After Six Years of Marriage, I'm Glad My Husbamd Puts Someone Else Before Me

I know, it's not what you are thinking. Who in their right mind wants their husband to love someone else more than themselves? Very few people, I'm guessing. I want you to hear me out though. Because my husband puts someone else first, our marriage thrives. Because he puts someone else first, he's a better husband and father.  Because he loves Jesus more than he loves me or our kids, he's able to love us better. For the past ten years (six years of being married), I've watched Rem grow in his love for  The Lord and I've also watched him grow in his love for me. I honestly throught that when we got married, he couldn't possibly love me any more than he did right then. I was so incredibly wrong. The more he grows in love with Jesus, the more our marriage thrives. The more I grow in love with Jesus, the more our marriage thrives. I don't think this is a coincidence. I think this is how God designed the marriage relationship to function.  When we are focused on living a life like Christ, we are able to treat others with the same love that Jesus would. Yes, we fight but I watch my husband, time and time again, forgive me and say I'm sorry.  What better picture of Christ's love? We will fail time and time again but he's always there , willing to forgive and giving us the chance to start again. There are days I fail miserably at being a loving wife, but I see God's grace through the way my husband treats me when I've failed. Most days, I don't feel like I've done anything to deserve a husband that treats me with the love and respect that mine does, but then I remember that I've done nothing to deserve the gift of eternal life that Jesus has offered me either. It's by Gods grace that I've been given both of these amazing blessings.

As is look back on the past six years of marriage, I can clearly see Gods hand at work in our life. When we decided we wanted to spend forever together, we were all of nineteen years old, both still living at home. We knew nothing of the "real world" or the stress of having to pay our own bills. We knew nothing of having babies wake us all hours of the night or making decisions about job offers. We were hopelessly in love and wanted nothing more than to be together. We had no real plan for what our life together was going to look like, although someone bigger than the both of us did. He had a life planned for us that honestly, I never would have imagined  growing up. I didn't dream of living twelve hours away from my family. I didn't dream of being a pastors wife.  I had a very clear cut dream of what I wanted, but obviously God makes better plans than I do. He has blessed me far more than I deserve. I am able to look back and see that every time I thought I was coming to a closed door, it was actually just God opening up another door I hadn't even seen before. I was too concerned with my own agenda to actually look around to see that God had the right plan all along. When Rem called off our engagement a month before our original wedding date, all I saw was a door slamming me right in the face. What I see now is that I was so stubborn and set in my own ways that I needed a door slammed in my face so that I would let God lead me where He needed us to be. When we found out we were pregnant after just six months of marriage, and Rem still two years from getting his degree, all I could think was "how are we going to do this." God already knew what we needed to provide for our growing family and Rem was offered an interview as a youth pastor soon after we found out we were expecting. Time and time again, God has provided for our family in ways we would have never expected. It amazes me daily to see his grace in our lives.

Six years have come and gone in the blink of an eye. Two precious babies have been born and have grown up overnight. A college degree has been earned and five and a half years of being a youth pastor is under my husbands belt. Life has happened. Some days it's crazy and busy and hard and overwhelming. Some days it's crazy and busy and hard and beautiful. It humbles me to realize that this is the life God has chosen to bless me with. It's not perfect and  somedays it's downright hard, but Gods grace has been there through it all and I can't imagine it any other way.

Thank you God for giving me a husband that always puts you first, that works hard, is trustworthy, compassionate, and is such a selfless father.  He's far more than I deserve but am so so so thankful thy he's mine! Thank you for your grace day in and day out in our marriage. Without it, I don't know where we would be. I absolutely can't wait to see what year seven brings for our family but I know that without a doubt, Gods plan for us, no matter what, is the best plan by far!

Happy anniversary to my precious husband. I love you more than words can say and am so very thankful for  your presence in my life. Here's to many many more crazy, busy, fun, challenging, amazing years!

Katie

For the past two years, Katie has asked me to take her pictures when she visits in the fall. Of course, I love it because I actually have a subject who will cooperate with me, unlike the two and four year olds I'm used to! Katie will be turning fourteen in a few days and that just absolutely blows my mind. She was Gavin's age when I met her and I just can't believe that she's grown up so fast. It honestly makes me kind of sad, because I know that my kids will grow up just as fast. Tear. We always have so much fun taking photos together and I hope she continues to let me capture her inner and outer beauty! Now I know I'm no professional, so please cut me a little slack. I still have a LOT to learn when it comes to editing and would love to get some better quality lenses and such but I just have to work with what I've got. I think we got some pretty cute shots of Miss Katie, if I do say so myself.

It has been so fun to watch Katie grow from a little girl into a beautiful young woman! She has a beautiful soul and is growing into such a wonderful woman. I can't wait to see the plans God has for her life, as I know He will do great things through her!

Homeschool Begins!

     Homeschool. I know there are a lot of strong feelings on both sides of the issue. I feel like in much of our society, it evokes many negative feelings. Will our children be antisocial? Will they learn ANYTHING? Will they be brainwashed to think a certain way? Can a parent who hasn't gone to school to learn to teach REALLY teach their children what they need to know to become a functioning member of society? I get it......I had pretty much the exact same thought pattern.....until I became a parent and had to make decisions regarding my children's education. 

     Now, I'm not out here to bash the public school system AT ALL!!!! I had a fine education in the public school system and I know so so so many talented, wonderful teachers that I would love my children learning from. So please, don't get the idea that we have chosen homeschool because we think teachers in the public school system are terrible, horrible people. As with anything, there are positive and negative aspects of both public school and homeschool and we just had to weigh the pros and cons of each and decide what fit OUR PERSONAL family the best. I am absolutely not saying this is the right fit for every family, because it isn't! It may not be financially possible for one parent to stay home to educate the kids, or it may just be too overwhelming, and that is perfectly fine! We have made the best decision we could to fit the needs of our family at this point in our lives. Could it change in the future? Sure! We are just going to take it one year at a time and evaluate where we are at at that point in our lives and what option will best fit the needs of our family in that season of life.

     This being said, I thought it would be fun to keep everyone updated on what we are learning in school and maybe break down some of the stigma that surrounds homeschooling families. No, we aren't antisocial! Our kids are involved in many activities in our church and community where they are surrounded by kids of all ages. Yes, they ARE learning, and I love seeing them learn. Are they always learning in the exact same style as their peers in the public school system? Maybe not, but they are learning in a way that fits their individual personalities. Gavin loves doing hands on projects and he is so so so good at memorizing things. I want to be able to tune into those things that he responds well to and encourage him to learn using the tools that suit him best. I also hope that I am able to learn a lot, as well, as we go through this homeschool journey. I have heard many parents lately saying that they aren't even able to help their children with their homework because they have no idea how to even begin. I am hoping that going through the learning process with my kids will help me be able to help them learn better because we are learning together and not on two totally different wave lengths when it comes to their school work. My goals are to foster a love of learning in them, and not just learning things of this world, but a love for God's word as well. I want to see my children succeed and I take the job of educating them very seriously. Am I a licensed teacher? No, I am not. I haven't been versed in the fundamentals of teaching math, history, english, or science. I'm a mom who loves my kids more than pretty much anything on this earth and wants to see them succeed and I WILL do everything in my power to see that they do. I'm not going to say that I will always do everything perfectly but I will absolutely do everything in my power to give my children the tools they need to be successful. My biggest concern, though, isn't that they learn to read just to read or learn to write just for the sake of writing, or learn ANYTHING just for the sake of learning it, but that they learn to do so, so that they can further the message of Christ. If they grow up to be a doctor, great! If they grow up to be a garbage man, great! As long as they are living their lives according to God's will, I will be one proud mama! 

     We began our preschool program this past week and are using the "God's Little Explorers: Adventures in God's Word and World," as a guideline for our curriculum. I say "guideline," because I add things to it as I think necessary. If I find something fun on Pinterest that relates to our topic, we do it. If I think the boys will enjoy a different way of learning something than what the plan has written, I do that instead. That's the beauty in homeschooling. It's not a one-size-fits-all approach. You can really tailor it to fit your child's specific needs. 

     The first week's topic was, "God's Word is a Treasure." We learned all about treasure (earthly treasure and God's treasure for us) and the letter X (x marks the spot for treasure). We also focused on the shape rectangle and learned some good life skills like picking out appropriate clothes for certain weather. We have had a weekly trip to the library for quite some time now and so we picked up some books that related to our topic of "treasure" to read throughout the week. The boys seemed to really have fun and enjoyed it! I thought I would share some photos from our first week of homeschool!

 Cutest little preschooler I know!

 The garbage truck was a little loud

 He is PUMPED to start school

 My two precious students

 Going on a treasure hunt for new school supplies and a new Bible

 Making some binoculars to use on our treasure hunt

 Making homemade play dough to use in our lessons

 Making X's

 We did a fun little treasure science project. We froze coins in a water and baking soda paste and let them sit overnight. We then squirted vinegar on them to free the coins. Gav LOVED this project!

 Hunting for letters and matching them on paper

 I am in love with these wipe clean books from Usborne Books. Mom got several for Gav to use in school and they are really fun! I love that they can be used over and over.

 Owen practicing his "writing"

 Making some more X's out of play dough

X is for xylophone!

     We had lots of fun last week and are continuing on this week learning about The Creation Story. Our theme is "G is for Garden" and we are studying all about seeds, plants, and things in the garden. I was hoping to share some photos from this coming week but as I was typing this, Owen got ahold of my camera and broke the focus button off the lens and now it won't focus. Thus, I will have to get a new lens. I'm not sure when that will happen but I'm guessing it will be a little bit. So, unfortunately we won't be sharing any photos from our upcoming weeks, unless it's by Iphone! This is life with small children.......lol!!

Strawberry Picking and Owen's Birthday

When I got my camera out to take with us to the strawberry patch, I realized that I had never posted photos of Owen's 2nd birthday so I figured I would include them in with the strawberry patch pictures.

Kern Family Orchard is a small farm a few miles outside of town that we absolutely love! They offer so many delicious berries, peaches, and apples throughout the summer and fall. It's so nice that we can get such yummy fruit just down the road. The strawberry season has just started so we took some time on Memorial Day to go pick some fresh strawberries!

 Owie being daddy's helper

 Looking for the best berries

 This way, mom!

 I think he may have taken more out than he put in!

Gav found the perfect one!

Picking away

For Owen's second birthday, we just had CJ, Steph, and their kids over for lunch and cupcakes. It was a beautiful day so we just enjoyed playing outside. It was pretty low-key but I still think Owie had a good time!

 This boy loves to eat!

 So excited for his cupcakes!

 Trying to blow out his candles

BIG bite!

 Do I have something on my nose, mom?

Opening his t-ball set. Owen loves anything that has to do with sports.

Daddy showing him how it's done!