The Porch

The first time I met Tiffany, was in a moment of desperation. My husband was away on a business trip for about 14 days, and I was home alone with 3 small children. A mutual friend 'gifted' me an afternoon alone by loaning me her babysitting services. She has been caring for my girls ever since. I am so glad she is hanging out on the Porch with us today. I think you will love her sweet story of being in His presence.


in His presence

i love babysitting. seriously, there is nothing better than watching someone's kids and getting to leave at the end of the night and get a full nights sleep. i mean, i want to be a mom someday, but babysitting is really as good as it gets! its like the best of both worlds!

i love when i get to a house and the kid(s) have one thing that they love to do with me. at one house, its painting fingernails for 3 bright eyed energetic girls. at another house, its watching Tinkerbell the movie with another little girl that dreams of being Ariel one day. this is the same girl that thinks her daddy is prince charming!

God doesn't babysit me, although i think sometimes my behavior warrants babysitting, but that is besides the point. but there are things i LOVE to do with Him. i love to rest in His presence. i know that sounds so general, but have you ever been there? have you ever been so fully wrapped in Him that you get goosebumps?

it happened on my way home today. i was singing How Deep The Father's Love For Us (sung by Nichole Nordeman) in my car and felt it. the goosebumps traveled all the way from my ankles to my head. you know, that kind that overwhelms you? it came at this part:

it was my sin that held Him there
until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
i know that it is finished

sometimes i cannot even imagine how or why He loves me the way He does. i don't think i am supposed to.

like i said, i love babysitting, and the fact that the kids love doing one special thing with Miss Tiffany. but what the kids don't know, is that as much as they love doing that with me, i love just being with them. i like to think God thinks that too. in fact, i know He does.

Zephaniah 3:17
"The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with his love, He will rejoice over you with singing."

Thanks Tiffany for sharing your heart with us today! And thank you for loving my girls, showing them how to serve the Lord with your whole life . I believe that God is using you as one of the 1 Million Arrows that is striking a blow in the darkness!

Looking Forward,

You can visit Tiffany's personal blog by clicking here. And by the way, my girls are the ones who love the finger nail painting!

The Porch

I am so thrilled to introduce you to Joann. She is a M.O.D Squad mom of two and every time she shares her heart I am inspired to love Jesus more and be a mom of purpose. Recently, she shared this story about her daughter for our home school program. If you read one blog post today, read this one! I know it will be so glad you did!


The Finish Line
by Joann

This weekend, our family celebrated the graduation of our oldest daughter Jordynn. We have crossed the finish line and we are overwhelmed with joy!

Jordynn's graduation journey began her Freshman year of high school. As a family, we decided to attend graduation each May until it was our turn. We would ask her to visualize herself walking across the stage to receive her diploma. My husband and I would visualize ourselves walking across the stage to meet her. One year I even remember grabbing the back of a church envelope to practice writing what our recording would say. Would we be funny or serious? Would we let the audience know all of our daughter's funny nicknames? Would we share congratulations for her academic accomplishments or for the growth of her tender heart? We practiced this moment for four years...we had an end picture.

For our family, parent directed education was an unexpected turn on our journey. God had called us to remove our daughter from private, Christian school at the onset of seventh grade and bring her home. This was an act of obedience and required total reliance on the Lord.

Can I tell you the most amazing part of our family's story? The Lord knit our hearts together in a new way. We fell madly in love with our daughter all over again! Was homeschooling hard? You bet! Were there disagreements? Of course! Did we love each other? Yes! Did we like each other? Most of the time. (wink!)

Crossing the finish line requires...

- Full engagement
- Intentional preparation
- Unrelenting perseverance
- Whole-hearted commitment
- and lots and lots of Love!

Moms, I encourage you to develop your end picture. I encourage you to visualize your finish line. I encourage you to practice celebrating the moment for He promises that His good work in your family will come to full completion.

"And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you." -- Philippians 1:6 AMP

This mother's heart rejoices today for the finish line is so sweet...He has completed what He started in our graduate!



When I asked Joann if I could post this for my 29lincolnavenue friends, she said, "Mom's are my passion and anytime the Lord allows me to encourage them, I'm thrilled!!" Don't you just love her! Thanks so much Joann!

Looking Forward,


Have you become a fan of 29lincolnavenue on facebook yet? You can click here and choose 'like' By doing this, each time there is a new post here, it will show up as a news item in your daily feed. Thanks!

A Few Things

First of all, it is Friday and today is special because:

(Insert cheers and dancing here!!!)

I don't think I have ever been more ready to enjoy summer than I am right now! It has been a great year, but it has also been a hard year. Earlier today I put all our pictures in an album (on my Mac of course because I do not scrapbook!) Then I picked a few songs and played it as a slide show. By the end, I had tears in my eyes...every mother should do this. What is it about music and pictures of our children that makes us cry? Seeing those sweet faces and all the fun things we did this year really brought it to a nice close for me.

Here are a few things I want to share with you:

• The Modsquadblog is coming! This is an exciting new blog for Mother's Of Daughters. I am thrilled to be co-laborating with these awesome mom's: Amy of Girlfriends Get Real, Megan of Halfpint House, and Traci of tsj photography. Between the 4 of us we have 15 girls. We found each other on Twitter of all places. The most amazing thing is that each of these women have a heart to raise girls who love and follow Jesus with passion. And, they also desire to encourage mom's who are raising daughters. We are hoping to launch this site in the next couple of weeks! If you have daughters or know anyone who does you can follow us now on Twitter @momsquadmoms and look for us soon on Facebook. I will let you know the blog launch date as it gets closer.
  

• Next week be sure to check out the One Million Arrows Blog Tour right here. I have been so challenged to be a mom of purpose as I have been reading it. I can't wait to share it with you. I will also be guest posting for OMA on May 31, so be sure to check that out as well.

• I have been blessed by the recent guests we have enjoyed on the 29lincolnavenue porch! I want to thank Michelle at SomeGirlsWebsite, Stef at Layton Family Joy, and Lara at My Adventure with God Unrehearsed for stopping by to hang out with us! My heart has been so encouraged by these great women of faith. I can't wait to see who stops by next! Maybe it will be you. Be sure to check out the submission guidelines here.

I hope you have a great weekend!

The Porch

Don't you just love meeting new friends? I am so excited to introduce you to Lara. She is a new friend who has the cutest blog called My Adventures With God, Unrehearsed. Lara describes herself as "a woman under the grace of our mighty God who has walked through valleys of addiction, death, and betrayal and experienced the miraculous ability of God to bring victory out of seeming despair." I am honored that she wants to take some time to share her heart with us on the 29lincolnavenue porch. I think you will be blessed by this sweet story about her little boy and a our God who delights in us.

Secret Windows

I love the secret windows. From the "women only" room at the gym, I can peak at my kids while they play. Yesterday tears caught me by surprise.

My little guy was working hard. He stood on his tiptoes and reached with all he had for the top of the bookshelf. He carried Thomas to the table for a quick "read." Then the process repeated itself four more times.

At one point the book return did not cooperate. He tried and tried to get Elmo to tuck between Dora and Cookie Monster, but his little arms were just not long enough. The teacher sat close but unaware of his struggle. He never got frustrated. He never asked for help. He just kept trying...to no avail. Finally he laid Elmo down for a rest on the lower shelf.

And for some reason I started to cry. I wasn't sad. I was overtaken by my love for him. He was simply being himself--living, doing, moving about. And delight welled up in my spirit.

I realized that at that moment I was reflecting a tiny piece of God. He looks down from His heavenly throne and smiles upon His children. He watches us simply being ourselves--living, doing, moving about--and He loves immeasurably. We are His creation and He delights in His own. Rejoice today under the blanket of His favor--simply because you are His.

You bring Him delight simply because you are His! Don't you love that? Thank you Lara for encouraging our hearts today. Please be sure to visit Lara at her blog and leave a comment below to make her feel welcome to the 29lincolnavenue porch!

Looking Forward,
Stacey

The Porch

Nothing refreshes me more than a chat with a good friend. Today, I am so glad that my friend, Stef, from Layton Family Joy is visiting the 29lincolnavenue porch! What I love about Stef is that she is real. She holds nothing back. And, she makes me laugh. I just like her! Today, she is sharing a story of big faith and a bigger God who delights in surprising us!


Blowing Bubbles

My 2yr old son has a new favorite outside hobby, he blows bubbles. It's very exciting for him because I no longer hold the bubbles nor the wand - he has complete control of the bubble making process.

And he's a huge success! He blows a few bubbles shouts with joy, "I did it I did it", smiles big and directs me to his latest accomplishment, "Look big bubbles mom - right there right there - big bubbles".

There is so much excitement over these bubbles I can't help but cheer him on, "yes - I see - big bubbles - YOU DID IT"!

Occasionally he is unsuccessful. All of them end up popping. Yet that does not stop him in the least - the process of making bubbles delights his little soul.

I see his heart - it's swollen with happiness and I wonder why I stopped blowing bubbles. I'm not talking about the sticky mess he's holding in his hands - but real life challenges with a chance of failure on the other side.

Have I grown so comfortable by surrounding myself with feel good easy moments that I do not take risks anymore?

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Last month I grabbed my bubble wand - my desire to write and encourage women for Christ - and started blowing bubbles. I put God at the focus of my blog - not myself. I sent out a few submissions to Christian organizations to be published. I started writing an online bible study.

Some bubbles popped immediately - another greatly received (the contract w/ DaySpring for my card). One even combined with another and ended up becoming a fantastic new opportunity I had not thought possible (contributing to Gather Inspirit blog). In all of the excitement that has happened in 1 month's time - I wildly shouted, "Look - I did it, BIG BUBBLES"!

I encourage you - do not allow the fear of what could might possibly maybe happen prevent you from ever trying!

Pick up your bubble wand and start blowing big bubbles again!

God is the MIGHTY God - not a might God!

Thanks Stef for reminding us of this amazing truth! Be sure to visit Stef and check out her blog Layton Family Joy. I know that you will be encouraged. Not only is she blowing bubbles, but she has agreed to be my roommate at the Relevant Blogging Conference in October. How fun is that?

Looking Forward,

The Porch

I have been looking for a good day to open the 29lincolnavenue Porch, and today is looking like a great day! The weather here, has been amazing, I have a great story to share with you compliments of my friend Michelle, and the grill is fired up! So, kick your shoes off, grab some sweet tea and pull up a rocking chair for some pre-summer fun!

First of all, I want to share with you the most amazing Grilled Chicken Recipe. I promise, this is worthy of your recipe book!

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 clove garlic
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of pepper
2 squeezes of honey from the cute honey bear bottle (about 1 tablespoon)
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (4 oz each)

Combine everything except the chicken and mix well. Pour over chicken. Marinate covered in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Grill chicken until done.

While that is cooking, I want to introduce you to my friend Michelle. When I came across this story on her blog, Some Girl's Website, I actually laughed out loud. I love sharing a joy story with you to open Porch time. I want this to be a place where others can share their story. Some stories will be like this one - pure joy! Others, might be about a faith step or a lesson learned. Either way, you will come away feeling like you just had a great chat with a new friend! This story also fits perfectly because we are hooking up today with Robynn @ Our Homeschool Home for her Weekly Grill Challenge. Enjoy...


I Would NEVER Homeschool! But Celebrity School...

My boys and I were driving in the car on our way to enrichment classes the other day when my oldest one started telling me all about the race car he was going to have in the future. How fast it was going to be, how it was going to look, how he was going to drive it on the street, not on a track, but that he wouldn't drive crazy, and then he said the sweetest thing... "And Eli can ride in the back, 'cause he's my best friend." I thought that was SO sweet! And it made me so thankful that I homeschool... so glad that they have extra time together.

You see, I didn't start off wanting to do it. In fact, when people asked me if I was going to homeschool (because I was a teacher by trade and most of my church friends did) I would always answer, "Absolutely............ NOT!" There was NO way I would ever homeschool! I need a break!

Then, last year, a friend at church asked if I homeschooled and I said, "NO WAY!" Her response made me scratch my head. She said, "I guess God hasn't laid that on your heart yet." huhhh?

Now, I'm not one to say anyone "should" be homeschooling or not homeschooling... you know how I feel about "should-ing." I feel strongly that parents need to look at their children's needs and learning styles as well as their needs and parenting styles to make a decision on what's best educationally for their children. Every child and parent is different. But this is what happened to us....

After a long strand of things, which I just spent a lot of time writing but were all erased with the mistaken push of some little button, I finally decided to try it. I admit I wasn't fond of the idea. I couldn't even say the "H" word for the longest time. It wasn't until I was talking with one of my neighbors and mentioned the fact that my husband was quitting his corporate job, and we were going to be able to travel with his photography business, and because of that we were going to "you know, the H word," that I finally came to grips with it. She said, "That's what the celebrities do." Wallah! I wasn't "weirdo homeschooling" I was "celebrity schooling!" I know that sounds strange, but I had made homeschooling out to be something those weird people do with those weird kids... this new view helped me rethink the whole issue. My children and I didn't have to be weird to homeschool, and we didn't have to be weird because we homeschooled! It's too bad homeschooling carries such a bad rap.

Now that I do it... I LOVE IT! We have been able to take a two week road trip up to New York in the fall, several little trips here and there, spend most Wednesdays with Poppy teaching Social Studies (who is coming over in a little bit to plant a garden with the boys) and, most importantly, we've been able to "just hang out" together. All of this has fostered a wonderful relationship between my boys. Enrichment classes and Wednesday playgroup/Bible study helps me get the break that I need and him to get the socialization he needs. The rest of the time we are learning together, in a modified Charlotte Mason style.... a lot of life learning, some book learning.

Now, I am SO thankful we've homeschooled this year. People ask me what I plan on doing at junior high and I say, "I'm homeschooling this year (first grade) and we'll see what happens next." I have no plans yet. I did sign my oldest one up for a full day of enrichment next year at his wonderful little "school." But, I will play each year as it comes.For now, I'll press on with "pulling teeth" in reading in order to foster sweet relationships in my children with each other, their family, and God. I'm glad He did lay it on my heart! ♥

Btw, I write this knowing homeschooling isn't for everyone... but if you have an inkling of desire, I'd encourage you to consider it for just a little while. It gave me comfort knowing that most schools accept students at any point during the year (and it gave my son motivation knowing that... ;) ). I won't say it's easy, but I can now look back at this year and say it's been worth it!

Thanks Michelle for spending time on The Porch! Now, go visit her:
Blog: Some Girl's Website
Twitter: @SomeGirlsTweets
Facebook: Some Girl's Website

And, find some more great recipe's with Robyn at Our Home School Home:



Looking Forward,
Stacey