Hope Lives Here.

I love being a part of something that is bigger than me.

Tuesday, Melissa, Vicky = Rockstars.

I love breathing Hope into a situation that seems otherwise Hopeless.

I love serving alongside of friends and strangers alike - all with one purpose in mind.

Food for 5,000

I love being the physical hands and feet of Jesus - in whatever capacity I am able - and in whatever way He sees fit for me to serve.  I think it's kind of my sweet spot.  On a Sunday morning at church, I love the whirling and swirling crazy of three services back to back to back.  I love seeing new faces and hugging old friends.  I love offering a cup of hot coffee that's free or holding the door open for a sweet little family who has arrived looking frazzled and worn. 

 

 Clothes and shoes.  All for free.

And I love the looks on their faces once they get settled and situated.  

Once I can see that they know they are HOME.

Here, they are safe.  Here, they are wanted.  Here, they are loved.

We are messy.

We aren't perfect.

But we have Jesus.

And we will show Him to you...

hotdogs, soda, juice, fruit, chips - all free.

That's my church, to me.

That's my Home.

That's the Hope I love to bring...

And I love how I feel on a Sunday afternoon - like I've just run a marathon tired - but filled to the tippy top brim with Him.  Because when we "do it as unto the least of these, we do it unto Him." 

When we offer a warm smile, or when we help someone to their seats...

When we hold the doors open in the rain, or when we make sure the toilet paper dispenser never runs out...

When we sing our song set - even if we're all a hot mess of mistakes...

Or when we see someone who feels Hopeless, and we stop and show them Love...

Lara, Morgan, Sarah = Rockstars.
Haircuts and manicures.  All free.

When we offer what we have -- small though it may be -- and when we pray:  "Lord, take it all - every bit of it - and breathe Your life and grace into it.  I pour it at Your feet, and You multiply it, grow it, do with it what you will - because it's all about You in the first place...."

Mary Kay girlies - facials and goodie bags.  All free.

When you have a whole group of people who love Jesus and who do that all together...

Well, that kind of makes for the best day ever.

Yesterday, on the Bangor Waterfront, our church along with several others teamed up with the Convoy of Hope, and we set up camp with the sole intent and purpose of being Jesus to our City.  Every single thing was free.  Anyone could come and receive a bag of groceries, free clothing, free food, haircuts, facials, manicures, dental or doctor consultations, and counseling - all for free.  And they could listen to fun back to back concerts by different local artists, eat some free food, and play as a family in our Kids Zone.

This was my Home all day:

Twas the City of Inflatables!

It was all fun and good until the Generator would blow, and then we'd have to fish the kids out of the quickly deflating obstacle course!  This just added to the adventure of the day...

Life was never meant to be lived alone.

We were never intended to weather storms by ourselves.

And even though people are messy and relationships are hard...

Even though we don't all always see eye to eye, and we all make mistakes...

Life is better together.

It's always better together.

Rockstars.  And a nursing tent for sweet Mamas....even though there's a Daddy in there right now..

No church is perfect.  This I know full well to be true. 

And we're all works in progress.

We all do dumb things and we all make mistakes.

But, when you have a whole bunch of messy people trying to do this Journey with Jesus the best that they know how... 

That's when He steps in and does business.

That's when the water gets turned into wine.

And that's when a whole lot of ashes get made into something of beauty.

God's specialty is Redemption...

And I want in.

Hope Lives Here.

Come and see for yourselves....

Soft Launch.

Last week was our very first week of our brand new 2015-2016 school year.

Not gonna' lie.  This is my first year of schooling 3 little boys at 3 different grade levels, and while I was looking over my curriculum during the summer...I honestly couldn't wrap my brain around how I was going to be able to cover an overview of the World with Ransom, the Eastern Hemisphere with Kaden, and Ancient History with Jesse -- all the while wrangling a whirling dervish toddler all day.

And so, I jumped ship.

The totes are ORANGE, people.  Orange.  Not pink.

I was not excited about the curriculum I had purchased.  It was stressing me out to no end.
And so, just days before I was to begin my school year, I boxed everything up, shipped it back, and started all over again.

This will my first year of trying out My Father's World Curriculum.  They recommend everyone's first year to begin with Exploring Countries and Cultures, so that's what we're going to do.  It's perfect for my boys' grades, because it's specifically designed for families of multi-aged children, with the idea that the parent purchases only one full curriculum package.  Everyone is learning the same thing, just at different levels.  So, when it comes time for papers to be written etc. - Kaden is expected to write a 5th grade level paper, while Jesse is only required to write at 2nd grade level.

There is a five-year Family Learning Cycle which begins with this one-year foundation in Geography and Cultures followed by four years of chronological history.  I'm weak in Geography, so I'm actually kind of excited about this year.

This new curriculum simplifies my day, and it also has all of us learning lots of things together, which I really love.  The boys will still have their own Math, Language, Spelling, Phonics, and Vocabulary, but we will be doing Bible, History, Art, and Science all together.  I like that.

Word.

Last week was our "Soft Launch."  We're figuring out our rhythm, trying to get the order of our day down, deciding which subjects need to come first while our brains are still fresh, setting up independent work for one while working one-on-one with another etc.  We've already learned that none of us are much good for anything in the afternoons, so we need to really kill it in the morning.  All important things to be figuring out.

We're deciding what extras to add in:  soccer and tae-kwon-do are on the table right now.  Mama wants to add some music lessons in, but the Hoolies aren't thrilled with that idea, so we're still discussing.  I don't like when our plates get too full, and neither do they.  I'm still a huge proponent of free time and play - and I think this generation of kids has so little time to just "be kids," so we are working hard to find the balance.  

We're getting the bugs worked out.

And I'm getting creative at keeping London busy.  She has her own little basket of "treasures" that we rotate throughout the day until naptime:  markers, play-doh, crayons, stickers, beads, stampers, little notebooks etc. She loves to clean, so I'll give her a wetty wipe and let her go to town "washing" whatever her little heart desires.  And when she gets really crazy, I just chuck her in the bathtub which is right off the kitchen and let her "swim" while I work with one of the boys at the table.  It works.

It's tradition, that I always have something fun for the first day of school.  We Bookers are all about the food, so usually I just have a bunch of fun foodies for them all throughout the day.  We had Eggo waffles for breakfast, pizza rollers and tater tots for lunch (gross...but the boys were in Heaven!), a peach coffee cake for our mid-morning snack break, and something else simple and fun for supper.  (I honestly can't remember what it was now.  My brain is mush).

My processed apologies....

I don't have the time, nor the mental bandwidth to create cute snacks or do fun crafting, but I really do believe that it doesn't take much to still make things fun and special.  I bought them each their own $1 crate to put all of their supplies in.  And we had food that we don't normally eat.  Simple stuff, but out of the ordinary, so it was fun.

And then on the weekend, we celebrated.

We had just completed our year's first week of school.  The boys are all one grade older.  Ransom is an official Kindergarten-er.  Mama (somewhat) successfully taught three boys simultaneously.  London (for the most part) stayed entertained and out of trouble.  This is reason to play!  Celebrate the milestones, Baby!

Mt. Battie.  My Happy Place.

 Only 36 weeks left to go!