"The way of Genuineness"

Genuine: adjective

1.

possessing the claimed or attributed character, quality, or origin; not counterfeit; authentic; real:

genuine sympathy; a genuine antique.

2.    free from pretense, affectation, or hypocrisy; sincere



















      a genuine person.

A few years ago there was a wave of bloggers telling readers that we all needed to let it all hang-out for the benefit of being "genuine".

My contention there was that I was raised to be a private person, my business was to be my own, our families' business was to be our own.

The other thing that plagued my thoughts was
Proverbs 12:23 "A prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims foolishness.
1 Peter 4:8 "And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins." It just felt like we were all too quick to talk poorly about our children & spouses. I felt gut punched just attempting to read some of those blog posts. I couldn't physically stomach them. Maybe I'm sensitive, but if you know me, you know that's not likely. However it felt like there were mainly two types of Homeschool mom bloggers. The moms who had it all together & were the perfection we all aspired to be or the moms who shared every dark corner of their children's & spouse's lives, even the embarrassing parts that were sensitive topics & maybe shouldn't be shared with complete strangers. Still, one of the biggest issues I find with new Homeschools moms is that they will be following a mom who seems like perfection, trying to follow suit & feeling like a complete & total failure. She sees this mom with disabled children, or many children or (insert special circumstance that makes her a Homeschool hero here) & we all marvel at her wondering how she's so amazing & how we can't manage to get the kids' to actually brush their hair even though they said they did? That's just me? lol We don't have to share every horrid detail of our lives with ppl but flat out lying about who we are is also not an option. I'm not even just referring to the bloggers. We see it on Facebook & Instagram too. Moms who seem like they have it all together but those closer to the lens know fully well most of what she's posting isn't (uhm) reality. I am not trying to be mean or catty, I hate catty. I am saying this because my heart is to encourage mothers & you have no idea how many mothers feel inept when they are doing a fine job, simply because they see "Lizzy the Liar" pretending she's got it all together when she deferentially doesn't. I am not saying she needs to share all her faults & trials, I sure don't. But certainly don't lie about what you are doing. Women, we have to see that when we are competing with this pretend woman, who doesn't exist except in our minds, we have a problem with ourselves & the person we really are. We don't have to devalue other mothers & we don't have to lie about who we are to be liked. People will like us for our genuineness without having to drag out all our dirty laundry to seem "real" or for attention. Be an encourager, be honest, protect your loved ones from judgement of people who don't get the benefit of hearing their side of the story. Could you imagine all your faults being online for all eternity? More so, can you imagine all the women we discourage because we don't like ourselves enough to admit the truth about ourselves? The reality is that if we are making up what our "reality" is then we really don't like ourselves much. There's no need to do that to anyone else because we are too insecure to be honest. Encourage each other with genuineness & you will reap the rewards.

































































































































1 Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.

Completely Afraid to Fail!

Every parent is afraid to fail their child, to fail as a parent. Deep down inside no matter how many "right things" we do, no matter how many things from Pinterest you actually made or accomplished, we still lay in bed at night thinking of all the "bad things" we did or the things we didn't do.

In part that's a good thing. Mulling over our mistakes and thinking of ways not to make them again so that we're not always in that niche of failure, is the thing from which growth is born from. Those are moments of reflection that enable us to be closer to where we need to be on this parenting trip. Of course one can easily get lost in the city of despair, fear, anger, even victimization. It's a norrow road and we have to be so careful to navigate the terrains with delicacy and grace.

Social media, with its many wonderful qualities is the one place where you can simultaneously feel wonderful and worthless about your self, about your parenting. It's a place where we can encourage each other on this trip, even if everyone's route looks different, our final destinations are the same. 

However too often when we feel embittered by our own mistakes, that niche that we've carved out for ourselves, either on purpose or by mistake, we take to social media for a little game of "but at least I'm better than..." to make ourselves feel better about our own terrain. And that's when we've veered off the road & slamed ourselves into a massive tree & fallen into a ditch. What a tragedy. That with all the gifts God has given each of us to be able to love on others, encourage them, come along side them, built them up, etc... that we chose the less worthy path, the less loving path. 

We chose to hurt others, either to their face or behind their back, in order to attempt to make ourselves feel better about our own crumby realities. Often making up lies about people we don't even really know much about & spreading them like truth. This also goes for those listening to the foolishness as well. We all have to do our part to not feed this soul sucking behavior. It's unhealthy, unchristlike, unloving, uncaring and a whole lot more un-words....folks, it's just not good. It dimishes your spiritual life and walk, it diminishes friendships, you dilute yourself into believing your mess isn't so bad instead of working on it, and oh, so much more. 

We are so worried about how green or brown, how tall, how messy the grass next door is, peeking over that fence, giving tips and criticizing the process of the grass' owner. That we have forgotten that we planted our own grass seeds and never actually watered the grownd. How true also is this scenario in our own parenting lives? 

"Can you believe Anne, she runs around town all day taking her kids to activities? When do those poor kids rest?" 

"Can you believe Diane, she allows her kids to have electronics at the dinner table?" 

"Can you believe Mary, she's still breastfeeding that kid of hers!" 

"Can you believe Jennifer, she hasn't finished last year's curriculum yet!" 

I suggest that before we dive head first into criticism that maybe we take a magnifying glass into our own lives and really dig deep for why those things matter so much to us. 

Do we feel inferior to Diane because her kids attend many events & maybe we deep down fear that we aren't "socializing" our children enough? Do we wonder if we are ever doing a disservice to our kids by limiting their electronic usage as much as we do? Are we upset we didn't breastfeed or breastfeed as long as Mary is? Are we upset that Jennifer has taken lots of breaks through out her homeschool year to enjoy the snow, the beach, the park, have a vacation, that her kids enjoy learning while we have to beg our kids to sit and listen to us teach? 

Ted Trip wrote in "Sheperading a Child's Heart" that everything was a heart issue. He gave the scenario that one child was playing with a toy, then another child shows up and wants to play with the same toy. The second child has no patients and snatches the toy away, both children are now fighting and crying. Who do you discipline? Well, both kids. One child's heart issues are easy and evident. He is selfish, greedy and has no patients. He snatched a toy away and couldn't wait for his turn with the toy. He wanted a toy that was already being used and couldn't find anything else to do but snatch the toy away. However the other child is equally to blame. The second child saw that the first wanted the toy and was also greedy and selfish. Why couldn't he just have shared the toy or been content to give it away and find a new toy? 

How does this relate? That it made me see that adults were just the same. If I was being attacked for homeschooling my kids instead of becoming defensive I looked at the source. Oh, these people criticize have this going on....I can see why it would be easier to point and criticize my family loudly when their's is fallen apart. Or something to that effect. Everything is a heart issue. I realized the attack came from someone likely jealous of my family. Look for the root and pray that God removes it from you heart and your spirit and then pray for the people who were ready to criticize. Growth comes from repentance. Repentance being that we turn away from our actions that displease God. 

I ask you to look to your own heart issues the next time the desire to criticize someone else's life comes up. Instead, attempt through His mercy and grace to turn it into an opportunity of love and service either by praying for the person or meeting some need you see.  Our perceptions aren't all wrong. Maybe Jennifer hasn't finished last year's curriculum because she had a baby or a few illnesses or has a parent dying. Maybe she needs a hand or a dinner delivered. Our perceptions aren't all bad, it's just a matter of what we do with them. 

What will you do with them? 

"Let us not become tired of doing good." Galatians 6:9 NIRV

James 1:27

Micah 6:8

Colossians 3:17

James 4:17

Hebrew 10:24

I'm the crazy one organizing everything. I really enjoy organizing. It brings me happiness and peace. 

Happy First Day of HomeSchool 2015-2016

Today we enjoyed our first day of the 2015-2016 school year. I'll give you the short version though. 

The itinerary went like this:

Kids wake up & find the kitchen table set up with their goodie bags (design your own travel mugs filled with Hershey's kisses & silly string), construction paper, markers, stickers, etc...so that they can design their placemats & travel mugs. They find the chocolate chip banana nut muffins & eat up as they design away.

Grandpa arrives and we hang out with him. They play outside. We take our first day of school pictures. Daddy takes the kids to the yard and they have "silly string fun". We hop in the mini van, with their newly designed travel mugs filled with (a special treat) tea with cream and sugar & a corn muffin for each. We drive to our church & our local schools to pray for the kids, teachers, staff & the up coming school year.  We get back home and watch a movie. We eat dinner and give God the glory for the gift of being able to homeschool. We bring out the cake & daddy goes around the table praying for each child & thanking God for each of their individual personalities, individuality & gifts. We told jokes for about half and hour and finally everyone was off to brush their teeth and head to bed for the night. 

Tomorrow we start the first day of our curriculum. I've done My Father's World kindergarten twice already & am thrilled at the chance to do it a third time now with Jojo. I love this curriculum & couldn't be happier to be doing it again. Luna will be totschooling with a mixture of shelf work and totboxes. Lily and Mathias will be starting My Father's World Exploring Countries and Cultures. I'm so excited about this school year, the older kids will be learning about missionaries & so much more but mainly I'm excited about the emphasis on missions work. 

That was today in a nutshell. I think I slept 3hrs because I was up baking and preparing the goodie bags. They each were specially designed, they had individual scriptures & other things I was doing after they went off to bed. It's time to call it a night. Tomorrow will be a learning day for me as I figure out how to balance schoolwork with Jojo, Luna, Lily & Mathias. In the past most of Jojo's totschooling was done independently of me so that I could get school done with Mathias and Lily. I'm a bit intimidated but I know that the Lord will sustain me as long as I keep near to Him. He is Good! 

I pray your school year is full of blessings and joy. God Bless. 

This is what they woke up to this morning.

Even Vida got involved...

Silly string fun...

Mugs and muffins ready to go.

Chocolate Cake, prayers and blessings...oh and knock knock jokes... 😂

Rejection & Security

My blog is intended to be a homeschool blog, really a way to document things in our day to day so this topic is out of left field. I do think it's vital so please indulge me if you will.

As a Christian I know that I need Jesus because I'll never be perfect enough for Heaven. I need Jesus to trade my sins for His righteousness. I am aware of my shortcomings & if you are around me for any amount of time you too will be aware of my shortcomings. Knowing how faulty we are we know to look to Jesus for His perfect righteousness.

We were also made to desire acceptance because there is this giant Jesus sized whole in our hearts & only He can fill that void we feel. We go through life seeking His acceptance mostly never realize it we already have it, Christians struggle with this. We have come up in an era where secular humanism is all we hear even from pulpits & "christian books". We are told that we must find our value & worth in what we feel we are. Don't like what you are? Change it. Go back to school, study a new area of field, get a new career, marry a new person, abandon your family to go on an excursion that will make you feel fulfilled or go on a missions trip (sans family). After all you have to make yourself the priority of your life. But is that biblical? Did a Jesus that commanded us to deny ourselves & fallow him really have those things in mind when He was telling us to pick up our cross & follow Him? I'm sure you know the answer.

The reality though is that we often get caught up in the "what do they/I think of me" game. Instead of "what has Christ called me to" reality.  When we try to measure our self worth on the things we have accomplished, are accomplishing or the approval of others we are left VOID. There will always be a new fad & our old accomplishments will soon wilt. The fads will change & those who once approved of us will have moved on to a new fad which we no longer will fit into. In order to "fit in" again we'll have to adapt.

Why then, should we base our self worth on what others thinks of us, what we think they think of us or even what we think of us? Our self worth should be as believers/Christians, found in Christ. What He thinks of us & feels for us.

I never fit in as a kid, as an adult I still don't fit in...I'm uniquely made. I'm not made on an assembly line. My life is not going to look like all the other 31 year old Argentine women who have married 32 year old Puerto Rican men. My life wont look like the life of other homeschoolers, cloth diaperers (partially), mom of 5/6 children, mom who lost a child to trisomy 13, mom who is pregnant, mom who uses essential oils in conjunction with traditional medicines, mom who gets lots of migraines, mom who nurses, mom with hyperemesis gravidarum, mom who hasn't had all her kids fully or at all vaccinated, mom who loves to bake, mom who hates to do dishes, mom who has low blood sugar, mom who adores her hubby, mom with nerve damage, mom who enjoys her alone time when her kids are in bed sleeping & doesn't really enjoy "girls night out", mom who wishes she had any artistic or musical talent, etc...Point blank, I'm different. My differences pulled me away from people at one point but now they have helped me to mature & have helped me to love others.

It wasn't until I was secure in the difference that Christ has allowed in me that I became laid back in the differences God allowed in others. When I was insecure in myself & sought validation & acceptance I needed everyone to be just like me. Essentially I invalidated & didn't accept others because of my own insecurities. If a mom didn't nurse her kids, didn't homeschool her kids, didn't cloth diaper, gave her kids soda, etc... she wasn't in my feeble mind a "good mother". God through His mercies & wisdom matured me in these areas & now if a mom didn't or doesn't nurse, cloth diaper, homeschool or if she does allow coke/pepsi to her child, if her kids are all fully vaccinated, if her kids are in public school, etc... I no longer measure their worth as a person & mother by her choices. She's no worst a mother than say I am in spite of our differences. Our differences are just that, differences.

When I sought my validation from Christ I saw that we are just made different in the image of God. He released me from the bondage of needing to be "accepted" & from the sin of hurting others through my own insecurities. When I realized this, I was not just free to be myself with out always needing to apologize for myself i.e: "We homeschool but we love teachers, most of our closest friends are teachers" (true story). I can now say "yeah, we homeschool" & move on with out adding what curriculum I use, why I use it, why my kids are homeschooled, why we don't want to put them in public schools, why we love teachers in general but still don't feel called to put our kids in school, etc...Like wise with every other parental choice we had made. Now I just am comfortable with me, with my family & the choices that my husband & I made for us through Christ & through prayer. I also was free to truly love my sisters, with all their differences. I was free not to push my baggage on to their shoulders & undervalue them in order to bring myself up.

I see the pain in so many of my sisters in Christ, the constant need to explain themselves or to get defensive, mean spirited, nasty even when a subject that they are insecure (although they fake security) in comes up. If she public schools she screams at you about how her kids are called to be "salt & light" & if she didn't nurse her kids she tells you that she tried everything she could & her "breast were just broken", if she vaccinated & some how also ended up with a child with a condition she explains to you how she doesn't blame the vaccines & how she never even questions it, even though it seems she does since she brought it up. To be clear, I am not anti vaccines per say, I know lots of moms who have children on the spectrum & never had their kids vaccinated, I personally don't blame vaccines for autism nor do I find anything "wrong" with autistic children. My unvaccinated kids are not unvaccinated because I fear autism. I am clearing that up to avoid a vaccine/autism debate. All I am saying is that once you are truly secure in your choices and life events you don't feel compelled to plead your case to others or to invalidate them because of their life events or life choices. You recognize that you're just different.

Yes people can be hostile, nasty & even accusatory but it doesn't mean you have to meet them at their level. You realize this when God gives you a peace in the person He is transforming you into by the renewing of your mind. I've been accused of not trusting my children because I don't send them to public schools. To be transparent, it's true, I don't trust my kids at all, they are 8,6,4&2 & I personally don't think it wise to trust them at this junction of their young lives. I wasn't though going to sit there & have this conversation with a person who had made up their mind about me, my motives, my person merely because she had in the past been made to feel like less of a person, a mother, a woman for not homeschooling her own. I'm also not saying that other moms who have children the ages of my own shouldn't trust their kids. Kudos to those moms. I wasn't even humiliated when she shouted at me, jumping up & down & shaking her finger in my direction even though it was done in the company of other women. On the contrary I felt sorry for her. I felt so much pain for the amount of hurt she had received at the hands of another self conscious, unhappy, insecure, rejected woman(en). My heart hurt for her & for the woman(en) who made her feel that way. I recognized her tantrum. I am sure I had had the same one at some point. I felt for her & for all the other women who go about life acting self assured & self reliant but who fall to pieces if what they have placed their self worth on has been, in their minds, called into question, even if it hasn't at all been mentioned.

Please pray for these sisters & the next time one attacks you remember she hasn't yet found her value in Christ alone. Even if she seems like the most assured woman in the room, if she's cutting anyone else up, she isn't assured at all.

What does God think about you?

• For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope" [Jeremiah 29:11]
• Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done; and Your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to You in order; if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. [Psalms 40:5]
• Because of God's great love for us, we are adopted into His family [1 John 3:1], and made joint heirs with Christ [Romans 8:17]
• We are made to sit in heavenly places with Christ [Ephesians 2:6]
• We are blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ [Ephesians 1:3]
• We are the righteousness of Christ through faith, thus being made right before God [Romans 3:22]
• Our sins have been removed from us as far as the east is from the west [Psalms 103:12], and God Himself has chosen not to remember our failures [Hebrews 8:12]
• We are loved with the same love that the Father has for Jesus Himself! [John 17:23]

How does Rejection look like in our life?

Rebellion i.e "I know that's what scripture says, but clearly that doesn't apply to me".

Fabricated personalities (being somebody you aren't, in order to be accepted).

The tendency to reject others, so that you aren't the first one to be rejected.

A tendency to always wonder if a person rejects or accepts you.

The need to fit in or be accepted by others and be a part of everything. Including stopping in the middle of one conversation to jump into another conversation you weren't a part of leaving the people who were initially talking to you feeling rejected themselves.

Self-pity where a person feels bad for themselves being all alone.

Inability to be corrected or receive constructive criticism after all you feel you're always right.

Rejection creates an environment where you are starved for love, attention (lime light always has to be centered on you) or "just don't fit in".

A tendency to blame God, "Why did He give me this big nose? Why did God allow me to be so hurt my others?".

A sense of pride that says, "How dare they reject me!".

Opinionated personality and the need to be right about things i.e "there is only one way to educate your kids, one way to raise them, one way to lead your marriage, etc...everyone else is wrong".

Feelings of worthlessness, insecurity, or hopelessness.

Seeking a parent's approval being in your adulthood trying to please them, is a sign that your basing your identity upon what they think of you.

Envy, jealousy, and even hate can be rooted in rejection.

Paranoid "No one likes me & no one wants to be my friend". Even though you're the one pushing everyone away.

Fear of confrontation (because your identity is based upon what they think of you).

Check your own hearts & if these ugly manifestations of rejection come up remember that your worth is in Christ alone. Ask God to help you change & make a conscious effort to be more Christ centered & not so self centered. If you see them rise up in others, remember to have a soft heart towards them & to pray for their walk & their eyes to be open to the general pain that their baggage is causing others.

In Christ, Your Sister in the Faith. 

Our Official First Day & First Week of School Has Now Come & Gone.

We chose Labor Day as our official back to school day mainly bacause daddy had the day off and we wanted him to be part of the festivities. However technically we've actually done 40days of school since June 8th, 2014. We were moving slowly but now that the official school year has started in our home we'll be schooling daily. At least until Noevemeber when we go on break until February 2015. Our sixth baby is due on Thanks Giving (November 27th) and I want a school break before the baby is born & soon after she's born. 

First, I made pancakes while the kids made themselves their own placemats, I later laminated their placemats. 

Here's what they woke up to. I mixed all the dry pancake ingredients the night before. Each child had their own table seating marked by their grade level. 

They were really enjoying making their placemats as I made their pancakes...

Second, we sat down & enjoyed the pancakes as a family but I forget to take the picture...

Third, we jumped in the car & went to our local elementary school, middle school & highschool & we prayed for the students, teachers, staff & for their new school year. The kids enjoyed that very much. 

Fourth, we then came back home where I cleaned up our breakfast mess while daddy & the kids had a water gun fight outside. They were sorta socked after. Daddy got some pictures of his soaked children. They had kinda dried out by then though. It was a hot & humid.

Fifth we had a BBQ. I don't know why by my kids are slightly crazed anbout having BBQs, so they loved this too. Esp because daddy makes the best food ever & our pastor dropped by to eat with us which thrilled them. 

Sixth the kids had the neighbor kids over until it got dark out, playing in the yard. 

Seventh they made themselves individual mini pizzas, we then ate them.

We finally ended the night with a bonfire, family devotions, s'mores, & daddy prayed blessings over each child. It was a great day. 

Here's we go guys, have a blessed school year. By the way don't forget that Homeschool Day is Friday, September 12th this year. Plan sso thing fun...enjoy the day. Enjoy the school year.