It is Finished - 4



Those Were the Days



Jessica and Armando Ontiveros



Natalie and Sarah

Now?  Now Randy and I very much enjoy that our position of authority has morphed into a position of influence on our adult children.  Now we benefit from the hard choices we made early on.  Our children all serve the Lord, their churches, and their communities.  It is a blessing to see them make choices that reflect the values that we poured into them.  Have they always made the right choices?  No, certainly not, but to watch them fall upon the foundation of their faith when faced with troubles, whether external or self-imposed, is a great comfort and joy to a parent.  The spouses that they have brought into our family are awesome, godly people.



Rachel, Anna, Elijah, Wayne, and Noah Nix



       Grandchildren!  What a reward.  Could there be higher compliment that my daughters are homeschooling their own children?   I hope that the joys are multiplied and that the struggles are lessened.

Micah and Liliana Ontiveros



Micah Stegasaurus



Elijah Nix Kinder Graduation







Natalie, Sarah, Emily, Nathan, and Jessica at Paisano Baptist Encampment







Noah Benjamin Levi Nix



Jeffrey and Emily Brantley



Natalie, Sarah, Emily, Randy, Jessica and Armando, Me, Nathan, Elijah, Wayne, Rachel



Princess Anna Nix

And many, many heartfelt thanks to....

It is Finished - 3

....and then the amazing joys:  reading God's Word together, reading the classics together, watching my children grow into their spiritual gifts and callings, dramatizing history, ministering to and serving our community together, cooking and sharing, performing music, making messy science experiments, learning to be flexible and available, writing stories, poems, letters, and just generally learning every day TOGETHER! 

(We don't talk about math.  Math is the reason I use Miss Clairol - dark brown.  But by the grace of God and a tutor here and there, we got through it.)

Our homeschool was not just an 8:00 to 3:30 event, five days a week.  It was a 24/7 lifestyle.  Everything was a learning opportunity.  Dad has a wreck and breaks his leg?  Anatomy.  Rental house gets sold out from under us (again)? Contracts and Agreements.  Babysitting for a friend for a week? Child Development.  The possibilities and opportunities were endless.  One of the benefits of that is that my children are life long learners, even as adults.  It pleases me to see them continue to learn and grow...

It is Finished - 2

I have to admit that I loved it most of the time.  We actually had a lot of fun accept when we, uh, weren't having fun.  It's not for the faint of heart, let me tell you.  Sometimes we had to adopt the attitude 'tho' hell should bar the way!" (Rachel's favorite line from 'The Highwayman', a poem she memorized; thowing her fist up the same way Anne does when she recites it at the White Sands concert in Anne of Green Gables.)

"Tho Hell Should Bar the Way!!"

In other words, we were going to get it done no matter what.  And we did.

I always had a plan, but you know what they say (or what Burns said); the best laid plans...well, let's just say that it didn't always work out the way I wanted it to.  But early on, the Lord spoke to my heart very clearly...

"They will get what they need for what I have for them to do."  So I barreled through, not comparing our school to public school, or even other home schools.  That promise has come true in every case, and I am so grateful.

So pressing on through criticism, lack of finances for curriculum (thank heaven for the world wide web), a quiver getting full, extreme 'you had to be there or you wouldn't believe it' external pressures, full time ministry, a large piano student studio, moving eight times, a million miles to music, etc., lessons (have homeschooler, will travel)...

It is Finished

I really never thought this day would come.  No, seriously, there was no end in sight.  My next five posts will feature a few thoughts on the end of an era in the House of Day.

The day Randy first mentioned 'homeschooling' to me is indelibly seared into my brain.  We were engaged and were returning from a date one night when he began to wax philosophical and prophetic about our future life together.  When he said, "And we will homeschool our children..." I scooted very far over to the passenger side door and considered jumping out. No, really.

"What?!?" I said, none too gently.  I think he was surprised at my reaction.  I began to wonder what kind of crazy man I had gotten myself engaged to.  How was I going to get out of this?  The invitations were already in the mail.  He very wisely refrained from saying anything else about it.

A ton of prayer and a few Bill Gothard seminars later, I finally felt the call.  O.K, I'll do it.  It's a good thing that faith and obedience don't include knowing the details sometimes because, well, jumping off a cliff might look better. 

So when the time came, we began.  My friends in Kirbyville will remember the little red apples taped to those giant windows in our house on Main Street...

Five Ways to Combat Monday Blues

Even people who love their jobs have a hard time with Mondays. Sometimes we just do too much on our days off.  Monday slaps us in the face-we are not ready because we haven't had any down time. This is what I've tried lately in order to chillax on my day off.

1. Make a list of your normal 'day off' chores. Divide them up between the work days. Instead of doing all my laundry on my day off, I do part on Tuesday morning, and part on Thursday morning. It keeps us going. It's worth getting up a little earlier in order to have the free time on my day off.

2. Make Monday morning as easy as possible.  Gather every thing you need to get out of the house in one place, decide what you (and the children) will wear the night before.  Fix lunches, etc. ahead of time. Stress free mornings set the stage for a much more pleasant day.

3. Block off a part of your day off as 'unscheduled'. Yes, schedule to be unscheduled.  Do whatever you want during that time, or do nothing.

4. Renew your spirit in worship and fellowship. Don't hit your work week with an empty vessel. Fuel your spirit with the love of Christ and you will overflow on your family and others.

5.  Be grateful you have a job. So many don't in these hard times. Smile! "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." 1 Thess. 5:18

What can you add to these suggestions to have a great start to the week?

The Kindness of Strangers

My car broke down this summer about halfway between two towns in west Texas.  I was about 150 miles from home. Seemed to me like the battery was maybe dead, but what do I know from cars, right?  So I prayed, and stuck my phone out the window to try and absorb some sattelite.  I put on the hazards because I was halfway in the left lane.  An hour passed.  No one stopped.  Finally, God zapped my phone and I had one bar.  I got hubby and blurted where I was and then it went dead again.  He headed out immediately.  I knew he would.

I will spare you the details of the car problems (boring) but it was QUITE AN ORDEAL getting it back home. I'll save that for a marriage post someday, lol.

A white surburban pulled up and a man got out and asked me if I was all right. He and his family, the only ones who stopped after cars whizzed past me for over an hour, were planning a funeral. A car accident took the lives of all the members of a young family related to these people. Yet, they stopped. They went out of their way to see that I was taken care of.  They drove me to Mertzon for a new battery and the man put  it on for me. It didn't work still, so they drove me to Barnhart to wait for my husband. This took well over an hour.

Just as the car broke down, I had been listening to Duane Sherriff CD's God's Economy. He had just made the statement that "our wealth is not measured by what we have, but by what we give." I think God wanted to illustrate this to me in a very real way. 

They wouldn't let me pay them for the gas they expended on helping me. You know how expensive gas was this summer.The grieving family gave time, energy, and money they didn't have and couldn't spare to help a stranger.  They did let me pray for them.  When we finally got home late that night, I gave them a call to let them know we made it and told them I'd pray for them during the funeral the next day.

Have you had experiences where you benefitted from the sacrificial gifts of others?

Plenty of Time

Proverbs 16:3 Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

It has been said "If the devil can't make you bad, he'll make you busy." I have always been busy; homeschooled six children, thriving ministry, now six grandchildren and a full time job - not to mention home businesses, friends family...you know what I mean.

As a Christian, it's a given that we are to order our steps according to God's will for our lives.  My struggle lately has been stressing over how quickly time is passing.  I sometimes feel my age and the rapid spiral this world is taking toward the second coming of Christ. Will I get it all done?

That kind of stress is not the "peace that passes all understanding" that we are supposed to have.  I realize as I pray about these things today, that there is plenty of time as long as I am walking in the will of God. If I have wasted time, then I should repent and order my steps anew.  He is not going to take me out of this world until I have fulfilled my purpose; my days are numbered and safe in His hand. Whether I have five minutes, five years, or 50 years remaining, I am safe in the palm of His hand and my plans will succeed if my plans are commited to Him.  I have plenty of time!

Why I Write.

---

The Highest


Matthew 5:14a (NIV) You are the light of the world.

The word ‘inspiration’ always makes me take a slow, deep breath. My eyes close and a smile warms my face. The word always reminds me of the reason I became a writer.

I am a great fan of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables series. The third novel, Anne of the Island, finds Anne and her young adult friends facing life’s challenges. Ruby Gillis is a chum who had never given any thought but to her day to day pleasures. Unhappily, Ruby is now dying of consumption. Anne pays her a visit and finds Ruby terrified of death. Ruby’s “soul clung, in blind helplessness, to the only things she knew and loved”. Anne left that meeting a different young woman. I was changed as I read Montgomery’s prose of Anne’s thoughts: “The little things of life, sweet and excellent in their place, must not be the things lived for; the highest must be sought and followed; the life of heaven must be begun here on earth.”

That sentence first inspired me to “the highest” and reinforced my faith. Second, I was consumed with the desire to write in a way that would make people aspire the way I did at that moment. The notion began as a desire and has blossomed over the years into a full blown passion and calling. I will never forget it. Over time I have reread and highlighted many such inspirations in Montgomery’s work as well as many of the Masters and Christian authors. The Word of God is my greatest inspiration.

Keeping that goal in my heart and mind has gotten me over many a writer’s block. I just close my eyes and remember that moment and then ask the Father to help me take my readers to that place of inspiration; the highest.

Anne of Green Gables 'Most Inspiring Woman' Essay Contest

So excited to be listed among the winners of this contest! Anne of Green Gables Essay Contest

Road Trip

We took a road trip this weekend to celebrate our grandaughter's first birthday.  Don't you love to just get out of town for a spell?  It's great to get a break from the daily routine, visit loved ones who live far away, and feast our eyes on some new scenery.  This trip went smooth as silk and we had a wonderful time.

It's not always like that, is it?  Some road trips are fraught with car trouble, getting lost, or unhappy destinations due to funerals or illness.  Either way, a road trip is a picture of our life's journey.  Sometimes happy and free from care, other times trouble comes around every bend in the road and we seem to lose our way.

Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6).  Well, if that's not a road map, I don't know what is.   He doesn't promise us a life free of problems, but he does promise direction through faith in him. 

Jesus also said, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (John 10:10)  We are promised an abundant life!  Sometimes we can't see or can't feel that we are living an abundant life when we are in the midst of cares and concerns.  We are encouraged through the Word that we can "Cast all your cares on him for he cares for you." (1 Peter 5:7). 

On our journey, whether good times or bad, we can trust the Savior to care for us and give us direction.  We can look ahead, cast our daily cares on him, and look down the road for new life.  Have a wonderful day.  Jody

D.R.A.M.A.

I'm a sucker for an acronym.  Don't you just love a handle that you can remember when you need it?  Here's one I needed for this fact of life: drama.

We all have it.  Or course, we don't start it (ahem), but we sure bob in the wake of it when someone else does.  It can be pretty disconcerting and disrupting, discouraging and stressful.

So I was thinking about it and the Father blessed me with a handle.  Hope it helps you, too.

D = Do your best to calm the waters.  What's the best way to do that?  Stay out of it and don't talk about it. "Without wood a fire goes out; without a gossip a quarrel dies down." (Proverbs 26:20) and "Like one who grabs a stray dog by the ears is someone who rushes into a quarrel not their own." (Provergs 26:17)  If the drama directly involves you, then add:

R = Rest in your position: your biblically based, Holy Spirit led, prayed up position.  ^"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3: 5-6) You may find in your praying that you have played a part in the drama, the cause of the trouble.  If so then add:

A = Acknowledge your wrong.  Confess, repent, ask forgiveness and make restitution if need be.  "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."(1 John 1:9).  If that doesn't diffuse the situation, then add:

M = Maintain your peace.  Don't let the drama be yours, mine, and ours.  If folks persist in living in upheaval, then let it be theirs. "You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you." (Isaiah 26:3)  In any case, add:

A = Always forgive.  Whether they ask for it or not, always walk in an attitude of forgiveness.  Matthew 6:14: "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you."
 Remember, however: "Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm." Proverbs 13:20. (Birds of a feather...uh huh.)

Every theatrical production starts the same way.  Someone creates it.  Don't let it be you. "...make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business..." (1 Thess. 4:11) Now there's a novel idea!

I'm published!

 Check out my article in the summer issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. 

Turn On The Light

Love Finds You in Camelot Tennessee

This faith-based romantic comedy is a delight. The heroine of this story is full of quirky ideas to save Camelot, and then comes up with a doozy of an idea that will involve the whole town. The serious, yet lovable Amy is able to get grown men to don tights!

 

Janice Hanna did a great job of pulling me into this story and making me care about how it turned out. The characters are strong and engaging. Love is in the air in predictable ways, but also in unexpected, hilarious ways! This book is a great read, full of heart-warming, small-town living, and the ups and downs of musical theater. The end is satisfying and I was left with a smile on my face.