Leavin' On A Jet Plane

I'm about to board a plane and head to Cambodia. My mama heart is feeling a bit weepy tonight. Yesterday while I was packing and my sweet Ady realized that all of this talk about Cambodia meant mommy wouldn't be home. She completely melted down {all the while Avy was throwing stuff in my suitcase}. We had a little cuddle and cry time. Today they have both turned on the sappiness. Avy has been a little extra clingy and Ady has actually voiced her feelings, "Mama, I'm going to cry for you when you go to Cambodia." Yeah......they are making this super easy-not.

I figure I should get the sad feelings out of my system before I board the first plane. So, I decided to reminisce. 

I took my 1st mission trip when I was 14. It was actually a local one. A small portion of the youth group stayed in the dorms of a center-city outreach driven church. I learned about apart of town I never knew existed in the very city I was born and raised. It was life changing to see that level poverty in my own city {homes without running water, another home where a prostitute raised her children and serviced her clients without a bedroom door}. To this day I think about those kids. I pray for them. I wonder how they are doing and how old they are. They still have my heart.

When I was 15 I had the amazing privileged of attending a private Christian school that took an annual mission trip {with excused absences that didn't count against you!} to Acuna. Mexico.

 We went to neighborhoods like this. The homes where made of scrap wood, cinder blocks, and cardboard boxes. {Most of the houses were made of cardboard.}The water they drank was kept in a huge uncovered barrel outside the home. It was not the kind of water any of us would even want to water the yard with.

We got to play with these awesome kids. We handed out suckers and stickers. We prayed over them and invited them to church. I think about these kids all the time too. In this area alcoholism is a huge problem and there are a lot of single mamas.

I got to meet this cutie-pie cowboy at a church service way out in the country where the air actually smelt like....weed {as in marijuana}. Yep, you could smell it just walking down the street. After that trip I wanted to move to Mexico forever. I wanted to be a missionary.

I went again on the same trip when I was a 16. This time we worked mainly in the mission and not in the neighborhoods. We handed out food and took care of the kids that showed up throughout the day.

I met these sweet sisters. 

I also got strep-throat before even arriving {woke up in San Angelo with it}. Then while in Mexico I contracted an eye infection that lasted three months and was painful to say the least. My eye doctor had never seen anything like it and I had to have a culture done every week. Yes, every week they scraped my eye ball. After that trip I never wanted to go back. In my heart I did, but I just knew if I did I would get sick. Weird way of thinking....maybe...

Except....

Now I'm off to Cambodia and guess what? Every kid in my house is coughing, really bad coughing. The kind of coughing that gets me out of bed. So, I figure this short-term missionary stuff {even if it's been 11 years} is something the Lord really wants me to do. He provided ALL the funds for this trip in a matter of days. He paved a clear path for me and with the amazing support from my hubby I'm GOING! Because the devil can't win.

Today I prayed for a scripture. "Lord, almost all my kids are still suffering from this nasty cough. I'm going to miss my family like crazy. I'm coughing just a bit too. Can you give me a verse to cling to?" I read 1 Cor. 13. It is 13 verses long {you should read it}. It is the verses to the song my Brenly Bear danced to at her recital. The very last verse is my clinging verse. {We also got married on the 13th, so it's a number I like. Full of love not unluckiness.}

"But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love." 1 Cor. 13:13

Thank you Jesus for the sweet words! I can trust YOU! I can share your hope. My purpose for going on this trip is to LOVE your children.

So, I'll leave you with this....

This is from the 1st trip to Mexico. I really like goats.

Blessings,

~Hailey

Oh Nevermind...

You know that moment when you realize maybe you jumped the gun? Well, I faced this moment just days after posting my last blog. I had to face the cold hard fact that my heart still wanted to homeschool the kids. So, Mackey and I had a long hard talk {I mean loooonnnggg & hard.} I faced my fears and confronted my weaknesses. I had a hard year with school in 2012 and I was still very drained from it. We had just moved into a new home with a project around every corner and boxes to the ceiling. It is summer and I just wanted to have FUN!! I made the decision out of weariness and feelings of being overwhelmed. I am retracting my last statement and 

WE WILL BE HOMESCHOOLING 

this next school year.

I am changing things a little bit.For the first time I will be using a simpler, more planned out program and things like that. We are rejoining our local support group {I NEED PEOPLE}. We are changing our schedule to a 5 day school week and will be taking real breaks!

I don't know if giving my family the summer off was just what I needed to find my homeschoolin' mojo but it worked. I have a new perspective and eagerness to homeschool. I may seem like a wishy-washy person and that is ok, because it is a good thing to examine your heart and your motives and correct yourself when you get off course. I was getting off course, now I am back on. 

Here are our reasons for homeschooling. Why Homeschool? Blessings,
~Hailey   

Public School Here We Come

Closing the door to our one room school house...

When we made the hardcore decision to homeschool and never look back I really thought I would be graduating the kids from homeschool. I pictured them walking across the stage with their homeschoolin' buddies and patting myself on the back as I wipe a tear {or Mackey pats me on the back as I sob uncontrollably}. 

We homeschooled for only three short...long...short years. And now my hubs and I both know in our hearts that the homeschooling season is over. I never expected this and it has not been an easy decision. I thought it would help me through the transition of a house full of kids to absolutely none {for several hours a day anyway} if I could put into words just a few things I am taking away from our experience. 

1. The education of my children is my responsibility. Mine and Mackey's. It is up to us to see them through school. Encourage them to study. Study with them. Check in with their teachers. Tutor them through their weaknesses. Although they will be enrolled in public school, their teachers are my partners and they are not solely responsible for their growing minds. The Lord gave that responsibility to Mackey and me.

2. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing your kids achieve greatness. We are hands-on parents and wont miss a thing! Because we homeschooled I understand the challenges of teaching kids to read and understand math. Their success is worth celebrating and nothing is too small to celebrate! When my kids "get" something that has been challenging I will know to congratulate them and their teacher.  

3. Although my kids are young they can still impact their peers. Because my kids are young they can be easily impacted by their peers. See, this one is a double-edged sword and I am not naive to it. I understand that my kids are too young to be "sent into the mission field" and "to be light in a dark place." If public school is a dark place and a mission field then I am joining my kids in their journey. This is hardly throwing them into the world or feeding them to the wolves. My husband and I will be very present in their lives. I will be occasionally joining them for lunch, volunteering to read, participating in field trips, and helping with class parties. There is plenty to do that encourages them in their new journey and lets them know we are in this school thing and this life thing TOGETHER.   

4. This last thing I am glad we learned outside the public school realm. Your kids/my kids/all kids do not need to participate in every activity to be happy, productive, good citizens. Keeping your kids busy with every little activity or sport doesn't keep them out of trouble! If extracurricular activities keep your family apart and out of church they aren't worth it. PERIOD! Having strong family bonds and helping your family grow spiritually is far more important than ANYTHING else. More important than trophies, gold medals, snowcones after the game, popularity, and even more important than the chance of scholarships. What most homeschool families have figured out or are aiming for anyway, is that nothing comes before God and family. Bible study, church, volunteering at church and in the community, local and international missions seems to be at the heart of many homeschool families. Our heart is there too. Public school wont change that. I believe it is giving us another way to reach out and touch the very heart of God, children.

So, this is where we stand. Obedience even when we don't want to, because I would rather be homeschooling the kids. I might cry or I might do a happy dance on August 26th, I'm not sure yet. I might do both! 

For my homeschoolin' friends, I love you! What ya'll do is amazing. I am very pro-homeschool and I am for you succeeding in the journey God has for you! I'm a little jealous it's not my journey anymore. 

Blessings,
~Hailey

May & June at Our House

When I started this blog I really hoped to actually write and post things...but...I haven't really. One thing that is easy enough to quickly post about are all the sudden changes that have taken place.

In May, Makena turned 7!

Quick...blow out the candles! We have to keep packing BECAUSE....

We moved {the yard looks better, it's one of our projects}. This house is a blessing from the Lord! We love the neighborhood. We have the option to buy it. It's in the same town as our church. It puts us in an amazing school district {um...why does that matter, we homeschool. More on that later.}. It is a "love gift" or a gift that needs a lot of love. It's a fixer-upper! We have painted almost the whole house, all but one small room.

Here is a little, although not well photographed, picture of my living room (before/after).

In the middle of moving our girls had their very first recital. Avy surprised us all and actually danced {because at the two dress rehearsals she panicked on stage and cried}. I am still in awe of how wonderfully they all performed!

Then, the twins turned 4!!

{Yeah, they had donuts to celebrate...we were after all in the middle of unpacking, organizing, decorating, painting, and this was only 3 days post recital. I'm tired.} 

To finish off June our wonderful in-laws came to town.

And there was lots of swimming!!

The end! 

~Now on to JULY~

Food...A Golden Calf

"When the people realized that Moses was taking forever in coming down off the mountain, they rallied around Aaron and said 'Do something. Make gods for us who will lead us. That Moses, the man who got us out of Egypt- who knows what's happened to him?'" Exodus 32:1 (MSG)

Their leader was gone and the people were without vision. They didn't have purpose. They didn't know who they were in the Lord. I don't think they even believed the Lord to be their deliverer. They even said, "That Moses, the man who got us out of Egypt". I believe that people need a leader. I believe people need a cause. They need identity.  They need  purpose. Without it they are lost and searching for something special and important to do or be apart of.

When we don't have these things it is so easy to pick up or create idols in our lives. Idolatry is an act of worship that begins in your heart and probably starts out slow and innocent. I know I have dealt with a great big fat idol in my heart! Healthy eating! It's not like I woke up one day {or ever} and thought, "I am going to worship healthy eating!" It happened slowly. Before I knew it our healthy lifestyle was the driving force of many relationships, how I spent my time, and how we spent our money. 

Eating healthy is good and we should all make responsible choices to honor the Lord with our bodies and our finances. That's right finances. There are 2,350 verses in the Bible about money. I'm not really writing about money today. However, when we talk about idols how we spend our money says a lot about the things we meditate on in our hearts.

Healthy eating was a place holder for my real purpose. My real purpose is loving Jesus and loving my neighbor. So now, I am getting more involved at church, going on a mission trip to Cambodia, and actively praying and seeking out other ways to give my time and resources. The Lord blesses us so we can be a blessing to others. We can't bless anyone if we are stretched financially thin and completely out of hours in our day because our focus is inward.

We all need to find a God fueled passion and pursue it! We all need leaders to help guide and direct us. Find a church to get involved in. Get a mentor to help you walk through life and grow in the purpose the Lord placed inside you. We all have something inside of us that longs to fulfill some great purpose, the Lord placed that in us. He wants us to be His hands and feet. He uses us to go all over the world and share His love!! We need to change our thinking to an eternal perspective. Life and death hang in the balance and as believers we have the power to impact people's lives for eternity! We should be growing heaven and shrinking hell, quite frankly, if we aren't doing this then we are failing as Christians.

The golden calf was not only a place holder for God it was also a distraction. It distracted the Hebrew people from fulfilling their purpose and taking their place as victorious children of God dwelling in their promised land. 

Are the choices you are making building a golden calf or growing the Kingdom of Heaven? We need to check our hearts and our outward lives.

"If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes...There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach..." Matthew 6:25-26 (MSG)

Blessings,
~Hailey

A Call

"My life was small, self-centered, isolated, petty, safe, and ineffective." -Lisa Bevere

Yep. That was me. But not anymore. I am finally answering the call to be the daughter, wife, mom, sister, friend, and woman the Lord wants me to be. Why now? I woke up. When I finally figured out what I am not I had to figure out what I want to be.


I am not that soccer mom with an ice chest full of goodies.
As a matter of fact, I am not that mom whose kids are overly involved in extracurricular anything.
I am not that mom that does amazing crafts and awesome science projects everyday (or ever...poor kids) for homeschool.
I am not that mom with the healthiest and tastiest home cooked meals (ain't nobody got time for that).
I am not that wife who always has a clean house with a place for everything and everything in its place (but do I ever wish).
I am not that wife that never has a basket of dirty laundry.
I am not that friend that throws perfect dinner parties where the table is nicely set and the candles are lit. 
I am not that daughter that always remembers to send handwritten thank-you notes (I wish I did better at this).
I am not a woman that is a "fashionista".

I have actually tried all of the above. I was BAD at all of them. Especially, the healthy and tasty home cooked meals (more on this in the next blog) and being a homeschool extraordinaire.   

What I am striving to be...

The mom who is in-tune with her children.
The mom who homeschools but doesn't make it a priority over relationships with her husband and children.
The mom who doesn't sacrifice nearly all of her waking hours cooking and cleaning but playing and laughing with her family instead.
The wife who is in-tune with her husband. 
The friend who is there in good times and bad (and brings the ice cream and oreos).
The daughter that is full of love and gratefulness.
The woman who is confident and knows that she was made for purpose.

Most importantly...
A daughter of the Most High God who leaves His mark on the hearts of her family. A woman of the Lord that is not afraid to face the challenges our time brings. A daughter of Zion that goes into the dark places and sets the captives free. A woman on a mission to share the love and goodness of the Lord. A kingdom minded, externally focused,  eternal thinker, and fearless daughter, wife, mom, sister, friend, and woman.

I am honored to be a wife and a mother. There is no greater calling. But does it stop there? Is the threshold of my front door where my ministry ends? It shouldn't be!! That is where my ministry begins!! 

There are millions of women and children being held captive and daily tortured for the pleasure of man and money for the pimp. There are billions of people starving all over the world, even right down the street. There are people dying from toxic drinking water. The list goes on. With all of the injustices being done to the children of the Most High God how can anyone continue to sit comfortably and not raise a finger?

I have to do something. I have to help the helpless. This urgency inside of me has been building for years. I can't even name the very thing that finally made it all snap and kicked me into action. I woke up. Will you?

"Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of all the people around us, asking ourselves, 'How can I help?'" -Romans 15:1-2

Blessings,
~Hailey

Why Homeschool?

In this blog I am going to lay out our personal reasons for homeschooling.  This is my heart and convictions.  I am by no means judging anyone who chooses to educate their children differently.

Our adventures in the world of homeschooling began in 2010.  Homeschooling our kids was something the Lord had put in our hearts back in 2008 via a friend/mentor of mine. She simply commented over coffee "you would love to homeschool your kids" and my response was something along the lines of "no way." Followed by laughter. Then I could not get the thought out of my head. It just lingered there and wouldn't go away. We decided we would homeschool, Isaiah was about to start kindergarten in a year and I like to plan ahead.

Then....I got pregnant. Of course it couldn't just be one baby but it had to be twins! I panicked, we both panicked, and Isaiah went to public school. During the entire year of kindergarten I knew we were suppose to be homeschooling. I would hear the word and burst into tears. I knew in my heart we were not being obedient to the calling and conviction the Lord placed in our hearts.  

So anyway....the reasons we homeschool.

1. Because...God said to. He knows what is better, no He knows what is the absolute BEST!  

{Really I could stop here because nothing else matters.  Our 100% obedience is all that matters.}

2. Because...the Word says to: 

"...bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord." Eph. 6:4

{How can I do that with only a few hours each day? How can I do that when my husband and I are not the primary influence in their life? How can I do that when in a society there is no reverence for God? How can I do that when they are subjected to a secular worldview every day five days a week?}

3. Because...we want God as the center of our home and children's education:

"...Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up." Deut. 6:7

4.Because...we want to give our children a firm foundation in the Word of God:

“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock." Matt. 7:24-25

"Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness." Col. 2:7

4. Because...the Word commands us to protect oursleves and our children from false, ungodly teachings:

"Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ."     Col. 2:8 

Other benefits we are reaping as a family: 

Cultivating strong family relationships.
Encouraging a love for learning.
Freedom to focus on God's work.

That's about it. We love it. It's hard but I think we have found a little groove and education philosophy we love! If you have ever considered homeschooling pray and don't let fear stop you from trying it out!  

Blessings,

~Hailey