Starting Over

Isn't it amazing to you that every day, we get a "do-over"?

I'm so glad of that.  Without the "do-over's" I get every day, I don't know if my life would be livable.  I wish I had done so many things differently, but I get to start over today.  Fresh and new.

Doug and I are reading a book called The Traveler's Gift.  In it, he goes to many different places in history, and talks to different people while he's there.  Just a couple, he speaks to Anne Frank, and from her learns the truth that happiness is a choice.  Just as complaining is a choice.  By choosing not to complain, and choosing to be happy, you make your life a better place.  Then, another stop he makes is to talk to Abraham Lincoln.  There, he learns to forgive others for the things they have done to hurt him, and himself for his mistakes.  That one hit me hard.

I can not move forward without forgiving myself for the past.  I have determined to do that, and to move ahead with my life doing the best I know how to serve and love those in my life, and those closest to me.  One day at a time, one thing at a time.

By forgiving myself, I give myself the freedom to move ahead and do what I know needs to be done.  Sounds really "new age" to me, but it is in the Bible as well.  In Philippians.  "Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."  Now I'm doing just that.

Clark Update

SO, I haven't posted in a while, but there HAVE been loads of things going on here.

Doug and I are building our own business, and while we don't see it as selling, many people are turned off simply by the fact that we own a business.  So, We've taken to calling it "marketing."  We "endorse" a wonderful line of products that were green before green was the thing to be.  They're healthy and affordable for the organic customer.  There.  That's my sales pitch.  I really do LOVE the products we have, and am looking forward to helping others find those that work for them as well.  (Not to say that if you read this I want you to inquire...and not to say I wouldn't let you if you did... Just updating!!) :P  We're really excited about the group we are with, their morals, their stand, their helpfulness, their servant-leadership, their ability to push you to the limit.  It's like the NFL.  You can be in a college league, or in an "arena" league, or you could even be a player in the NFL; but if you're not on the team that wins the Super Bowl, you're not a winner... at least not in football. Same with business.  There are many different marketing ideas out there, but unless you're playing in the best marketing system, on the best team, you don't have as much oportunity for winning.  OK, off my hobby horse now.

The boys and I are SO far behind in Homeschool.  It's been a hectic month, the month of December.  We hardly were at home at all.  The schooling is going well, however, and Nate is reading a few sentences at a time now.  SO proud of him.  Andrew is working on his math families, and that is going steadily, if a little slower than I had planned or imagined.  All the other subjects, he is doing really well in.  He hasn't ever lacked in English or vocabulary, so I expected him to catch onto that fairly quickly.  He is starting to learn cursive writing next Monday, and he is SO excited about that.  Aaron is actually doing pretty well too.  He is working on learning the letters, and I would say he catches on to half as much as Nate.  At three and a half... He's doing SUPER!!  He is also working on a half a lesson a day in a book I LOVE!!  It is called Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.  It goes slowly enough that they catch on well, and at the end, they are reading at a public school 2nd grade level (it does use phonics of a kind, and it is SUPER EASY to follow.  The boys have not had any trouble at all going between that and the things that I have from A Beka).  Nate does a lesson a day, and is now half way through it.  I intend to do A Beka phonics with Nate next year, so that should cover anything that he has trouble catching onto in Kindergarten.

Lets see... other than that, the only big news is that Doug is on the job market again.  Without going into all the details, he is now persuing a career in Sign Language.  He is at school every Thursday to learn what he needs to know to be an interpreter for larger functions.  He is really excited about pursuing it , and I am getting excited about where it will lead.  God has provided every need along the way, and He continually amazes me as to what all He can do.  I know, shame on me for not trusting Him more.  But He is good to us. 

There's the update as to what we've been up to .  Hopefully I 'll be back sooner, rather than later.

I'm Thankful for....

WOW!!  What a statement.

Just making that statement changes your mood.  Everyone has a "bad day" here and there.  Just finding something to be thankful for in the midst of it changes your entire mood.

So, I'm thankful for... my sons.  Trials and tribulations they may bring, but without  them my life would be worse than boring.  With them, I have more fun than most "business people" have in a lifetime of work parties.

I'm thankful for... the opportunity to stay home with my sons.  The opportunity to be the GREATEST female influence in their lives.  Hopefully that means I'll like my daughters-in-law as much as I love my mother-in-law. :p    I'm thankful that I get to put my 3 years of college training in education to use in my sons lives.  I'm thankful that my husband allows me to stay home.

I'm thankful for... the talents God gave me to make my home beautiful. 

Curtains sewn:

Blankets made:

Painting:

Baking with my boys:

Home-made Cute Costumes:

I'm thankful for... The wonderful husband God gave me. Without his understanding and love, I would never make it through the muddle I make of myself and my marriage every day. He is the best man I have ever known. The best of the best. The best combination of all the attributes of all the men that I've ever admired. And did I mention how patient he is with my faults?
I'm thankful for... A loving God who cares for me every day. Who picks me up when I fall (often), Who points me in the right direction when I stray, Who loves me when I make mistakes, Who wants the very best for me, Who cares about my hurts, Who wants the best for my boys and their lives, Who knows what's going to happen tomorrow and prepares me for it today.
I'm thankful for... the opportunity to change my attitude by looking at the good side, rather than the bad side.

Andrew Douglas Clark

So, now it's Andrew's debut.

Andrew is, and always will be, my scholastic. At the age of 18 months (when most children start to speak), he was speaking in complete sentences.  He also learned the letters of the alphabet by sight and sound by the age of 16 months.  And he loved books all his life. He learned how to read early, reading his very first word at 2 1/2 years of age.  He read at a 4th grade reading level in Kindergarten.  He is definitely my scholastic.


Then, yesterday at Wal-mart, he lost his very first tooth.  My little man is growing up.... hence the blog about him.

He is just recently becoming very interested in spiritual things.  So, we bought the comic book series, "Good and Evil" from No Greater Joy.  Wait, Doug said they were not called comic books, they're..... graphic novels.  At any rate, they're interesting, fun, and a way to get my boys to want to learn the basic truths of the Word of God.  Besides this, I know for a fact that they present the Gospel from beginning to end, and I want Andrew to be introduced to the truth in a way that he will want to know.


Also, on a much more fun and goofy note, Andrew has informed me that he has narrowed his choices down to three girls for him to marry.  First, Emma: cause she's smart, and that would make for smart babies.  Second, Amanda: cause she's fun to play with.  And third,  Nadia: cause she's pretty, and that would make pretty babies.  Really, he told me so himself.


So, for now, that's the blog on Andrew.  Something sweet, something funny, something serious.  Prayers would be appreciated about the serious part, Thanks.

Random

Two things have happened in the last day and a half that 

I don't want to forget.   

First, I found this statement in the "Daily in the Word devotional. It 

said, "Tough times don't last; tough people do."  It was just a good 

reminder.

Second, The boys were watching Tom and Jerry today and there was 

one cartoon about little circus elephant  that had escaped and ended 

up in Tom and Jerry's house.  Jerry had painted him like a mouse to 

scare Tom, then the momma elephant came along and they painted 

her like a mouse.  At the end of the cartoon, Andrew said, "That's 

funny.  Tom thought the momma elephant was a giant mouse!!" 

Aaron said, "That wasn't a ephalent.  That was a hephalump." 

Guess it shows what he's been watching!

Behind the Curtain

My oldest son asked me recently why we close the curtain in his room each night as he gets ready for bed, then opened them in the morning when he is dressed again.  I didn't even think about my response, "Because no one needs to see you while you're changing."

Recently, God has been working SO MUCH with my husband and I about our hearts.  What's really there?  Why do we do the things we do?  Sure there've been problems around us, but nothing can compare to the things you feel deep inside.  When God starts really working on your heart.  Some days, the hardest person to live with is myself.

As God re-arranges the priorities of my heart, I have a tendency to argue about the importance of one or the other of them remaining in place.  Sometimes I don't understand the importance of the curtain being closed, so to speak.  Why can't I know now what God has planned for me in the next year or so??

What I'm coming to realize, yet again, is that my Heavenly Father not only closes the curtains so I can change, but because - just on the other side of the window, He's making a brand new day for me to enjoy.  I am coming to the realization that when I can't see Him, I can still trust Him. 

Job 23:8-10 says it this way: "Behold I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:  But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold."  It has been a comfort to know that He IS working on the right hand, and He is before, behind and beside me as I walk.  Just because I can't see Him doesn't mean He isn't there.

Also, the other day, I was reading through a friend's blog- the friend whose house rules I stole.  In one of her entries, she talked about I Corinthians 1:10, "Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we also trust that he will yet deliver us:"  Then, it came up again the next day in my through-the-Bible reading.  It was as if the Lord was saying, "Yup, it's really there for you, too!!"

My God has a plan, My God is able, My God is there, My God will deliver!!!!  AMEN.

Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His word,
Just to rest upon His promise,
Just to know "Thus saith the Lord!"

Jesus, Jesus, How I trust Him,
How I've proved Him o'er and o'er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus,
O, for grace to trust Him more!!

Out of the Mouth of Babes

I don't know if I usually miss these things, but the boys have said the most adorable things lately, and I don't want to forget them, SO, here they are.

So, Andrew has a rough sounding cough this morning, and he tells me, "I think I have Cholesterol Arthritis. Is that what Daddy said he has?" LOL!!! (Inside of course!)

Then, we're doing school, and Nate-Nate is doing the letter "T". The picture on the top is one of those old toy telephones that I played with as a little girl. Nate-Nate asks, "What is THAT?????" Yup, nothing like making Mom feel ancient.


Then, studying children of the World, we were talking about Australia, and I asked what was something that could be made of wool. Nate says, "I know, I know, A fox, cause it's kinda like a wolf!!!!" LOL!!


Am I just immune to this most days??? Aaron was talking about swallowing his gum and said his esophogas (Learned from Magic Schoolbus) was in his shoulder. When I explained it was in his throat, he said, "No, that's where your throw-up is." Where do they come up with this???????????????? LOL


Then, tonight, Aaron was eating Skittles, and had a mouth full. He took them out, and said, "Look what's inside, BLOOD!" He was eating red ones.
 
Kids.  Gotta love them.