I am a Midwest farm girl, currently living in the country, but not on a farm. (There is a difference.) I am a Christian, maybe not outspoken, but deeply committed. I am proud to be married to Paul - my husband, and truly my best friend. We have four children - Nathan, who was born in September 2007, and Jacob, who was born in October 2009, a beautiful daughter, Zadie, born April 2012, and our youngest son, Gideon, born December 2013. I love being a Mommy! (Okay, yes, there are definitely "those days".....) But I do love playing with them, watching them learn and discover, and most of all, hearing them laugh.
I also like to spend time with my husband, garden, plant flowers, sing, play music (piano mostly), spend time with my family and friends, laugh, and just enjoy life. I am definitely a home-body, and I don't like to go places unless I just have to - partly because going places usually involves spending money! I like to try to do things the "old-fashioned" way, and I've done these things since before it was "cool" or "green" - which includes making most of our meals from scratch, canning and freezing things from the garden, breast-feeding, hanging clothes on the line, using cloth diapers, and growing herbs.
I am passionate about a few things in life: The necessity of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the rights of the pre-born, Creationism, and debt-free living.
I am the second of four children - three girls and one brother. (Yes, we tortured him.) I grew up living and working on my parents' farm. Jobs that I held as a teen were babysitting, baking pies for a local restaurant, working at a couple daries, and working at a Christian bookstore (the job I held for 6 years, up until I had our first child). My parents instilled a work ethic in all of us, and I applied that work ethic at work (when I got paid), but I have a hard time applying it to housework and weeding. I respect and admire my parents more than I usually say.
I decided to follow Christ when I was 8 years old. It may have even been my father-in-law that gave the message during AWANA that I responded to - knowing that I needed to accept the Savior's payment for my sins..... I deserve to die to pay for my sins. Christ was sinless, but gave His life anyway, to pay my debt. I doubted that I had "done it right" for several years (I thought it was an exact wording of a special prayer), but somewhere when I was about 11 or 12, I just became sure. I'm not saying I never questioned God's ways, but I never questioned that He was in control.
I was home-schooled from 6th grade until I graduated from high school. My husband was also home-schooled from 4th grade through graduation (he's the older of 2 children). We both really enjoyed the experience, and are home-schooling our own children. I see no reason to let them get lost, neglected, and corrupted in the public school system, when I have the time and ability to teach them myself. (Read my entry on "Why We Homeschool".)
I met Paul when I was 5 and he was 7. His mom was my piano teacher. We eventually started attending the same church. I fell hopelessly in love with him when I was 19, despite every effort to get over him. He finally decided that he shared my feelings, and we went on our first "real" date a couple months before I turned 21, in April of 2003 (being friends for 15 years, we'd gone on dates before, just hadn't called them that), and were married just under a year later.
I have lots of things I have opinions about, but if you're reading my blog, you probably have already caught on to that. I don't mean to offend, but I hold deeply to my convictions. I keep this blog for myself, mainly, as a journal for me to remember events, and to record when I have thoughts worth noting. I'm not out to get followers, although I do sometimes promote my blog.
Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you enjoy reading.
