Dear Older Lady (question #7) “Is there any time for me?”

Posted on June 9, 2008 by Shanda

Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good,

so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,

to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.

~Titus 2 (New American Standard Bible version)~

Dear Older Ladies~

Here is another question for you, from a young lady on xanga~

“How, with all of life’s busyness, do you find down time? I have no children/husband, and I already have a hard time finding ‘Me’ time.”

and, here is another question along those same lines, from a different lady~

I would like to know from the “older” women how/when/what their quiet time with the Lord was. Especially the homeschoolers, I find it a real matter of discipline to do it first thing in the morning, but boy does it make a difference in my day!
It would be great to hear how others incorporate that into their daily lives!

Thank you for your encouragement each week!!

Love,

Shanda

Dear Older Lady (question #7) "Is there any time for me?"

Posted on June 9, 2008 by Shanda

Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good,

so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,

to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.

~Titus 2 (New American Standard Bible version)~

Dear Older Ladies~

Here is another question for you, from a young lady on xanga~

“How, with all of life’s busyness, do you find down time? I have no children/husband, and I already have a hard time finding ‘Me’ time.”

and, here is another question along those same lines, from a different lady~

Thank you for your encouragement each week!!

Love,

Shanda

(these gentle books)

Posted on June 7, 2008 by Shanda

I knew an elderly widow lady when I was growing up, and she borrowed just about all of my L.M. Montgomery books. I would bring one or more to church and give them to her. After she was done reading them, she gave them back with her initials, “LC” written lightly in pencil, in the back cover of the books.

She had snow white hair, the picture-perfect little old lady, and lived all alone in a big, quiet farmhouse, using just a few of the rooms.

Can you imagine her quietly reading? Maybe sitting in a “dressed” heavy rocking chair, the kind that has a thick afghan over the back, and a nice comfortable cushion in the seat? Or maybe it was a recliner by a sunny window, or the kitchen table, or her bed. Wherever the place, she did read them, and sat alone in her house, passing the hours away with some of the best fiction books anyone could enjoy. . . .

You are never too old for Anne, or any other of L.M. Montgomery’s girls.

I found my first Montgomery book in the library. It was Anne of Avonlea, and once I read it, I was hooked for life. It became one of my childhood and teenager-hood passions~getting my hands on every L.M.Montgomery book I could find. The more famous ones were easy, but it took years to collect them all.

Anne’s House of Dreams has some wavy yellow pages from me dropping it into a bowl of chicken noodle soup.

It was always a thrill to meet a kindred spirit. My High School English teacher turned out to be one. She got excited one day when she saw me reading A Tangled Web, and asked to borrow it. I had found another Montgomery fan! Now that I’m older, I realize that I am by no means unusual in my interest, there are thousands and thousands of devoted fans. Are you one?

My latest purchase has been the Norton Critical Edition of Anne of Green Gables, and a used copy of one of Montgomery’s journals, which covers the years in which Anne was first published.

In it I found this wonderful quote:

“When I am asked if Anne herself is a ‘real person’ I always answer ‘no’ with an odd reluctance and an uncomfortable feeling of not telling the truth. For she is and always has been, from the moment I first thought of her, so real to me that I feel I am doing violence to something when I deny her an existence anywhere save in Dreamland. Does she not stand at my elbow even now–if I turned my head quickly should I not see her–with her eager, starry eyes and her long braids of red hair and her little pointed chin? To tell that haunting elf that she is not real, because, forsooth, I never met her in the flesh! No, I cannot do it! She is so real that, although I’ve never met her, I feel quite sure I shall do so someday–perhaps in a stroll through Lover’s Lane in the twilight–or in the moonlit Birch Path–I shall lift my eyes and find her, child or maiden, by my side. I shall not be in the least surprised because I have always known she was somewhere.” ~from Lucy Maud Montgomery’s journal

The story of that little old lady does stop there. . . . .When I was a teenager, I went to her house one day to help her clean. The upstairs was full of boxes and old things. In one of the first boxes of books we opened, there on the top of them all, was an old 1911 edition of Anne of Green Gables. I gasped, snatched it from the box, and hugged it to my chest. (or, bosom, as Anne would say) I could not believe my eyes!

She gave me the book, and it remains one of my prized possessions. It’s ironic that I don’t even know where it is right now. I just tore my room apart, looking for it. I think that I was so afraid of something happening to it that I packed it away. Yes, it will bug me to no end until I find it. When I do, I’ll be sure to take some pictures.

L.M. Montgomery’s books are all perfectly delightful, full of the beautiful (and not so beautiful) parts of life that we all enjoy~God’s creation, relationships (who can forget Mrs. Lynde, Marilla and Matthew, or Diana Barry?), great humor, food, kitty-cats, quiet moments, childhood mischief, love, community spirit, and the fascinating times of a bygone era.

I’ll be revisiting them all again this summer.&nbsp
; (some for probably the 20th time!) It will be good for me, like visiting an old tried and truly trusted old friend~or cuddling in a favorite blanket with a mug of steaming tea. Calmness for my mind.

They are the ideal books to take with you to your hammock under the trees . . . .

And, if you have a Grandma who loves to read, I would suggest giving her one (or more) as a gift!

housekeeping

Posted on June 6, 2008 by Shanda

I have a mug of hot coffee next to me, a book for copying out some quotes, the ceiling fan is spinning up above me, giving me fresh cool air. The rest of the house is dark, the children are all asleep, and outside it is pouring rain. When I look out my window, I see two of my porch rockers~both with quilts draped over the back. Beyond them, I see the rain and the green of leafy trees.

~ I am experiencing an “AHA!” moment this morning~

Here is what is going on~ now that our homeschool is almost done, we have so much more free time. This sounds good, but it really hasn’t been all that good this week. The kids don’t know what to do with themselves and instead of being in control of the situation, I find myself throwing out demands right and left, with hardly a thought or order put into the day itself.

My aunt Colleen wrote in her blog yesterday about the concept of HOME, asking the question, “What is home to you?” I had to admit that the place I feel at home is MY MOTHER’S house. This home of mine seems like one big endless chore these days. I love to cook and clean and work in my house, but the children are the priority right now. How do I balance it all? How do I find peace and the feeling of HOME here in my own house? I want to step through my front door and sigh in delight. . ..not groan in the face of yet more tasks to complete.

I read this in a housekeeping book this morning:

“Dear daughters, I encourage you to establish a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly housekeeping routine. This is the most important thing you can do to make your home work well. Do everything in its time and place, and you will not only accomplish more, but have far more leisure time than those who are always hurrying.”

This is exactly what I need to do. During this time of transition, from school year to summer vacation, I need to reorganize my days. Right now we are in a helter-skelter sort of routine, where the children basically follow their every whim and I end up confused and disoriented (“Where are my children and what are they doing?”) LOL

I’m excited now, to put some ideas down on paper and be more in control of my household. General (not inflexible) order and routine is good for all of us and will add much more peace to our homelife.

I need to be creative. . . . . .I want the children to have plenty of freedom outside building forts and exploring but there will be times when I have them doing things in the house like puzzles, games, building blocks or legos, making play-dough, putting on plays, a craft or project that we could all work on together, etc. I was even thinking that I could teach Jacob and Ethan how to remove wallpaper border. We have some in a bedroom that is half way up the wall, so they could just stand there and work at it. I’m sure it would be a good lesson for them and give them a feeling of responsibility and accomplishment. There are probably lots of little projects like that, that I could teach them.

As I sit here, typing and thinking, I feel the burdens of the past week lift from my shoulders. I’m so thankful that God has given me the answer to this challenge. . .of keeping my house and children in order so that I DON’T GO INSANE.

I encourage you to enjoy your HOMELIFE today. If it’s not enjoyable right now, work on a solution, pray to God to show you what to do. . . . .and He will help you. I know He will!

“All of us carry in our hearts and minds the image of our ideal home, realized or not. It is a place where we feel we belong, a rightness, a knitting together of self and world. Home is a place to become yourself, to rest and surrender all pretense. As Dear Mother used to say, ‘Home is the place where you can restore your mind, body, and soul.’ It is a source of emotional nourishment. It’s where you can close a door and open your heart. If there is any meaning to existence, we are surely closest to it there.”

“We often take our homes for granted. But when we steep ourselves in our home, a deep sense of peace begins to emerge. Life becomes more meaningful.”

“Homekeeping is an ongoing art, a process, not an end product. It will never be ‘all done.’ Bathrooms, clothes, and dishes, once clean, have a way of getting dirty again. But home is meant to be lived in, in the fullest, most potentially fulfilling way for everyone in it. That means that every room does NOT need to be picture perfect and waiting for a perfect display, but rather, each room has a sense of order and calmness to it. The home looks like someone lives there, without appearing messy or cluttered.”

I took these pictures yesterday. . . .

Grace is always bringing me a little bouquet of wild flowers. These looked so pretty I had to take a picture of them. They are in a vintage yellow fiesta pitcher.

Caleb loves it when I copy off a Thomas picture for him to color. See his boo-boo? He burned his arm the other day.

I received a lovely surprise in the mail yesterday, a handmade cherry tote bag from a sweet xanga friend.

The little book, How to Pray, is what I am currently reading.

I sometimes buy a children’s book and keep it for myself, in my own bookcase, to read to the children but not GIVE to them. This one is so lovely. . . .it’s all about the different home places our ancestors had. The top picture is the cover of the book. I found it for a very small price at a used bookstore.

This is a picture of what our garage looks like right now. The trench is all dug out in preparation for the foundation. It is hard to keep the children away.

A real-life picture of the living room. David and Caleb just love taking all the cushions off the couches.

It is typical home life for me~ mostly clean, partly messy, with a pantless little boy trying to find a Thomas video~

(all quotes from book linked here):

a more beautiful life, some simple suggestions

Posted on June 5, 2008 by Shanda

~Go outside. Just a daily walk in the park or the neighborhood can lower your stress levels.

~Bring natural beauty into your home with flowers and greenery~an easy to grow houseplant, a bouquet from the supermarket, or even a dandelian in a jar.

~If you live in an area you don’t think is beautiful, ask God to refocus your eyes to appreciate subtle or hidden beauty around you~a flower in a crevice, a neatly plowed field, a carefully tended tree in an industrial park.

~Invest in a piece of artwork that you really like~a picture, a small sculpture, a quilt. Put it in a spot where you will see it every day.

~Take a child to a museum or a concert and enjoy rediscovering beauty through his or her eyes and ears.

~Find a book about an artist, writer, or composer you admire and keep it at your bedside.

~Take a music break. Put on a favorite CD or tune the radio to a favorite station. Close your eyes and enjoy~or get up and dance.

~Turn off the TV and radio and take a silence break. Just sit quietly for fifteen minutes and try to identify the various sounds that reach your ears.

~Schedule an afternoon of browsing in a bookstore that allows you to sit and read, preferably with a cup of tea from the coffee shop.

~Is there a creative pursut you “used to do” but haven’t had time for in recent years? Pull out the guitar or the sewing machine or the sculpting tools, and mark off time in your schedule for rediscovery.

~Choose an herb or spice you’ve never used before and learn to use it in your cooking. When you eat out, try to detect the presence of your “new” flavor.

~Buy or sew a pillow or throw in a really luscious fabric~cool, smooth cotton; velvety chenille; or cozy flannel. Enjoy cuddling up to something that delights your sense of touch.

“Beauty strengthens us through our hectic days. Seek it wherever you can. Nurture its presence in your life. Cherish it as a refreshing gift from the Lord who loves you.”

(all inspiration here is from a book, linked at the end of this blog)

Posted on June 4, 2008 by Shanda

Yesterday, I was thrilled to photograph a “Cecropia Silkmoth” (thanks to coolmomofeight for figuring out what it was!!). The moth was dangling off a small branch on the edge of our yard, in a shrub. I wrote yesterday, when I posted the photos, that I said a prayer that God would give it the best life it could possibly have.

WELL . . . . . . . .

I would say things are going rather well. Wouldn’t you?

Posted on June 3, 2008 by Shanda

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. ~John Muir

Good evening! Rich had to go downtown for something (he told me, but I can’t remember. . . .) and I have some extra time to show you some pictures that I took today of a lovely discovery God showed me.

It happened this afternoon, after a very busy day of watching those big digging machines and making sure little boys didn’t get run over by them. Little boys can disappear quick, you know. Rich came home at lunchtime (thankfully!) to talk with the guys and then he worked from home on his laptop. When I put the kids down for rest time, I went out for a walk. I was not going to take my camera . . . .which is too funny because I only lasted all of about five minutes before I noticed a little bird making warning noises at me. I stopped to talk to him, when my eye caught something else~ a big moth or butterfly, hanging from a branch, with it’s empty cocoon just above it.

I ran back up to the house to get my camera. I am not sure what the name of it is. It’s something I’ve never seen before, and I haven’t been able to research it yet. Looking at it reminded me of the book, Girl of the Limberlost, by Gene Stratton Porter. The girl in the book collected butterflies and moths in the Limberlost forest, and she loved it. I can understand a little bit of the obsession now, it is almost like finding treasure when you see something like this!

Just look at this thing of beauty that God created~

It might sound silly, but I was praying for this dainty but exquisite creature as I took the pictures. . . . .that it would have the best life it could possibly have!

Posted on June 3, 2008 by Shanda

On Sunday, when I was home with Grace, I had the most wonderful time reading Romans. I intended to read the whole book straight through but I was FULL by chapter 8, (stuffed, really). . . . .satisfied in the truths and beauty of God’s word.

Here are some of the verses that stood out to me~

Purpose of the law~ “that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. . .by the law is the knowledge of sin.” 3:part of 19, part of 20

“We conclude that a man is justified by FAITH without the deeds of the law” 3:28

“Seeing it is ONE GOD, which shall justify the circumcision BY FAITH, AND uncircumsicion THROUGH FAITH. Do we then make void the law through faith? GOD FORBID, yea, we ESTABLISH the law.” 3:30,31

“Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” 4:3

“to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” 4:5

“He staggered NOT at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God” 4:20 I was so convicted of my own weak faith, I had to stop and beg forgiveness. . .what a beautiful verse!

“Jesus. . .who was delivered for our offenses, and was RAISED AGAIN for our justification.” 4:35 Thank you doesn’t seem expressive enough.

“For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a GOOD MAN some would even dare to die. BUT God commendeth his love toward us, in that WHILE WE WERE YET SINNERS (!!!) CHRIST DIED FOR US.” 5:7,8 Amazing! Jesus gave his life for sinners. Only GOD could do that.

“For if through the offense of one (Adam) many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.” 5:15 (end of verse) God goes above and beyond what we hope and ask. “much more” “abounded unto many”

“by the righteousness of ONE THE FREE GIFT CAME” portion of 5:18 Don’t you love that phrase, “free gift”???

“Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, GRACE DID MUCH MORE ABOUND.” 5:20 God is generous, not just a “bakers dozen” kind of generosity. . .but more and more and more until we are overwhelmed and lost in His goodness.

I copied quite a bit more in my journal, especially Romans 8:22-27

I’ll stop sharing for now, though. I was so thankful to have that time in my Bible on Sunday, it was something I really needed. . .and I’ve had so many of these ideas and phrases running through my head since then. Romans, in the past, was so confusing, but now I am able to read and understand more than I used to. This has greatly encouraged me, because it proves that God is WORKING on me, and growing me. I am so happy about that!

**********************************

Last night, an excavator (I called it a bulldozer and Rich was quick to correct me) was dropped off next to the house. It will be used today to start digging and preparing the ground for the foundation of our garage. I had to take advantage of a photo opportunity!!

Future Excavators of America?

It’s going to be an absolutely gorgeous day today! Stop on by, if you’re in our neck of the woods! ~

dear older lady question #6 "to simplify and be content"

Posted on June 2, 2008 by Shanda

These are good questions, but I cannot claim them as my own, a young lady sent them to me a few weeks ago. I just copied and pasted her whole message into my blog. Thanks for taking the time to answer, I will be looking forward to reading the responses.

Grace is improving every day and her biggest complaint currently is “my head hurts”.

“I have just thought of some “dear older lady” questions related to things I have been struggling with lately. How do you live “simply”? What are some ideas that you have for when children are little to keep things peaceful and simplistic? I feel like I keep trying to keep things simple and not try to keep up with society but life still gets so busy.

How did you choose to be content? I have a lot of dreams (moving out to the country, having a bigger family, adopting special needs,etc) I haven’t felt like God has cleared the way for them yet but I stuggle with trying to plan and work it out on my own, instead of just living for today. Since my dreams haven’t happened yet, I have a hard time being content because I am excited to move forward.”

~from purpleamethyst76’s xanga message box~