Favorite Things - Podcasts

 Hey there...so I rarely blog anymore.  It's harder with older kids and not wanting to step on anyone's toes or tell anyone else's stories.  So today I'm just going to list my current favorite Podcasts (in no particular order):

• Morning Brew Daily - I get the Morning Brew Newsletter each morning, but it's fun to hear the guys on this show telling me about it and interacting with each other instead of simply scanning it.
• Bare Marriage - This one comes out each Thursday and features Sheila Wray Gregoire and others.  Sheila wrote the books "The Great Sex Rescue" and "She Deserves Better."
• Holy Post - On this podcast which releases on Wednesdays, Phil Visher, Skye Jethani, and others discuss news items from a moderate Christian perspective.  The second half of each week features an interview about a newly released book.  There are also occasional Friday posts featuring David French.  Right now they on Mondays is a series on "Why I am Still a Christian."  I appreciate the discussion on this podcast that is discussion and not stoking fears.
• Roys Report - This is a newer one for me.  Julie Roys interviews various people around topics of church abuse.  Her tagline is "Reporting the Truth, Restoring the Church."

There are so many great podcasts...but not enough time to dig into all of them!

~Karen

Word of the Year

 Happy New Year!

There are some things that used to dominate my FB feed every January that now are minimally mentioned, if at all.  Whole 30 comes to mind!  Anyway, "word of the year" is another one. It used to be all the rage and now it's barely mentioned, although a few people still do it.

I was pondering whether I wanted to do so again this year. I dug back through my blog posts and found all the ones I've done so far:

2016 - Restore

2017 - Remember

2018 - Hope

2019 - Strong

2020 - Faithful

2021 - Trust

2022 - Abide

For 2023, I've been wavering between two words - "Rest" and "Delight". Rest came to me first:

Matthew 11:28-30 NIV

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

and then I thought of delight:  Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV)

• The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”

• So that's where I'm at...wavering between these two words.  Perhaps both are necessary this year?!

• ~Karen

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End of Year Wrap Up

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 

Years ago, I used to send out a Christmas letter.  Then I started writing "in lieu of Christmas letter" posts. This year I came close to totally skipping out altogether.  But then I thought I should continue the tradition for the sake of my future self who may wish to read it.

Here are some highlights of the year. I have no interest in posting about the struggles or challenges of our life, suffice it to say that we have them, just like everyone else!

January - March

Not much happened during this period of time in 2022.  It was cold; the kids went to school. Zach quizzed with our church's Bible Quiz team. We attended our niece's wedding.  In March, Randy & I once again attended the Together Called Retreat. We were blessed to hear Curt Thompson speak and enjoyed spending time with each other and various friends who also attended.

April - June

The biggest change during the 2nd quarter was that Randy sold his truck and started working for his dad in the office. He is enjoying dispatching; we appreciate having him around more.  We wrapped up the 21-22 School year and made decisions for the 22-23 school year. Janae graduated from high school. In June we went to our annual church camping weekend at Spruce Lake Retreat.

July-September

In July, Mark had ESY at school 4 days a week. My Dad was diagnosed with Lymphoma (later changed to Bile Duct Cancer and then finally to Pancreatic Cancer). We went to the cabin with my extended family. Zach attended teen camp at Woodcrest Retreat. Micah attended Solid Rock Sports camp. Randy and Janae went to Alaska for 2 weeks with LightShine Ministries--Globe Creek Camp Team. In August we spent a week at the beach and started school. The kids all went back to school, and I wrapped up 8 years of homeschooling 1 or more students. This year Zach is at LAMS (9th), Mark is at Cocalico Middle School (8th/Life Skills), Micah is at GMS (7th), and John is at Denver Elementary (K). I'm still looking for that extra time I expected to have when they all went to school.  In September, my dad passed away.

October-December

Most of the 4th quarter of 2022 has been normal life. Nothing really out of the ordinary. School, appointments, sick kids, days off, more school, holiday gatherings. I read books; we watch movies. We live life one day at a time.

As we look forward to 2023, we are anticipating our first grandbaby and my brother's wedding. We expect life to continue with its joy and sorrow intermingled. Randy plans to go to Alaska again this summer (join him!  Home - LightShine Ministries Alaska.) 

"God is our refuge and strength, a present help in time of trouble. Though the mountains quake in the heart of the sea, though the waters roar and foam, we will not fear." Psalm 46

Where does the time go?

 I'm on my way to posting less than last year's record low of 4! But perhaps I'd rather not break that record?!

We are nearly 7/12th of the way through this year already.  Our life has changed a bit. Randy came off the road the end of April and is now working in the office full time. It is different having him home every night and often for a short time at lunch as well.

The last school year ended well. Janae graduated so three of our kids have now completed school. A month from now the boys all return to school. This year I am not homeschooling anyone (at least to begin with). Zach will be attending LAMS for high school. Micah continues at GMS. Mark is at our public Middle School in their Life Skills Program. John also has needs that can be more adequately met at our local public school so for the first time ever I will have a child in our public elementary school. So far I've been very impressed with the staff there.

Right now Randy & Janae are once again in Alaska with LightShine Ministries. This week they've been gone for 2 weeks--1 week with Janae as a counselor and 1 week with LightShine work team. If their flights operate on schedule, they should return home Sunday.

We've had a few vacations this summer. In June we attended our annual church camping weekend. We also went to the cabin with my extended family a few weeks ago.

I continue to read voraciously all sorts of books. You can find me on GoodReads if that's your thing. I don't tend to record the fluff I read (yes, I read Jane Austen fan fiction fluff).

Have a lovely day!

~Karen

January 2022

 I toy with the idea of blogging more often again.  But it's harder now that the kids are older.  And my life still, mostly, revolves around my family.  It's hard to blog without treading on someone else's story.

This year I am only homeschooling Janae.  She's a Senior and pretty self sufficient.  I started homeschooling the fall of 2014 (Josiah - 9th grade), gradually worked up to homeschooling everyone (for 1 year) and then gradually putting them back in school.  Now I'm down to just 1.  And, hopefully, next year it will be none.  I have determined that while I CAN homeschool if needed, it's not really something that goes well for me.  And my "ideal" homeschooling life is far different than my "real" homeschooling life.  And that's okay.

So, this year, I'm homeschooling 1 child.  We kept our youngest home one more year.  He's happy playing.  And we go to Occupation Therapy and Speech Therapy.  He has an IU13 Special Education teacher who comes out twice a month as well.  I'm having a hard time believing that he will soon be doing kindergarten testing.  I am hoping he can go to our local private school.  Their kindergarten is 2 days/3 days all day.  Then we can continue his OT and ST on his off days.  I can't really imagine a life when a few days a week are me here alone from 7:45-2:30!

Reading - Right now I've been reading through my collection of Agatha Christie books in random order.  I think it would probably be interesting to read them in order written sometime.  The world changed a lot from 1920 to 1970!

In my devotional time, I finished the book of Psalms and have started on the book of Romans.  My plan is to read through some of "the letters" section of the New Testament between now and Lent.  During Lent I will concentrate on one of the Gospels.  I'm also going through a book study called "Daughters of Grace."  The women at our church are doing this as a Bible Study.  I'm not attending, but am enjoying reading about various women in the Bible.

Other than that, I'm busy with all of the normal stuff...laundry, cooking, cleaning, appointments, life management and what not.  Zach is involved with Bible Quizzing this year so he has quiz practice once a week and quizzing every Sunday.

Have a wonderful day!

~Karen

In lieu of a Christmas letter...

 Wow!  I set a record for least amount of posts since I began blogging.  Maybe I should close this blog?  As our children got older, I found myself struggling with what to blog about that does not infringe on their own privacy and stories...so I just blog less and less.  I stopped writing Christmas letters somewhere along the line...so here is this year's wrap up in lieu of a letter sent by mail.

Frankly, I can hardly believe we are at the end of the year.  In a way it seems like only yesterday that we celebrated Christmas, in other ways, 2020 seems ages ago.  So here are some random happenings from this year, not all inclusive, and roughly in order.

January-March

Winter of 2020 was rather uneventful aside from the Presidential inauguration.  The kids went to school (Zach, Micah) or homeschooled (Janae, Mark).  We had various appointments.  The last weekend in March, my parents kept the kids and Randy & I went to Gettysburg for the weekend.

April-June

In the Spring, we finished up the school year.  In addition to the normal appointments, Janae and Micah had assorted doctor appointments for various health concerns.  Janae ended up with a diagnosis of POTS; Micah had no official diagnosis.  In April (or maybe March?) our Truck Rally committee made the decision to disband and turn the Truck Rally over to the TFC International Office.  So it was different not being involved with them this year.  In June, Randy & Janae flew to Alaska to serve with LightShine Ministries at Globe Creek Camp.  The boys and I camped at Spruce Lake for a weekend with our church family (Gehman Mennonite) as usual.  We appreciated the help of some of our friends with parking the camper and hitching it back up at the end of the weekend.  We also had 2 graduation parties for nieces.

July-September

July 10th, Autumn married Derek Horst.  They had a beautiful day for their wedding!  We also went to the cabin with Karen's family.  Zach enjoyed Teen Week at Woodcrest.  Micah attended Solid Rock Sports Camp. We continued to have assorted appointments.  Mark went to Day Camp at Woodcrest.  We took our yearly trip to the beach.  The kids started school (Janae - Homeschool, Zach & Micah - Gehman Mennonite, Mark - Cocalico).  Randy rode in the BR2RB Bike Ride.

October-December

We settled into school routines, keeping our extra things to a minimum.  We went to appointments and various family/church/school events.  The day after Thanksgiving, after dealing with severe pain for many months, Randy had surgery on his lower back.  He is now in the recovery phase and so far is feeling so much better than before the surgery.  We look forward to wrapping up the year with assorted celebrations with family and friends, barring unexpected events or illnesses.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

~Karen

End of Summer

Well, I obviously don't blog much anymore.  Maybe that will change with the kids going back to school?  Maybe not.  Now that the kids are older, it's just so much harder to blog without stepping into their stories and privacy.

We had a lovely but busy summer.

• Our daughter got married!
• Camping with our church family
• Cabin with extended family
• Time at the beach
• Church
• Jobs, Appointments, errands
• And all the normal life stuff...cooking, cleaning, laundry, yard work, etc.

And now we are headed back to school.

1. Janae - Homeschooling.  Senior Year.  She is working and focusing on the few remaining credits she needs:  Government/Econ (City on the Hill program + Notgrass), English (British Lit), and Biology.
2. Zach - Grade 8 @ GMS
3. Mark - Grade 7 (Learning Support) @ CMS
4. Micah - Grade 6 @ GMS
5. JH - Home with me for 1 more year.  He's doing Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and has an IU13 Special Ed Teacher.

As the kids head back to school, I'm hoping to get caught up on things around here that need done.  Not homeschooling any of the boys should help, but we'll see.  I also want to do some canning now that I've finally found lids a few weeks ago.  And I imagine JH will need plenty of attention as he withdraws from having his brothers with him every day.  I'm also looking forward to the humidity breaking and fall weather (but not winter so much).

Have a lovely day!

Blessings,

~Karen