The View From My Back Porch 

As I sit here looking forward to starting another school year (our 14th as a homeschool family), I can't help but look back over the past couple of years and all that has been thrown our way.  Things that derailed us from our comfy daily routine and forced us to reach deep down to grasp tightly our family tie in order to stay grounded.  No, nothing earth shattering took place to cause a major interruption.... just lots of ordinary challenges that cause you to go off the rail.  Things like aging parents, health issues, transitioning daughters, careers, blessings (lots of blessings) and losses (those are always the hardest), etc.  Let me back up a bit, since it's been so long since I've sat at my computer to post....

2015 saw major challenges and changes for my mom.  At 70 years old she has always enjoyed fairly good health and has always been a little spitfire.  Last year, in February, she suffered major back pain that took her mobility away nearly instantly...she then had her first of 4 back surgeries to fix the problem.  March saw the second surgery, April the third, and finally June she had her fourth.  In-between, in May, she was hospitalized for several days for an infection she contracted from the hospital and her previous surgery.  Yes, the first half of 2015 was off to a rough start.  I spent it living with my mom, tending to her care and enjoying seeing her bounce back, slowly, to good health as the last half of the year rolled around.  Thankfully Mom lived only a matter of a few blocks away, and the girls would come over each day to work on their lessons and spend time with me and enjoy their grandma.  I would pop into our home each day to touch base, get fresh clothes, and breathe in the familiar air of my family and our life.  This was a challenging time, yet it was full of blessings each and every day, and I wouldn't trade a moment of it for anything.  I saw God work in ways I wouldn't have noticed had our circumstances not been what they were.  Through it all, my husband kept things going at home, even navigating the emotional mine fields of 4 daughters (and may I remind you all that they are all true redheads;)  By the fall of last year, it became clear that, although Mom had recovered well, working nearly full time was no longer an option if she wanted to continue to enjoy a (mostly) pain-free back.  This meant that she needed to move so that she could retire with few worries.  Yes, another major change was on the horizon.  God blessed her however, by moving her into a lovely retirement apartment, only about a mile from our home.  It was a tough transition at first, as she faced downsizing one more time; but she quickly settled in and now enjoys her cozy new home.  Mom is such a social and outgoing person and God is using her in her new home to reach out to her neighbors and share His love with them through her friendship.  He's also blessed her finding a new purpose in serving her friends and neighbors since retiring, which she truly seems to love.  

During all this time, the girls continued to grown, learn, and thrive.  A huge blessing throughout this time was the girls drew closer to each other than they ever had before.  They learned to count on each other, support one another, and most importantly, to love on each other.  Now, don't get me wrong... they're girls which equates to a boatload of bickering and even some drama, but I see how close they truly have become over the past couple of years.  That does this mama's heart a world of good.  God has shown me that my girls hearts are truly filled with Him and that they seek to bring him glory and honor in their relationships with each other and us as their parents.  These girls stepped up to the plate to take care of the daily things that needed to be done even though so much of my focus and attention needed to be on caring for mom's needs during that time.  What a blessing to see God's promise fulfilled in this way! And as a sidenote: it's amazing to see how they work together when I removed myself from the equation... no more refereeing needed when it came to sisterly squabbles; they learned to work things through themselves and walked away feeling loved by each other in the end.  Yes, they still try to draw me into their little rumbles at times, but I now know they do not need Mom to act as referee; they are quite capable of handling their sisterly nuances themselves :)

As to the state of our home during the past couple of years, with my attention being divided between our home and my mom's.... I've learned to embrace the "not so pinterest worthy"state of being.  Meaning, yes indeed our home went from lived in to FEMA zone pretty quickly during that time.  We were in survival mode: making sure everyone had clean clothes, meals were prepared and eaten (yes, I've finally accepted paper plates as legitimate dinnerware;), critters were cared for and fed, and bathrooms were at least clean, etc.  Kids just don't see a problem with their belongings strewn all throughout the house, carpets not getting vacuumed and furniture getting dusted, or floors not getting scrubbed.  "Gee Mom, we took a shower.... what do you mean you want us to clean up the bathroom as well?"  "Take out the trash?  Huh?  I thought trash day was on Friday...it's only Tuesday; why do I need to take it out?"  Or my personal favorite "It wasn't me..." in response to any "who left/did/didn't/made/dropped/etc" question I asked.  From the sounds of all the resounding "Not Me" answers I got, my only conclusion is that we either have ghosts or a few other people living here that I've yet to meet;)  Top this all off with the fact that we've been trying to get moved back to the family farm since spring of 2013 and have 1/4 of our belongings (you know, the stuff that you don't use on a weekly basis, but still NEED to have;) packed up in boxes stacked in "out of the way" places around our home, and you have a very "lived in" decor going on.  Well, once things settled down, after we got Mom moved and settled into her new home, I went on a semi-clean sweep of our entire home.  I mean, if you're going to get into every corner, nook, and cranny in your home to dust out the cobwebs, you might as well do it with Christmas music playing and Christmas decorations in hand to brighten up the place.  Yes, it took awhile and a lot of hard work to get things back into order, but we managed to get 'er done and enjoy a lovely holiday season all the way around :)

Step into this year.... 2016 started out slow and (dare I say) boring.  We were back into our groove around here.  The girls worked hard last year, selling things and working to earn enough money to surprise their dad with a trip to Disney World.  February came and off we went to Florida.  Traveling, as always, in our trusty Sequoia.  What an awesome trip!  Not only our week at Disney, but the places we stopped and visited all along the way, especially getting to go back to Pleasant Hill Kentucky.  Our last day on the road, however, saw my health plummeting.  Right on schedule, just like every February, bronchitis and pneumonia were coming on.  Yep, I got to spend the next several weeks meeting the needs of my family from my bed as I recovered.  Yet again, however, I got to enjoy the blessings of homeschooling and the flexibility it offers.  The girls have no problem doing lessons in my room, on my bed even :)  It's kinda like an ongoing educational slumber party at times like that :) I bounced back of course, just in time to head east with Craig.  As he worked with his clients, the girls and I enjoyed "real life learning".  The Museum of Pioneer Culture and Monticello were the highlights of that trip, along with exploring local historical sites in the areas we visited and stayed.  Our family doesn't fly any more; we made a choice years ago to drive instead.  The freedom it allows is well worth the added travel time.  The girls are use to packing up their school work to take along and their educational experience is so much richer since they aren't totally reliant on text books.  Hands on learning engages their minds in a way that dry words never can.  What they learn outside the walls of our "classroom," I would suggest, is more valuable than any curriculum based assignment could ever be.  We are heading into our 14th year (I think that's right) of homeschooling and I wouldn't trade it for anything.  

This year has also held more medical issues for our family.  Gracie's type 1 diabetes is well managed, however, it is a daily struggle to keep her healthy.  Insulin is not a cure, rather, it is her life support.  She will not outgrow this, and at the moment there is no cure available... there is however HOPE on the horizon.  Tess faced a minor surgery this year as well as a job change (yes, she's still teaching dance and acro :)  Sarah and Hannah are still dealing with their celiac issues.  And I was officially diagnosed with fibromyalgia to go along with my other health issues.  What is the one crazy thing I'm thanking God for most of all through our crazy journey the past couple of years?  The ability to finally accept that life is not a Pinterest Board.  It's going to be messy, chaotic, unscheduled.  Routines will be blown to bits, the well worn groove we find comfort in will veer off path, and things will fall through the cracks.  But, you know what?  I thank God that He never leaves and will continue to bless us and that in the end it will all be ok.... a beautiful mess, but His perfect plan all at the same time.  

So.... here I sit, looking back from my front porch so to speak, to find that I'm right where I'm suppose to be at this particular moment.  Diets and healthy habit attempts may have failed many times over, my prayer journal may look sporadic at best, my lesson plans may have been altered on the fly, let's not even talk about how my well planned monthly menus are laying there with nothing more than a longing glance tossed their way while I bake chicken strips, instant mashed potatoes, jarred gravy, and canned veggies to feed my family more times than not.  The fact remains that God is good all the time.  It's through His grace alone that we've made it through the past couple of years stronger than we were  before and that we have HOPE in HIM ALONE for a bright tomorrow.  Do we know when we will ever actually get moved back to the farm, or what might get thrown at us at the next doctor appointment, or anything else that may come our way?  Nope.  But I do know that God will never fail us and He is the one directing our path and binding our family together and to Him.  I choose to look forward and rest in His promises.... all the while trying to tame the laundry, get my kids to eat more veggies, keep my home in a way that won't cause me to cower should someone unexpectedly ring the door bell... and yes, start getting ready for Christmas while listening to christmas music even before we start back to our full time school schedule... because this is my crazy life; the one God designed for me.  Yup!  These are my monkeys and this most certainly is my circus :)