Notes From My Home

I have been a Stay-At-Home-Mama full time since 2011 and a Homeschool Mama full time since 2013. That is nearly nine years of total preparation for being home for days/weeks on end with my kids. If they gave out badges for homeschooling (they don't) I would have earned one by now.

My Mama always says, "The days are long but the years are short." I hang on to that on the long days and realize it's true as we're readying to finish PreK and 3rd Grade here.

The last few weeks have changed our lives less than others - my kids are used to Mama being teacher, being home for school, and Mark still will work his regular job through all of this. What's not normal for us is the inability to meet up with friends, visit the library, wander a museum, and to be home every single evening. We're also missing important events, missing our friends, and hoping for social connections to happen again soon.

I decided to share that over the years I've made and kept notes around the house to hold me steady. These notes remind me of important things to live by. Maybe they can encourage you as well.

This note hangs on my fridge. 

It's my daily prayer that I say when I wake up. 

"Dear Love, Please send me where you need me. Today and everyday. Amen."

The picture is of the Barnard-Jones Building at Kentucky Wesleyan College. My grandfather

was E.K. Barnard who the building is named for. He worked incredibly hard and over the 

years he and my Momaw gave, gave, gave of time, money, and energy to their community.

God called and they answered. I want to live like that!

"Are you carving the tiny bird today?"

This note has been hanging in my kitchen for about a year. My friend Andrea sent me a story

in an e-mail about a man carving the ceiling of a huge cathedral in Europe. In the story, he works

tirelessly to carve a tiny bird just perfectly. Someone asks him, "Why are you working so hard on that

little bird? No one else will ever see him up close or know that you did it."

He replied, "God will."

I hold this as a reminder that no matter how trivial or mundane the day's activities seem,

my actions, words, and responses are forming who my children are. Am I living for God?

Am I seeking to glorify him in small and large ways? 

Am I doing the next right thing even if no one else is watching?  

 "Everyone not with Christ is a mission field,

Everyone with Christ is a missionary"

I had a season in life, when Owen was very young and we were in the early days of homeschooling

that I felt like nothing I did mattered. I was lost in ABC's, finger paint, and housework. I wondered

how God was using me, if I would ever be valuable again. I had always dreamt of a few specific

mission fields to serve on and being in my home was never on that list. Over time, I realized

that God was working on my children through me. They didn't yet know Him and my service to Mark and the kids IS my purpose and work. This quote helps to remind me that everyone I encounter is an opportunity to share Jesus' love. 

This hangs on the door to my garage. I NEED it there. It reminds me to slow down, to

patiently tie shoes or put on coats, and that I am in example at ALL times. I cannot control

my kids or the weather or the clock BUT I can control myself. 

This reminds me to be loving at all times. 

Each of these are such an encouragement to me, even on the long days when I don't see another adult or really interact with anyone but the kids. I pray they are in some small way an encouragement to you as well.