National Lutheran School's Week

I am a member of the LCMS.  (Lutheran Church Missouri Synod)  This week Lutheran child development centers and preschools, day schools, high schools and colleges, universities and seminaries are celebrating National Lutheran School's Week.

I have much to celebrate with this as I grew up in Lutheran schools.
I went to 5th -8th grade at Redeemer Lutheran School in Stuart, Fl.
I got my BA in Religion, Psy/Soc from Concordia College in Ann Arbor Mi.
I got my DCE certification and Masters in Parish Ed from Concordia College in Seward Ne.
And three of my kids have been in our church preschool and CDC at Ascension Lutheran, Huntsville, AL.
And while my kids are not in a Lutheran grade school, I like to think our homeschooling reflects Lutheran's home education.

I have much to celebrate this week as Lutheran School have shaped much of who I am today!

This morning the CDC kids sang at our church.  My dear sweet son at least went up on stage (this is been a progression the last few years, being in front of people are not his thing, but he went up there, just stood back wards!)  It was fun!

 Guess which one is Isaiah!!

Where did you goto school?

Are Lenten Services really for Kids?

It seems that every year Advent and Lenten services hit me the wrong way.  Maybe cause it seems that it is a service for adults with few children- normally mine and by the time the service has ended my children are tried and cranky and not wanting to be there.  But every year it seems I drag them to the service, because I need to be there.  I need that time to communion with God, to listen to His word, to sing His praises.

Instead of feeling fulfilled, I feel flustered cause I am not sure what my kids got out of it, and I send my time trying to keep my children quit so they don't disturb those worshiping around them.  So days I wonder whats the point, all these people here have forgotten what it is like to be parents.  Ah I know they have not forgotten, but when a service is only for adults, with not even a children's bulletin of anything special for them to say, "hey you are important to us we are glad you are here-all are welcomed in the house of the Lord"

Instead I get the old people walking down going-"ssshhhh"  It is tiresome.  Of course I want them to behave, but I would rather have noisy kids who listen and get something out of the service.
Tonight, one child is laughing, the other making noises, I felt like all I was doing was shhhing them.  While I know I wasn't the only other family dealing with their kids "stuff", by the end of the service I found my self just laughing.  Cause here is Isaiah (4), with the hymnal open, singing as loud as he can making up his own words as we go along!

I just laughed cause sometimes I worry about what everyone is thinking, and at that moment, it was like God was saying, "don't worry about what everyone else is thinking!  You bring your children to worship Me.  Regardless of how cranky or tired, snotty or rude, giggle or quiet noise maker (darn those pencils sometimes are noisy), regardless of how many potty trips are taken or drinks to the water fountains, they are hearing My Word.  They are hearing My Word that fills them up, and even if they wonder about Me or even say I don't exist, then you keep bringing to Me.  I am all that matters in this church tonight.  Worship Me. "

I find myself sighing, and as always agreeing with Him.  I mean when is God wrong?    Yes Lord, regardless of everything, my job is to bring them to You.  Isaiah reminded me that tonight when he bolted out that hymn! "Train a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it."  Proverbs 22: 6.

So yes, Lenten Services really are for Kids!

A time for goodbyes, a time for hello's

I just finished up with my last morning of getting four kids ready for school.  While most of the time the kids did ok, I always had to work with Michael, getting him to stay on task, having him sit still to eat, keeping him out of coloring his face, and getting him out the door with out anything major happening.  And never knowing who was going to melt down, and it changed every day who that was going to be.  And after about an hour of noise, chatter, fighting, spoons clanging, they would leave with Dan to go to school and a silence would over come my house.  Now don't get me wrong, I have two at home who create enough noise of their own, but there was just a silence that came.  And I would go about my daily things, knowing that the "noise and craziness" would soon come back for the evening.

Now almost 12 hours after that silence waved over my morning, my day is finally wrapping up up with four kids, not the six that I awoke with.  We moved our two foster boys back home.  This is a milestone in our lives, two more little lives have touched our family and we are better for it.  But it was time for them to go home, it doesn't happen often.  Most of the time our foster kids end up with relatives, but today they went home to mom and dad!  My heart hurts to lose these guys.  They just became such a fixture in the house.  And at the same time, I am going to enjoy the calmness that will come with out the constant need to watch over the little one. 

As of now, Michael and Brandle are getting settled into their mom and dad's places and saying hello to the things that were once familiar to them.  I continue to pray that mom and dad do well and the family bonds together as they get use to each other everyday again! 

This comes with the territory of foster care-the hellos and goodbyes.  We get kids whose families need to work out things, can't care for them, or have problems beyond what we can comprehend.  Some kids go home, others live with relatives, and some stay.  Foster children leaving is hard.  They say to treat your foster kids like your own, but in reality, you don't give up your kids.  In foster care, you go in knowing these are your kids, but you get them for a short time.   It is just the way that it goes.  After they leave it is always ask, will you do it again?  Not tomorrow.   Maybe next week.  Who knows?  I do know I want a small one, like a newborn.  In for a change.  We do know right now we will not take in older ones again the same age as our kids.  It was like having triplets and twins.
But for now we trust that God has a plan for our family and we feel it is a big one coming up.  Many things are changing....so who knows whats next!

Keeping the House...

...One day at the time.  I love that saying...or maybe one moment at the time!!  That is the name of my new home journal notebook.
I love going to the web page Notebookingpages.  In it there are lots of great ideas for notebooks for the kids, young to old.    Since she follows much of what I believe in homeschooling I really have enjoyed her site.    She has had many freebies on it along with notebook pages you can purchase.
She has recently started a new adventure called the Home Organizations Notebook for us moms who are so totally not organized!!  When she announced this I just happen to pop over to her web site not knowing about this.  I was looking for calendars and a few other organizational forms just in her freebies.  And I found this....with gobs of forms and promises for new forms, I paid a small fee, but so worth it!
So I have created my journal...well I have the skeleton of it done.  (yes I know you all are thinking when did she do all this...I think same thing of you guys to, when do you do it all!!:):))  I have tabs for ...Homemaking-(cleaning and stuff like that), Family-(calendars), Business (For that business that is going to make a lot of money...any suggestions:)), Personal (my stuff, bible studies, prayer journals), Ministry-(I love this...cause I do lots at church),  Meals & Recipes, Financial (I don't to the bills, Dan does but I have some ideas for this area).

I still have much to do to organize this and as I do I will share with you all fun thing.  If you would like to check this out goto Mom's Tool Belt.  There are some free samples there for you to check out.  Let me know what you think.

Why do you do it?

Many people ask, why do you do foster care?  Why do you waste your time with them? Don't you get attached to them?  Isn't it hard when the leave?  So where did you get your kids? The questions go on.

My simple answer is why not do foster care?  And I didn't know I was wasting my time nurturing children.      And yes, we get attached, it is a gift we give to each one of our children, to teach them how to be attached and loved. Oh and my favorite, why we got them right here in the good old USA!! 

We have had 10 foster children now, three whom we adopted.  Our first one was a premie baby boy, 4 and 1/2 lbs.  We have had two 4 month olds (one now three-Isaiah, and Leila -1 still foster) a 2 year old, babies, 3 & 4 year old, twin 2 years olds just for a evening, a 13 and a 15.  Each one having their own situation and story. Each having their own battles to deal with.   Leila has had the most family involvement.  Each story special, each story sad and happy.  But each child we have touch with the love of God and that may be the only thing we could have done for some of them.

So why do you do it?  Why not do it?  Have you thought about it?  Even if you can't bring a child into your home, you can help a local foster family, be a mentor to an older child.  Volunteer at you local DHR office.