Quest for a whole family devotional

(Opening disclaimer: I was not paid for or asked to review any of these books. I just wanted to share them with others who maybe looking into purchasing them. All views and opinions are strictly my own. )

When I started to homeschool, my main reasoning, shockingly, had nothing to do with my religion. I knew that no matter if the kids went to public or private, the biblical view would come from their mom and dad and not by anyone else. I owned this teaching from the moment they both arrived. But I have struggled with finding a balance in our devotional time. I wanted to be able to teach the kids along with myself. While I found wonderful devotionals for me, and very well thought out ones for them, trying to combine them left me baffled. Some of the more in depth teachings in my devotionals were over the kids' heads and theirs was a little too simple for me. For the past few years, I've left it alone. I did my own time with the Lord before they woke or after they went to sleep and we did ours in school together. It worked well, but my children never actual saw me with my devotional, never followed along with me, never saw me praying with my bible out and highlighters in my hands. It worked. But then again, it didn't.

This summer my daughter and I moved through a great book series by Lori Wagnor. The first book in the series is called "The Girl in the Dress". It is brilliantly written, smart, and informative without being stuffy and over my daughter's head. It uses simple, clearly thought out, and engaging language to capture the reader while still staying true to scripture. The book talks about modesty in regard to scripture and what that really means in our real world life. It also talks about how, being modesty does not equate to frumpy or "old fashion" but more it allows the actual beauty of a girl to shine without all the extra glitz and glamour. We then followed that book with "Covered by Love". I now see Amazon features another book by her called "Unmasked". I can not wait for it to get here so we can read through it. I will also be teaching this books series to my son, as soon as he is able to understand, since modesty means so much more than just "what a girl is wearing" and learning how to treat women biblically is important for young men to grasp.

I'm going to post a link here to the books on Amazon's site, if y'all are interested.

After the experience for moving through a book together, looking up scripture, doing copy work and memorization, I realized what was missing in my own devotional time. US. I know that, as a Sunday School teacher, I have enough in my arsenal to construct my own. I know that you do not have to have a devotional to go through, to fully understand the bible and it's teachings. I get that. At the same time, I am one of those that if I have to put it all together myself, and look up memorization and stories and meanings, it doesn't get done. It just doesn't. So for me, having a workbook, or hard back book to highlight, dog ear and refer back to, helps me. 

I went searching for a family devotional right around December. I had an Amazon gift card and wanted to get started in the new year. There are so many to choose from, that it became overwhelming. Then, late one night, after searching and reading reviews, I came across "Jesus Calling: enjoying Peace in his Presence" by Sarah Young. The reviews are all glowing and after reading an excerpt, I was hooked. The lessons are short but strong, they chronicled a whole year starting with January 1st. There is scripture to look up at the end, which I personally love. It seemed like a perfect match. For me. After checking with the "what others who bought this"  said, I checked out the kids version and toddler picture bible. Then I found just what I was looking for in the "Jesus Calling: 365 Devotions for Kids". The scriptures mirrored the adult book. They were the exact same, but they were similar. The lessons were short as well, but in a great language to where my kiddos at 2 and 7 would understand. There was a short memory verse at the end as well. It seemed like a perfect match for our family. 

If you are a Kindle junky (guilty **raises hand**) they have both the kids and adult 365 devotions available. But they didn't group them together for an extra savings, nor did that include the toddle picture bible. That was at the time, I purchased them, so it may have changed. When I switched to hard cover, Amazon in their craftiness, gave me to option to purchase all three for $31 and since they were Prime items, the shipping was free. 

Side note: I love, love, love Prime shipping. Free shipping and you come to my door in 2 days? Click. Yes please!

I ordered them and have enjoyed using the books. The toddler bible is so much better than I expected. We have a few "story bibles" but this one is true to scripture without being to much information for little ones. The illustrations are beautiful. I love that they give the scripture at the top of each story so that, if you want with older kids, you can look it up and go more in depth. 

These devotionals are seamless across the board and work so awesome together. Sarah Young has several other books and I would love to purchase a few when I get a chance. It gives our little family a chance to read, understand and pray together while using language that is easy to understand. Also, If Daddy happens to miss a day for whatever reason, he can pick right up and not be lost. That I love as well. 

Amazon is still running the "purchase together" special on all three, so if you're interested, this would be the way to purchase them. 

Mama Jelly

Camping, bunk beds, and American Heritage Girls

"Bunk beds are cool. It's a bed.......... With a ladder!" 

The Doctor

The gorgeous Hill Country of Texas was the backdrop to our lovely weekend. 

What do you get when you take a grown women, who has never camped, and throw her in the woods with 17 little girls to help watch over? Craziness and learning and a side of humor.

This past weekend, Miss A and I headed out into the wildness that is the Texas Hill Country with around 100 other girls ranging in ages from 6 to 18. Miss A is in her second year of American Heritage Girls and is currently a Tenderheart.. If you have never heard of AHG (American Heritage Girls will be referred to as AHG in the rest of the post. This is mainly because I'm lazy and I love a good acronym) don't worry, while this scouting group is fairly "new" on the block of girl groups who scout, it has been around for a few years. I will say here, that we were roughing it. Yes we stayed in cabins, with indoor plumbing, and amazing bunk beds, but there were 17 little girls ages 6/7/8 and 6 adults in one cabin. Learning to navigate girl drama, we parent's are now pros. 

A brief Background

AHG was started in 1995 by a group of parents in one mom's kitchen in Ohio. This pioneer mama wanted a character building scouting group that meshed Christian values and ideals while also incorporating learning in areas of outdoor skills, exploration, science, home skills and many others. She also wanted her young girls to be positively influenced by girls of all ages and by grown adults while keeping a sense of family traditions alive. Many AHG troops are run different ways, but at their core, they are a Christian focused group. The girls are not asked to sign any form of statement of faith, but may earn badges relative to their own denominations. Most AHG groups are chartered by a home church. AHG is perfect for our family and many others, to the tune of 20,000+ girls in 48 states and 7 countries. Everyday, an AHG troop springs up somewhere and it's membership has increased by over 50% each year since 1995.  American Heritage Girls is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the mission of building women of integrity through service to God, family, community and country.(from website)  For more information on AHG and find a troop near you, check out the website. http://ahgonline.org/pages/page.asp?page_id=20600

Camping and bunk beds

In December, we were told at a parent informational meeting that there would be the first ever South Texas Winter Camp. I'm going to be blatantly honest here and say, I am not what some most anyone-who-has-ever-met-me would call a "camper". I enjoy a good sporting section in Target and I will eat food on patios, but that is about the extent of my camping experience. My daughter, my free spirit, thinks camping is amazing. She enjoys the outdoors, hikes, nature study, leaf identification. Pretty much, if it can be done outside and possibly involves digging in dirt, sign her up. So naturally, when she heard that there was camping she was excited but then she heard that it was cabins and she was thrilled. 

"We can go mom, ya know, since we don't have a tent." 

So all month and into January, I listened to random songs about camping, sat through excited diatribes about what animals we would see, and estimates of how many smores she could stuff in her face. She happily read off the camping list, gathered her things, and packed her own part of the bag. We made matching t-shirts with the AHG creed on them and away we went into the Texas Hill Country. She was thrilled about sleeping in a bunk bed, I was thrilled that cougars were not as hungry in January as in the spring.  

As we arrived, checked in and unloaded, she was found happily making her bunk up. Miss A looked down at me at one point and exclaimed:

"Mom!! This is so cool! Bunk beds are cool. It's a bed............. with a ladder." 

All my Whovian friends out there will recognized the reference and then exclaim themselves "best moment ever!" I would have to agree with you, of course. 

After a dinner, which put the girls into the cabin groups they would be in, going over rules, and the buddy system, was prayers and a progressive story told by flashlight under chins, it was lights out. That was at 9pm. However, the girls were much too excited to sleep and around 2am most fell asleep. The rest took until 3am and everyone was promptly awake at 6:30am, a whole 15 min before the wake up alarm call. Opening Ceremony was at 7:15am.

Between learning about insects, making old magazines into new paper, making beaded jewlery, silk screen, PE, a hike, a map reading and knot tying demo and three meals, the girls were tired but loving and soaking up every single minute. This is what I have truly come to love about AHG. Camping with girls is hard, especially little girls, but the program has some amazing badges and the learning is just awesome. We honestly do reading, math and AHG in the summer, because to earn a badge takes several steps. For instance, Miss A had to make a correct map of her neighborhood, mark North, South, East, West, learn to read a compass and use it for direction to earn her orienteering badge. This is why AHG just rocks for our family. The badges earned are for real world as well as outdoor stuff. There are also service stars, as each girl has to do a set number of service hours in the community to earn a star yearly. There is also patches which are earned for things like father/ daughter BBQ's, mother/daughter teas, participating in Scout Sunday and National Day of Service among others. We ended the jam packed day, around the campfire while the girls preformed skits and ate smores. 

We did wind up leaving a whole day early, but that was because, if you are from South Texas and Mountain Cedar doesn't bother you, you are not from this planet. We happened to camp in the gorgeous Hill Country in Texas where the views are beautiful year round, but also happen to be in the middle of a Mountain Cedar forest. Miss A's allergies went haywire and she ended up miserable being outside all day in the woods and was seen by the onsite Doctor. He suggested taking her home to just get her out of it. Of course she was terribly disappointed and cried all the way home. Which in turn broke my heart. 

Camping? Again?

Our experience was so positive that yes, we will be camping again. I really want Miss A to love the outdoors and learn how to build fires and identify plants and animals as well as make crafts. I want her to feel as comfortable camping, as she does in our church volunteering. I also want her to understand the impact of a community that serves each other. These values are what I strive to provide for her all the while she is making lasting, lifelong friendships. There is another family camp coming up in the spring, and Miss A and I will gladly go.

 I can't wait to pack our sleeping bags, grab our solar lantern and go out and discover the world. 

Together. 

Mother and daughter.

Learning side by side.

Growing,  in both our faith in God by the beauty we will be surrounded by, but also by the lessons we both will learn. 

 Now for some pictures from our weekend. Enjoy

Miss A and I in our handmade shirts.

Recycled paper making.

screen printing

The girls asking great questions about boat safety.

Learning how to correctly identify and put on a flotation device. 

Miss A in her bed with a ladder, hugging her solar lantern, happy as a clam. 

Mama Jelly

I do Carpe Diem, thank you very much.

Recently, on the Facebook walls of many of my friends (many of whom I have actually met, in real life no less) I have seen this wonderfully written blog post about Carpe Diem in reference to one's annoying  interesting offspring. Written by Glennon Melton at Momastry originally, it showed up on the Huffinton Post no less. This wonderfully written and witty post had me laughing till my sides ached. Go read it!!! You will be nodding along as I was and saying "Yes, I agree." Go ahead, I'll wait. 

 As mom's, I'm sure we have all had those amazing, awesome moments when one or more of our dirty monsters beautiful angels are acting........ well......... um let's use the loose term "up", shall we. In the post, Melton mentions liking parenting to climbing Mount Everest:

"I think parenting young children (and old ones, I've heard) is a little like climbing Mount Everest. Brave, adventurous souls try it because they've heard there's magic in the climb. They try because they believe that finishing, or even attempting the climb are impressive accomplishments. They try because during the climb, if they allow themselves to pause and lift their eyes and minds from the pain and drudgery, the views are breathtaking. They try because even though it hurts and it's hard, there are moments that make it worth the hard. These moments are so intense and unique that many people who reach the top start planning, almost immediately, to climb again. Even though any climber will tell you that most of the climb is treacherous, exhausting, killer. That they literally cried most of the way up.
And so I think that if there were people stationed, say, every thirty feet along Mount Everest yelling to the climbers -- "ARE YOU ENJOYING YOURSELF!? IF NOT, YOU SHOULD BE! ONE DAY YOU'LL BE SORRY YOU DIDN'T!" TRUST US!! IT'LL BE OVER TOO SOON! CARPE DIEM!" -- those well-meaning, nostalgic cheerleaders might be physically thrown from the mountain."

She goes on to express what her children where doing when they were "acting up" and it is quite hysterical and so true. Our children find moments in everyday to embarrass the pants off us. I have laughed with mommy friends during in home parties of the antics of our children. More than one time, while out with Miss A and Little B, one or both are acting as though it is the first time in a month they have been let out of the house. Miss A is running the isles, usually yelling things like "FOR NARNIA!!" or "TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!!" or her favorite, barking so loud you can't think, while she is pretending to lick some unsuspecting patron in the Target line. (Have I mentioned that we are Disney Club members and that Lady and the Tramp is on a continuous loop? No?) I can completely get exactly what she is saying. I understand it, I'm right there with her......... to a point.

In the post, Melton mentions Kairos time or as she puts it "it's God's time". It's those moments in time when we really look at our kids and the world around us holds still, we enjoy that moment, breathing in their youth and their amazing wonder and think "You are my heart and soul." I get this too. Busy as we moms are, we forget sometimes to slow down and breath in our children, just drink in their personality and eye color and freckled cheeks. I understand Kairos time, this I can get behind.

The disgusting little truth? Even though there are moments when Miss A is licking people or having a famous "Drama Mama" moment, I still Carpe Diem. I still look at those frustrating moments and think "I only have so long." I know! I suppose now I will be thrown from the mountain.

As I've mentioned before, I had fertility issues. I'm talking serious problems, for years. Does this make me wiser or some how more intuitive; nope, not even a little bit. Does it make me just a smidgen more appreciative? Nope. There are mothers everyday out there who are appreciative. "What does it make you?", you might ask. I feel it makes me different, that is it. I see the days differently, I see the moments differently. Maybe because I had to give myself injections three times a day or because I had to endure rounds of invasive and painful procedures or because I had to ingest numerous pills to force my body to do what so many women can do on their own, the drugs and the injections have messed with my brain and have made me crazy. It's definitely a possibility, given that I Carpe Diem, ever Diem. But I just see it differently. I've had the drugs and the miracle, only to sit at a memorial service for my sweet baby, instead of a church dedication. I've been on the end where I spend long, tear stained days and nights hating God. I also believe that God gave me those children to help other grieving families who, heartbreaking, are just starting their grief. I have also known the amazing joy of holding your new born baby, just before you place him or her in the car seat to go home.

While this makes me different, I can already hear the grumbling. "Oh I see, she Carpe Diem, but that's only because of her history." Maybe, but more than likely, it's a personality flaw.

Take, for instance, the day Little B almost choked himself unconscious. Normal day in our household, Little B is on the floor, practicing his newest trick of rolling, like a little log toward the TV cords. This is immensely enjoyable for him. He rolls over to the TV, and wiggles himself until he grasps the cords that go to the wireless box and then, with this grin of satisfaction, he jiggles the cord, making it rattle. To a baby that is almost 8 months, this is a good time. To his parents, however, we see the danger in this.The whole TV possibly falling over or wireless box tumbling down and cracking Little B in the head is not the desired effect we want. As Big B has said "No one likes a flat baby."

So I had removed Little B from his usual line of attack for the umpteenth time in the last 10 minutes. He was mad at me and Miss A was out of the room for a minute when I heard, what can only be described as a silent gag. Don't ask me what that sounds like, but I just knew he was choking. I turn him over to discover a red faced, bug eyed, drooling baby boy. Reacting purely on instinct, since I haven't practiced nursing is quite a while, I proceeded to flip him over and whack his back and flip him back over to do chest thrusts at the sternum. Back and forth between whacking his back and hitting his sternum, until he vomited and a sticker came up. I bounced up, yelled at Miss A to get into the car and noticed his face was red again. He was making sharp, wheezing noises and I knew I hadn't gotten it all out. Throwing both children into the car, I rushed to the Texas Urgent Care unit. Normally, it is advised to call 911, but I live two blocks from the ugri-care. I made it there, rushed in with him, screaming, "he's choking!!!". A nurse, a secretary and a doctor rushed out to me and someone took him, preforming another round of the Heimlich maneuver, where he vomited up the remaining sticker. He took a large breath and screamed.

In those moments, as the Kairos time ticked slowly by, as I watched in quiet but loud awe of what was happening, I realized something. Not some revaluation of life or anything. No I realized that I didn't have on shoes. Know what else I realized? I realized my daughter was only wearing a t-shirt. She had on a t-shirt, panties and nothing else. Nothing. No socks, so shoes, no skirt, nothing. I also realized that Little B had only a diaper on. You may think "well, it was an emergency. what should you do? Stop and get dressed?" No. But what did I do? I laughed. I laughed until no sound came out and tears rolled down my cheeks. I laughed until I couldn't breath. I laughed until I was certain they were ready to sign the children over to CPS and commit me. I laughed. Loud. High pitched. Snorting. I laughed.

Not because of stress or because of relief. I laughed because it was funny. Us. This motley crue God pulled together and made a family, were standing in the emergency, half naked, hair unbrushed, a hot mess of a family. Do you know what else? After she cried because she thought it was her fault (Miss A had given Little B the sticker), she laughed with me. Because it was funny, because she needed to, and because she also has my ability to give the incorrect response at inappropriate times.

There are moments like this one, peppered all over the last 5 years. Moments like walking into the bathroom and feeling water drip on my face and hearing "I washed the celling." Moments where Miss A grabbed a pair a scissors and managed to "give herself a mullet" and chop off almost all of her then waist length hair. She got down to almost the scalp on one side and managed to have a mullet with a rat tail, impressive. Moments where she sneaks past Big B and takes finger paints to our shower after she strips down to her panties because she doesn't want to get her dress dirty. Taking crackers to her room for her dolls, resulting in an infestation of ants. Where she is in the church Christmas play and can not stand the bright lights, so she stands, the entire play, covering her eyes and saying "that is way to bright!" Moment after moment. Yes some she is sick in, some she is pitching a fit. Like the time she pitched a fit, and I, in my parenting awesomeness, pitched a fit to "show her" how silly she was. I managed to knock over a display of Santa's and she screamed "Mommy you killed Santa!!! Look his head came off!!"

Even in these moments, I Carpe Diem. I do. I look at her in my most frustrated moments and think "we only have so long and the magic is over." I can't wait to have moments with my Little B-man. I can't wait to see what he will get into, what he will say.

I guess I'm a Pollyanna, a rose colored glasses kinda gal. I may not always appreciate the time for what is , during the checkout line meltdowns, but I can appreciate the gifts that God has given our family. I can appreciate and be humbled that I am these kids mother. Not in a snotty "look at me I'm better than you way". But in a "I see their flaws and my own weakness and I laugh at it all and want it to last." I Carpe Diem not because some little old lady, with a wistful look in her eye says so. I Carpe Diem because she is 5 and he is 7months and I only have a few more years left to enjoy the pain and struggle of parenting.

While I agree that the good willing cheerleaders on the side of Mount Everest would surely get annoying and the climbers may want to feel like shoving them off. If it weren't for the cheerleaders, would the climbers even appreciate the moments where the mountain becomes hard? Would they even notice the mountain and it's tempers if it weren't for the ones who had climbed before? Would the climbers, huddled together in the cold and darkness think "I can make it one more day. I have seen the cheerleaders." I suppose my rose colored glasses make me want say "I sure hope so."