Praise Him in the Storm
The last two years certainly have felt like one big storm! But we praise God anyway, because He is good and He has taken care of us in so many ways. I know this has been a long overdue update, and many of you have missed being able to follow my posts on Facebook. I had to remove myself from the Facebook community last November, because I found that it was becoming too important to me to have a platform. The world is an evil place, and ever since I was a kid, I felt the need to try and "right" all of the "wrongs" that I was aware of. Well, let's just say that this desire kicked into overdrive in March of 2020. I was so frustrated by what I was seeing and continue to see to this day, that it was beginning to overtake my mind and heart. So I stepped away from my soap box so that I could focus on what I can do. This was so healing for my emotional and mental health, but there are many times I just wish I could jump back on and talk with many of you again!
I've decided to re-enter the world of blogging, because this is what I have always enjoyed most. Writing out my thoughts and sharing about what God is teaching me. And if folks choose to read it, that's great! And if not, that's ok, too. I am really doing it mostly for my own therapeutic benefit. ;)
I will also use this to share photos and information about our family and what the kids are up to. They are growing up so fast, and I know many have told me that they miss seeing pictures and updates about them!
Bear with me as I cannot always be consistent, but I will do my best.
Here's a quick overview of what we have been up to this year:
January - Derrick went back to teaching school in person, after nearly a year of being home with us. We were so blessed to have him with us for all those months! I cherish the time we spent together as a family for that year. Some people may have wished their spouses would hurry up and go back to work, but I did not feel this way at all. We are very blessed to have the kind of marriage we do, and it was so comforting and uplifting to have him home.
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| Chloe and her Chickens on a Warm January Day! |
In January, Judah was also diagnosed with an eye turn and a lazy eye. He is now in vision therapy for this and is doing amazingly well! He blows me away with how much he has improved just since then. More on this to come in the future! I will probably dedicate a post to just this topic. We have all learned so much about the eyes and the brain function together. It is really fascinating stuff.
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| The Day Judah Got His Glasses |
February - March: These were our coldest weather months, though we had
no snow to speak of last winter. The kids and I stayed busy with school and driving to ballet class for Chloe.
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| A hike we took in March! Look how warm it was! |
April - This was a busy month for me, especially! I was invited to be on the board for Health Freedom North Dakota, a non-profit advocacy group, and I hit the ground running. I am the public relations correspondent (a fancy term for email and website communications), and I absolutely LOVE this role! God worked out all the details, and it's a long story of what led up to this point, but I must say it has been so helpful for me to have a real life outlet for all my longing to be an activist and an advocate for my family and others around us who want to have the freedom to choose what goes into their own bodies. Most of the volunteers on the board are also Christians who homeschool their children, so I have gained a community of like-minded families in the process of doing this volunteer work that I love so much. I now have a network of friends from all over the state. North Dakota is a really wonderful place for our family!
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| Health Freedom Rally at the Capitol in April |
At the end of April was Chloe's spring dance recital. She did a beautiful job. She is now working on her role in the Nutcracker for the December recital! She was chosen as the understudy for Clara, which was thrilling for her. She truly enjoys dancing!
May - We spent a lot of time tying up loose ends to get ready for our trip to New Hampshire! School got out, we planted our garden both at our house and at our friends' farm, and made all our travel plans.
June - We set out for NH on June 1st! It was a 3-day drive each way, and the kids really did an amazing job. It went much more smoothly than the trip out here, if any of you remember that story! We were blessed to have friends who had also left NH for their family vacation, so we had an empty house to stay in while we were there. We spent as much time as possible with our families and squeezed in lots of visits with friends, too. It was a whirlwind in the best way possible. We got in lots of swimming and even an ocean trip! I will admit that it was
very difficult to come back home. We love our NH family and friends so very much!
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| Esther learned how to Kayak! |
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| We miss our trees! |
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| Popham Beach State Park, ME |
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| Jericho Lake State Park, NH |
We arrived back in ND around June 20th, and jumped back into life here. We are in the middle of a severe drought, so many of the plants we started before we left had died from the extreme heat. I replanted much of my garden and it still ended up doing really well, despite the need for constant watering!
July - More extreme heat and dry conditions. That's pretty much how I would sum up July. We also had a lot of days with smoky air, due to the wildfires in other states. We have had several fires in North Dakota as well, especially in the badlands to the west of us. We have received a bit more rain since July, but not much. Please pray that we will get caught up with much-needed rain and we will finally be out of this drought! It started before we moved here and there has been little to no relief, even in years with a lot of rain. Many farmers have begun to sell off some of their horses or cattle, because they simply cannot feed them all. They rely heavily on grass and hay, and sadly this year, there just is not enough.
One of my favorite things about July is that we attended a huge Christian music festival in Rapid City, SD called "Hills Alive!" It was a beautiful time of fellowship, worship, and just enjoying the beauty of creation! It was HOT, dry, and dusty, but it was worth it. We plan to go back next year. Hills Alive is a totally free event, so it is doable for our family of 6. The kids had never been to live concerts before, so they just soaked it all up. They especially loved listening to Crowder. He really puts on a great show!
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Steven Curtis Chapman closed out the Festival!
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| And we snuck in a second trip to Mt. Rushmore, just because. ;) |
August - Back to school in August! New Town starts their school year earlier than most of the country and even most of North Dakota. We start at the same time that Derrick does, for the sake of continuity. So the kids and I have been back to school for well over a month! Chloe is now in 4th grade, Elijah in 3rd, Judah is in 1st, and Esther is Pre-K! They all love to learn so much and it just amazes me how much they absorb and retain. I am loving being their teacher. I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing than teaching them. It is my absolute joy and privilege every single day.
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| Chloe hanging out with the tiniest chick...who we are now pretty sure is not a hen! lol |
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| Catching some rays... |
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| Learning How to Wash the Car! |
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| Adding a couple girls to our flock |
In the middle of August, the non-profit I volunteer for, Health Freedom North Dakota, put on a "Rock Your Health Summit" in Bismarck. I helped plan this event all throughout the spring and summer, so I attended by myself as I was one of the organizers and knew I'd be busy! It was the first time I have spent a whole weekend away from my kids....ever! I missed them, but it was such a blessing to be able to be a part of this. We flew in speakers from all over the country, one of whom is an author I have known about since becoming a mom. What an honor to be able to meet her and have several conversations! I could not believe I was given the opportunity to do this. After the Summit ended, I was able to pull back a bit from that commitment and focus more on what we have going on here with our church and with my kiddos. But I still attend board meetings on Zoom, and I do all the email communications for our list of over 1000 members.
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| Hanging out with Jennifer Margulis at the Rock Your Health Summit in Bismarck! |
