I apologize for not being on here much lately, seems life has me filled with many things and I can only be pulled in so many directions. So I did what was important and I knew I would get to the rest eventually.

I am keeping God in my forefront. I am making it a priority to get in my Word everyday. Learning and growing is important and I want my relationship with God to manifest itself more and more. I am excited for all that He has done and all that He is teaching me. It gives a person more peace with life and decisions made in life when you know that the Lord is guiding and directing, and you don’t have to wonder if you are doing the right thing or not. Many years I just did things and “hoped” for good outcomes. I don’t do that anymore. I know that the Lord speaks to me and tells me what to do. I live life with no regrets. I let God deal with the problems. It is so much easier that way. You don’t have to answer the naysayers with the answers to their “what if” questions. I don’t wonder “what if” I just know that God will do. And that is so much better than a life of wonder.

Other things that have kept us busy…..
My daughter competed in Western North Carolina teen talent this past month. That was fun and an experience. She did a pantomime dance and sang with Collin playing guitar. You can see her video here of her dance.

She got first runner up, which is exciting.

I love how her hair matches her skirt–definitely was planned–smile. Fun times and fun memories.

She didn’t place in the singing category, it was a tough competition, but I still will cherish her and Collin up there playing together. She is probably going to get upset that I posted this as she didn’t think she did very good. I said to her anyone that can get up in front of people and perform is awesome. Who cares if you were nervous and were “off” on a few parts. Most everyone else did too. I am proud of them and wanted to share.

We had fun spending the day together.  Here we were getting ready for her dance:

Here is Dad and the little ones:

Here is me, Brooklyn, and Autumn

We also have been busy with school. Here we have to test our children. So we have been busy taking practice tests and will be ready for the “real test” soon.

I am also working on planning their school for next year. Keep watching for my complete school curriculum which I will offer FREE to you. Why buy stuff if you don’t have to?

Our family also got to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway finally!!! When we moved here in November we tried to do it, but it was closed. We were puzzled why they closed it. It was 80 degrees out. But since Mount Mitchell is on it which is the tallest point east of the Mississippi river, it had feet of snow on it already. We were like wow, I forget it is cold up that way–smile. So we have been anticipating being able to drive the whole parkway and we are so glad we did.

Ever since moving here, I told my husband that I wouldn’t feel completely at home until I saw a bear. Well the bear population is very high this year due to the low hunting numbers last year, and we were very fortunate to see 8 bears along the parkway.

Within the first 15 minutes we saw a group of 6 bears!!! Right by the edge of the road. A while later we saw some more and then on the way back we saw a few more right next to my door.

It was so neat.

It was a gorgeous day and the views were amazing.  I read a quote in a store and it said: When you live in the mountains everyday is Friday.  I can believe that, just pure beauty.

Well than a flaw of the mountains hit…………the clouds……………

We drove for miles in clouds.  You couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of you.It was really neat to see the tunnels that were dynamited right in the mountain.

It was amazing to drive right through.  I felt like I was going towards the “light”— smile.

 

Eventually the cloud lifted and we got to see how breathtaking it is.  Pictures do not do a scene justice.

We then decided we needed a piece of the mountain.  Even though we live here–smile.  Here is Greg grabbing some.

He said he will clear coat it and we will put it out and take it with us to every home we live in.

Here was another tunnel in the mountain.

Okay, then we were cheesy parents and did the heart around the tunnel.  I know…..getting old—-smile.

 

It was quite windy up here.  We went to Mount Mitchell, which is the highest point east of the Mississippi—8000 feet.

If you need a good vacation, I highly recommend North Carolina—I still can’t believe that we get to live here and enjoy this.  My daughter Autumn said to me, “Mom do we have to go back to our old house? I like it here!”  Spoke words of confirmation to my heart.  We are blessed.

Have a blessed day!!!

Family integrated worship……..what was that all about?  I just knew going to church and having my children and I go our separate ways.    Then I learned that there were families that sit together in service under the teaching of their pastor.    How enjoyable to be able to worship God together and share in the excitement of what God is doing!!!They learn to sit and respect the direction of their pastor and they learn what it means to be reverent.

As a side note, I am not against having children’s church or nursery for children. I think it is a great resource for people.  Sometimes that might be the only sanity that a mom or dad may have and I am thankful for the people that volunteer their time to help in that area of ministering.  I am just sharing what it is WE do as a family. What WE do is NOT for everyone.  I don’t believe that EVERYONE should have 10 children.  Just as I don’t believe every woman should wear skirts only.  These are things that the Lord has shows US to do. We can’t all be confined to the same mold, it doesn’t make our world go around.  Back to my post…..

When the Lord started showing us family integrated worship, I knew there was not a whole lot of churches in our area that did this, in fact I didn’t even know of one, but God did.  He found us a small church, that needed a worship team and we were able to transfer over.  It was still within our denomination, it was just a start up church looking for individuals to help, and that is what our family did best.  My family helped with the music, we were able to help serve and the pastor was supportive of having the children stay in church with us.  It was a great learning experience for me.  There was no nursery to run to, when the little one got loud, it was an open building.  At this time, I wasn’t doing the bench practice with my children—because life was even busier with 6 little ones under 7 years of age.

My husband said, well the best place to practice is to start by taking them to church and teaching them.  So we did.

Now some days were worse than others.  I’d love to say that they all sat attentively ALL of the time, but they didn’t.  Each time we left, I would share with them what we needed to work on the next week. As the week’s went by, they got better and better.

This was how our typical Sunday went….

Before we got out of the van, I kindly reminded them what we need to work on at church that day.  Then I prayed(for myself).  We did bathroom breaks and diaper changes before worship.

During worship time, our pastor encouraged them to sing and play the child instruments. To avoid any, off beat playing by my children, I was quick to grab the drums or louder instruments when the music switched over to a quieter song.   We encouraged them to stand up and sing to God at this time.  We listened to this type of music at home all day long and they have learned the words by repetition.  The baby usually fell asleep during this time.

After worship, my family returns and I can let down my guard a bit.  My husband and I have the younger ones on either side of us and we hold the baby.  The other younger ones we placed between the older ones.  We are very blessed to have a pastor and congregation be patient with our little ones during service.  It is much more encouraging for me as a mother to know that we aren’t looked down upon because we want to include them in service.

Of course, I brought things to occupy them, I have even resorted to bringing out my phone to play a movie with no sound in order to avoid a meltdown—-I know not good–smile.

I had  church bags that I made for each child when they were little.  I used these ONLY during Sunday service.  It included toys and things that they never played with except on Sunday.  I bought small tote bags from the craft store and ironed on transfer letters with their names.

I put their bibles, a writing notebook, a pencil and some reading books in the bags.  I had some small toys I would put for the younger ones like a slinky, small car, a mini baby, baby beads, and a small Noahs ark set.

I also packed pretzels and drinks, but usually kept those for after service. Sometimes service was longer and I could tell blood sugars were low, I then resorted to pretzels which are less mess than cereal or crackers.

After service, they got up to go have a snack in the fellowship area.  Then I would load them up as soon as possible, otherwise they would take off running.  My husband and older children were busy loading up the sound equipment, so I was on my own.

I could probably of practiced more at home, and got them to all sit perfectly still like I did the older ones, but I didn’t.  I think having more children has made me more relaxed in what I do.  I no longer feel like we have to conform to a certain set mold.  Church is enjoyable for me now, I actually get to worship and learn as a mom with 6 little ones, who would’ve thought??

Now fast forward to the present day.  My youngest is two years old. Church is no longer hard.  We can all sit in service pretty well.  I still have to make sure that I am prepared.  We try and get everyone to the bathroom before service begins.  I still separate children in service.  We bring along a church bag with bibles, paper and pencils, and small toys.  We did have those magnetic boards for everyone but soon learned that they were extremely loud when the church was silent–those have since been removed from the bag.  I find that my older ones sit and listen—I print off some sermon note learning papers I made and they are to complete one for service.

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I try and keep it simple.  The little ones may bring a matchbox car or small baby, but I have found that the more things I bring, the louder they get.  They are usually just as happy with only 1-2 items.  They learn to praise God, they learn to clap, and they learn to pray.

So which method do I recommend??  CONSISTENCY.  Consistently go to church.  Consistently take your children with you.  Sit up in the very front row—to avoid distractions and to help them better pay attention.  Practice at home if you want, but the best way to learn is to just DO.  Think less is best.  The less toys, to drop and make noise the better.  Simplify.

Be blessed.