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Clara Eve Guest
Born February 24 at 3:28pm
8 pounds, 3 ounces
19 1/2 inches 
Welcome to the family, Baby girl!

I’ve promised posts on organization and haven’t touched my blog in a week.  I can’t even click on other blogs now, because it’s just a reminder that I’m not keeping up with mine!

We are just a bit pre-occupied at the moment.

Still waiting…

We live in a 3 bedroom house.  We are expecting baby #4.  And we have a whole room for homeschooling.  You do the math and it doesn’t seem to add up to just the right amount of space for our growing family.

But I’m just not convinced that bigger(and more for me to clean and maintain) is better.  Our culture certainly says that every child needs their own room, not to mention that great media room, a guest room, etc.

But after a mad rush to re-arrange and accommodate the coming arrival of our sweet baby girl, I’m amazed at how satisfied I am with our space.  

Over the next few days(if I’m not too tired or busy having a baby) I’m going to post pictures of what we’ve been doing to make every space functional!  

Since it’s 6am and I am tired, here’s just a small idea of something that helped in our school room.

I struggled with the question that all moms with kids in school(home or public) battles with-what to do with all of their artwork!

First we hang in their gallery here:(this isn’t my favorite idea, but convenient for now-I’d like them each to have their own attractive gallery on the walls with frames)

Then as they put up more artwork, they would transfer their older works to these shelves.  Well, the shelves we always overflowing and messy(since their math and copywork went here too).

So we took an idea from this great book 

http://www.amazon.com/Familyfun-Home-Creative-Practical-Family-Friendly/dp/0786853999/ref=sr_11_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1234438841&sr=11-1

and made art portfolios for this year.

Simply take two large posterboards and attach 3 sides with duct tape or packaging tape.  Let your child decorate his portfolio.  And voila, now you have a compact storage space, marked with the year.  At the end of the year I plan on going through each portfolio with the child and selecting their favorite works to hold onto for the long run.

Now their artwork moves from a display on the wall to their portfolio.

Note: With our 3 year old, who doesn’t produce quite as much art work, we made a smaller version with smaller sized sheets of posterboard.

Check back for ideas on closet and toy organization.

Next on the list, sleep!

There is a giant stamp on my life right now that says “Pending”…

Everything that is happening around and about me is real to the touch, but I carry with me a constant sense that at any moment it can(it will) change forever.

I’m torn between savoring the last few moments of this current life exactly the way it is and at the same time working through a running, anxious list to prepare for the imminent change!

Yesterday I sat on the couch(the same spot that I perched at 2 in the morning making a list of what to take to the hospital) and prepared to watch a circus.  This is what I saw

Announcing

Juggling Clowns

Acrobats

Acrobats 2

Irish Clogging

The Musician

The Curtain Call

A moment to stay inside of for as long as possible.

I fought the sense of “I need to be doing” and instead cheered and got my program signed afterward.

These 3 amazing parts of my life.

And at the end I wondered to myself, “Who is this mystery girl who, in another year and a half, will be another act in the show?”

Boys may be made of snails and puppy dog tails, and girls of sugar and spice, but I think they must also be made of insulated fur and natural thermal underwear.

Last week it came to me that the kids had been cooped up inside too much this winter.  It came to me in the form of a bouncing eight year old, who bounced instead of walked throughout the house one afternoon.

“Why are you bouncing Micah?” I asked, almost patiently.
“I just want to.”

And off she bounced to another room.

A few minutes later, I saw a bobbing figure go by again.

And there have been some extra crankies among the whole crew.  Finally I put these clues together and decided maybe they needed to expend some energy and the best place to do it was outside.

Since last wednesday we’ve tried to get outside every day, atleast for a few minutes.

An easy task to accomplish when it’s 67 here in Tennessee weather, less appealing when it’s 35.  For me.  For the kids, they seem as well protected as polar bears in the Antarctic waters.  

“Jael, you should really wear a coat.”
“I don’t need one.”
“Joshua, a coat.”
“I don’t need one.”

I don’t even try with Micah, she’s always seemed born out of nature itself.

With good mom intentions, we ventured out this afternoon.  I, donning my two layers of shirts, a sweater, a fleece jacket, a scarf, and some mittens.  The kids, I’m pretty sure, atleast wore some sweatshirts and crocs.

I burrowed in one corner of the driveway, trying not to move too much so the cold fabric of my jeans wouldn’t touch my skin.  The kids flew about the hill with kites they’d constructed inside a few minutes before.

I burrowed in one corner of the driveway, holding my ears dearly with mittened hands, trying to relieve the burning sensation.  The snow creatures rode their bikes about the driveway playing “rescue girls”.

This lasted about 20 minutes.

“Five more minutes and it’s time to go in!” I yelled across the arctic surface.
“But moo-oom, why?!”
“Because I’m freezing!”

And what sweet relief to enter the cozy house.

There’s just something different about kids and adults and cold weather.  We see a good reason to cuddle under blankets, they see adventure.

A side note: Before we came in we were able to see an amazing purple and pink sunset(the rosy hues actually appeared to be sparkling) and Venus.  Maybe there is something to this outside thing after all.  

Maybe I’ll just read about in a book under my covers.

Even though I’ve studied the words “meek” and “quiet” in many bible studies over the years, it’s been hard for me to give up the instinctual picture of a woman described with those words. I picture a woman who fearfully does her husband’s bidding, who never shares her opinion, a woman who is more like a shadow then a vibrantly colored soul.

With that weak image, I haven’t spent a lot of time wishing myself into that picture or those words.

When I picked up “Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit”, I started it more on the recommend from other friends than on a real interest in my heart.

Within, the first chapter, the Lord has wiped away my very un-biblical idea of the words and instead placed in my heart a real desire to embody them.

My favorite definition of meek is “mild of temper, not easily provoked or irritated“. And for quiet it is “peacable, not turbulent, contented.”  

Even as I write the definitions a little sigh escapes me.  Acquiring these qualities makes life seem so much more-easy.  Not easy of course, that’s not really what I mean.  But if I’m not so quick to find frustration in every aspect of the day that doesn’t go my way-if I’m not easily provoked by the fighting over toys before we even start breakfast, by the child who doesn’t want to do her schoolwork, but the little boy who just wants attention, by the chores that lay ahead and might not get done. If I can ride those waves instead of fall under them, doesn’t life sound so much-more.  More joy(for everyone), more contentment, more invested in the moments of the day instead of how to pass them by quickly to the end.

This is the best book that I’ve read on homeschooling in a long time. (and really on life as well).  After introducing the idea of a meek and quiet heart, she goes on through the chapters to talk about what robs us of attaining this heart.

Speaking about Moses she says,

“What made him meek? I would suggest that, as with Jesus, it was his intimate, personal time with the God who called him to lead the people of Israel.”

More than turning to a new curriculum book, a friend who has all of the answers, or just quitting all together, Maxwell urges her reader on to seek the Lord at every turn.  And she does so with examples from her own life.

“I know there are plenty of other activities I could have done…during that half-hour..I spent with the Lord. We could have done more schooling, had a cleaner house, more fun playtimes, more ministry, more individual time with each child, more writing, more sewing, more exercise or more sleep! I know there is nothing that could have had the impact on my life, or the lives of my family members, than time with the Lord.  Any other decision for that time would have been one more robber of a meek and quiet spirit.”

When I see a problem in my life and go looking for the solution, it is often to gird up, to invest more time, to TAKE CARE of that problem.  If I’ve struggled with the care of our house, work harder and get more organized.  If I’ve struggled with a parenting issue, buckle down on discipline or spend more individual time.  If I’m not sleeping, well, then it’s certainly my right to sleep whenever I can grab the chance.  So it’s easy to justify the putting off of time with God-because I convince myself the effort I’m putting forth in that said time is what God would have me do.

But the author says give to God first.  Our only real need is Jesus.

In some ways there is rest in that idea.  Instead of doing it all on the strength I can muster, I can first give it over to God, sit with Him, and then see what the rest of the day brings.

Right now, there’s a pretty clear “robber” of my meek and quiet spirit.  I’m 35 weeks pregnant and not sleeping more than a handful of hours.  After a few weeks of this, it’s hard to keep out the crankiness in my voice and actions.  And the whole family has picked up on it pretty quickly.

Which means that other robbers, like issues to work out with the kids, daily chores and school, and a busy husband at work, seem tripled in size at the moment.  

But for the last week, the Lord has been telling me in a pretty loud voice “Come to me.  Pray to me.  Have absolute faith in my when you ask.”

Finally this morning I gave in.

Here’s a word for my next week, day, hour:

“How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.”
Psalm 119