Hey! You shout in your head as you read the title – and no, this isn’t a throwback post from January first. I know it isn’t the first! It isn’t even the first day or the first week or even a Sunday!
But we can restart any time. We don’t have to wait for the first day of the week, the first day of the next month, or the first day of the next year, we can restart whenever we choose.
Too many people wait until later to do things and it gets shoved to the back burner or forgotten. Not this time for me!
It isn’t a big goal. I’m wanting to type out and post at least two blogs a week. I want to be an encourager. I want to spread hope and love. This is my voice. (Cheesy, I know, but whatever)
I’ve been letting it lag a little. This was brought to my attention by two people; a friend and a daughter who are like, “I haven’t read anything from you in awhile.” Hmm… I looked and yikes, they are right.
At one point, I was posting once every three days. That’s not too bad.
That’s my goal. My restart.
What is yours? What are you putting off resetting because it just isn’t the right time? Do you want to do it? Have you prayed about it? Is it a positive change? Yes. Yes. Yes. Then don’t wait! Restart now! Make today your New Year for your New Goal and move your life forward!
Read that again! Wow! It’s a new year full of possibilities!
I’m always so thankful for new years. New seasons, new months, a new week every Sunday morning, a new day every sunrise… newness always reminds me of the opportunity God gives us to make a new start.
Our possibilities this year look amazing!
Laud got a tooth for Christmas (just one, two more are sitting there in the wings where we can see them but they haven’t popped through just yet). He’s growing so fast! I’m so blessed to watch this fast-moving change from totally-dependent-baby stage to exploration-baby-stage!
Thea has learned to read! She’s officially started her “schoolbooks” aka book work. We don’t really start books until they can read. Her favorite school book is “The Beginner Book of Words” – the Dr. Seuss “kid dictionary” that belonged to her dad and uncles! She announced to me, “mom, since I can read, I need real schoolbooks to do work in.” I’m not sure if I’m ready for that!
Lucas can do some crazy cool gymnastics stuff! His favorite thing is to show off his muscles – Kimberly consistently reminds him of the proper muscle names as he’ll flex and say “look at this one.” Lucas told me his favorite thing he wants to happen this year is “work with Dad and build our house.”
Jillian has her first gymnastics competition of the 2024 spring season January 13th! She’s competing Xcel Silver again this year with WGV Gymnastics and is super excited about her routines. Her confidence has grown with her strength and flexibility the past few months. Her self-discipline is growing and took a huge jump right at the end of 2023 when she decided to apply herself seriously to both gymnastics and academics. I’m so excited for what 2024 will bring in Jillian!
Jaquline has set her mind on a goal at the end of 2023 and I’m excited to see where it takes her. She’s refocused her study path toward law. She’s been devouring history, literature and debate, and the history of founding documents like our Constitution. She says she wants to learn the laws, how and why they were written, and how legal changes are made. Jaquline has been learning a lot about household management in the last bit of 2023 and says she will continue that in 2024. She’s also deepening and polishing her collegiate writing skills. She wants to write informational reports and persuasive (as she calls them, “enlightening”) papers well.
Kimberly has her first gymnastics competition of the 2024 Spring season January 14th. Kimberly competes Xcel Diamond with WGV Gymnastics this year. I’m so excited to see her perform with all the training she’s persevered through in the past year. This girl’s strength continues to astound me as she grows. Kimberly also starts her first official college classes this semester. She’s both excited and terrified – probably in the reverse order – about this. I love seeing her set and accomplish goals!
Rebeccah returns to her college a little early this semester for work. I’m both selfishly sad because I will miss her smile, watching her exercise patience with Thea, quietly observing as she paints (oh, by far my favorite thing to watch is someone create a masterpiece in front of my eyes – I got to watch her paint on canvas over this break), hearing her laughter, hearing her gaming; in short I will miss everything about her and there’s a Rebeccah-sized hole when she leaves home. But I love hearing her adventures and chatting with her in her tight breaks between chapel, work, study, and classes. She has such precious little free time and I’m honored when she chooses to use that time for me!
Christina will be taking steps into her career path! I’m so excited to be a part of her next adventure! Resuming flight training is only the start of her 2024 adventures. I am thankful she still shares her hopes and dreams and plans with me. (And I get to borrow her car)
As a family, we bought property and cleared it in the last few months of 2023! This is our first step toward building a home of our own! Our designs are hopefully finding an architect willing to perfect a small, compact plan; hopefully we can start utilities and building soon!
Butterflies swam in my heart, stomach, mind… anywhere… everywhere all at once.
I’m sitting in one of the folding seats in the Ocean Center with a baby nursing… I’ve been here, done that before, but never have I been in this venue for the event that is unfolding before me.
A cycle of pictures of young men and women in more childish images showed on the screen that usually displayed my gymnasts’ scores.
My gymnasts are sitting in the row behind me because our group of twelve takes almost two whole rows. They are not in warm-ups cheering teammates, but keeping siblings entertained as they all wait for Christina.
Marching Music!
There they come! Hundreds of young people in black gowns and caps. Christina has a decorated cap with a quote from The Hobbit. Her cap is bright green – and that makes her easy to pick out of the sea of black gowns and caps.
Christina is graduating with her 4-year-degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University! Her graduation from high school with her AA degree from St Johns River State was the first college graduation ceremony I’d attended. I look around me at six of my other seven children and my niece. I smile; it definitely won’t be the last!
Everyone is waving and trying to get Christina to see them. Christina’s fiancé was also watching along with some of his family a little higher up in the arena! Kimberly is impressed with this use of the floor that she’s been competing on for three seasons and will be coming to again in 2024.
The keynote speaker starts: Rebeccah’s plane hasn’t yet landed. Louis is monitoring that. The keynote speaker’s last encouragement? “Adapt and overcome” – my Daddy said that all the time. It almost made me feel like he was watching.
A text. Rebeccah’s plane landed. She’s getting a taxi from the airport. It’s a couple of miles. She’d managed to get out of her college classes and work early so she could catch the earliest flight from Pensacola to Daytona. I had prayed she would get to the venue to see Christina walk.
I walked out to change Laud the same time as Louis said Rebeccah was here but not sure how to get in. I walked to meet her; she is very enterprising and self-reliant so had discovered the entry herself.
We took our seats.
Christina’s group of graduates stood. My crew waved and Christina looked up to see Rebeccah here.
We were all present.
Louis, me, Rebeccah, Kimberly, Jaquline, Jillian, Lucas, Theadora, Laud. Grandma Tina. Aunt Becca and Anastasia. Louis had his mom on video phone or something like that. She said she was watching it live-streamed. All of Louis’ and my little Tart clan was here to cheer on our Christina as she graduated.
Our determined, ambitious, perfectionist whose smile lights up rooms. October had been her 20th birthday. My mind flew backward to that box of confetti in plane shapes. She’d been accepted to the only university she wanted to attend: and Louis and I wondered how we would pay for it. Scholarships, grants, loans, and flight training on a few credit cards – she’d worked as much as possible to make it happen. We’d helped some. Christina had made it happen.
Christina walked up to get her diploma. With honors. (My perfectionist was bummed she didn’t make “with highest honors”) She did her little dance move she did at her “high school” graduation. She looked up and beamed at us. I am so proud of her! (And Thea yells “you got this!” – even though it wasn’t a gymnastics meet)
All of us were there. Sure, our baby won’t remember it. He actually slept through the keynote speaker and woke just before Christina walked. Thea and Lucas will remember playing and being bored, respectively. From Anastasia up to Rebeccah though; they know it’s a big deal. They know, with varying degrees of understanding, how much work Christina put into getting to this goal. They watched, with varying degrees of understanding, as she studied, worked, stressed, complained, forced herself to take fun breaks once in a blue moon, prayed, and pushed on.
With Little CousinMom, Graduate, GrandmaWith Littlest SisterOur Graduate!Sister-Cousins
We all celebrated with Christina.
I am so thankful for miraculous appearing of funding at needed times. I am so thankful for my determined young woman who made her goal happen. I will cherish this memory.
Soar high Christina! Remember what your determination and ambition made happen! God opens doors but you have to choose to walk through them! Your graduation didn’t happen “just because” – there were lots of late nights, missed sleep, forcing yourself to go to work when you wanted to sleep in, exams you stressed far too much over, budget cuts to pay for the next simulator, and other challenges you rose to and overcame.
Keep on flying high – you are “forever an eagle” now!
It struck me with a text I sent: I have the littles at gym with me
I had Jillian, Lucas, Thea, and Laud.
Half of our “biggers” are actually adults. That’s a strange place to realize I am at. I paused a moment, glancing at my phone on my work desk. The notice underneath my text went from “sent” to “read” and I smiled. I thanked God for the honor of having so much time with my growing young women. I thanked Him for getting to mother so many of His children. (My heart reminded me that we get them for a short time.)
I don’t want to think about that.
My heart loves that they love to do stuff together. Like when they got a “big girl trip” for their combined birthdays. Such happy faces!
Now we are nearing the end of Rebeccah’s winter break. (I didn’t want to think about that, either.) Soon those giggles across the table at meals, board games, and roblox and minecraft shenanigans, the gamer shouts from the newly re-setup PS1 and Xbox in the playroom, and the kitchen laughter will again be missing our Rebeccah. I am so thankful for her beautiful life! I love the connectivity and humor she brings. I miss her when she’s gone. I thanked God for Rebeccah. I pray she will always choose to talk to me when she needs to. I pray I am keeping our communication open. I pray she chooses wisdom.
Kimberly and Jaquline go back to their respective schedules (as does everyone else) and move forward in their busy study, work, and training lives. Kimberly recently found a friend who encourages her in faith and sports commitment; a very good thing for her at this time. I thanked God for Kimberly. I pray she chooses wisdom as she keeps moving toward her long-term goal of studying sports medicine or physical therapy. She has such a heart for healing (and preventing injury) and an intuitive understanding of how the body works.
Jaquline has recently started to focus her studies on law and debate – her new goal is to be a lawyer. She does have a way of getting people to see merit in her direction. I laugh sometimes at her logic. She has such a wonderful attitude about life and her cheerfulness is catchy. She takes the responsibility of helping raise children so seriously – she assists in the nursery and I often hear her say “my babies.” She has a helpful heart and wants to see everyone treated fairly. I thanked God for Jaquline. I pray she continues to seek God and chooses wisdom in her life’s path.
Christina, our first with a Bachelor’s degree, is stepping forward toward her career. She continues to live with us. I am so thankful that she stays close. I feel honored that she chooses to keep talking with me. I thank God for Christina. I pray she seeks God in all aspects of her life. I pray she chooses to chase her dreams and grab opportunities that arise. I pray she chooses wisdom and can live with no regrets. Christina has a mothering soul. Her determination and ambition have served her well so far!
I love all stages of our family life. Today I’m grateful for being able to watch our little girls grow into vibrant young women. I am thankful I still get to be a part of their lives. I am reminded that just as we can contain multiple emotions at once, our homes can contain multiple stages at once. Thank you, Jesus, for the honor of being a mother.
Life is an adventure: Life it to the fullest everyday!
Don’t Wait Until “Later”
Time Warp Story from – September 13, 2023
Have you ever heard (or maybe even said) “I’ll just wait until later.”
I heard it often from a couple I knew when I was younger. They said it about getting married. I loved them dearly and wanted them to go to heaven. I asked him once about Jesus and he laughed and said he’d think about it later. I saw his life of serving others and prayed he loved Jesus. She said she loved Jesus, so I knew I would see her in heaven. Once, (probably very tired of a child’s repeated question) he said they would get married when I did. He died a month to the day before I was to get married. No, they never got married. “Later” never came for that.
I’ve heard friends say “later, when we have enough money,” or “later, when I’m settled in my career,” or “later, when life slows down,” etc. But those “laters” never come and “enough” is never “enough.” Life speeds by without seeming to care. Road bumps happen. Sadly, I watch as life unfold, oftentimes things or experiences people want get lost and turn into regrets.
I heard so many regrets from elders as I was growing up that I determined I would consider future regrets whenever making any decision.
Start a flock of chickens with my babysitting money when we finally had land? Yes! (Learned I loved farming – didn’t regret that choice)
Stay in Kissimmee on my own or move with my family? After praying about it and feeling a “nudge” to “move just one more time,” I chose to move “just one more time.” (To Saint Augustine, 22 years ago – I met Louis here and started my family and yes we have lived in the vicinity of Saint Augustine for those whole 22 years.) Regrets? No!
Decide to marry the first guy I dated three days after our first date? Yes! (I said “decide to marry” not “get married to” – we were engaged 15 days after our first date and married 4 months later.) November makes 21 years. Regrets? No!
Start our family on Christmas Eve a month into marriage? Yes! (Even though everyone thought we were crazy) Regrets? No! Our little amazing first married Christmas gift will graduate from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in less than 3 months.
So many decisions we’ve made; some good, some bad. There are only three I can think of that I seriously “regret” happening and one was back when I was 12.
We can’t go backward, only forward in life. This is why I always ask the girls when they are making a big decision (job, college, sports, life) – will you regret not doing this? Will you regret taking that path? Those are the questions I want them to think on.
I challenge you to ask yourself: if you are being led to do something and you tell yourself and God, “later” for whatever reason, ask this: “Will I regret not doing/trying this later?”
If you are telling yourself you’ll do something “later” or “when you have enough” of something: ask yourself if you will regret not doing or trying whatever that is.
A line from a movie I like says “a train won’t wait” and I’ve always translated that to be, “life doesn’t wait.” My Daddy said we should live life with no regrets. God gave us only a certain amount of trips around the sun and only He knows how many. We should use those trips to serve God in everything we can without waiting for “later” and “enough.” Have fun in your experience! Enjoy this amazing life God has given you! Don’t get stuck in any ruts waiting for “later.” Pray. Jump out of your comfort zone and see where life takes you! One young woman I met as a missionary said she felt God calling her to be a missionary but thought, “later, after I finish college,” but her father advised her to just go! She went! She said it was the best decision of her life and continued to bring her boundless joy and she met so many interesting people and shared Jesus’ love with dozens of children at each place she was sent (she was part of a missionary team who traveled and her job was to put on hand-puppet shows for the children). She discovered that she had a gift for learning languages and spoke more than 20 after three years in the field!
Love with everything you have. Be joyful and thankful! Live life with no regrets!
What is most important in your life?
What came to your mind? Your career? Your family? World peace? Your children? Leaving your positive mark on society? Your business?
Focus on What is Important
September 10, 2023
What is most important in your life?
What came to your mind? Your career? Your family? World peace? Your children? Leaving your positive mark on society? Your business?
How about Jesus? For me, when I heard those words this morning (sitting in the Good News Church first service), my mind created a list like words from Jillian’s history and science lesson she has to look up:
Jesus
Family
Showing Jesus to others.
Whatever is the most important in your life directs everything else in your life.
Don’t believe that? Seriously. Consider it objectively. Whatever you consider most important shapes and directs your life to achieve each step in your life to honor that important thing.
My mind reflected back to decisions I made as a young person: a lot of decisions as even a preteen are life-shaping.
I chose to keep myself pure for my future husband.
I chose to honor my parents and respect them even if I disagreed.
I chose to better myself so I could love my brothers and sisters better.
Each of these I decided to do because I loved Jesus. I saw it as my honor to be able to shine Jesus’ light reflected through my life. I wanted my life to be lived in worship to Jesus. I wanted people to see that I was different and ask why. The “preteen/teen” choice that led to me having the most conversations with other teenagers was my choice to love Jesus by honoring His desire for my sexuality. It was counter-popular-culture to stay sexually pure (yes, as my kids can’t understand, I am young enough that I was laughed at for being a virgin after 18). I wore a birthstone ring my Daddy gave me on my ring finger and told others it was to remind me that I belonged to Jesus first; He wanted me to stay pure for my future husband. So many people laughed. A few asked deeper questions and I would get to share about Jesus and how He loved me first and my joy was to honor Him with all of my life.
Later, in the business world, I was faced with repeated pressure to falsify information on forms to cut financial corners. I held my ground and honored God. When I was told I could choose to either “serve the company” or there wouldn’t be any more hours for me. I actually told my boss that because I loved Jesus, I couldn’t lie. The hours available to me dropped to where I would spend more time driving to the office than working; that would have made it a financial burden to work rather than an income. I was unable to stay. I often wonder if that choice did any forever good (did my decision or words help anyone see Jesus?); but would I change my decision? No. I choose to honor Jesus’ commandments because I love Him. I get to honor Jesus because He first loved me.
I pray my children discover that it is an honor and privilege to love Jesus. We are loved by Him from the foundations of the world. Even while we were yet sinners, He loved each of us so much that He died for our sins and rose to conquer sin and death! Because of that, we have the honor of choosing to love Jesus and serve Him with our obedience.
I looked at little Laud sleeping in my lap and smiled. I choose to look at every part of loving my babies as a privilege and honor! I wonder at how blessed I am that God would allow me to raise one of His children! (Okay, 8 of His children so far) Still, each one is specially loved and was created piece by carefully knit piece by God as they were formed inside me. God has gifted me the honor of being their mother; one at a time and altogether. I am humbled, awed, and enthralled by the enormous blessing each child is. I thank God for them when I think of them.
Thank you, Jesus, for loving me! Thank you, Jesus, that I get to love You! Thank you that I get to love my children! Keep reminding me of how I should always choose to love You first.
At church I heard something that made me laugh and shake my head. The laugh was total irony. It was a stab of truth. “You are only as happy as your least happy child, and if you have a quiver full, sometimes you may be both happy and sad at the same time.”
I laughed inside because the three days before this Sunday and that particular morning, I had been feeling stabbed repeatedly by three teenagers. Periodically the younger ones would take turns deciding to pretend to be just like them and that was not encouraging.
I wondered about that saying. When the girls wound my heart with unthinking words or “mean” things, I have to remind myself of something I learned a while back that helps: people tend to show their innermost feelings like aggression, anger, desperation, irritationin a place they feel safe because humans in their deepest parts fear rejection. When they know you won’t reject them or stop loving them, they feel safe and as such, end up showing their “worst side” to you.
I understand that their sharp words or actions are reflecting something hurting them. I will often try to find that something; usually not at that time as experience has taught me that when I say, “are you okay?” or “what’s bothering you?” when they are upset, I usually get a snapped, “nothing!” or “you!” which doesn’t help. I’ll often try to broach the “what is hurting you?” question in a less explosive time. Sometimes, it’s something small that felt huge at the time. Other times it’s something that needs more discussion.
But always, when I they hurt my heart with words, I pray for theirs and now remember something else: it is true that my smile can be on for Thea and I’m happily talking about her make believe lego world while we build our respective houses but my heart is sad because I know the “snap” was really something hurting their heart. So yes, there’s a part of my heart that is always feeling the hurt from my least happy child even though another part is engaging with smiles at another – sometimes there’s four or five of us in a game yet one’s hurting; I totally feel those “both feelings at the same time.”
I wondered about God and how we hurt his heart yet He always loves us. He knows when we are hurting but unlike mothers and fathers, who don’t always know what is in the heart of their child, God knows our heart and sees everything within us. Thank you, God, for loving us! Thank you for giving us a heart for our children!
“It all starts with a bachelor…” starts the old cartoon that highlights Fatherhood in a Goofy sense but before the entertainment industry really made fun of Fathers…
Father’s Day 2023
A time-warp Story from June 18, 2023
Father’s Day. Because of childhood memories, I’m always hearing the Disney Cartoon narrator from “Goofy Celebration of Fatherhood” when I read those words. “It all starts with a bachelor…” starts the old cartoon that highlights Fatherhood in a Goofy sense but before the entertainment industry really made fun of Fathers.
Our culture has tried to reduce fathers to a joke. Sadly, that is the farthest thing from the truth yet popular movies, songs, and tv shows portray fathers as not worth respect. The butt of jokes. Maybe a breadwinner. Unimportant.
In truth, it’s movies like “Courageous” that get it right. Fathers are vital. The Bible tells us the father is the head of the home. The primary moral compass of the family. It’s summer camp at my gym. I love to watch the excitement the kids get when they get picked up; “Daddy! Watch what I can do!” or “Mommy! Look what I made!” I hear a lot about mommies and daddies.
We heard about spiritual fathers at church today too; those like Paul who calls Timothy his “son in the faith” and “beloved son” though he wasn’t his biological son. My father lost his father as a young man just entering adulthood. I never met my grandfather Theodore Pearson, but I know he was a strong, giving, loving man because of the legacy he left in his children whom I met. Our daughter “Theadora” was named in honor of him. My father also had a spiritual father; Mr. Bob Suber. I loved him. I first met him when I was about 7 or 8 years old. His wife Betty taught me how to embroider and sew clothes. I watched him talk with my Daddy as we spent many evenings at their house for supper and the adults would go into discussions. I sat cross-legged in front of him with starry eyes listening to stories of his childhood in the nineteen-twenties and thirties where he and his buddies used to swipe fruit from orchards and try not to get caught or pick raw corn and dig potatoes from the edges of farmland and would roast them for lunch on fires they’d make and share food with traveling hobos. He said his mama always cooked a big broth pot from whatever squirrel, rabbit, or game he or his younger brother got that day and would toss in root vegetables and greens and herbs. He said her pots could be smelled for miles. After her family ate, she fed a bowl of broth to any hobo that stopped and asked. Mr. Bob died when I was about fourteen and I saw my Daddy cry. He said that Bob Suber’s graceful acceptance of death reminded him of other men of faith that Mr. Bob had pointed out – and he wanted to be sure he had that peace and grace when his time came. In December 2018, he showed that grace and peace at his own time when God called him home.
Fathers are so important.
I am very grateful for my Father. For the blessing I had of being his daughter.
I’m also so thankful for the Father God chose for my children. Louis is always striving to be the most godly father he can be.
I pray for the men God will lead to my girls to be fathers of their children. I pray that we raise up Lucas to be a godly man and father.
Life is far simpler than we make it out to be. Love is our center. Family is our core. God made it that way from the beginning. I pray that we shoo away the distractions and focus on the truth; choosing to follow Jesus in all things and put our families first. Fathers bold enough to be fathers have that power inside them; God put it there from the beginning. Each man simply has to choose.
Dress-Up Meet and Impromptu Visit – Sometimes we need to reconnect and slow down! #2023 #Family #Friends #Friend #Blessings #Blessing #FriendshipIsAwesome #ILoveImpromptuVisits #GymnasticsMeet #WesleyChapelTrip #CharityChallenge2023 #GodsHandIsInEverything #SpecialVisit #IHaveTheSweetestSisters #TheaShowsOff #SistersAndCousins
March 24, 2023
Dress Up Meet And Impromptu Visit
My kids are a little strange (don’t we all think that at one point or another?). Sometimes, even my 19-year-old likes to dress up. Today’s story has my competitive gymnasts dressing up for their final meet before states!
The final meet before states was the Charity Cup Challenge. One of the longest drives, but the girls got to dress up in cute tutus and thought that was fun. Kimberly’s team of teenagers even started dancing in them – that was cute! Louis took Jillian down for Friday. I didn’t get to see their antics, but I can imagine from the pictures…
WGVG Silver Team at the 2023 Charity Challenge in Wesley Chapel, FL
Jillian came home saying the “entire place” smelled like fish nets. I couldn’t stop laughing at that!
Kimberly, Jillian, Thea, and I drove down in the wee hours of Sunday morning for Kimberly’s meet. Most of the time they slept and I listened to “My List to Joy” (a youtube mix I created ages ago).
We passed a sign that said “50 miles to this city” (where a sister lives now) early in the morning and I wondered if texting this early was a good idea. Nahhh… I’ll wait until normal nightowls have had coffee.
At the meet, Jillian found Ellie (another Silver Team member whose sister is also Platinum) and Thea got into the gym-sister encourager mode. Girls weren’t even doing anything but dressing up and Thea was like, “Marie’s got this!” and “Go Ellie!” (this made Jillian and a random team mom or grandma from another group laugh) Thea didn’t see how funny it was being a sideline cheerleader while the Platinum Team was wiggling around in their tutus.
WGVG Platinum TeamOur CharityWGVG Platinum TeamThe three travelersJust Kimmy and the mascot
We watched the girls do their amazing thing! Honestly, as my youngsters move up in skill and level, the competitions get more and more interesting to watch. Thea keeps going, “wow! I want to do that!” I had to grab this wanna-be-future-gymnast from hurting her neck as she was showing off on the awards floor trying to push up in her bridge again – she sang as she did: cartwheel, cartwheel, handstand, bridge! (but bridge arms were not straight!) It’s the mom clash between, I let my kids do stuff and I am not watching you break your neck, toddler! I pulled a protesting Thea into my lap with, “careful, your arms have to be straight first.” My just-4-going-on-teenager-attitude goes, “I know mom, I know,” with crossed arms. I heard quite a few chuckles from other random experienced moms on the benches behind me! Thea is definitely part of the entertainment wherever she goes.
On the ride home, we stopped to visit Aunt Becca and Anastasia!
I love visits when we can. It’s so easy to think things like: it would be bothering her, she’s not expecting a visit, maybe she’s not in, maybe they have plans… etc. Every one of those and many more popped into my head trying to prevent me from considering the visit – and we were literally passing by!
NO! Don’t think that way!
Text, call, or just drop by! It’s the human connection part of us that loves that!
(Yes, I did use my car’s voice-text to have almost an hour texting conversation with her letting my sister know we were coming – which was funny because my Platinum in the back seat was so engrossed in her texting with friends and totally ignoring my Silver in the front and our conversation that as we stopped she went, “wait, this isn’t a gas station, why are we stopping?”) And this is why in the wee hours when my moody teen snapped, “I don’t want you to come” to Jillian, I responded with, “well I do; she’ll talk with me instead of disappear into her phone.” I always try to stop and see family if we travel close to their home (close to me is like within an hour – more if we’re traveling far).
We chatted, Jillian ended up staying over with Anastasia (next day started Spring Break and Anastasia was coming to stay with us anyway), Kimberly, Becca, and I played a nice game of Upwords, we snacked on stuff (my sister being a chef, even her “thrown together” snacks taste amazing), and enjoyed each other’s company. I got to see the grand tour of the lovely oasis my sweet sister and niece call home. The girls played basketball – of course, as they are our children, it got competitive very quickly!
I love just being together! I love car trips because usually, the people trapped within play word games (i.e. I’m going on a trip, Famous People First-and-Last, Alphabet or Numbers game) or talk to each other. I love visits where we just “hang out” – nothing planned, nothing crazy, just board games or talking over food or watching the kids play. Becca said it was a “God-timed visit.” I love it when God lines everything up to fill our spirits with reminders of His provision. I needed the dollop of Becca time too – God knew it. We needed each other’s encouragement and smiles. The cool part was that I didn’t realize I was missing her so badly until we got to connect for those few hours, but God knew.
Sadly, a bad thunderstorm cell was coming our way and Louis warned us to “please not get stuck in that driving” so we said goodbye and Kimberly, Thea, and I headed home less one passenger. At least now, Kimberly was in a very chatty mode and we were able to talk about all kinds of stuff all the way home!
Go visit! Find or make a break in your schedule to pay a visit to someone you have been missing. There is so much work and schedule and life that sometimes we miss the part of our soul that whispers slow down and sometimes that close connection is just what we need to help us reset. It gives us a recharge to jump back into the craziness of life and makes a happy memory we cherish – and it can be so simple as a quick lunch, a brief hello, or even a phone call when visiting isn’t practical.
New Phase – Making Offers! #2023 #Family #Encourage #PropertyHunting #Land #PuttingOffersIn #ExcitedForMovingForward #PrayingForFavorAndWisdom #FutureTartFarm #OpenRuralLand #GenerationalHome
March 15, 2023
New Phase – Making Offers!
Finally!
It feels like I haven’t written in a century! We finally reached the phase of savings where our available investment capital (aka cash in the savings account) is enough to make some offers on certain pieces of property!
We know that the only way we are going to find and afford a simple house with enough family room for our dreams is to build it from the ground up on property we own outright. We are consistently told we don’t make enough. We know this. Oh well, the mortgage on a $160,000 property (15 years, after down payment) is approximately $1400/month ~ guess those who have been renting for $2800/month can’t afford a loan. Can’t change the system, you just have to think outside the box!
Anyway, back to the seriously amazing excitement! We’ve been looking at properties and placing offers within our budget. Our budget will grow as our savings slowly does. Someone will agree to let us buy a property from them – or a miracle will pop up where someone owner-finances half a property or some investor decides our family is worth the risk and does a private loan. I’m open to pretty much anything. We want OR land; our family dream is back to a farm with chickens, our aviary, rabbits, the ability to help shelters again, growing 95% or more of our own food again – we are only offering on spots with at least an acre. A miracle would be 5 or more acres close to the WGV area (like that cool little abandoned spot near the turn to trailmark). Our goal is a generational home. Space for our family to stay close. A farm to share food from. Somewhere our children and grandchildren could always come home to. Saving a tiny bit of Florida’s agricultural heritage (teaching things Grandma Jeanette taught me).
Just sending out offers is super exciting for me! We’ve designed and planned and researched. I keep praying this is our family’s next step.
Hopefully we find something before September (when rent goes up again)! I’m just so excited about seeing the light at the end of this tunnel – it’s been a long road. It’s like a restart. I love restarts!
