worry, and my body, yes, my body also, feels strong, healthy and perfect.

Restoration, Part 2

I stop about one-hundred yards from the creek, sit on a fallen log, and write. The sun is warm on my back, the air, temperate and delightful on my bare arms, now free from their wintry constraints. Even the woodpecker's drilling is soothing, so far from his electric counterpart's shrill screech. I turn my face and the air caresses it.

Scotty is ahead of me - I see him near the creek. He goes down the bank for a drink, or will it be a swim?

A fly buzzed by.

Was that a plane's shadow on my stomach? High above is a coast-to-coast flyway.

The wind picks up. I put down my composition book and pick up my shovel. Perhaps I'll dig a few thistles.

There's Scotty rolling in the grass! He must have gone wading. I decide the sun is too high now for any serious outdoor work and head back to the house.

Seasonal Cycles: Winter

It was November 1st and the geese flew over the house as if on cue - according to our calendar or theirs. Two to three groups paused awhile and circled very high in the pale blue yonder, then regrouped and went on.

I had just completed painting the exterior of the house, having prayed to finish before winter, as well as for safety doing the highest portions, and here I was finished on the exact day the seasons turned.

Life also has it's unending seasonal cycles, and God continually opens up his treasures, answers our prayers and always, always leads us to sunny climes!

Refreshing Wind

I turned my face into cold wind and went forth into the day. Later it became a cool wind.

Sometimes life gives us challenges. Sometimes decisions have to be made, whether we are ready for them or not. We cannot see beyond the decision but we walk forth anyway. This is faith.

For some it might mean leaving an abusive situation. For others it might mean leaving a home town and moving. Yet, for others it could mean leaving everything and moving to the mission field.

Each time you turn into the wind, in making a decision, the wind become more comfortable. Finally you perceive it to be not cold, but cool and refreshing.

 

See the new Fields with God devotional.

More about Fields with God
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Don't Forget Mom
 

As a homeschool mom, daycare provider for 8 years (before and during homeschooling), a direct sales rep, and a lot more I learned a few things. If I can help just one mom (hopefully a lot more) by sharing what I've learned, I will feel like my journey was with great purpose. This article is meant as a teaching for those who are walking now where I've walked previously. My purpose is greater than myself. It is to be a soldier for Christ and help His beloved excel and succeed.

 

While many if not most women are great nurturers, there are seasons of life that take us through different needs and wants. Women should remember that they need to be nurtured as they nurture others. In order to keep in line with our emotional, physical, AND spiritual needs, it's best to map out different seasons of life and things you can do to keep your sense of self worth throughout these times. (There are great mentors at MOPS who can share their journeys and give insight.) Now I can hear some moms telling me that they have self worth and what am I talking about because they are proud to be a mom, etc. I LOVE LOVE LOVE being a parent (most of the time - wink) and for many years needed nothing more than to be mom and wife. So if you had said these things to me back when I would have told you that I have self worth and you don't know what you're talking about. However, as my children got older and were out more often doing their own thing, I had to find something other than the kids to give me self worth. And there in lies a problem I didn't even know existed.

When I made my whole life about being mom and wife, I sort of forgot about my me and didn't even think of what will happen in my future. That's not to say that I didn't have fun or enjoy myself. I had and still have hobbies and things I love to do. But now that I'm older, having a degree or two, or three, and certifications in areas of business I enjoy would be helpful. By the time the kids didn't want me around as much, it was too late in many areas to go back and set myself up for this new season. I had the age-old attitude of, "I can do it later. I can do it when the kids move out and don't need me as much." Had I taken just a little, small amount of time back then, to set myself up for later years, I'd have my masters degree by now. I would have been certified in several areas of training. And there's so much more!

Now that my children are young adults, they need me just as much! You will never - NOT be a parent as long as you have children. It doesn't always easier as I was told most of my life. The relationships with your children just change or rather evolve.

Here are some tips for moms with young children:

1. Mom, take at least one class per year to keep your creative juices flowing. This allows you to work towards something just for you. When the kids move out, you will have finished or at least be close enough to getting a degree. And for those who received their college degree before they had children, there will probably need to be some updating of information in that field.
 
2. If you have a hobby, set aside just a little time (or more) each week to work on it. (I set mine aside thinking I could just do it later and later never came. Although I still have 13 boxes of stamping supplies ­ smile.)
 
3. Find a common interest with your husband that you can work on once a month so that after the kids move out, you have something you both love doing together.
 
4. Start or join a coop that gives you time without your children so you can work on one of your interests or give yourself a catch up day around the house. Though try not to make every moment away from the children a catch up day for chores. You need your fun time or as we coined the phrase, "Free Time/Me Time."
 
5. Most of all, spend time just sitting on the floor, playing games and hugging your children.

©2007 Susie Glennan

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BIO: Susie Glennan has been in direct sales for over 23 years, homeschooled run a daycare for 8 years, is a teacher, technology trainer, Toastmaster, Speaker, and Author of numerous articles that have been published in magazines and across the web. She teaches personality based time management and other seminars on various topics. Her passion is teaching others to use their God given personalities to enhance their lives and relationships by effectively managing their time and staying true to the values in life that are most important.

You can read about The Busy Woman, Inc. Personality Based Time Management by clicking on the link.

 

Susie has been happily married since 1982, has four children and 2 grandchildren. Her home is in the beautiful CA. She is also the President of The Busy Woman, Inc. - DBA: The Busy Woman's Daily Planner®. The company provides daily planners, purses, car. home organizers, Memory Books, and other organizing tools to help enhance the busy life of today's family. The company contact info is: www.thebusywoman.com or 800-848-7715.

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