Smiling at 2015

Happy 2015!  2015 has kicked off nicely so far.  Boy Wonder got baptized the first Sunday of the month.  The great-grandparents are visiting, and nobody has had a heart attack (see posts from last January for more on that).  The Cowboys made the playoffs.  SMU is actually winning basketball games again.  It's 60 degrees outside!  And since we're so far ahead in school, we decided to enjoy a lighter homeschool J-term schedule.  (I realize that J-terms are usually something that you take in college, but I prefer the college schedule over the elementary school year.)

It's officially been 1 year since we started our homeschooling experiment.  It was last January that we started working through the kindergarten curriculum.  After 1 year, we've come a long way:

• I've come to the realization that I don't have to follow the curriculum schedule.  If the entire point of homeschooling is to customize my son's education, then why should I commit to following someone else's schedule? This revelation (okay, it's something that I've read in multiple homeschool books) has made homeschooling much more enjoyable for me.

• Boy Wonder is doing well in school.  He has whipped through kindergarten and first grade math and is currently forging through the 2nd grade curriculum.  He is now reading books aloud and writing/illustrating his own book reports.  He loves science and is thoroughly enjoying studying ecosystems at the museum each week.  He has figured out that the trick to spelling involves memorization and now he is mastering his spelling words as quickly as his Bible verse each week!

• Tornado Man has begged to start school.  Even though he's 2 years away from kindergarten, he pulled out the kindergarten math book and started working through it ON HIS OWN!  Once I realized what he was doing, I decided to officially let him start homeschooling this January.  Turns out that the little boy who runs into everything, is also a self-motivated perfectionist.  What could be more appealing to a homeschool mom?

• The little boys, who for the past few years have screamed in the bath tub every time I've tried to wash their hair, are taking swimming lessons.  And they love it.  Go figure.

• Princess G is finally out of her crib and has adapted well to her big girl room.  She's already learned how to put together matching outfits, change her own diaper, and talk so that you can actually understand what she says.  She also loves coats and boots!  Wonder where she picked that up from? 

• Mr. Wonderful and I celebrated our 10th anniversary last month!  Not only that, but he's already made reservations for dinner for Valentine's weekend. Need I say more?

•  We're still hosting a small group at our home once a week.  I realize that this isn't a big deal for most people, but I no longer have anxiety about having people in my home!  Hospitality is something that can be learned.

Honestly, I could have, and probably should, have written dozens of blog posts over the past few months.  God has taught us so much and has revealed some amazing truths and promises this past year.  I really want to communicate more in the future to share what I'm learning with, well, whoever reads these posts.  I might be a little busy, (homeschooling, working as a lawyer, raising 3 kids, etc), but I should never be too busy to share all the good things that God has done!  Hope you had a wonderful 2014 and are able to smile at the future.

Sunday School Lessons

"As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." 1 Peter 4:10

On the way home from church this morning, my son informed my husband and me that he learned something in Sunday school.  He said that he learned about being a servant leader.  My husband and I were pretty impressed at this sophisticated terminology.  It's not very often that you hear a 3 year old talking about servant leadership.  So naturally, we were curious to know what he learned about being a servant leader.  He was a little stumped by this question, but he said he knew he was supposed to be a servant leader.  He said he just wasn't sure how.  I almost giggled when he said that, because I know plenty of adults who don't get this concept either.

It occurred to me that leadership is a valued concept in our society.  Go-getter, bossy people are often praised for their leadership abilities.  And this seems to be something that we promote in our children.  We want them to be the team captain, the drum major, the doctor (as opposed to the nurse), or the lawyer (as opposed to the paralegal).  This emphasis on leadership, however, seems to do a disservice to all of the people who don't know how to be led.  Very few people are actually taught followership (a.k.a. servant-hood.)

Becoming a follower has not been easy for me.  I had to learn this concept pretty quickly working in a hospital though.  It didn't matter how horrible the doctors treated the nurses, we were still supposed to follow and obey.  And it especially didn't matter how nasty the patients and their families were, because our job was to ease and please our patients.  I am thoroughly convinced that anyone who can handle working with surgeons and nasty patients can learn to work under anyone (even lawyers.)  Yet, I must say, that working in the hospital taught me what it meant to be a servant leader.

I once worked with a surgeon who was fantastic.  He called me at all hours of the night shift to check on his patients.  He would make rounds on Saturday mornings where he would spend a good half hour with each patient.  He also made it his own personal policy to be the person who changed his patient's dressings and to help them up to the chair on their first day post-op.  All I had to do as the nurse was to get his supplies and be his back-up.  He literally did my job for me.  But he did it because he cared about providing the best possible surgical care for his patients.  As a result, all the nurses wanted his patients.  We would have jumped through hoops for his patients, because we knew that he had our backs as well.  This surgeon was the epitome of  a servant leader.  He went above and beyond for everyone, even though he didn't have to.

I want to be able to teach my son to be like that surgeon and to go above and beyond for everyone else as well.  I can already see that he is smart and gifted and is a natural leader (he is first-born after all.)  But I want him to see that God has given him these gifts and abilities to use for other people.  God makes leaders out of those who are willing to do whatever it takes to be the best for others.  Those who are willing to work and "employ" the gifts God has given them for the sake of others can be a witness of God's grace to the world--even if that means doing grunt work.

Wouldn't it change the world if we really could instill the servant-leadership mentality into our children at the age of 3?  Thanks New Life Kids for the lessons you've taught my family this week.

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By the way--The song I was struggling with so much last week went pretty well today.  Praise and worship was really awesome this morning! As the words of the song state, "Oh magnify the Lord together, exalt His name forever!"

My Mission Statement

"You, my [sisters], were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love." Galatians 5:13

The personality tests have revealed that I am an uptight, type A person.  But I never realized how embarrassingly anal I am until I decided that I needed a plan  for this next phase of my life.  I function well when I have established goals and objectives to meet my goals.  I know, it sounds like I run my life like a business.  You haven't seen my daily planner...

Yesterday was a milestone for me.  When I hit the send button at 4 o'clock yesterday, I officially turned in my last law school project, thus completing the 87 credit hours and 30 community service hours that I need to graduate from law school.  For the first time ever, I have no external commitments (other than church) in my life.  I am finally free. 

Now, I have to figure out what to do with myself.  Trust me, an organized planner cannot just live day to day without a mission statement.  So I sought out a verse that I could use to inspire me.  And Galatians 5:13 is perfect.  I am truly free from external constraints of work and school, but I need to make it my mission to not waste my time and indulge in sinful pursuits.  I can't be the high maintenance housewife who pampers herself and runs around town with her girl friends getting into trouble.  Instead, I need to use my time to serve others.

This isn't just my calling as a mother.  As a believer in Jesus Christ I am no longer enslaved to the world or to the ritualistic rules of religion either.  Jesus has given me the gift of freedom, and He wants me to use it to serve others.  What a great mission!  If you're a believer, please consider the gift of the freedom you have too.  It's amazing to be free at last.  Now, let's not ruin a good thing.

My Clients are the Best in the World

"She looks for wool and flax and works with her hands in delight." Proverbs 31:13

The Excellent Wife in Proverbs had an interesting talent.  She sought out wool and flax and then spun it into garments for her family.  Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible had some interesting historical notes on this verse and the topic of spinning wool:  The practice of spinning was common among princesses throughout history.  Records shows that  both Greek and Roman women of importance practiced the art of spinning and working with wool.  And there is a Jewish saying that "there is no wisdom in a woman but in the distaff."  Apparently the Proverbs wife understood that her role was to work with her hands and to produce garments for her family.  She was good at it and delighted in this job.  She also understood quality.  In her era, a homespun wool garment was what princes wore.  She wanted her husband to dress accordingly.

I don't think this verse means that we need to be spinning wool for our husband's today.   But it does meant that we are to take delight in working at home for our families.  Doing laundry should be delightful.  Ironing shirts should make you smile.  Why?  Because that's what a wife can do to serve her husband.  (And because we could be spinning the material from scratch.)  The Excellent wife was not an idle woman.

I commented to a friend the other day that going to work was so much easier than being a full-time mom.  But being a good wife and mother is not about easy work.  It's not about getting our children out of our hair for a few hours.  It's not about having "people" to help us out with housework. (I met a newly wed the other day who had a housekeeper!)  Being a wife and a mom means that we take pride and joy in being good at what we do, because our client's are the best in the world!  

Stilettos and Sippy Cups

I'm that girl.  Yes, you know her.  She loves to shop and dress up.  She has a new pair of shoes every time you see her.  She's the girl who actually buys outfits to match her shoes.  It used to be so easy to be that girl.  But then I got married, started a career, and now I'm a stay-at-home mom.  

For some reason, most women my age feel that they must wear the mommy uniform--sweats and yoga wear.  My husband calls those women "Give Ups."  When I found out that my first child was going to be a boy, I promised myself  that I would not become a "Give Up".  I promised that my little boy would know that his mommy is a feminine woman.  Thus began my passion for all things feminine.