Yep, I still sew!

 

I took a really long break from sewing after the Kids Clothing Week Challenge. And, I just haven't put any proof that I did anything that week, but here is one, the market skirt. I told Little Belle to look off to the side and look mischevious. I love her.

Back to the Chalkboards (errrr...white boards)

If you remember from this post, I did not set out on this mom journey with the overwhelming desire to stay home. As a teacher I always thought that I really could kind of get the best of both worlds as I would have decent hours as well as some breaks and summers off to be with my kids. But, God had other plans when Mr. Van Dyke landed a new job in a new city, and I left mine in the middle of a wheat field in Kansas.
Job opportunities came up, but I never felt a huge desire to leave staying home with Little Belle in order to pursue that particular job until there was a 7th grade L.A. opening in a district that really is where I wanted to be. After subbing in a couple districts I knew this is where I wanted to be, and after teaching 7th grade I knew this was an age that I loved. I got a call to come interview, and my stomach instantly turned in to knots. What would I do about my little girl?
I started to pray, and seek some wisdom from friends and family. One of those people sent me this:
In thinking about your decision, I reviewed some notes I had from a book called Let Your Life Speak. The title is an old Quaker saying that means that we should listen to our life and what it is telling us about who we are. We wonder, "what am I meant to do?" He mentions Frederick Buechner who defines vocation as "the place where your deep gladness meets the world's deep need." We should start with our true nature, what brings us joy, and move toward the needs of the world. For guidance we should pay attention to the way that seems open and the way that seems closed. God asks us to honor our created nature, our limits as well as potentials. "One dwells with God by being faithful to ones nature. One crosses God by trying to be something one is not."

While I AM a mom, I really don't think God created me to be a stay-at-home mom. Don't get me wrong. The time spent with Little Belle over the course of this past couple of years has been beyond precious. I've learned all of these things and the list goes on, but God was opening a door for me and closing another. One thing I believe God was teaching our family was definitely that money doesn't buy happiness. When we first moved back I felt pressure to get a job in order to stay on top of our finances, but the longer I stayed home wanting to teach was not at all about money. Sure it's nice, and now we'll be able to afford to do things with Little Belle that we weren't able to do before, but that wasn't a factor in the decision at all.

My stomach was in knots at the beginning of last week, but as the days progressed and the interview came closer, I had made up my mind. If I was offered the job, I would accept it. Other factors helped like knowing where Olivia would go while I was teaching and having a supportive husband who truly wants me to be happy.

So, with all of this said, I was offered a 7th/8th grade Language Arts position in the city that we live, and I accepted without hesitation.. All of the puzzle pieces have now come together, and I couldn't be more excited about this new challenge.

This means that come August my blogging will be quite infrequent and maybe a little different, but I do plan to continue to craft and sew, discipline and love my daughter, and read books, but I may have one or two funny stories about my students to throw in there as well.

The Ministry of Motherhood (Week 4)

"Positive words act as water and sunshine to our souls to help them grow strong."
--Sally Clarkson

uplift
motivate
boost confidence
provide an anchor of hope
carry you through times of doubt
provide:
love
strength
comfort
encouragement
hope
faith
forgiveness

These are ALL of the things that encouraging words can do (and then some). This chapter was a definite reminder that the power of my words is great.

The final "grace" chapter touched on the power of God's forgiveness and how we can pass that on to our kids. I love how Clarkson writes how extending grace and forgiveness to our kids gives them a living example of the forgiveness that God extends to us, but it sets them up for healthy relationship in their future. How important is it to humble ourselves when we've done something wrong in the eyes of our friends and family, too? Our kids definitely need to start this process early in life in order to carry it out in future relationships. Can you imagine a middle school girl who is in a scuffle with a friend, and she recognizes her mistakes and asks for forgiveness? I wonder if that might just pave the way for a life-long friendship and a lot less heartache.

Both of these final "grace" chapters reminded me of some steps in correcting Little Belle's behavior that I don't always do. I don't always reassure her with uplifting and encouraging words. Using this kind of language is definitely easier to do when things are going "well". But, it is so important for me to be very aware of what I say to her at the end of disciplining her. She needs to always leave feeling encouraged and forgiven. The words, "I forgive you, " don't often come out of my mouth when dealing with Little Belle, but they certainly need to.

The Ministry of Motherhood (Week 3)

You can read this on Jess's blog, too, but I'll rewrite some information from Sally's introduction to provide a little bit of a guide for how her book is outlined. She tries to think about parenting within the following acronym:

G represents the gift of grace (model grace so that our kids will, too)
I represents the gift of inspiration (viewing life in the context of God's purpose)
F represents the gift of faith (teaching and modeling faith)
T represents the gift of training (moving a child's character and habits toward God)
S represents the gift of service (ability to minister God's grace and truth to others)

Sally Clarkson begins with the gift of grace. What hit me hardest about her first two chapters was modeling Jesus's "unbreakable bond of a loving, serving relationship".

1 Peter 4:8 says, "Above all love each other deeply because love covers a multitude of sins." To me this is a call to give myself some grace. I am human. I will not parent perfectly, and that's o.k. However, I can provide my kids with a love that would cover a multitude of my mistakes as a parent. I love the concept of "loving well". Loving well means that I am patient, kind, and not easily angered. If I can provide this type of love to my kids then they will be more inclined to pay this type of love and GRACE forward to others.

Sally writes, "Only then, once the wells of their needs are filled with the grace of being loved, will my words to them about God's grace finally make sense."

I often migrate to the quick fixes. If she does THIS then I do ____. Clarkson reminds us that we serve our children best by providing them with loving discipline, BUT this relationship must come first. I have to be patient when Little Belle wants to read this SAME book over and over and over and over and over. To her it's about spending time with me, and sometimes I figure out ways for her to do some of these things independently. If I continue to foster this relationship now, then perhaps when she's 13 and actually wanting to spend time with me I will be very grateful for that time spent now.

Check out what Jessica at Who Left the Light On? had to say about the first two chapters of The Ministry of Motherhood.