I am so thankful that Mark and I see eye to eye on so much! One of those things is homeschooling. Homeschooling our children has always been our plan – I think we even discussed it before we were married! We had no desire to trust our children’s education to someone else, or to send them off to spend the bulk of their time away…
Author: Judy
Free To Be Me
I was chatting with my friend last week about how things have changed for me since moving here. Prior to our move, I had lived in Washington for 9 1/2 years. It is where I feel I really became an adult, where I got married, and where I became a mother. I developed a lot of my self-identity in those things, as well as things…
Letting Go and Holding On
Although in most ways, we have settled into our new life in Idaho, we miss our friends in Washington something fierce. Before we left, my friend Lindsey decided to plan a road trip to visit us. In my lonely moments over the past month, I have held on by looking forward to her arrival. For the past week since I last blogged, we have been…
Our One Month Anniversary
Today we celebrate one month in our new home in Idaho! As I reflect on the last month, I’m struck by how much things are the same and different at the same time. The foundations of my life – my relationship with God, my family, our values – are my constant rock. But there are so many little things that are new and different! Trying…
Shavuot – Delighting in God’s Gifts of Torah and Spirit
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in…
Choosing To See
“Because this is how you begin to spend your one life well – receiving each moment for what it really is: holy, ordinary, amazing grace. A gift.” – Selections From One Thousand Gifts, by Ann Voskamp As a busy mom, there are days – a lot of days, if I’m honest with myself – that I get lost in the mundaneness of it all. It’s…
An Early Bird Stuck in a Night Owl’s Body
I’m convinced – I am an early bird who is stuck in a night owl’s body! If left to itself, my body will naturally wake up around 8-9am and go to bed between 12-1am. I’ve been this way as long as I can remember. For years, I have wished that I could wake up earlier without extreme effort. In high school, I had to put…
Life Begins Anew (part three)
Yesterday, I left you behind our big yellow truck as we closed it up just after sunset. We were drained physically, mentally and emotionally. Throughout the day, as it became clear that we wouldn’t make it to Idaho before nightfall, we made adjustments to our plans and prepared ourselves for a night of driving. As it happened, I believe it was a huge blessing in…
Life Begins Anew (part two)
So, you know that heavy weight I mentioned? The idea of moving was much harder for me to come to grips with than it was for Mark. After all, he was moving back home, where he still had friends, not to mention his parents and brother/sister-in-law. For me, the thought of starting over was scary and depressing – I had worked for years developing the…
Life Begins Anew (part one)
Two and half months ago, my husband received the news that would change our family’s life in a major way: he was losing his job. It wasn’t a big surprise; his workload had been steadily shrinking for the past year as his company went through structural changes including outsourcing oversees. But the timing of it was very coincidental – the lease on our house was…