When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers,
they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be
burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.
~ Isaiah 43:2 ~

Thoughts on My Son’s Graduation

For some of us this spring has brought the success of seeing one of our children graduate from high school.

All mothers enjoy their children’s successes, but for homeschool mothers this milestone is a big accomplishment, not only for your child, but for you.

It brings with it an amazing variety of thoughts and questions:

Did I do everything right?

Did I leave any of the dreaded “gaps”?

Did I ruin my child’s chances of ever getting into the college of his choice?

Did I do all that was necessary to prepare him for college or trade school?

Should he go on to college. or is there another way to get the training he needs?

Did I actually succeed, or did I fail?

And transcripts – what about a transcript?

How did this happen so quickly?

And for some of us, like me, we are graduating our “baby.” We have worked our way out of a job – now what? We are facing not only graduation, but a lifestyle change.

Suddenly I have no more children – only three adults living at home. Seemingly nothing has changed – but somehow everything is different.

Where do we go from here? As I’ve worked on a photo album and slide show for my son, I’ve found myself doing a lot of reminiscing. Our lives have been rich and full. I’ve needed to recognize that this isn’t the end, but a new beginning. And our God is the God of new beginnings.

This verse describes what I’ve been praying the Lord would do in my life:

“And he hath put a new song in my mouth, [even] praise unto our God: many shall see [it], and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.” Psalm 40:3 KJ

I want a new song to sing. One that will praise our God for all he has done to help this ordinary, everyday mom get her children through school and help them onto the road of life the Lord has chosen for them.

I want to stand out in front of all you moms who are still in the trenches and encourage you. I want to remind you that this job is certainly too big for you, but we have the God of the impossible working through us and He will help us to finish all that He has begun in our lives and our children’s lives. I want to be your cheerleader – to call you on to finish strong.

Finding Joy in the Journey,
Phyllis

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Phyllis Sather
Proclaiming God’s Faithfulness at:
http://www.Phyllis-Sather.com

© 2009 Phyllis Sather
All rights reserved

Contact me at: Phyllis@Phyllis-Sather.com

I don’t have a free font to share this week, but I certainly have a lot of other goodies for you.

First, I’ve always used my summers to work on some “issues” that I just didn’t have time to deal with as carefully as I would have liked to when we were in the thick of home school. Sometimes they were my issues, and sometimes they were issues of one or more of the children. Since my three were all born within five years it was usually something they were all struggling with.

My friend Marcia Washburn wrote about ways she taught her young children to do chores. Don’t you think this would be a perfect summer school project? I do, so here is a link to Marcia’s article: Getting Preschool Kids to Help with Chores This article was in a recent issue of Homeschool Enrichment. If you found it helpful you can subscribe to their free digital edition by visiting their site.

If you need a word of encouragement on training your children to have a good work ethic, here is an article you will find helpful:  Work: The Forgotten Sermon Topic. This one really made me stop and think.

Second, this title caught my eye, and the video really touched my heart, so I wanted to pass it on to you.

Rachel’s story is not new – a wife and mother, dying of terminal cancer. Her response to it is life-changing. You won’t want to miss this video or audio of her testimony.

“Cancer does not define me. Neither does being a wife or a mother. All these things are part of who I am but they do not define me. What defines me is my relationship with Jesus.” –Rachel Barkey  The title that caught my eye: Death is not Dying.

Third, Lamplighter Publishing has an exciting new Dramatic Audio CD titled “Sir Malcolm and the Missing Prince” that will be available July 7th, it is hosted by John Ryes Davies of Lord of the Rings fame and stars Tim Conway. Be sure to check it out and listen to the first chapter. This is an audio your entire family will love.

Fourth, don’t forget to Claim Your Name on Facebook! If you’re on Facebook, you now have the ability to claim your name in order to create a streamlined URL. Names are going fast, so you need to get yours as soon as possible. You can get it by going to http://www.facebook.com/username.

Let me know what you think about the links you try.

–>

Catch the TOS Summer Bouquet of 19 exceptional gifts—yours FREE when you subscribe to or renew a two-year subscription to The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine!

Finding Joy in the Journey,
Phyllis

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Phyllis Sather
Proclaiming God’s Faithfulness at:
http://www.Phyllis-Sather.com

© 2009 Phyllis Sather
All rights reserved

Contact me at: Phyllis@Phyllis-Sather.com

I have a link on my blog for a Free Max Lucado Audio Book For Kids so be sure to stop by. (near the end of this post)

We just got home from vacation Friday, but my husband decided that we should pretend we are still on vacation over the weekend and it’s been great. We just hung out together and did a few of the things we’ve been hoping to do for some time.

Our vacation was at the cabin we’ve been renting for 18 years. This is something we prayed for – a place we could go back to year after year and make some great family memories.

The Lord has more than answered this prayer. This was our 21st trip there, since we’ve gone twice some years. We have had many family gatherings at this cabin and gotten to know uncles, aunts, and cousins from that area in ways that we wouldn’t have if we didn’t have this central gathering place to go to each summer. I’ve posted a slide show of some of our times there. I hope you will take the time to look at it and rejoice with us at the Lord’s provision for our family.

Once again we experienced more of the Lord’s provision in some rather different ways.

We usually rent the cabin with a pontoon boat. This year the boat was not there when we arrived. This was very disappointing for my fishermen, who were left with fishing from the dock or a canoe. Then my brother-in-law loaned us his fishing boat, which was a big step up from fishing in a pontoon.

Next, the dryer didn’t work so I once again got to experience the fun of hanging out clothes and having them smell so fresh. They were a bit scratchy since the fabric softener I had along were dryer sheets, so I had no liquid to put in the washer, but it was still fun.

Thursday morning the water totally quit working. One minute it was fine, the next minute there just wasn’t any. Dan looked at it but couldn’t see a simple fix, so we spent two days without running water. It was a bit like camping in a house. This gave us a whole new appreciation for running water. It is just amazing how many times a day a family of five needs water. We all really appreciated a shower when we got home.

As much fun as this trip was, its good to be home, especially since it is 90 degrees and very humid. We are really grateful for our AC.

Now we are getting back to the nuts and bolts of life. There will be some summer school for everyone, and some work projects too.

We’re grateful to the Lord for all He provided, including the learning experiences.

Free Max Lucado Audio Book For Kids

Finding Joy in the Journey,
Phyllis

I would love to have the opportunity to keep in touch with you. Please sign up to be notified of new entries and to receive my Free E-zine. (Your address will not be shared)

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Phyllis Sather
Proclaiming God’s Faithfulness at:
http://www.Phyllis-Sather.com

© 2009 Phyllis Sather
All rights reserved

Contact me at: Phyllis@Phyllis-Sather.com

Chopin Script

Download it here.

I had forgotten how much fun I’ve had looking at and downloading fonts. Since I’ve gotten into digital scrapbooking it’s been even more fun to find just the perfect font for the page I’m working on. Recently that has been my son’s graduation album, so I wouldn’t use anything this “pretty,” but when I saw it I knew it belonged in my ever-growing collection.

Even if you don’t do digital scrapbooking but do paper scrapbooking, you can print your page titles out using a nice font and paste it to your page. I did that for a long time before I switched to digital.

Another use for them is when you are making lesson plans, posters, or chore lists. Try using something fancy when you post your schedule in the kitchen, or the “How To” list in the bathroom. Why stick to boring Times New Roman when there are so many fancier ones just waiting to be used? Try different colors and sizes, too. A chore list is always more interesting when it is colorful and inviting.

Are you familiar with the Homeschool Freebie of the Day? This is a wonderful resource that you can sign up for and it will come to your mail box once a week with a list of the freebie for each day. They are on a break right now and won’t begin again until the end of June, but it is definitely worth checking out.

This site Christian Audio offers a free audio book to download each month.

Here is a very interesting article on Sergeant York (1887–1964). He was a Medal of Honor recipient. You can visit his home in Tennessee. There is also a movie about him, titled “Sergeant York” (1941). We’ve seen both and thoroughly enjoyed them.

And last I wanted to mention some books written by a friend of mine - Discovering God’s Names Products by Rachel Larkin. You can view them in my bookstore.

Let me know what you enjoy.

Finding Joy in the Journey, Phyllis

I would love to have the opportunity to keep in touch with you. Please sign up to be notified of new entries and to receive my Free E-zine. (Your address will not be shared) Sign me up!

Phyllis Sather

Proclaiming God’s Faithfulness at:

http://www.Phyllis-Sather.com

© 2009 Phyllis Sather All rights reserved

Contact me at: Phyllis@Phyllis-Sather.com

I recently purchased a GPS in preparation for a trip that my Emily, Rebekah and I will be making without the benefit of having Dan and Eric along. Why? Because Eric and Dan have maps in their heads and the girls and I don’t.

I purchased it ahead of time so I could test it out in territory that I was familiar with and get used to how it works. After programming in directions from our house to town, we enjoyed the little voice telling us when and where to turn.

Coming home things got a little frustrating. Mac, as I’ve named my GPS, decided I should go home the way he chose, but I decided to see what he would do if I chose a different way. I turned down Hwy. 15 and Mac immediately said, “Make a U turn as soon as possible.” I ignored him and made my next turn onto Hwy. 94 headed toward home. Mac immediately said I should exit on Hwy. 23 and go north. This little machine was continually correcting my course to get me back to the way he determined that I should go. Going north on 23 would have taken me right back to town and to the road he wanted me to use to go home.

Isn’t this how God works with us? We ask, and He determines the best course for us. Then we take a wrong turn in an attempt to go our own way. He corrects us immediately by asking us to turn around and go back to His way. If we don’t respond, He continues to give us opportunities to correct our course and get back to the way He has chosen for us.

Isn’t this a simple but profound picture of our Lord? I know Mac will be an ongoing reminder to me to check in with God’s GPS and be sure I’m following His chosen path.

Psalm 15:11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life; in thy presence is fulness of joy; at they right hand there are pleasures forevermore.

Finding Joy in the Journey,
Phyllis

A funny thing happened to us on the way to study God’s Word:

My husband Dan usually reads to us in the evening. He reads a Proverb, and then a chapter out of      whatever book of the Bible we are reading through. Saturday we started the book of Hosea, which is the story of Hosea and his adulteress wife. When we sat down to read last night Dan prefaced his reading with, “Kids, this next chapter is going to be about your mother.” Yikes! All I could think of was that we were reading Hosea. I wasn’t sure what was in chapter 2 but I certainly didn’t think it could possibly be anything about me. After seeing what must have been a look of horror on my face, he realized what had happened. He said, “Honey, we are starting out with Proverbs 31.”

I would love to have the opportunity to keep in touch with you. Please sign up to be notified of new entries and to receive my Free E-zine. (Your address will not be shared)

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Phyllis Sather
Proclaiming God’s Faithfulness at:
http://www.Phyllis-Sather.com

© 2009 Phyllis Sather
All rights reserved

Contact me at: Phyllis@Phyllis-Sather.com