It’s been a couple months since our last homeschool journal. The schooling never actually stopped, rather, it’s continued at an abnormal pace. More hands in the garden, more education on nutrition, more tea/coffee breaks, more days reading and playing instead of doing book work.
I’ll admit, the summer bug bit us rather early this year.
So we’re still, slowly but surely, chugging away at what bookwork we have left, while starting our summer reading program. We’re learning life skills like feeding chickens, doing the dishes and folding laundry. We’re reveling in beautifully written books and garden work.
My favorite tea lately has been English Breakfast with a small spoonful of raw local honey. I almost took a picture with tea in the cup but it was too delicious to wait 😅
This might sound like a little fairy tale but you know just as well as I do that I’m just not putting the ugly moments out there. The reason is that I have become increasingly aware of my children’s need for privacy and respect in that area. Not to mention my own. My story and theirs intersects at almost every level at this point of our journey, therefore, I am cautious with what I show the world. What an odd world we live in where hundreds of people have impersonal and yet intimate access to ourselves and our children. It certainly doesn’t make for empathetic environments now, does it?
So you get to see the good, wholesome, fun parts of our homeschool and develop your own realistic expectations with your excellent imagination. 😉
Our core work(math, language arts, science) has been more challenging than ever for Cecelia as we wind down the school year. She loves it and is growing in her basic knowledge of these concepts daily. I feel so proud when I sit next to her. Even in her challenging moments I see how far she’s come and how much more she’s capable of and it feels like the highest privilege to be so closely involved with their learning process.
Lucille came home from her amazing(out of home) Christian preschool experience energized for learning. Inspired by her sisters amazing reading skills she has asked me to teach her how to read this summer, so that will be my primary goal with her this season.
Wyatt is solidifying his knowledge of basic counting, color, and letter identification in preparation for his up coming(out of home) preschool year. I could not be more proud, biased and starry eyed at my children. I hope it grosses you out a little bit. *haha*
Our primary extra curricular activities these last 2 months has been plant care and identification. We are watching the world wake up with Spring time and it’s been a privilege to notice it with fresh eyes. I love driving around town and hearing precious little voices from the back seat shout out that they’ve spotted some lupines, lavender or poppies.
I want to leave off with some challenges for the next couple months. If you are so inclined you can try one of these, all of them or none of them. The idea is that you may instill new interests or habits that benefit your life. So here are some challenges for you:
The first challenge is to start small in plant identification: Choose three flowers that you have seen most frequently this spring/early summer and learn their names. Begin to point them out to your children as you drive or walk your neighborhood. This is an easy way to aid in memorization while peaking the interest of your children.
The second challenge I want to leave with you(clearly in no particular order of importance) is to begin reading your bible daily: This challenge can be difficult when our kids don’t yet have boundaries established with us reading or having a quiet time. However, I believe it is an excellent lesson for them to learn early on, that reading the Bible is a priority in your Christian walk(John 17:17, 2 Tim 3:16-17, Psalm 119:105, Matt 4:4, Hebrews 4:12, Romans 15:4, 1 Peter 2:2, etc.).
Lastly for this homeschool journal I would like to challenge you to pick up a book. Start reading for 10 minutes every day. Choose a novel or something you have started reading but didn’t finish. Better yet, quit the book that stunted your regular reading habits and pick up something interesting and begin to re-invest in your healthy reading habits. It’s good for our brains to carve out time for these things.
Happy Summer, you beautiful soon to be sun-kissed readers.
Spring is finally here! Cecelia has been asking me when spring will be here before December started…needless to say some of us have been looking forward to it more intensely than others.
I have put off the finishing of this homeschool journal and proceeded to engage in the very real life of homemaking, homeschooling, chicken tending and preparing for our amazing garden. As I finally sit down to write about this month I am astonished and so thankful at the abundance of life.
Our tulips popped up late February warming my heart and pleasantly surprising me when they finally bloomed and showed their vibrant color. They are the same tulips that we had in our Columbia City house(one of my favorite parts of that home). Sometimes God gives us precious gifts in the smallest ways. Little nods to our desires and salve for our healing hearts.
This gardening season is extremely special for our family as it is the first year in our new home. We have been dreaming about our “garden oasis” for the last couple years. The girls and I used to look at Pinterest and save ideas on what flowers to grow in our pollinator garden, what our veggie list must be and how to build garden trellises. Our garden dreams have been budding into real life!
Our backyard chicken coop. We are adding planter boxes across the yard.Our front garden will be primarily flowers and herbs. This picture is bitter sweet because a hungry creature came and ate my strawberry starts and tulip blooms. Preston’s handiwork! He surprised me with the design and I am thrilled with how beautiful they are.
As March has come in with plants begging to revive and the sun gracing us with it’s presence we have not only watched the plants awaken but we have felt the awakening within ourselves. I find that my brain is happy to operate on the schedule of the seasons and so we schedule our lives accordingly. What I mean by this is something simple and as old as time; we choose to ebb and flow with the seasons. It will look different for every family and individual but essentially it gives my brain the stopping, starting and resting points so that I don’t burn out. All of us do this to some degree but as a person who’s tendency is to steamroll through life and burn out hard, I have to be very intentional about this.
So here we are in the season of awakening and coming out of the quiet season of reflection and rest. We’ve begun planning our backyard garden and have even added some members to our family! 🐓
We’ve incorporated these things into our daily routines but also into our homeschool for this month and the months to come. So what does that look like?
Cecelia showing Chica Linda her drawing
Another really special thing that we’ve been incorporating into our homeschool routine has been trips to our local library. It’s been a joy collecting resources to use for teaching while my kids delight in picking out new books for fun. You can also place book requests for children and adult books as the local libraries usually have a monthly budget to order new books. This is a great way to save money while you are homeschooling your kiddos.
It’s also been delightful for me to explore some of the books that I aspire to read and also some that I didn’t know I needed to read. If you asked me what an ideal outing would look like for my introverted self, it would be to wander between the shelves of the library, making book lists and ogling at the fact that human history has been connected by thoughts and stories on a page for much of our existence.
As we continue with our classical kindergarten curriculum we have made our way down the required reading list of fine books by creative authors. Here are a few we’ve read in the month of March:
Among the joys of reading Arnold Lobel’s wonderful children’s books, such as Frog And Toad, we have had the opportunity to study the lifecycle of amphibians. We used a free printable we found on google for a visual. We read aloud out of The Handbook Of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock and we explored our local park to see if we could spot any frog eggs or maybe some early tadpoles.
Looking for frog eggs and other creatures
No such luck on eggs and tadpoles but we had a wonderful time exploring at the park!
Another delight of this season is growing new things. It’s taken me years of trial and error(such is life) to be able to grow anything. It feels like a really lovely accomplishment and a God given blessing to watched our cute little sprouts sitting in the window reaching out of the soil toward the sunshine.
Naturally, this is a perfect and rather easy task to involve kids in. They punch their little fingers down into the soil, drop precious little seeds of all different shape, size and color into the cute little starter pots and voilà! I life lesson as well as impromptu school curriculum. These will be moments cherished by them and you.
We’re also beginning to prepare for the coming school year as we near the end of this one. We will be doing memoria press homeschool with both of our girls this coming year but also incorporating some Spanish curriculum as well as a more structured nature study! You don’t have to begin the process of prepping for the next school year now, but it’s often cheaper and easier to have curriculum ready to go before fall.
I wanted to add a little note for those feeling overwhelmed:
If this all seems like a lot to you, that’s because it is. We don’t always move at this pace but right now it works for us. It’s not a requirement for anyone homeschooling, charter schooling, public schooling, etc. to go out and tack on all the extracurriculars, activities and household responsibilities. If you had asked me to do this homeschool/homemaking/hobbies load a year ago I would have crawled out of my skin. My schedule isn’t prescriptive, it’s personal. With that being said, I have learned over the last 10 years of my life to operate within my own enjoyment and capacity. My goal is to engage and enjoy life while glorifying the God who made me. Therefore, when He allows me to go through health issues, bouts of depression and overwhelm, I feel no shame in dropping some tasks, habits or hobbies to adapt to our current season. In the same thought process, when He allows secure, restful seasons that allow me the headspace for extra things, I feel the call to create accordingly.
I add this part because we live in a culture that feels entitled to our vulnerability, lifestyles and morals. Due to that, I like to regularly remind people in these online spaces that we are responsible for our own perception of reality and stewardship of our own real lives. I want to share with you the pieces of our homeschool that I think is worth sharing and sometimes it will look beautiful and put together and sometimes it wont. The trap isn’t what other people share of their lives but when we get caught up in comparisons that we allow to control us. When what we view is how we experience validation, there will also be the consequence of it being the place where it develops and triggers unresolved insecurities and eventually builds resentment.
My hearts hope for you is that if you are starting new projects, keeping up with what you’ve started or slowing down for sanity’s sake, that you will feel encouraged. If you and your child need a new and exciting adventure to embark on or if you need the peace and tranquility of a restful routine, there are ideas and support out there for all of the things.
Our fall and winter are the months that I love to slow down. It’s cold outside, their are wonderful Holidays to cherish and plenty of time to reflect. I can’t decide which season is my favorite, perhaps because I need them all. But I can say with certainty:
As we head into the lovely month of March and creeping closer to spring time I am drinking warm cups of coffee, devouring heart changing books, doing lots of writing and completing our February Homeschool Journal.
This last month was so full of learning for the kids and myself. Here’s a short overview of the subjects that we’ve added to our curriculum this month:
• Black History Month
• Small Introductions to Church History
• The Russian Invasion of Ukraine (improvised)
We have had many somber mornings praying as a family for the country of Ukraine, the continent of Europe, Russian protesters and many more. We’ve also had many days answering hard questions about our country’s history. Lots of thoughtful conclusions from a 3, 4 and 6 year old. As well as many joyful moments learning about courage, integrity and how doing the right thing is sometimes countercultural.
Here’s our recap on Black History Month:
We chose to participate in Black History Month this year. I Participated by taking the “Read Everybody Black Challenge” which is a prompt to read books written by black authors. I chose to customize it to suit my already rather full reading schedule through the month of February. The books that I chose were:
Gay Girl, Good God by Jackie Hill Perry, Carved In Ebony and Mother To Son by Jasmine Holmes
Jasmine Holmes and Jackie Hill Perry are excellent fellow image bearers to learn from if you’re interested in furthering your understanding of other Christians experiences in America and the Church as a minority. They also participate in Podcasts that I would highly recommend if you’re more of an audio learner.
Here are the books that I plan to read in this coming year as I continue in this endeavor of diversifying content that I ingest:
These are my next two reads by black authors for this next month.
As for the kids curriculum, because we use a classical Christian style curriculum(which we love and highly recommend: https://www.memoriapress.com/) we know that it will be somewhat deficient in acknowledging and teaching black history. Therefore, I took it upon myself to compile resources for February’s history lessons.
We watched videos about significant black people in history such as Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King Jr., Ruby Bridges, Rosa Parks and more(We mostly used Home School Pop on YouTube for these videos).
We were also able to order a really neat book that tells the stories of black women in history in a way kids can understand. This book is from a book series called Little Leaders By Vashti Harrison. I recommend looking for these at your local library or ordering them online. These are compiled short stories about the significant roles these humans played in history.
Here’s a recap on what we discussed with our kids in regards to the Ukraine invasion:
When hard things are happening in the world(and even in our own homes) sometimes we want to put on brave faces for our children and pretend all is well.
But I think that’s unfair to them.
Don’t get me wrong, you know your kids better than I do. They may not be ready. Maybe they need an extremely edited version(as many children will for subjects like war) or it’s possible that they just need a break from the outside world.
Nevertheless, these kids are entering into a difficult world. Our example will be what they take with them into adulthood. If we deny anything is happening in the world, they’ll become avoidant. If we meet these situations with immediate criticism, they will also become harsh critics. If we meet these situations with empathy, logic and an immediate reaction of running to the arms of the ever sovereign God, they’ll learn to do the same.
So part of our homeschool this month was less formal. It looked like being in deep prayer throughout the day. It meant stopping whenever my 6 year old said “mommy, I think we need to pray for Ukraine again.” It looked like letting my kids see me cry real tears(instead of choking them back) when I saw that other people in the world were afraid and suffering. It meant letting them see what “break my heart for what breaks yours” looks like in real life.
Sometimes homeschool doesn’t look like book work and classical curriculum. Sometimes it’s life examples.
Here’s a recap on our gentle introduction to Church History:
We’re lightly starting this subject. Partially because I am easily overwhelmed and I need to ease into things. Partially because we already had a heavy history load this month and didn’t want to tack on too much at once.
The reason why we’re diving into this subject at all is that over the last year I have been learning about church history(a scrape off the surface on a deep subject). It’s been fascinating, eye opening and most of all, it places the modern church into a perspective that helps me work through difficult fears and traumas that I have taken away from my own church experiences.
I want my children to know where the church started, what it is, how to easily see the pitfalls in the church today, while also seeing the incredible value in the timeline that God has graciously continued with us woven in.
These are the resources that we used this month:
These are from the Every Woman A Theologian shop by Phylicia Masonheimer. I have loved going through these with my kids and talking to them about how many different saints have played an integral role in spreading the gospel.
If you’ve made it to the end of this blog post you don’t win anything but you’ll definitely have a symbolic pat on the back from me! I appreciate you reading and being interested in the life/homeschool wanderings of the Preuss Family. If you need affordable resources for diversifying your child’s curriculum, check out your local library! Also, always check Pinterest and https://allinonehomeschool.com/ for some free homeschooling resources.
Goodbye February, Hello March and Happy Homeschooling!
I wanted to take a quick moment to explain why we choose to participate in black history month. It’s not that I think reading black authors and learning about black people should be condensed to one month a year. We wont limit it to an annual thing. This is just an excellent opportunity to choose to bring awareness to how well you diversify the perspectives that you as an adult are ingesting(and you are going to ingest content and perspective regardless of whether or not you want to. You get to decide if all of the perspectives are just a reflection of your own opinions and experiences or if you will choose to see something outside of your own experience). In turn, the way that we see people and the perspectives that we choose to ingest will affect our children who are learning how to treat people, how relate to people and how to speak about fellow image bearers based upon our example(i.e. if you’re expressions towards other humans are empathetic, your children will learn to be empathetic). During times that are polarizing and people are leaning into their reactionary opinions it’s our responsibility as believers to look for ways to bear with one another and remain unified in the body of Christ.
As I sit here in my quiet house, with feet propped up on a fluffy little poof, blanket draped over my legs, I can feel my heart begin to race. I work hard to calm my mind, to control my breathing as my chest becomes more heavy.
Anxiety is a familiar companion. One that I can remember from early childhood and one that continues to tag along, even when my mind is at peace, my body doesn’t seem to agree.
I spend a couple days a month with an amazing therapist. She helps me sift through traumas of the past with gentleness, grace, a heart for Jesus and wisdom that can be difficult to find in our world. God knew I would need her. Her fellowship and counsel has been incredibly important to my faith journey.
I spend a lot of time in the word. It hasn’t always been this way but I needed to hear from God.
All of these things have something in common. That thing is healing. A year ago it didn’t look like this. Two years ago, it really didn’t look like this.
God has answered prayers for healing, restoration and peace. Even still He continues His great faithfulness.
Why do I share this? Because I think it’s so important that everyone knows this:
That Jesus meets me here.
He meets me when I can’t plaster on a smile(and he doesn’t expect me to). He meets me when my heart is deeply melancholy. He meets me when I am too week to rejoice over the victories. Like the faithful Savior He is, He meets me here.
He holds me up in the highs; when things are beautiful, comfortable and peaceful.
Equally, He carries me. When I misplace my anger toward God, when I ask how it could ever be safe to fellowship, when I doubt more intensely than Thomas. He meets me here. He shows me His mercy, He points my face to His word, He dusts me off and He continues to match me, step for step.
He meets me here.
When my pride overtakes me again. He convicts me, He sees me through confession. He reconciles me.
I want you to know that He’ll meet you here.
He’ll meet you right where your at. Ugly pride, fear, deep sorrow, shame or when you’re numb.
He’ll meet you, He’ll wash your feet and He’ll sit at a table with you.
He’s present without caution. He’s fully invested.
“And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees in the garden.” Genesis 3:8
In the passage of Genesis that addresses the fall, we see Adam flee. In Sunday school you may have giggled at this, “did they really think they could hide from God?” And we move on in our studies and lives, possibly unaffected.
However, when we read this passage with the weight that it truly holds, we’ll see ourselves in it.
We’ve all been there. Sin is a part of the human condition and the ultimate reason we all need a savior.
Ephesians 2:5 “even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—“
Or
Romans 5:8 “ but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Our great hope and gratitude lies squarely on the shoulders of a perfect savior, who’s overwhelming love has saved a wretch like me, like you.
So why do we hide?
First, you might be saying “I don’t hide. I’m sinner, saved by grace. What’s to hide?” And though I wholeheartedly agree, I believe we are called to be more honest with ourselves about our sins, intentions and confessions.
Here’s an example of hiding that may be more relatable than literally hiding from God in the garden:
“She deserved it,” I thought to myself, feeling the conviction welling up inside of me. “She does this to others. She’s hurt me. She’s hurt so many people.” I shoved the emotions of guilt deep down and sat in my own prideful justification for gossiping about her. “Maybe she wont like the taste of her own medicine.”And as I sat in this cold, hard, ugly thought process, refusing to listen to the conviction of the spirit, the devils work was being done. My heart was a little more hardened to the truth and to the grace that saved me in the first place.
This is a glimpse into a moment from my life. A dark period that lasted too long. It’s an ugly truth that I have had to look square in the face. Hiding from God, not behind a fig leaf or a closet door, but behind my pride. It’s painfully easy to fall into, arrogant pride, and yet, He still loves us. He still pursues us. But we may harden ourselves enough to be unaffected by the Spirits leading.
Romans 2 addresses God’s judgement and our unrighteous judgement. The whole passage, heck, he whole book is worth reading, but here’s a verse that addresses the condition of hardened hearts:
Romans 2:5 says: “But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the say of wrath when God’s righteous judgement will be revealed.”
Also read: Proverbs 16, Proverbs 18, Proverbs 8:13, Philippians 2:3,
Oof. It hits you in the gut, doesn’t it? Does this mean that because we have closed our ears to God’s conviction before, that we’re heading straight for hell? The short answer is, no. There’s grace that we can rest in. 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Praise God for that! We can still choose to turn from our sin and run straight back to the one who saves. But what does this take? Honesty and humility.
For example, my husband and I have been working through marital struggles(the ones where you get a few years in and need to re-evaluate how to operate with one another). We have had to be really honest, laying everything out on the table. Allowing the other person to say “this is how you’ve hurt me,” and not meeting them with contempt or defensiveness. We have also had to own our own toxic contributions to our relationship. We are taking apart the structure of our marriage brick by brick, evaluating what went wrong, and rebuilding it upon a repaired foundation. That’s hard work but humbling, important work if we want to remain married.
Another example is when we go through the process of deconstruction and reconstruction of faith(note: I am aware that this term triggers people, you can substitute whatever word you want in place of deconstruction, but I use it because it fits well) . We must go through demo. Part of demo for me(and many others) is realizing the things that we’ve said and done that have harmed people around us. Digging up memories that we shove into the back of our mind, deep in the “not to be evaluated” or “too shameful to look at” categories. The moments that we’ve said and done things that were cruel or maybe even with ill intentions in our heart, things that can be denied or defended biblically, but we know were wrong because we feel the conviction deep inside. We know our intentions matter(the sermon on the mount teaches us this well). It’s hard work to admit those things and important if we want to have a heart softened to truth and being effective for the kingdom.
This process is called humility. The dictionary definition of humility is as follows; a modest or low view of ones own importance; humbleness. The Bible discusses humility in great length.
Philippians 2:3-4 “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more important than yourselves. Let each of you not only look to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
This passage goes on to describe how Jesus, God reincarnate, chose to live a humble life, even up to death on a cross. Jesus’ whole life was an example of humility; God taking on the form of man, arriving in the lowliest of births, allowing his life to be one of little financial means and of great sacrifice of time, emotional support and the outpouring of love to those who were social outcasts.
So we know that humility is what we’re called to through scripture and by Jesus himself providing the ultimate example; Matthew 11:29 “Take my yolk upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest.” There is rest in humility. There is rest in Jesus.
How do we live humility in our lives practically? We must start with honesty.
It’s trading shame and arrogant pride for humility and confidence in Gods affirmation of who we are despite our sin. It’s our willingness to lovingly submit to the spirit and continually reconcile with people around us, which is an important part of the commands given to love one another and maintain unity in the body. What’s a practical example of this?
In 1 Timothy Paul is writing to Timothy a letter of encouragement and instruction. In chapter 3 he addresses the “Qualifications of Overseers” such as pastors, elders and deacons.
1 Timothy 3:2 “Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach…”
Above reproach sounds impossible to achieve in an earthly body, doesn’t it? By dictionary definition it means: such that no criticism can be made; perfect.
How could God call His leaders(and really all of us who have been called to discipleship) to lead a life above reproach when we’re still sinful? Seems impossible. However, He doesn’t give us commands that we cannot live out. To be above reproach as a Christian looks like choosing to interact with respect and humility and when you’ve wronged someone, to go to them and with sincerity, apologize and reconcile. That when someone comes to us with a problem, we don’t immediately act in defensiveness but meet them with a sincere apology and genuine effort for betterment, whatever that looks like in that situation.
Note for the paragraph above: *this is in reference to healthy relationships. This will not work in abusive/toxic relationships and we must gain wisdom to determine the difference between difficult relationships and toxic ones. I give this warning so that our fellow believers in unhealthy situations do not feel an obligations to remain in them based on what they read from me*
If this seems like hard work, it’s because it is. We live in a fallen world, and although saved, we still work in imperfect bodies. This isn’t an easy thing. It pokes the places of our hearts that are ashamed. It takes mental effort. However, it is a worthy effort, to learn to listen to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, to continue being in compliance with the process of sanctification. This faith is not like our consumeristic culture of convenience. It is one that will take hard work and will present us with the opportunity to do things that our flesh would otherwise reject. It doesn’t feel good at first to admit wrong and choose humility. It feels vulnerable and we cringe in discomfort at our own impurities. Yet, it is the most safe place to be. In the arms of Jesus, admitting our sins, being forgiven and forgiving.
I want to leave you with this today:
You were made by a God who cherishes your soul. He pursues you! It’s great news. Now we must respond to the call on our hearts and step in obedience toward Him. We must soften to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. We must be able to humble ourselves to our brothers and sisters.
I used to think my identity had a lot to do with shallow things like my name, my favorite things, or my strong opinions. As life went on my identity morphed into whatever was most important to me at the time. Then when I became a mom, my identity and importance came from the title, mother, and all of the things that that entailed for me. “Who are you?” was a question that I answered with things that lacked permanence and depth.
I have found myself understanding something crucial over the course of the last few years of my life. My identity in Christ.
I’ve called this time my “identity crisis” partially joking(partially not). Understanding this for me has been a process of peeling back layers of what I’ve believe about myself, God and battling the urge to think that a deeper understanding in this area implies “selfishness”.
This seems like a basic concept, Christ centered identity(and it should be), but if the foundations of this concept aren’t fully understood, it makes great holes in our understanding of the practicality of the gospel in our own lives today. An underdeveloped sense of Christ centered identity leaves us vulnerable to harsh criticism, debilitating labels and arrogant pride.
Before I dive more deeply into this, I want to address the concept that internal reflection is selfish and un-Christlike in nature. I have heard this spoken about negatively in the pulpit, along with mental health issues and Christians in therapy. Sometimes we hear commentaries from online Christian platforms, as well as in passing conversations with other believers. The ungracious view of cognition and self awareness and how to address it can be overwhelming. Essentially the main point I hear being made about self reflection, therapy, and self awareness is that it’s so self focused, it must be leading to sin and selfishness. That could be true, however, I believe that it’s more likely to open the doors to maturity and a better ability to carry out the great commission than avoidance and a lack of self awareness could.
When we become Christians we know that we have just been ‘born again’. We are a new creation in Christ; that’s such good news! The other good news is that we have a fresh start in understanding the world around us through new lenses. We can call them our “gospel lenses”. Our own vision is still clouded with fleshly desires, but with our new gospel lenses, we can see things with a new clarity. When we’re faced with issues; large, small, political, and personal, it will be important to look at all of these things through gospel lenses.
In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul is explaining to the church of Corinth that they are infants in the faith, that they could not be fed on solid food but needed to be fed with milk. When we are born in Christ, we are infants in the faith and we need milk. What is this milk? It’s the understanding of the core values that you have taken on as someone new in Christ. Core doctrine, Christ centered identity, and understanding the value of image bearers would be perfect examples of milk. Infants also need to be cared for(people to come alongside to mentor, encourage and hold accountable), so who cares for us when we have been born into the body of Christ? Fellow believers that have “grown up” in the faith and are able to help sustain those who are new. This helps set up the foundations for a strong faith. *Keep in mind that this is how things are supposed to work. There are a lot of ways that this can and does go wrong, but we know that God redeems broken spiritual situations all of the time. He’s the expert.*
So how do we come to an understanding of our Identity in Christ? The first place we should always look is scripture. Starting in Genesis:
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27
God lays the foundations for identity in the beginning. We were made in the image of the most high. But that’s obviously not where the story stops. We see sin enter into the world, our original purpose marred, the ground cursed and our bodies given over to sin. Seems depressing, yes?
But God, being merciful and faithful, devised a plan for hope. And so began the timeline marching to salvation and fulfillment of covenant. This is a key point. The timeline is recorded in the Bible and continues today. We are part of His history/prophecy/future(otherwise referred to as His plan), and knowing the Bible intimately will be an important piece of understanding your Christ centered identity.
Fast forward and our savior is the perfect example of what it looks like to walk this earth blameless. He came to be the perfect sacrifice. He was killed on our behalf, suffered the penalty of our sins and rose again. Conquering death. Defeating evil. Saving humanity.
What does that mean for you? In shorter terms; you are a sinner but when you accepted Christ and proclaimed Him as Lord, you were saved! There begins the journey of sanctification and carrying out the call to “go and make disciples”.
In summary: Created in the image of God. Sinner in need of a savior. Created new in Christ Jesus. Called to become mature in Him by the never ending process of sanctification. Commissioned to go and make disciples.
I’ve written about the process of sanctification. It is an incredibly important piece of our walk here on earth. It’s a process of becoming mature. A natural part of this process is self awareness.
Self awareness is something that develops naturally in us while we’re growing and our brains are developing. It’s essentially our ability to see and address our own character and feelings and how it affects the people around us. It aids in self control(which is a fruit of the spirit). It’s the part of becoming mature that gives us the ability to be honest with ourselves about who we are and what’s going on inside of us.
Taking honest inventory is an important part of being a believer. We have examples of this from Jesus Himself.
Jesus would often go off to be alone. He needed time to pray and reflect. We see examples of this all through the synoptic gospels(Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). I’m not implying that the God of the universe needed to become more self aware and mature. Nor did He technically need rest, right? But He obediently came here, humbly lived as a man and provided the perfect example for what we should be doing. Here are some scriptures where Jesus went off to be alone:
Luke 4:1-2, Luke 4:42, Luke 5:16, Luke 6:12-13, Luke 22:41-45, Mark 6: 45-47, Matthew 14:13, Mark 1:35
This means that we are a people who need to have time of quiet reflection in order to live the life we’re called to. In our modern world, with technology constantly screaming for our attention and hustle culture being put on a pedestal, this is harder to accomplish than ever.
At this point you might be saying, this seems complicated. You may be right but I don’t believe it has to be. We aren’t called to a “one and done”, convenient kind of faith. It’s important to realize that in order to be sanctified, we must have a soft, compliant heart toward God and a willingness for continual growth. We also must be resilient and willing to endure much on this earth.
If I could give you a homework assignment for growing in your Christ Centered Identity it would be this:
Go read the book of Romans, 1 Peter and Ephesians. Take it one passage at a time. Take notes of the questions that you have. Highlight the things that stand out to you. Write down the things in those books that tell you about your identity in Christ.
My hope is that your confidence and identity is so strongly built on the foundation of Christ that when you face all sorts of adversity, you’re strength comes from His great love, mercy and grace.
We took our Christmas/New Years break very seriously this year. We needed a rest from our normal routine and recovery from a whirlwind of a December.
So when we finally got back to homeschooling we started gently. That’s one of my favorite benefits of homeschool. You decide when to take a week off, or that 3 days of school this week will do the trick instead of 5.
It’s flexible.
The themes of January are winter, new beginnings and independent activities. Part of homeschool for us is engaging in poetry, art and learning about enriching our lives through education. God created us in His image, therefore, he created beings who like to create and experience beauty. It’s such a special experience navigating that with my kids and learning right alongside them.
Our chalkboard area becomes a place of creativity when we’re not using it for school
So what does our “low key” homeschool month look like?
It looks like less book work, a lot more like late start mornings, snuggling up with new books, watching from my cozy chair as my kids play with lego’s. This is a reset approach that achieves rest and helps motivate us for the future work, that is more technical and structured. The biggest plus? I get to drink my coffee(sometimes while it’s still hot) and soak up the peace at this stage of life.
“What peace?”
Some weary ones may ask. Trust me, dear one, I empathize with you on this heavily. All that embark on this parenthood journey meet times that leave our eyes begging for five more minutes of sleep, our emotions scrambled like some overcooked eggs, and our heads reeling in confusion on how to tackle the next stage. But I do believe that despite the moments that are taxing and/or tough, there’s peace to be found and these kids are people gifted to us. They are to be cherished. They wont be in our quiet, safe care forever. Someday they’ll be wrestling with sad, hard problems and our positions will look a lot less like problem solver and a lot more like empathizer(not a bad transition but it may make us sentimental).
I personally choose to be thankful for the more experienced mothers that have told me “enjoy this time, it goes so fast.” Of course we don’t want to hear this when we’re struggling in motherhood, mentally or physically. However, this is not always used to invalidate and silence a personal struggle. In my case, I do my best to discard the “you just waits” or invalidations that I’ve received and cherish the wiser women who tell me that “you’ll miss this”. I believe that when we use our discernment in this area(this is not perfectly practiced in my life, because what is?) but I’ve found it to be a method that keeps me in a less hostile place emotionally and equally as important, gives well-meaning sisters the benefit of the doubt. We can believe the best of people and not be burdened by the wise perspectives of the seasoned ones among us. We may not agree with all that they offer but we can accept it for the gift that it is(a don’t throw the baby out with the bath water kind of situation, if you will).
I truly believe that the community(or village) we want and need to help raise our children comes from us choosing to be receptive to different ideas of parenthood than what we’re currently doing, without internalizing someone else’s style as shameful or an affront to our own methods . By us accepting the beauty and value that many perspectives brings to the table, we are more able to accept and understand community and see the value in what we bring to the table.
So look at those sweet little ones. Remember to smile at them, breathe in their weird toddler smell, squish them in your arms, and sit back(even if it’s just for the .5 of a second before you are asked for another snack) to let them independently play.
Soak in those words from the seasoned mothers. Give them a smile and let them know they’re appreciated. By doing this, you’re laying the foundations for the community that you need.
Above all, be gracious to yourselves. If you’re homeschooling, doing public school, not officially schooling yet, or you’re in your later mothering years. His Grace is sufficient for us. That means that no matter where our hearts are or have been, we can come to Him, rest in His grace and be renewed by Him to continue in strength.
As we move through the days and weeks of a new year, it can feel sluggish for some. Not the “fresh start” that we may envision.
That’s ok. I get it.
Here’s something uplifting to read:
Psalm 36:5-11 “Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends into the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgements are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O Lord. How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; In your light do we see light. Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your righteous to the upright of heart! Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.”
Really if you read through the many passages in Psalms, there’s almost no end to the encouragement. These are poems and songs written to and about the Lord. They cover reverence for God, deliverance from ones enemies and more. The emotion in these passages are big and wonderfully expressive!
Some bird footprints on our snowy front porch.
Our hearts can be melancholy sometimes. Whether it’s seasonal or situational, it’s still difficult. When this occurs, we can recognize what we’re feeling, accept the situation for what it is, and then persevere.
Here are some small ways to help us persevere in the melancholy and mundaneness of a January day:
• Start a bible reading plan. This can be a way for us to nurture our souls in seasons of sadness, while also growing in knowledge and closeness with God. You don’t have to make it a big goal, but simply picking a book to study and taking it one passage at a time, can be a simple and beautiful way to start consistent bible reading and give you something to look forward to.
• Start going for walks weekly(or daily). It gets your body moving, you’re breathing fresh air, and it’s not as daunting as joining a gym or creating a whole exercise routine. Walking gives you time to think and experience the place you live in a more intimate way. It’s, in my opinion, one of the best things you can do for your physical and mental health.
• Seek pleasure in small, day to day, things such as: a good cup of coffee, a delicious piece of chocolate, a warm comforting meal, etc. This could also be framed as gratitude or indulgence. Ultimately with this method the idea is that God created you for many things and that includes pleasure. He gives us gifts, large and small, to enjoy throughout life. The idea is, make sure that you’re enjoying and taking the mental note.
Will these things fix all your problems or grant you soul deep happiness? No.
But you may see some changes in the way you interact with your blessings and the people around you daily.
Here are some things I’ve been doing, after taking down Christmas decorations, to make January feel magical:
I created a reading nook with a chair purchased second hand.I made some homemade chicken bone broth to nurture our bodies.I repotted my growing plants.My husband and I had a date at home. You can see the little paper scraps on the table from the kids doing crafts that day. I think it adds to the romance *haha*
I want to end this time here with an excerpt from a book and authors that inspire me deeply. In the book The Life Giving Home by Sally Clarkson and Sarah Clarkson, Sally writes:
“In that season of my life, as the mother of three teenagers and a bubbly little seven-year-old girl, I rarely had a quiet moment. This drive provided a soothing moment, a badly needed opportunity just to breathe. The soft music lured me to a secret escape inside, while pathways leading through shadowy woods captured my imagination, providing a momentary break from mundane reality. And how I needed that! My heart was desperate for some new inspiration and rest from my draining and demanding days.”
Sally and Sarah Clarkson, The Life Giving Home(Tyndale Momentum: 2016)
This is written from the perspective of a mother, however, it applies to anyone who has a life with demands, stress, and heartache(so all of us). We have to be able to recognize our own burnout, depression or even just the hint of looming sadness in January in order to seek relief in large and small ways. Instead of “toughing it out”, join me, as I partake in God’s goodness, rest and grace.
Blessings to all of you in the January-est of January’s.💙
Sanctification by dictionary definition means set apart as or declare holy; consecrate. In the Bible it is the ongoing process of being ‘set apart’ that requires our cooperation with God. We are called to continue in the process sanctification until we depart from this earth.
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:1-2
Sanctification is not an unattainable state of being but the process of God molding us from the moment we’re reborn in Christ to the moment that we die.
In my own faith journey, despite being saved at the age of 5, sanctification has been primarily happening in the last 5 years(that means that there were about 23 years that sanctification wasn’t consistent and sometimes non-existent). Meaning that there are ebbs and flows, influenced by our willingness to remain obedient and soft hearted.
If you know our family, you know we’ve been through some crazy times.
If you don’t personally know our family or just haven’t been in touch with our 2020-2022 story. The summary is: We moved out of our home of 3 years and into a 28 foot travel trailer, moved 5 times, paid off debt, worked really hard on financial goals, bought a house, had to say goodbye to some important relationships due to death and estrangement, watching our loved ones move away, and so much more. Great wins, great losses, not enough “boring” moments if you ask me.
Life is quite the journey. Big amazing things happen, they don’t end up being everything we thought they would. Tragedy strikes and God doesn’t feel close. Pain happens and relief doesn’t come no matter how many prayers are said. Then God comes through with unforeseen blessings.
So the cycle continues.
Over the years I have experienced God in blessing and correction. Blessings in many forms but primarily, select people who saw me as a fellow image bearer and showed me love and respect. Corrections often came in the form of me being arrogant and God allowing me to go through humbling experiences.
“I would never do that.” And he places me in a situation where I have to.
“I would never say that.” And then I open my stupid mouth and it comes out.
“I would never feel that.” And then He allows me to experience what someone was feeling.
These are moments I used to look back on with shame. That was a lot of the issue, shame. Shame and arrogant pride are close companions but we’ll talk about that later.
I now look back on these moments with compassion for my old self, hope for the future, confidence in the present and even compassion for those who have thrown me the same self-righteous shade I was once fluent in.
The Bible speaks to shame and renewal over and again and its to our incredible benefit.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
Read Romans 5:1-5
This process of learning and growing has been a massive blessing. I count it an honor to be sanctified while I’m here on earth. I can look back with genuine gratitude, even if it still evokes emotions of sorrow and pain.
Watching friends of mine being sanctified is also such a beautiful and hard thing. We want goodness for them here on this earth and we bear with them in burdens. However, the blessing of watching their faith grow produces a huge and unique thankfulness in me. That suffering doesn’t happen for nothing. He uses everything.
The reason I’m sharing this, if you’ve made it this far, is to encourage you.
Keep growing in Christ. He is our first love. The more you spend time knowing Him through His word, the more you experience His gentle correction, the more you know the value of humility, the more you will grow in love for Christ Jesus.
Our second love should be others. The goal is that we grow in heaping love for the church(i.e. one another) so that we may better serve the Lord.
Ephesians 4:16 “…from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it’s equipped, when each part is working properly , makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”
Throughout the last year and a half I have been sinking into deeper honesty about the life I’ve built around me, why I’ve made the choices I’ve made, and where do I go from here. Some people view this as self destructive. Personally, I’m choosing to view it as an honest inspection, deconstruction and rebuild process for my life.
I haven’t led a traditionally “rebellious” life, if you will. I have a personality type that lends to people pleasing. Childhood Lyndsey was eager to please and tried hard for a while to be exactly what I was supposed to, but I always came up short. I don’t say these things to raise myself up in self righteousness, nor do I do this to put down those who have known themselves to be strong willed or a tad on the unconventional side(we like you around here). However, I have found myself the victim of heavy criticism, judgement and slanderous gossip in the unfortunate circles that I have been raised in or chose to be a part of over the years. Labeled wayward or prodigal. I have come away from many Sunday interactions genuinely questioning if I am a throw away person. So with this my question is, what measuring stick were they using to judge, label and convince themselves that I was not a fellow image bearer?
I spent most of my childhood in church. I remember as a young child growing up with a draw to scripture, a love for learning and defending truth and a true heart for the Jesus of the Bible. In my childhood mind I, of course, was going to choose the Savior who already loved me. I didn’t want to go to hell, but more than that, I had a natural love for people and the word.
As years passed, I grew. Accumulating trauma and painful experiences that stripped me of the “child like” faith. Hard questions and doubts arrived, that I didn’t know what to do with. In moments of bravery I chose to ask these questions and they were met with shallow responses and attitudes that questioned the genuine-ness of my faith. So I learned to keep my mouth shut. I continued with resilience(a personality trait that has served me both positively and negatively).
By the time I was 18 the tensions of the questions unanswered inside of me, coupled with the tensions of my childhood church environment boiled. I was angry. So I finally said “enough” and left the church I had once called my home. I expressed frustration and sought answers to these hard questions(sometimes ungraciously, but I know with certainty that God empathized and pardoned me even when Christians wouldn’t).
It’s taken a journey of about 10 years to answer some of these difficult questions that I have had about biblical womanhood, toxic church environments, the validity of scripture, and the issue of presenting secondary and tertiary interpretations of scripture as core doctrine and salvation determining(and at the very least a reason to look on fellow image bearers with condescension). I have spent a lot of time coming to an understanding of the true nature of salvation through Jesus and deconstructing fundamentalism, extra-biblical teaching and legalistic living. Not that I didn’t have beautiful examples around me influencing me for the true gospel but those examples were drowned out by the arrogant, over powering, unrelenting voices and examples.
In adulthood I found myself in yet another church with a blend of genuine believers and people who made their own rules for righteousness(and expected others to follow). The environment of the inner circle vs. the “consumers” or those who were “not committed enough” was divisive and painful for many. I found, yet again, an example of why so many find themselves questioning the validity of the gospel, as it’s being used against them to justify cruel, cold, un-Christ-like behavior. Also, who amongst us responds well to shame and disunity as the motivator for getting involved in church? Certainly not me and I can only imagine most of the general population. And so, we found ourselves(my husband, 3 children and I) yet again, churchless and feeling an overwhelming homelessness.
As I have taken inventory over the course of the last year and a half I have noticed major foundational damage in the most important relationships around me, including but not limited to my relationship with the body of Christ. Instead of continuing to turn a blind eye to this(or think that if I just alter, yet again, who God has made me to be) I will choose honesty. Part of that process has looked like leaning into these relationships and truly listening to what I’m being told(not inserting my own interpretation based on my desire for them to love me). I poked the rotting parts, examined damaged foundations and watched as some of the most important relationships in my life crumbled under the pressure of honesty. My heart has been rubble in this process.
However, I know the importance of pressing on and allowing myself to grieve, instead of choosing avoidance and allowing myself(and ultimately my family) to be abused and perpetually damaged by these painful situations.
Simple but truthful things that I’ve learned through this process:
Hard things don’t equal bad things or things to avoid. It’s not wrong just because it hurts. We can face truth while we’re still afraid.
In the name of truth I will also address the difficulty of taking inventory of your actions in life. You will have to stare your own abusive tendencies in the face. You may have to remember who you have harmed along the way and who you are vs. who you want to be. For some of us we also must be honest about actions we’ve taken to create the life we know around us. This may be the most difficult part. We have to understand that we haven’t even lived up to the standards that we’re setting for ourselves or others. I urge you not to stop there. Keep trekking. Sometimes the most healing thing for our hearts and souls can be choosing to look our own poor behavior and sin against others in the face. Instead of burying it in the box of unmentionable things in our brain and shoving it on the back shelf to be quiet, we examine it. We can choose to humble ourselves, ask for forgiveness and make plans for reconciliation(if it can apply to your situation). Ultimately this will lead to us being able to forgive ourselves and to better pursue different habits for our lives.
This is not instructions from someone who has executed all of this perfectly. However, this is from someone who has endured much over the years. When we ask for wisdom from the Lord the Bible says he’ll give it to us(James 1:5).
My final thoughts on this subject; James 1:2-4 says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
Some of us have experienced this passage as a means to silence us when we are suffering. It’s been quoted by believers who forget their call to bear each others burdens(Galatians 6:2). However, if you can press through with me for a moment and keep leaning into the truths of the gospel, despite the gaslighting and invalidation you have experienced, I truly believe that God will faithfully meet you with His grace and truth. Scripture regains its hold on our hearts when we remember the intentions of the great author and know the contexts for which it’s written.
My adult years have been wrought with pain, processing trauma, invalidation, gaslighting, sexism, objectification and many other painful experiences. However, I wouldn’t choose to erase anything(or for the sake of others comfort, pretend it didn’t happen). God has humbled me, given me perspective and grown me in empathy for others. These character developments wouldn’t have happened without the hard things that I have experienced thus far. I can rejoice in the trials I’ve faced because I’m looking back on them and seeing fruit. I can maintain this perspective for the future amongst the messiness that plagues me now. I can also be gracious and empathetic with myself in the trials. We were made to be complex beings with complex emotions. We do not have to deny our emotions(Jesus didn’t) and pretend that they don’t often contradict each other. There is grace that covers us in this fallen world, while we operate in imperfect bodies. His grace is sufficient. It’s made perfect in our weakness.
For those who don’t have a church home at the moment, here’s an encouraging word:
Psalm 139:1-10
“O Lord, you have searched me and you know me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all of my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.
Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven you, are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.”
Continue reading this passage in your bible. Continue pursuing your identity in Christ. You are not a dead body behind a hypothetical church bus. You are a disciple called to proclaim the gospel.
The Crunchy Vagabond 