Is Not Easily Provoked

Sitting at the park, all by myself, out of view from where my children are playing. The youngest is 4 years old, and perfectly capable of communication. Oldest is 8. I don't normally do this, but I think I may more often. It's a public park. There are lots of other families here. Most of the parents are right by the playground or even on the playground mulch supervising and helping their children should they have the slightest difficulty. . . And I used to. I am studying; out in nature, under the tree my oldest picked for us to sit under for lunch, before being abandoned for the playground and the new friends waiting there. Most parents are monitoring their childrens interactions with all the other children on the playground, ready to offer quick correction if there is anything in the slightest wrong with their behavior. I used to do that (most days I do/did). I don't think that works long term. I hope I remember to not do that. The picnic table I am sitting at has a half e...

The Real Challenge I wandered, completely lost, into the wilderness. I found the a Lord there. Then I found myself. That wasn't the hard part. The real challenge was keeping who I found with me when I walked back into "reality."

I am a follower. The world sees this as a great weakness. I disagree. I suppose it depends upon who you are following. -Rhylee Kendell

 I was listening to a podcast by Carey Nieuwhof with Joshua Becker, and in this interview Joshua shares the thing he has observed, and that was observed in the study he sites, that people usually don't try to solve situations by taking things away, but rather by adding more. This is how I have always done things, until recently. I began to see how adding things was taking away from what was needful, and understanding the parable of Jesus when he says the man who builds a bigger barn to hold more than he needs if a fool. I'd like to share the particular experience I've had with home school. When my husband and I moved forward unified in the desire to home school our children, I dove in to find the perfect curriculum and became quickly overwhelmed. I realized overtime the reason for the overwhelm was because of asking the wrong question. The question should not have been, "Which curriculum should we use in our home school." The better questions were: What is the po...

Do you have a vision for what you are creating in a home? What is it? What is your desired outcome? What does it look, sound, taste, feel, smell, like? What is the overarching spirit of the home in 3 words. Here are some sample questions to get you started: What are the main examples you draw from which you would use to model your home after? Where have you been which embodies attributes you are seeking to bring into your home. What are your favorite memories of your childhood home? What will you bring with you from the culture in your childhood home? What does your spouse remember from their childhood home? What would they like to incorporate from their home? What is the family media plan? Do you have one? What is that? Who would deeply benefit from a structured family media plan? What activities would be great to replace unnecessary media time? What are ways to relax and connect as a family independent of media? What are the routines you desire to have in your home? What spirit do th...

My sweetheart was scrolling through movies on Netflix with the children the other day and paused on a video. Usually when he does that it means he is considering that as a viewing option for the family. I said one word. "No." A little about me. I don't like viewing new films with our children around. Even kids films. I like to know what is in the film to determine if it's good to view with my children or not BEFORE watching it as a family. I do not trust the world has the best interest of my children at heart, especially today. However I do trust my husband, and that was not communicated in the one word I chose. Ladies, I can't tell you the importance a man places on his woman's words, and our words in how they relate to him. Even if your man doesn't seem too much into words, or doesn't care much for speaking, often this means words have even more power. Do we trust him? Do we trust his leadership of our unified family? Do we respect his decision maki...