August 2011 – Small-Town Preacher's Wife

This has been a pretty exciting week for me so far. Naomi started 2nd grade last Thursday, and Rachel and I have started our preschool lessons. I am also starting a new household management regime along with my good friend, Fernanda Powers. We’re following The FlyLady’s Beginning Baby Steps. Check it out if you, too, are excited about housekeeping (or not).

Rachel will be going to Kindergarten next fall. Since we have decided to put our kids in public school, this is my last year with her at home (subject to re-evaluation, of course). My goal for this year is primarily to introduce reading skills. Naomi did not know how to read when she went to kindergarten (at a different school than the one we are at now), and had no trouble picking it up quickly. She reads well above her grade level. But the school here places a strong emphasis on kindergarteners learning to read (sometimes I think too strong), and I am afraid of Rachel going to school, having trouble learning to read, and becoming frustrated instead of enjoying her first year. So my philosophy may seem a bit backward, but the basic plan is that I will teach Rachel to read now, and so when she gets to kindergarten, the work’s nearly over. She can focus on other parts of going to school–learning how to act in a classroom, keeping up with her schoolwork, being part of a class, etc.

Since I never taught Naomi to read, this is a new adventure for me. Last year Rachel and I followed the Abeka Homeschool curriculum for three-year-olds and introduced all the letters and letter sounds. We worked for about thirty minutes a day, three days per week, for just the spring semester. This year, we aren’t using a real curriculum. I have purchased the first set of BOB books, and also found two “Getting Ready for Kindergarten” workbooks on clearance. Our lesson time so far has been 20-30 minutes of doing worksheets (tracing and writing letters and numbers, mazes, dot-to-dots, and matching) and then 15 minutes of reading the BOB books. I am so happy with the BOB books. Rachel loves them. The first book only uses 4 letters, so she could read it by herself in just days. She is now on book 3, and is learning how to sound out words and use picture clues to read to me. How awesome it is to hear your child read and know that you have been a part of making that happen!

“You can’t outgive God.” This is what my mom told me after I related to her the many blessings our family received today. Wow! God is so good–all the time. He has given us all we need — the opportunity to know Him through Jesus Christ, the ability to receive free salvation through Jesus’ death and resurrection, and the promise of eternal life with Him in Heaven if we give Him our lives. Yet He still pours out other gifts. And today, I saw God’s hand in a number of blessings.

It began this morning, when a new friend and neighbor knocked on my door. She had been going through some of her kids’ toys and wanted to know if we would like a Tinker Bell kitchen set. Well, let’s see…we have 3 little girls…YES, we’d love a Tinker Bell kitchen!

Rachel and Sarah enjoying the new kitchen

I rearranged the living room to accommodate the kitchen, and in the process had to remove Sarah’s baby swing to make some more room. Sarah, now almost one, does not really like the swing anymore and I don’t use it often. But our house is small and I had nowhere to store it. On a whim, I asked the same neighbor, who has a baby herself, if she needed a swing. Yes! She’d love one! So I sent her home with Sarah’s baby swing.

I had a few hesitations about giving away the swing. It’s in a great shape. We used it for all 3 of our children. We plan on having more babies–maybe soon–and so it would be used again in the future. But here is someone who can use it now, so off it goes.

Later in the morning, Tim returned from working the God’s Garden produce stand. God’s Garden is a ministry our two church families run. A team plants, maintains, and harvests a 3-acre garden, and holds a Free Market Stand in front of each church on Saturday mornings. The hours the team members put in are long, hot, and dirty. Yet all of the produce is first offered to those in the community, instead of to the workers. Members of our church labor in the garden, weeding & picking, without bringing anything home for their own families. On Saturdays, the stand is open for about an hour. Then, after the first fruits have been given away to anyone who comes to the stand — with no limits placed on how much anyone can take — the leftovers are divided among the workers. When Tim returned home this morning, there was a bountiful remainder for us to choose from! We selected bunches of carrots, stalks of corn, tomatoes, pickles, onions, green peppers, zucchini and squash. What a blessing! (The remaining produce will be sent to four area churches for distribution at worship services.)

After picking 4 bags full of free produce, I set off to check out a clothing exchange. A church in the next town had advertised in the paper that they were holding a community clothing exchange. Basically, a free yard sale! Anyone could drop off unwanted clothes on Friday, and anyone could come and “shop” for free today!

I showed up not knowing what to expect, and I am so glad I came. The church’s gym was full of clothes from infants to maternity to adult sizes. It was simply set up as an honor system — take what you need. We use a lot of hand-me-downs in our household full of girls, but there are always a few gaps to be filled, and Naomi, the oldest, needed some new things in a larger size. I was looking for some new things for myself, as well. I rarely ever add to my wardrobe and so I was very excited to find jeans, shorts, and several tops–all of which actually fit when I got home and tried them on! I left with a huge bag full of clothing for our family. I was especially thankful to find a pair of Robeez shoes and a warm sleeper for Sarah, pajamas and shoes for Rachel, and many shirts and pants along with two good pairs of shoes for Naomi.

So I am coming to the end of my day with a full and grateful heart. You really can’t outgive God. What could I possibly “give” that wasn’t His already anyway? Or that could even compare to His gifts? “If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over.” Luke 6:38