Changed By Love

Planting Wildflowers

Jun.12,2014

I would love to go see this field of wildflowers!

These are pictures of wildflowers that we have discovered here in Texas. The state of Texas lets wildflowers grow. They don’t mow along several highways and roadways, so you get to see wildflowers in the spring as you drive along, and I personally find it quite refreshing.

I just did a little research and found out that it is not really illegal to pick Texas Blue Bonnets, but they do stress that trespassing is illegal, so you better make sure you are not on private property if you stop to pick some and take your annual kids-in-the-bluebonnets photo. You are also not supposed to dig them up for transplanting. And you are supposed to be careful not to block traffic or do anything dangerous in your endeavor to get next to the coveted state flowers.

Blanket Flower

Years ago, I looked at pictures of flowers that grow in Texas and saw Blanket Flowers and thought they were so pretty that I decided that I wanted to grow them some day. Then one day a couple months ago, Shawn came back from a walk and brought me some flowers that he picked. They happened to be Blanket Flowers, growing wild!

These flowers are growing wild in our backyard.

These are Evening Primroses.

Yesterday we did a little unit study, based on two books by Tomie DaPaola, The Legend of the Bluebonnet and The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush. We just happened to have a packet of wildflower seeds, so I gathered the kids together and read the books to them, then we went outside and planted our wildflower seeds.

The kids planted seeds.

They watered the seeds.

We got the seeds in the mail from a local hospital and saved them for now.

These are the books by Tomie DaPaola. I read them to the kids as part of our unit study. These legends are part of the history of Texas. So we were able to study some Botany and History through the same lesson.

Indian Paint Brush

Texas Blue Bonnet

What a Woman Needs from a Man

Jun.4,2014

A woman needs a man that will be strong for her no matter what. It shouldn’t be the other way around. Or if she does have to be strong for him, it should be rare, not most of the time. When storms come, and things seem about to fall apart, she needs that reassurance from him that everything is going to be all right. It shouldn’t be the other way around.

A woman needs a man that will be strong for himself, not giving up or trying to do himself in when things get rough. If the man really loves the woman, he will not want her to worry about him or how he will react to problems. He should be strong and take problems on and face them and deal with them. Not hide from them or ignore them and dull the pain with some kind of escape. That only makes them worse because they weren’t dealt with when they should have been and they exacerbate. Problems get worse when they’re ignored or put off.

We don’t need someone whose default is negative and lack. We need someone who is positive and confident and knows that as long as he keeps trying and keeps doing what is right, things are going to get better.

If our man knows God, then we should be able to count on our man keeping his faith and taking problems to the Lord, and casting them on Him. We should have assurance that our man will ask the Lord for wisdom to handle whatever comes our way.

We should be able to depend on him to lead us to God in prayer. We should be able to expect him to be a good example of faith and trust in God. To us and our children. He should be our rock.

Women don’t want to be the leader in the home. Women want to be taken care of. We want to know that our man has our best interests at heart and is doing his best to meet the needs of the family yet trusting God; not getting angry when he doesn’t understand what God is doing. And not fretting and treating us badly because he’s worried about the future. We don’t deserve to be treated badly just because our man is not trusting God to take care of the family.

We should never feel the threat that if something doesn’t change, our man is going to give up and kill himself. We should never feel emotionally blackmailed for any reason. We shouldn’t have to worry about our man being that weak. He should be strong enough to deal with whatever comes, with the Lord’s help.

Women are strong. But they shouldn’t have to be stronger than their men.

Men, please consider this at all times. What kind of example am I setting for my wife and children?

You’re a Mom – That’s Enough

May.22,2014

I know it doesn’t seem like it. Especially when you have just left a career. Or when you are trying to figure out how to juggle being a mom and still working at a career. But look at what God says about mothers and children and family in His word. Does He ever mention a career outside of the home? Does He ever say that He knows that you won’t find staying at home with your child or children fulfilling, so you will need to find other things to do, too?

I know how you feel. I was there, too, when I had my first child. My heart was to stay home and raise my children, but I still had to adjust. And it took a couple of years to adjust to the slower pace. I still wanted to go, go, go. I was frustrated by how much effort it took to get all the baby gear together just to go to the grocery store or the park or a friend’s house. Then I had another baby. Then another. I had been doing homeschool assessments all during the summer and tutoring whenever anybody asked. It made me feel a little more significant and fulfilled than just changing diapers and cleaning (which I abhor). I came to the realization that I have chosen to be a homemaker, but I don’t really like homemaking. And I’m not really good at it. I felt like a failure, since I had chosen as a life profession something that I’m not good at and don’t enjoy doing. So I kept trying to find other things to do along with the things that I’m not good at. Things that I’m better at, like tutoring and talking to people about how they are educating their children.

Finally, the Lord stopped me, as I was running myself ragged with all the outside things besides taking care of my own children. He let me know in no uncertain terms that I was neglecting my children. Oh my! I was grief-stricken. I had been neglecting them for about 10 years at that point.

I had to stop looking for fulfillment in things outside of my home, my husband and my children.

I was under direct orders from the Lord, so I figured I had better obey Him. So I stopped trying to go somewhere every day. I stayed home with my children. We then had time to do some projects together. I baked with them more. I found activities on the internet that I could do with them. I still fight with doing other things when I should be spending time with my children. They get busy doing their own things, and they are having so much fun, that I don’t want to interrupt them. Sometimes I just start reading a book and get caught up in it and don’t really spend much time with them one on one. Now that the internet is here, I really struggle with spending too much time on it and not enough time with my kids. And I don’t take care of the house like I should.

But I’m here. I’m Mom. And to them, that’s enough. More importantly, to God, that’s enough.

Mom Goggles

May.7,2014

A hilarious look at how moms see things.
“Two dads get a glimpse at the way moms view the world…and then realize that it goes way beyond what they see.”

I love the Skit Guys, and I love this message.

Moms Night Out

May.5,2014

A new movie called Moms Night Out is coming to theaters this Friday, May 9. It has been getting great reviews from Christians that I trust. Here is the official trailer:

And here is a video clip of Jon Erwin, a co-writer and director of the movie, telling about his experience as a homeschooler and praising his mom for homeschooling him. He says that he would not be doing what he’s doing if his mom hadn’t taken him out of public school and homeschooled him. He was a very active boy, ADHD, he says. He was always in trouble at school and was almost kicked out of school in second grade. He thanks his mom and all homeschool moms for what they’re doing for their children.

He invites us to come and see a movie made by homeschoolers!!! How about it? Are you going to go see it? I am!