This year has been wonderful and full. Full of change. Full of growth. Full of blessings. It's just been full.
Full of growth.
This year my husband and I began teaching the FORM class on Wednesday nights to 5th and 6th graders, where they learn who God is, and who He created them to be. These lessons in identity have significantly impacted my walk with Christ, my confidence in Him, and given me something solid upon which to stand. I am the beloved of God, created in His image, for His glory, and the more I learn about who He is according to His word, the more solidified I become in who He created me to be as well. It's been an amazing journey to complete alongside my husband and these kids that I've come to adore.
As I learn about who God created me to be, I've also become more focused in my purpose. My priorities are pretty simple:
1. God
2. Wife
3. Mother
4. Discipleship
5. Teacher
These are the things I
make time for in my day. If God is truly my #1 priority, it is amazing to me how the rest falls into its rightful place. This year has been full of prioritizing!
Next, I made a list of five more things that are my hobbies - the things I most enjoy doing (not in any particular order):
This is my "if I have time" list. Haha, so this post is a result of "having time." In all honesty, do mothers and teachers really ever have time?
On a serious note, I realized that by writing down my purpose, my priorities, and even my hobbies, forced me to become more focused. I knew had to simplify my life. Otherwise I'd have too much, and through this process I've realized that too much is overwhelming. The minimalist journey began in April of 2017, which began with my things, and after reading The Joy of Less by Francine Jay I realized I also needed to change my mindset. It is amazing to me how God times things in my life. Since beginning this "simplify" journey I've simplified our things significantly (though I still have a ways to go), the things I do in my day (though I don't always accomplish it perfectly), and cleared a lot of junk in my mind (which I realize will be a life-long pursuit).
Full of changes.
One of the biggest changes this year has brought about is my role as a teacher. I teach my own little people every day, I tutor struggling readers, and I'm taking classes so the paperwork for Reading Specialist is complete. Story behind that: I compared my transcript from my Curriculum and Instruction Masters degree from Doane to the requirements for my Reading Specialist degree and I took all but one class: Diagnosing and Correcting the Struggling Reader (which I
just completed this fall). So technically I am already a reading specialist, but do not have the paperwork (aka paying the money). I can only transfer two of my classes, so I'm 9 credits in to my 36 credit degree. Sigh. Oh well, my initial Master of Education degree was completed 8 years ago so there is a lot of value in refreshing my rusty brain. I am just going to need some patience!
There are more possible, ginormous changes coming our way that we won't know for sure whether or not they'll actually occur until February, but this process of waiting on God has been trying and full of an enormous amount of growth and trust in His sovereign hand. More on that later...
Full of blessings.
Goodness my little people fill my day full of challenges and joy. Being a homeschool mom these last 2 years have been so full of blessings. I feel blessed to have been able to teach Brielle to read. Blessed to be a mom-teacher. Blessed to be working from home. Blessed to have a supportive husband. Just blessed. This year has been one where I've recognized, more than ever, how much God has blessed me.
He blessed us with 5 short years with our Quigley:
Saying Good-bye to Quigley
He blessed Kyle and I with two growing, changing girls full of love, life and laughter.
He has bless me with an amazing, patient, loving husband who leads our home well.
He blessed my family with 3 new additions with the birth of 2 nieces and 1 nephew! Only one of whom I've had the privilege of meeting. Hopefully that's what is in store for 2019!
He blessed us with memories galore, here are a few of my favorite pictures to prove it...
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| We've spent the year cheering on our long time friend Chris Bombardier and all his amazing accomplishments! He set the world record for being the first hemophiliac to summit the highest peaks on all 7 Continents! |
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| We were gifted Disney on Ice tickets for Christmas, by a wonderful neighbor. The following picture pretty much sums up Brielle's face: |
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| I've spent the year laughing at all the outfits my little Eleanna concocted. |
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| We've spent the year with many, many wonderful friends and had the privilege of watching their children grow alongside our own. |
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| I've spent the year in realization that my Briella Bean is growing up into a beautiful, smart, thoughtful young lady. |
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| For the first time in years me and my siblings were all together, what a time of remembering and laughter! |
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| We spent the school year watching my friend Erin Aerni's children, who passed away in an accident on July 8, 2017. There were many blessed moments such as this... |
This year has also been one of reflection:
In one year's time...
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| It's been a year mixed with tears and giggles, probably an equal mixture of both. |
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| Crazy dreams... |
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| Dates with my love.. |
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| Quote of the year from Kyle, "I feel like that guy on Jurassic Park that gets attacked by all the little dinosaurs." |
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| Summer Princess Dance Camp |
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| Moana Summer Princess Dance camp |
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| Pirates on a hunt for treasure! |
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| Once Brielle learned to read, the evening story time changed a bit... |
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| Ear piercing! |
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| Museum exploration |
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| A scary trip to the ER when a crash to the couch resulted in puking a few hours later. Thankfully the cat scan revealed nothing major. |
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| Bat night at a local wildlife center! My bat lover was SO excited! |
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| And then on our way home we totaled our van. I joked we had a one eyed, black eyed, black and purple deer eater. |
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| Girls day! |
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| Camping... |
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| The result of smelly markers... |
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| Cuddles |
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| First tooth gone! |
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| We wrote a book together after finding allllll kinds of facts on bats, we called it Alphabat! The best part? Bean created her book from scratch. |
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| Shared birthdays |
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| Annalise! |
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| Halloween costumes! |
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| My husband built a stone porch off our porch. It was a wonderful addition! |
Ballet and tumbling classes, weddings, swim classes, princess dance camp, museums, library dress up as your favorite character day, a family reunion, pumpkin patches, dinners with friends and loved ones, church activities, coffee and crafting, a bunch of little things that all add up to great big blessings. And I could be here all day filling this post with all the ways that God has blessed me this year.
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