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Showing posts with label Memories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Memories. Show all posts
A lot of people like to start off their new year with goals or resolutions, reflection on the year that has just past, or planning for the year ahead. We started our new year with a cold.
On New Year's Day I started to cough a little, and by the 2nd I was sprawled out on the couch and miserable. It took me about a week to finally feel completely better - which means I felt better yesterday. Just in time for my kids to catch it. Clyde started coughing last night (I'm hoping whatever this is more shorter-lived for them).
I've always liked the new year season, though not because I'm a particularly goal-oriented person or a planner. I'm not really either of those things. But the new year always feels fresh, and I ride on that feeling of freshness though cold, brown winter days. When things could start to feel stale, the new year makes them feel...well, new.
Since I was too miserable for the first week of this decade to enjoy any of that newness, my new-year-mode is going to be extended. I actually prefer it this way. For me, the whole month of January is a time of reflection and gentle planning anyway. So the new year in this house starts now.
I felt a lot of pressure to start off the year with a significant post, but this is shaping up to be a regular old chatty post instead. I've decided I'm okay with it. I don't think much on this blog is meant to be significant anyway, not in that way. Ordinary days are significant in themselves, I think more than we know.
Our Start To The 2020's
The last day of the 2010's I spent filling up the last of the petition I've been working on (to stop late-term abortion in my state). I had run out of people I know to ask for signatures, so I texted my sister-in-law, and she graciously set up a time for me to meet her extended family so they could sign my petition. The last line was signed. So a few days into the new year, I headed down to a notary event to get my petitions notarized and turned in. Even though I had been sick, I was feeling functional - but barely, and I had lost my voice. I tried to avoid breathing on anyone or shaking anyone's hands while I handed over my petitions, just in case I was still contagious.
Then I had to stop at the grocery store, because by this time we were basically out of food after the holidays. I wanted it to be a short trip out of the house so I could go home and continue to rest and recover, but we just plain needed a few things. So I did a little shopping trip at Walmart, and then headed back out to my car.
As I was pushing my full cart across the parking lot, I noticed a flutter of wings overhead, and then a flash of white in front of my eyes, and I looked down and realized a bird had pooped on me. I was completely grossed out. Do you know how many germs birds carry?
I'm admittedly very slightly germaphobic.
I went straight to my car, parked the cart on the sidewalk, and set my purse down on the front seat while I rummaged around looking for hand sanitizer. As if hand-sanitizer would be effective against bird poop, but it was better than nothing. After I finished dousing my pants in it, I turned toward my cart full of groceries and closed the door.
Then I heard a click.
And my keys were still in my purse. On the front seat of the car.
Thankfully my phone was in my pocket, not in my purse, so I called Derek and squeaked out what happened (remember, my voice was gone). He called my parents, and they came to rescue me about 40 minutes later. Not too bad of a situation overall, but a little embarrassing. I haven't locked myself out of my car since I was 18.
So yeah, that was a good start to the new decade.
New Year's Day Though
I actually take that back, the true start to the new year was a good day. My cough had barely started, so I didn't realize yet that I was getting sick yet, and we decided to take a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park on New Year's Day.
Unfortunately, the last couple times we have visited the park there ends up being a storm rolling in, and we can't see any of the mountains. The weather was clear and bright, right up until we entered the park, and within five minutes we could see nothing. Cars were stuck in the snow on the mountain roads. And we forgot to bring snow pants, because we thought it was going to be a beautiful, bright day.
We made the best of it though, and we still enjoyed the wintery beauty and saw some wildlife. We piled the kids out of the car, walked for five minutes in the snow, piled back in. Then we stopped at a taffy shop on the way home. I've decided I'm not really a fan of saltwater taffy unless it's fresh. This was the fresh stuff, and it was so tasty.
Ten Years Ago
Between signature gathering and being sick, I haven't had much time to truly reflect on the fact that 2020 is not just the marking of a new year, but a new decade. I didn't look through the last ten years of pictures (that thought overwhelms me), or find old journal entries, or anything like that. But I can remember where I was in life and how I felt ten years ago.
We were living in our first home, with three rambunctious dogs. I was working as a dental hygienist a few days a week, and it was the heyday of blogging. Derek was working for our county, and we were scraping together any extra income we had into saving for a ten-year anniversary trip to Italy. We had been married for two years, and had decided we wanted to start trying for a family, but things weren't exactly working. I wondered when, or maybe if, we'd have kids. It was a little premature to worry too much, but worry I did. My biggest prayer for the new decade was a houseful of children.
And here we are ten years later, in a different house, only one of those dogs still laying at my feet, and five tiny pairs of shoes pounding on the second floor over my head. We never took that trip to Italy. And we were okay with that, because dreams change over time. I've received more than I ever thought to ask for ten years ago.
When I think back over the last ten years, I think of the faithfulness of God in our lives over this past decade. There have been stresses and joys and sorrows and triumphs, and the Lord has been our anchor through it all.
I don't like to think about where I'll be in the next ten years. I know my oldest will be graduated from high school, and my youngest will be right in the middle of middle school. That thought alone is overwhelming to me. Ten years is too far in the future for me to think about. I don't know where we'll be living, or what exactly our lives will look like. But I imagine that in ten years, when I look back again on the previous decade, I'll still see how God is faithful to us through it all.
So yes. I'm ready to start the 2020's.
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I want to write more about my plans for the upcoming year, or changes I'm already trying to make, but I think I'll wrap up this post here for now. The kids are awake, and this is our first week back to school in 2020, despite being sick, so I have alot to catch up on this week! The house is slowly being disinfected of whatever bug we caught, and I'm working with the kids and myself on developing good habits - one of those habits is that blogging has to happen first thing in the morning, so we can start school on time! So I'm off to pour some cereal bowls and crack open some books.
How was the start to the new decade for you all?
Hopefully smoother than ours, ha!
Every year I write a year-in-review - it's quite possible that no one finds these interesting but me. But it does my heart good to look back on everything that happened in the previous year - the surprises, sorrows and stresses, joys and beauty, the things that delighted me, and the things that didn't work out quite the way I wanted them to. To see God's hand through it all and thank Him for the ways that He has worked in our family, and in my heart, over the course of one year. So I'll try to make it interesting to read for all of you, but just know that these years, reviewed here on the blog, are something I need to do for me too.
Without further ado...
January
-I started the year out with making goals for the first time in many years. Post coming about how that actually went...
-We finished up renovating the kitchen and Derek started on the master bathroom.
-We made the difficult decision to explore some of the other churches in our area, because of some drama that went down at our current church. This led to a months-long period of discouragement for me as we realized the pickin's, for what we are looking for in our area, were pretty slim.
-I did a day-in-the-life series on Instagram - I always think it's fun to go back and watch these later. It always brings back fun memories.
-We visited the stock show, and the kids loved it.
-Georgie started walking, and quickly took off!
-We braved a snowstorm and visited the "butterfly zoo", which was a nice spot of tropical in the middle of all that winter.
On The Blog: My Favorite 20 Books From 2018, Four Quick Reminders About Teaching Children The Bible
February
-We went sledding at my parent's house with my sister and her family! It was so much fun, and made me feel like a kid again.
-We did a field trip the the Nature and Science museum with friends!
-We bought valentines for friends.
-Wyatt turned 8 years old. We had a fun day celebrating him with a trip to Bass Pro Shops and the movies!
-We had my sister over for Valentine's Day for a little mini party.
-My mom watched ALL the grandkids for me and my siblings, and we had a rare date! We saw Ralph Breaks The Internet at the dollar theater, because we're fancy like that.
-We went on a winter nature hike.
-I started a classics book club with some friends from my college days! We started reading Far From The Madding Crowd.
-We continued our church wandering, and I felt so untethered and lost. I felt deeply discouraged all through February, and realized I was overloading myself. I stepped back from a few things, which helped with my stress levels, but not with my discouragement.
On The Blog: Dear Candy Hearts | Little Letters Vol. 1, How's School Going? A Mid-Year Homeschool Update
March
-We got alot of snow, and I came up with this list of reasons to like snow, in response to an unusual amount of local friends complaining about it. We live in the Rocky Mountains, people! It's going to snow.
-I finally started to get into a morning routine and I began getting up before the kids - something I've wanted to do for a long time, but it has been too hard with young babies before this year.
-I celebrated the 12th anniversary of the day I met Derek!
-We got hit by a bomb cyclone.
-We visited the zoo amidst the snowy remnants of the bomb cyclone.
-Clarice drew our family portrait.
-I got a sinus infection and the kids got another stomach bug. We never threw up as often as we did in the 2018-2019 winter.
-I really started struggling with how much time I was spending on Instagram, and I wrote about it a little bit.
-It started to warm up toward the end of the month, and we enjoyed a park day!
-We did an "inside the orchestra" field trip with our co-op, and the kids loved playing around with the instruments!
-I thought I was starting to come out of my doldrums and discouragement, but now I think it was just the initial bounce-back from cutting things out of my schedule in February.
On The Blog: How Do You Balance Homeschooling With Toddlers?, How We Connect With Other Homeschoolers, Why We Keep A Traditional School Schedule, Why I Read Middle Grade Books
April
-My discouragement came back with a vengeance, and after sprinkling in exhaustion and some people problems, I spent a couple weeks basically just crying about everything. I was so relieved when Derek called my parents so I could go to New Orleans with him for a work trip. An escape and reset was really badly needed at that point.
-My dad gave me some encouragement too.
-Clyde turned five years old!
-I got back into taking the kids on "mom days", and had alot of fun on my mom day with Gwen! She also lost her upper front tooth.
-We had a wonderful and refreshing trip to New Orleans! Ate alot of Beignets, took a couple plantation tours, listened to alot of jazz. I came back with a fresh perspective, and things finally started looking up for real.
-Tried a new egg-coloring method with the kids.
-We celebrated Resurrection Day!
-We noticed a sore on our dog's neck, so I took him into the vet and we found out Harvey had a tumor. Tumors in dogs are most often cancerous, and we really thought we were going to lose him. He had surgery to remove the tumor, and thankfully we found out a couple weeks later that it was benign! Apparently it was a type of tumor normally found in cats.
-Took another trip to the zoo and admired the thousands of daffodils they had planted!
-Derek took the boys to see spring practice for his college football team, and he scheduled the girls and I for a Mermaid Painting Tea Party. It was not something I would have ever dreamed up, and so much fun!
-I got jury duty - something I've always wanted to do is participate in the civic process through jury duty! But the trial got cancelled before I could go. Maybe someday.
On The Blog: Currently | April 2019, An Easter Memory
May
-We continued the bathroom renovation, and finally finished it up this month. I forgot how long bathroom renovations take.
-Clyde and I got a mom day this month, and he helped me pick out some flowers, since I was itching for something summery around me. Good thing I didn't plant them yet though, because it snowed again in May.
-I discovered a really pretty back room in our local library, and have enjoyed many blogging afternoons there since.
-The trees finally flowered late! It was a weird year, because we usually get pretty flowers in April.
-We celebrated Mother's Day in a nice, laid-back way, and it was perfect. I got some loose-leaf tea, and we visited my mom, and we relaxed.
-I bought a new swimsuit that I don't hate.
-We finished up school for the year. In the snow. I just laughed.
-Georgie started to get into "coloring".
-I visited the library book sale, which is basically the official start to summer for me.
-We started a new book for book club! The Great Gatsby. I ended up liking it way more than I thought I would.
On The Blog: How I Kept My Hair Under Control In New Orleans, The One Thing Your Church Needs To Get Right , When Wiping Faces Doesn't Feel Satisfying
June
-We tried the last couple churches on our list, and finally made the decision to return to our old church. We figured out that even with everything that had happened, it was still the best one for us. I learned alot through this whole church process, and maybe learned to value loyalty to the local church body a little bit more. No church is perfect, and I think maybe we needed to learn to stick with a place even when the imperfection starts to show. I still haven't mulled over my thoughts enough to express them better than that. But it was so good to be back. Our church welcomed us back with open arms, and it felt like coming home.
-Clyde started gymnastics! He was so excited, he bounced all over that gym.
-I got a very weird big toe injury. I literally did nothing. I was sitting at my desk and it randomly started swelling.
-Clarice and I had a mom day, and she's a clever little thing.
-We tried VBS for the first time for my big kids, and they LOVED it. Georgie and I ran around town together, and spent too much money on donuts.
-We visited the Great Sand Dunes.
-Dollar movies started for the summer! We went to the first one with friends.
-I celebrated my birthday at the homeschool conference, ha! Including a spontaneous visit to a hotel.
-We celebrated Derek and my dad for Father's Day! But Father's Day wasn't as perfect as I wanted it to be for Derek, so we celebrated again the next week with a campfire.
-We went to a state park, and though the day didn't go very well, it was very pretty.
-I took Wyatt with me to see Ken Ham at the homeschool conference.
-We visited Rocky Mountain National Park, but it was in the 50's in the middle of June! So it was a chilly day.
-It finally started to feel like summer. Wyatt made bird feeders and hung them around our yard. We discovered that the bush in front four house is a lilac bush!
On The Blog: Homeschooling And Bad Attitudes, My Homeschool Mom Summer Reading List
July
-We celebrated the 4th of July on the road to my grandma's! We had a lovely visit with her and my Grandpa Bill, and we also took a trip to Mesa Verde National Park.
-I took the kids to the pool all by myself and shared a few tips here.
-We celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary! The whole thing felt a little anti-climactic though, after our 10th last year.
-Wyatt and I had some one-on-one time, and he helped me shop for a few more summer flowers, now that we were sure they wouldn't freeze.
-It rained alot in July, and it was a quiet, nice mid-summer.
-We did some porch camping.
-We finally upgraded our mattress, which doesn't seem like a big deal, but it was. We have been sleeping on a 20+ old mattress for the last 11 years of our marriage, so we sprung for the really good mattress. And it's a king now. It's been really nice!
-We finally set up the trampoline my parent's got us for Christmas! The kids love it.
On The Blog: A Few Homeschool Finds, Why I'm Glad My Blog Didn't Grow
August
-We saw a century plant.
-I felt ready for summer to be over.
-We took a trip to see my grandpa, and had a lovely day visiting with him and my Grandma Juanita. They set up a unicorn sprinkler, and the kids loved it!
-We finally remembered we were supposed to take a vacation in August, and we got a last-minute trip to Florida on the calendar! We saw the Everglades, went to SeaWorld, visited NASA, went to the largest McDonald's in the US, stopped at an orange grove, and had several pool and beach days. We even did one day at Disney. It was a much needed sunny vacation!
-I struggled alot with getting into fall and school mode once we were back from Florida, so that was a big swing from earlier in the month! This is why I like to take vacation in June (but it's not an option with Derek's work).
-New classics book club pick - Dracula, which I never would have picked up on my own, but I enjoyed it!
On The Blog: Homeschool Wins And Fails (From Last Year), Florida!
September
-We started the school year and eased into it, because I wasn't ready. We did nature hikes and visited a railroad museum to get us inspired to learn! Also, Clyde started Kindergarten, so I officially have three students this year.
-I started experimenting with a simmer potpourri on the stove to get in the fall mood.
-I got involved in political volunteering for the first time, collecting signatures for a measure to stop late-term abortion in our state. It's been interesting to learn about the process from this angle, and to see firsthand how much work goes into getting a measure on the state ballot!
-Derek and I got another rare date, and we went to see a play! Hunchback Of Notre Dame, which was actually very depressing, but we had a nice time laughing about it together anyway!
-I started re-reading The Fellowship Of The Ring in earnest, and enjoyed it all through the fall. I don't re-read very often, so this is noteworthy.
-My kids remembered learning about the Harvest Moon from school last year, and kept asking when it was - it happened to be on Friday, the 13th!
-There were fires in the mountains near our home, resulting from a pretty dry August and September - this is why I don't complain about the snow and rain.
-After meaning to all summer, we finally went fishing with the kids! It was so fun, even though we didn't catch anything, and we want to go more often now.
-My little Clarice turned four years old!
On The Blog: Homeschool Planning: How I Do It, How We Homeschool On The Go, How I'd Do Disney Differently With Five Young Kids, Should You Visit Kennedy Space Center With Young Kids?
October
-I decided to try to blog every day in October. I didn't make it, but I did blog a lot, all about memory-keeping. It brought up a lot of unresolved feelings about social media and phones.
-I finally tried Stitchfix with a gift card I got over a year ago for my 30th birthday!
-We did a fall nature scavenger hunt for fun. We also went fishing again, and I shared some photos and reasons to give fishing a try here.
-Wyatt started his second season of soccer, and it was fun seeing how much he has improved since last year!
-We took alot of nature hikes, and it's a good thing, because the fall colors were short lived. I managed to get some family photos before the leaves were gone.
-It started snowing again!
-I went to visit my friends' ranch with the kids one weekend, while Derek was hunting! We had a wonderful time, as always, and I'm so grateful for friendships that last.
-Georgie turned two years old!
-The kids hounded me until we celebrated Reformation Day again! I shared my favorite Reformation Day resources here.
On The Blog: My Tips For Taking Your Own Family Photos, Where I'm From, The Reason I Bought That Sweater, A Typical Homeschool Week, The Day I Became Pro-Life , The Happiest Place On Earth
November
-Clarice started her ballet class, which she has been dying to do for at least a year. Gwen and Clyde started a homeschool gymnastics class, and they loved it too!
-After taking a home improvement break over the summer, we started again this month. Derek took a week off work to install our fireplace for our new wood stove!
-I decided to take a social media break and signed out in the middle of November. I needed some space and time to consider what I really want out of social media, and how to make sure it's serving me instead of the other way around. More coming on this, I'm sure.
-We had a game night with my sister's family, and her Christmas decorations were up, and it was just lovely!
-We celebrated Thanksgiving at my parent's house, and Derek's mom came with us! We ate good food, and played A Christmas Story: The Game, and it was lots of fun!
On The Blog: The Real Reason Why We Homeschool, What I Really Thought Of Stitchfix, Tools For A Social Media Break
December
-We visited a Christmas light display with my family to celebrate my dad's birthday! We always bundle up and walk around outside enjoying the lights, and then go get pie afterwards. It was unusually warm this year, so we were really able to enjoy the lights!
-We visited my grandpa and Grandpa Juanita again, and I loved hearing more stories from my grandpa's life.
-We visited our favorite Christmas shop! We bought a "new house" ornament, since we forgot to last year.
-I finally made Christmas Bible verse cards for my Etsy shop. (This might be a good time to bookmark them for next year, if you're interested?)
-Despite it being a short Christmas season, I stayed on top of things and didn't get too behind or too overwhelmed. I shared about the presents I was most excited to give here! I got a lovely gift in the mail from my longtime penpal Felicia, and another one in the mail from my dear ranch friends!
-It was a quiet Christmas season for us, with not as many gatherings as usual, but we did go to an ugly sweater party with our Sunday School class! I got a fanny pack during the white elephant exchange, but it's actually a really nice one and I'm totally going to use it when we go to the zoo.
-I dabbled in creating my own recipes again, and invented this Spicy Raspberry Cheeseball recipe.
-I wrote a Christmas newsletter, just as a writing exercise, but I ended up liking it and was sorry it was too late to send it with my Christmas cards. You can read it here.
-We did some baking together.
-We celebrated Christmas Eve with my family, and with my grandma and Grandpa Bill! We will see Derek's family for a belated Christmas celebration next week.
-We had a wonderful Christmas Day together - it was about as perfect as a Christmas Day can go, and that is a rare thing because nothing usually goes perfectly. We had time to reflect on Christ's birth, everyone was excited about their presents, and we just enjoyed each other.
-We celebrated Gwendolyn's and Derek's birthday (they have the same birthday, in case you forgot)! I got Derek and Apple Watch because he has been dying to get one for years. Gwen turned 7 years old!
-We are celebrating New Year's Eve tonight with final signature-collecting for my petition, and an impromptu dinner with my brother and his family!
On The Blog: Bible Verses To Write In Your Christmas Cards (+ Printables), When You Can't Find Christmas Peace
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Wow, even though we didn't have alot of "big" events, it was a busy year! I think there was alot of growing for me personally this year in different areas of my life.
A month or two ago, as I've been struggling with more circumstances that have left me feeling a little alone, Derek said to me offhandedly, "Maybe the Lord just wants you to learn to lean on Him more right now." I actually think that sums up this year pretty succinctly. I think the Lord used alot of different circumstances this year to teach me to lean on Him more and myself less. I'm still learning how to do that, but I'm thankful that He is my solid rock, the One on whom it will always be safe to lean.
Happy New Year's Eve, friends!
Hope you have plans to do something fun!
My Darling Gwen,
Seven years ago, you were born. This last year with you has been a joy, maybe one of my favorites.
You lost so many teeth this year, and every time you did you got so excited to see what the Tooth Fairy was going to leave under your pillow (you know it's us). We switched from money to toys, and that was a good choice, because you loved telling anyone who would listen about what you got. Your gap-toothed smile is completely adorable, and I'm kind of sad to see your big tooth growing in.
You are still my best little helper, always ready to jump up and get me something I ask for, or asking me if you can clean something. You are a great big sister, always ready to assist the littler ones. I found you yesterday watching a movie with Georgie sitting on your lap - apparently no one else but you would do.
You are my girly girl. Your most requested gift for Christmas was nail polish, and on Christmas Day you spent the whole morning painting your nails and changing outfits on the box of Barbies we gave you. I love that you like girly things, while still able to hold your own when playing rough-and-tumble games with your siblings outside, your long hair flying behind you.
You are so desperately anxious to learn to read better so you can handle the bigger words in your Bible. You remember to bring it to church more consistently than I do, and occasionally open it up and try to read a few verses, though many of the words are still a little difficult. A couple weeks ago you came up to me and seriously told me how you felt like you should give Jesus something for Christmas, since it is His birthday, you know. Your precious little heart and love for the Lord at this young age brings so much joy to me.
You love the days that we get to spend time together, just you and me. And sometimes when you especially need some mom-time, you will anxiously ask if it's your turn to go with me yet. And I'll invent some errand, just so we can have that time. You sit in the back seat, beaming, telling me what you think about everything passing outside the window. Your eyes shine, and your little hand grips mine as we go through the stores together. You laugh, your laugh that sounds like bubbling water in a clear mountain creek, so excited for the ice cream that we get every time.
Those days with you are some of my favorites, my Darling Girl. You bring me so much joy, and are such a delight to raise. You are bubbly and fun, and everyone who meets you just loves being around you. I look at you sometimes and just wonder at the fact that you are mine, that I get to be mama to such a brilliant light of a girl.
I love you more, Sweetheart. I can't wait for another year with you.
Love Always,
Mama
Everyone probably has memories of decorating Christmas cookies, and I am no exception. When I was growing up, my mom involved us with as much of the Christmas baking as possible, and one of the most fun baking days was when we made and decorated cut-out sugar cookies.
I remember taking such care with my sugar cookies, trying to decorate them with different designs using just regular ol' powdered sugar frosting (which is not that conducive to elaborate designs, but I tried anyway). I remember wishing we could get the colors to be a little more vibrant, but my favorite cookies were still the ones on which I found a way to include every frosting color. I don't remember ever believing in Santa, but our family still played the "Santa game", and I'd pick my favorite frosted cookie to leave out for Santa (my dad) to eat on Christmas Eve.
Yesterday was designated for sugar cookies at our house. The day didn't actually start out very smoothly, but I persevered and made the cookies anyway. All of the kids are old enough to participate in one way or another this year, though there was a lot of finger-licking (let's just say these cookies are not for sharing outside of our family). We watched the new Grinch cartoon, and then Jingle All The Way, in the background. Harvey stole one of Georgie's cookies.
I was this close to throwing in the towel and forgetting about the sugar cookies when we were in the throes of a difficult morning, but I'm glad I didn't. The kids decorated so diligently, and I could see them putting as much effort into their designs as I used to as a child.
I hope someday they have fond sugar-cookie memories too.
Did you decorate Christmas cookies as a kid?
A Quote
"We are all worms. But I do believe I am a glowworm."-Winston Churchill
Good ole Winston.
A Book
After wanting to read it for years, last night I finally picked up the first in C.S. Lewis's space trilogy, Out Of The Silent Planet. Have any of you read it? I've heard it has a lot of the same charm as The Chronicles Of Narnia, and if that's true, I'm here for it!
A Bit Of Nature
This tree produces the prettiest pine cones, and my kids even extracted the seeds from one of them.
A Recommendation
I have mentioned before that I subscribed to Skylar's scent club in the spring. It's $20 a month, and they send you a roller ball with a seasonal scent (it's also supposed to be "natural" and "clean", if that matters to you). Basically I am a sucker for anything that smells good, and I've really been enjoying it!
Anyway, I have to say, I love the scents they have sent out this fall. November's is "By Firelight" and it's a smokey-spiced-honey sort of smell. It's so good. I really wish they would let you buy extras of your favorites from the scent club, I'm going to be sad when I run out.
A Moment Of Happiness
After letting my kids watch too much TV last week, I'm re-imposing screen time limits this week. They played hard yesterday, and I finally let them watch a show last night. I picked an animated version of Ken Ham's "D Is For Dinosaur" which is one of those shows that has a calming influence on my kids (rather than hyping them up). I turned the corner, and there they were, my gaggle of children sprawled out in the playroom, watching their movie. And for a second I just had a flashback to when it was hard to get pregnant and I wished for a handful of pajama-clad kids to be watching a cartoon in the next room while I cooked dinner. They are often boisterous, and rowdy, and tiring; and also sweet, and precious, and my dream come true. I don't want to ever forget that.
This morning I was still laying in bed when I heard my kids shouting from their rooms.
"It's Reformation Day!"
Last year we played up Reformation Day quite a bit, but I wasn't feeling very organized this year, so I didn't plan anything.
"Mom, it's Reformation Day! Did you make us new shirts? Can we have chocolate pudding with worms in it again?"
So I guess it's a tradition now.
I'm spending the morning perusing my bookshelves, digging out that video about Martin Luther that we rented from the library, and trying to think of other last-minute things we can do to celebrate. I'm not mad about this last-minute scramble though. We don't celebrate Halloween, but last year I decided there is no reason we can't celebrate Reformation Day instead, and I love that my kids have latched onto it.
We dug out our shirts from last year, and they still fit, so we're all good. Well, except for Georgie, but she doesn't know any different this year.
Protestants are notorious for knowing so little about their own history, and it's a pity because there are so many inspiring men and women who worked to spread God's Word and the truth of the Gospel! Many gave their lives so others could know that they could be saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
I want my kids to know that history, to be inspired by those men and women who were willing to give everything - their reputations, their livelihood, their lives - for their faith. My tagline for this blog (back when people were really into taglines) used to be about living each day with eternity in mind. Well, I can't think of any better example of that than these martyrs, and I'm glad that we have this day each year to remember the truth of the Gospel and be strengthened by the faith of those who have come before us.
So, anyway, if you are a Protestant family that would also like your children to have some grounding in church history, I've got a few resources for you. Some to strengthen you, and some fun ones just for kids. You don't have to start teaching kids about their Protestant heritage just on Reformation Day, you can start any time!
Also, throwing together some chocolate pudding with gummy worms definitely helps with the retention, in my experience.
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For Kids:
The Life Of Martin Luther - A fun pop-up book about Martin Luther's life! I wrote about this last year too, you can read more here.
Reformation ABC's - This would honestly be a good resource to learn more about the Reformation for adults as well as kids. Fun illustrations, and lots of great history.
Church History ABC's - I just ordered this one, and I haven't received it yet, but I think it is similar to the Reformation ABC's. Basically, I think anything by Stephen J. Nichols is going to be good for church history.
Torchlighters: The Martin Luther Story - I'm not quite sure if my kids are ready for this one yet, so I'm holding off until I can watch it first, but this movie or something similar will definitely be in our Reformation Day celebrations in the future.
Tiny Theologians - If you haven't heard of this website, you need to go check it out! Lots of colorful and fun tools for teaching kids theology and church history!
Sola Gratia Co - Last year I bought a couple of our Reformation Day shirts from Diet Of Worms Apparel - sadly the business closed, but Sola Gratia Co has some fun shirts that could also do the trick! I really like the "soli deo gloria" ones. Or you could make your own like I did, it wasn't that hard. Maybe I'll do a how-to post one of these days.
For Adults:
The Reformation by Stephen J. Nichols - This is my go-to recommendation for a book to read about the Reformation. It's a short, readable book, with lots of information about the Reformers that I found so fascinating and inspiring!
Why The Reformation Still Matters by Michael Reeves and Tim Chester - If you need some clarification about what the big deal even was about the Reformation, this book goes into the specific doctrines and differences between Protestants and Catholics. Really informative and helpful.
Wretched Reformation Celebration - You can watch this video on Youtube - I haven't had a chance to sit and watch it yet, but Todd Friel puts out some great resources for Reformation Day each year, sharing stories of martyrs, etc. There are some short video clips on this channel about the stories of some of the reformers too: here, here, and here, for example.
Five Minutes In Church History - A great podcast about church history! I was searching through their archives this morning and specifically liked hearing R.C. Sproul talk about the Reformation here.
Foxe's Book Of Martyrs - I have never read this book, because I know it's obviously going to be hard to read. But I need to just buckle down and start. I know there are stories of martyrs from the Reformation period in here as well, and I think it's important to remember their stories.
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Even though I dropped the ball on Reformation Day this year, I am going to make sure I put some effort into it next year. It's obviously become a fun memory for my kids. Fond memories surrounding learning about church history? Yes, please.
Have you ever done anything to celebrate or remember Reformation Day?
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