I’m not going to say they were all easy years. Some were very difficult. However there is a feeling of accomplishment with each obstacle we overcome.
16 Happy Years
Living Childhood Dreams
It’s fun to ask a 4 or 5 year old what they want to do when they grow up. When Joshua was about 5 years old, he wanted to build robots. Ruth at that age wanted to be a princess. Hannah wanted to be a football playing mommy with milk.
Jonathan just turned 5 this month and he wants to be either a fireman or Captain America when he grows up.
I love the dreams young children have. The sky’s the limit as to what they can do some day.
What happens as we grow up and face the real world? Whatever happened to dreaming great things?
When I was in fifth grade I was given an assignment to draw a life sized drawing of myself wearing the clothes of the profession I wanted to be. I’m sure the teacher had a good number of fire fighters and nurses. I drew a picture of me with a pencil and a name tag. The name tag said, “Anastacia Clark, Writter”.
I’m not sure why, but my dream got lost in the shuffle of daily school life. I was complimented on my writing by English teachers but the closer to college I got the further that dream crept away.
I didn’t consider it a worthy profession. I thought writing was just a hobby. In college, I should have taken journalism and writing courses. Instead I spent most of that year dropping courses I was good at in order to try to pass courses I was terrible at.
Then I married. My husband saw my writing and encouraged me to pursue it further. In fact he has always been my biggest supporter.
Now here I am. Living my childhood dream. I’m taking a writing course. A book is in the works. I have a domain name and soon I’ll even have my own website. Since that day many years ago, I hadn’t really imagined myself coming this far.
I want my children to live out their dreams. Even if their dreams change as they mature. I want to see them using their talents and reaching their goals. Maybe they won’t wait until they are my age to just be starting at it. I want them to reach to the stars right now.
How about you? Do you have an unfulfilled childhood dream to reach for? What is it that’s holding you back?
Feel free to share. Let’s be kids again and reach for the stars together.
Childhood Dreams
It’s fun to ask a 4 or 5 year old what they want to do when they grow up. When Joshua was about 5 years old, he wanted to build robots. Ruth at that age wanted to be a princess. Hannah wanted to be a football playing mommy with milk.
My 10 Super Mom Capes
In my last post I talked about being a not-so-super mom. There was only one problem. My husband and children begged to differ with me. They declared that I really was super. Now I’m going to write about the capes in my life that are super. Maybe by the end you will see that we’re really not so different. Yes, that means you’re super too.
There are 10 basic areas of my life that are important to me.
All of these areas of my life would make a blog post all by themselves. Right now I will give you a brief glimpse of each area and expound more in future posts.
Cape #10 — A Writer This cape is still a work in progress. I feel like I still need to hem the edges a bit. My husband has been my biggest supporter. Ever since I was in 5th grade, I wanted to be a writer. Now I am trying to keep the momentum going forward. I am currently taking a writing course. I’ve been learning so much. You may have noticed some of the changes I’ve been making on my blog. I’m not done tweaking it yet. Bare with me as I continue to make improvements.
Cape #9 — A Friend I have many friends. I have church friends, homeschool friends, writing friends, karate friends, and internet friends. I value every friendship. All my friends are very encouraging to me.
Cape #8 — A Sister I am the oldest of 3 children. My little brother and sister are a lot of fun to be around. We weren’t always nice to each other. I tended to be a pushy big sister. We grew out of that though. Now we each have families of our own. Life is not boring for any of us. We still have a good time whenever we get together.
Cape #7 — A Grandaughter I have always had a tight nit family. Both my grandfathers were preachers. My father is a preacher. My husband is a preacher. My brother is a preacher. And my brother-in-law is a preacher. Do we see a theme going here? I remember listening to my grandfathers pray before meals. My grandmothers endured many trials to raise my parents and their siblings in a time that was ever changing. I love my grandmothers and miss my grandfathers.
Cape #6 — A Daughter-in-law I would be remiss to not acknowledge my position as a daughter-in-law. God gave me a hard working husband that is willing to work any job to provide for his family. My husband gives his parents credit for instilling in him his strong work ethic. I hate that we live so far away but technology has helped us bridge the gap. I try to plan our family vacations to include a trip to see my husband’s family in Michigan.
Cape #5 — A Daughter I am very grateful that I was born to godly parents. My parents are the ones that raised me to be the woman I am today. I had good parenting skills modeled before me in my childhood. There is so much I could write just on things I learned from my parents. They are still here for me to learn from even in my adult years.
Cape #4 — A Teacher. My husband and I made the decision to homeschool our children when our eldest child was only 2 years old. Right now I mix and match my curriculum to fit each child’s needs. Next year I’ll be entering the High School years with my eldest. That will give me 1 High Schooler, 1 Junior High, 2 elementary, 1 preschooler, and 1 day care age all under one roof. It kind of makes me feel like I live in a 1 room school house except they’re all my own children.
Cape #3 — A Mom. I’m the mother of 6 children. Three boys and three girls. Our eldest is 14. Our youngest is 5 months. My husband and I love each and every child so much. We can’t imagine our life without any one of them in it. We plan to have as many children as God allows us.
Cape #2 — A Wife My husband, Scott, and I were married on Thanksgiving day in 1996. We have been happily married for 16 years. It hasn’t always been easy but maintaining a happy relationship is well worth the effort. I can honestly say that my husband is my best friend.
Cape #1–A Child of God My faith is very important to me. It is the foundation of all my other relationships. Without God and His instructions there would be no purpose in my life.
What part of your life is important to you?
Is there a particular area that gives you purpose to do what you do best?
Feel free to share! Check out my comments section below.
A Not-So-Super Mom with Many Capes
“You’re my hero!” the other mother said to me as we talked about our children. I’m not sure what exactly I did that made her say that. Perhaps it’s because I’m a mother with 6 children. Maybe it’s because I homeschool my children. I’ve been told this many times. One time was after I delivered my 11 lb. 4 oz baby. People would ask if I did that naturally. “Yes, I did. With no medication.”
Then suddenly there goes that phrase, “You’re my hero!”
I think they mean it like a child that proclaims Super Man as their hero. They want to be like him, fly like him. They want to be him. Why not? He’s bullet proof.
I think some women just view me as a type of Super Mom. What exactly is a super mom?
I picture Super Mom as this amazing woman with everything figured out. She manages her time wisely. Her children are always neat and clean everywhere they go. She feels no pain. Potty training is a breeze. Her hair is always tidy. The dishes are always washed and put away neatly. She wakes up early. Her family eats three square home cooked meals a day. And…She is never late!
If that is a super mom then that’s not me.
I sometimes choose to do the history lesson over dishes. Sometimes I cancel a homeschool day in order to have my kids help clean up a messy house. I pick and choose their activities and they don’t always get a say in the matter. I haven’t potty trained my 2 year old yet. I brush my hair while rushing the kids out to the car. I rarely look in the mirror. And…we’re almost always late!
I don’t feel like a super mom. Things get crazy for me too. I usually have a game plan in mind. Then nothing goes as planned.
For instance, the other day I decided to take a picture (above) for this post. I told the kids what I wanted. I found a spot. My daughter volunteered to take the picture. And then….the picture looks awful! I look like a tired, worn out mother with kids gone crazy all around me. What’s so super about that?
I showed the picture to my husband. He understood. He knew what kind of picture I really wanted. “You’re wanting a picture with a baby under one arm. The wind blowing at your cape. One arm is extended as you prepare to save the day.”
He was right. I see that picture in my minds eye but it’s not really me. It’s rather crushing when you realize that you can’t pull off that Super Mom look. Even if I let my husband help me get that “perfect” picture there would still be that one problem. That would still be the not-so-super me in it.
The truth of the matter is I’m just a normal mom with many capes trying to decide which one I need to put on right now.
What kind of capes do you wear?
Do you have a particular one that’s your favorite?
Feel free to share in the comments below.
I’ll be posting more about my various capes soon.
Getting Ready to Fly!
I’m working on some changes to my writing goals. I really do plan to write more often. I have been getting back to the love of writing.
If you noticed over the years my blog has been changing. It went from my writing about things that touched me in some way to trying to keep up with what is going on in my life right now.
I found that it’s easier for me to just post short bits about my family on Facebook. It seems a bit repetitive to post those same things on my blog. It’s hard to blog about every detail of my life while trying to live it. (Like right now, I’m blogging while feeding my baby.)
I have been learning a lot about blogging and other forms of writing through a writing course that I am taking. You’ll probably be seeing quite a few of my writing assignments on here. I feel I’ll be killing two birds with one stone that way.
Eventually I would like to start blogging under my own domain name and having an email newsletter with exclusive non-blog stuff. I just need to work this part out.
I’m hoping to be able to start this new endeavor by the New Year. It’s a work in progress right now. You can help me by letting me know honestly what you like or don’t like about my blog posts and what I write. Your feedback can help me as I prepare to move forward with some exciting new changes. You’ll probably start seeing some little changes from time to time. Feel free to leave me a comment when you notice something new that you like or don’t like. 🙂
I’m also working on a special Christmas present for everyone.
Please help me out as I spread my wings to fly!
“But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up on wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31
Moving Mountains
What would I say in just 15 minutes? If I were to just start writing to see where my thoughts go, where all would I travel. This is just me thinking to myself.
Like Did you know that I write in my head? Yes, that’s a little fact about me that very few people know. If there is something that bothers me, I immediately start thinking about what I would write if I could post that in a blog. Writing for me is therapeutic.
When my children say or do something funny, I write it down. If I am worried, I write. If I am angry, I write.
Sometimes I write my thoughts in a notepad. Sometimes I write my thoughts on my blog post. Then there are the more frequent times that I write in my head. In fact for this 15 minute assignment, I wrote several papers in my mind, before I ever got around to starting this one on paper.
One of the things I wrote in my mind was my thoughts on voice. What is my voice? When I thought about that I started thinking of all the things I have written in the past. I feel as if I have two voices. Although really they are both part of one voice, but they sound like two.
One way my voice comes out is my casual, pull up a chair and have a cup of tea voice. That’s my mother voice that enjoys bragging about what my children have done today. Look at what my baby learned. Guess what my two year old said. And maybe throw in a lesson that can be learned just as an extra lump of sugar to that tea. You hardly noticed you learned something today.
Then there is the passionate side of my voice. That is when I see some injustice and I can’t hold back. My two has been crossed! Oh, you hadn’t heard that story yet? Many years ago my husband and I bought our first computer. We bought it from a used computer store. I wrote check for a certain amount of dollars and 25 cents. Someone crossed my 2 and turned it into a 7. I was so upset over that 50 cents they stole from me. Ever since, anytime I see some injustice my husband says my 2 has been crossed.
When something is just out right wrong, I become passionate in my writing. I can tear into an issue. I pull out all the facts and prove that there is a better way. That’s the writing that would move mountains in giant chunks. While my casual writing moves mountains one spoonful at a time.
I think the world needs a little bit of both. What I need to do is give those thoughts to the world where it can help. It does no good to hide it all in my head.
I shared these thoughts with others in a writing course that I’m taking. I’m tired of trying to come up with pictures for what I have to say. I’m now committing to just write. I’ll occasionally throw in some pictures but if that is the main thing you are wanting leave a comment with your email address and I’ll give you my Facebook link. That’s my favorite spot to post pictures.
But right now I plan on moving mountains both by the spoonful and by giant chunks. Pictures will just be the occasional added sugar to sweeten the tea.
Dear Teenage Me,
I know you had a tough time figuring out who you are the past 12 years and now I want to write this letter to encourage you.
First of all, you’re a night owl. If there is some way you could change it while you’re young it would be really nice to break that habit early on. When you get to be my age breaking the night owl tendency doesn’t get any easier. Your children may inherit those same tendencies.
How about your early years? The bullies you faced in Elementary, go ahead and forgive them. You might actually become friends with them later on in your life. You can go ahead and thank your dad for teasing you now. It really will toughen you up and help you react better to kids giving you a hard time. You will learn how people love to pick on people that give them the reaction they are looking for. You will feel really good in high school when a kid picks on you and you have the perfect come back for it. Which makes him and his friends laugh at how witty that come back was. That will be the day that you realize you are no longer subject to bullies. You find strength during that time.
Like 
First of all, you’re a night owl. If there is some way you could change it while you’re young it would be really nice to break that habit early on. When you get to be my age breaking the night owl tendency doesn’t get any easier. Your children may inherit those same tendencies.
How about your early years? The bullies you faced in Elementary, go ahead and forgive them. You might actually become friends with them later on in your life. You can go ahead and thank your dad for teasing you now. It really will toughen you up and help you react better to kids giving you a hard time. You will learn how people love to pick on people that give them the reaction they are looking for. You will feel really good in high school when a kid picks on you and you have the perfect come back for it. Which makes him and his friends laugh at how witty that come back was. That will be the day that you realize you are no longer subject to bullies. You find strength during that time.
You will realize that you don’t have to cry and act weak to get attention. People will notice you more if you let the strength in your personality shine through.
Thank your Dad for saying that you and your sister can’t date until you’re 18. That makes it super easy to turn guys down in both Junior High and High School. There actually is a sense of freedom in boundaries. You don’t have to have your heart broken like you see with so many of your friends around you. Peer pressure to date will be a non-issue for you because you can always fall back on the phrase, “My dad won’t let me date.” And believe it or not your dad doesn’t mind you using him as your excuse. 
Oh, very important would be to learn about personalities early. I realize that you will not heed this advice until you meet your husband (which by the way is worth waiting for). You will learn a lot about personalities in a marriage and family class you will take with your husband. You are going to wish you had known this important aspect of relationships much sooner. I think that might have saved your mother some tears if you had learned the differences between the two of you before slamming the door.
I highly recommend you read “The Five Love Languages”. It will one day open your eyes to understand why your mom will feel terrible when you don’t let her buy something for you. You may feel you are being independent but sometimes it’s okay to accept your mother’s love. 
When you reach my age you’ll cherish getting to go out with your mom. You will then see going shopping as quality time and both of you will be happy.
Oh and by the way, your future husband will have similar personality traits as your mom. That actually makes a good combination if you learn to work with those differences. The older you get the more like your dad you’ll realize you are. One day your husband will tell you, “Wow, you sound so much like your dad!” Don’t worry you’ll be pretty sure he means it as a compliment.
Let’s see what else I should warn you about. I’m not going to tell you how many children you will have. Let’s just say it’s more than just the 2 you will think is all God has in mind for you. Oh and you will do quite a bit of babysitting. It really is easier when they’re your own kids.
Another piece of advice I better throw in here. Your little brother will one day hit his growth spurt and will suddenly be taller than you. You better watch out how you treat him while he’s small. Payback is tough. 🙂 
College: that will be the big question in the upcoming years. Another piece of advice you won’t heed but I’ll go ahead and tell you anyway. Pick something you’re good at. God has given you talents. Don’t be afraid to use them. You’ll think you need to pick something big and important. You’ll decide to go to college for elementary education but you really should go with journalism and writing instead. When you get to be my age you will wonder why you spent so much time on frivolous stuff when you could have perfected what you are already good at and already enjoy doing. You’ll look back and wonder why you didn’t get a job at a newspaper office or some other publishing company. You would have done really well at that.
Finally, never settle for anything less than God’s best for you. I know you are now starting a list of everything you are looking for in a husband. Keep waiting. Don’t settle for anyone else. I know you’re going to feel discouraged. You’ll even think your list is too strict. Keep waiting though. He really is out there. God’s going to bring him from another state. You won’t understand why God chose to call your dad to preach during your senior year, but once you meet the guy he finds for you in seminary it all becomes clear. You’ll be very glad you waited.
I can probably think of a lot of other advice but you are rather stubborn. You will learn a lot just from living life. Keep reading your Bible! That will be the biggest help you have on life’s journey.
And be encouraged that even with the mistakes you will inevitably make, I’m very happy with how well your life turns out.
Sincerely,
Your future self,
Stacie
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Emily Freeman, author of the book Graceful wrote a letter to her teenage self. She encouraged other writers and her blog followers to do the same. You can see all our link ups on her blog at here
I really like the idea. If you want to write a letter to your teenage self and want to share it with me, leave a comment on my blog post and I’ll go read your letter. 🙂 Have fun!
Family Moments
This summer was filled with so many activities with our extended family members.
Like My brother and his family returned to the states on furlough from France. It was really nice to get to see and visit with them. It made taking family pictures even more meaningful. We never know when we’ll have these opportunities again. 
We spent a week at my parents house with them. My sister and her family also came and we took a family picture.
We also had a family reunion at my grandmother’s house larger family picture with all my aunts, uncles, and most of my cousins on my mother’s side of the family. It was great that they planned this reunion right before my brother’s family went back to France.
Family seemed to be our theme this summer as we seemed to do everything for and with family all summer long.
We took this picture with Scott’s mother when we visited her in Michigan.
This is a picture we took with my paternal grandmother.
This one we took with my maternal grandmother at her home.
We were so blessed this summer with so much family time. 
This week I’ve been missing everyone that we saw this summer. I would love to do it all over again and get even more visiting in.
I realize I hadn’t been keeping up with my goal of blogging at least once a week throughout this year. I am going to try to pick back up and start blogging once a week again. I may even get a few extra in to make up for the weeks I missed. 🙂
Church Camp
We did so much this past Summer. I only blogged on a few of things that we did. So much keeps happening that I seemed to have missed blogging about church camp.
Our church camp was the last full week of July. We enjoy renewing friendships each year as well as making new friends.
Like 
Our church camp was the last full week of July. We enjoy renewing friendships each year as well as making new friends.
We arrived at camp on a Monday around 3:00 p.m.
We registered and paid our fee. At 4:00 p.m. we had a sponsors meeting. Scott, my husband was voted to fill in for the song leader who was absent this year due to health problems in the family. He did a really good job coming up with songs last minute.
I lost my voice during camp. It was just starting to leave me on Tuesday. I was able to teach and lead the children’s choir. But by Wednesday my voice was gone completely. I really appreciated my brother helping me during the week. He taught my 2nd & 3rd grade class on Wednesday and helped me with the children’s choir on Thursday. He was really a blessing!
The kids all had a lot of fun. Besides preaching and classes there was also recreation time. The kids played basketball, putt putt golf, swimming, and all sorts of fun activities.
The food in the cafeteria was good. I really liked the onion fried green beans.
If I had been feeling better I would have gotten in on more of the fun. I usually try to get more pictures as well. 
There were 20 saved and 12 rededications. 
I have gone to this same camp since I turned seven years old. I was saved on a Wednesday afternoon under the same pavilion that I taught from this year. I always enjoy giving my testimony to my class and pointing to the spot where I sat and repented of my sins when I was 10 years old. The Lord sure has been good to me with blessings beyond measure.