Round Two of College  

                                                Freshmen & Sophomore Brothers

                                        A Daughter making her way in this world 

                                                                              2017

 Oh, this journey!!!!! Rewarding and Exhausting........I am reminded of the day I looked at Christian and said " You know you don't have to go to college, pray about it." I could tell by his facial expression and the next few words he spoke that his mind was already made up. My heart sank at the thought of what college life would look like for him, and where would he go, could he handle it , could I even counsel him through it, did I do a good job preparing him as his teacher, counselor , adviser. As you could imagine the thoughts never stopped, morning and night, several colleges had accepted our transcript , so that was a bonus and gave us a little boost in our confidence as you can imagine.

I think as parents we always have doubts, in our parenting, in our faith, in life in general, but I set the bar high in educating my children at home, we stay super structured, disciplined and are always changing things up to keep them fresh and excited about what homeschooling looks like. With 12, I just have to be.....

Finally graduation day came , and his power point was ready, his bio of his 18 years of life was done, rehearsal was over, senior pictures were a success, money was saved after a summer working three exhausting jobs, college applications done, and still the decision hung in the balance, then the Lord revealed his answer to him. Grace Seminary School

We were relieved to see he had made a decision after many months sitting at the table crunching numbers and comparing, debating, and remembering that he was born to do this, determined to make it work and this is what homeschooling was all about, guiding him through, supporting him and seeing things to the end. Those 18 years went so fast, so many great memories, ups and downs, so many times the Lord revealed to me personally that where I may be lacking in my teaching HE will be there to fill in those gaps, Do Not Doubt His Ability to Supply in Abundance. I to assured all our children this very thing, in life. So how could I back down now, and not live by the very words I spoke to them, I constantly reminded them of and repeatedly had to say to myself. I struggled with letting go only because of my own selfishness. Whether you have 1 child or in our case 12, you know those children are your life, you devote all to them and you give up on many things you were passionate about, maybe not all, but some. Each of our children add something special to the dynamics of our house and I wasn't prepared to let those dynamics change. I knew what that meant and what it felt like, after our oldest had joined a wife at 18. Even in his successful marriage 3 years later we value that time so much when we are all back together in one house. Like old times.

 I didn't necessarily fear what he would experience in college, I knew his standards were high, and I was confident that he had been exposed to life and the curve balls life can throw at a person. He was at peace with his decision and everything fell into place. We knew God was in control.

Today life in our home is very fast paced still, summer is here, our college student is home, another son
( Tyler ) is graduated along with our daughter (Angelina). Graduating two at one time was a very new experience but we managed and came through on the other side.  Very different approaches to life and independence but grateful that God is using them both differently. For His Glory, His purpose. Our son Tyler will be also going to Grace and rooming with Christian, one a Freshman then other a Sophomore. 2017 has been a busy year, a trip to Wisconsin, a Trip to Nashville, seeing our International Student Sandy, off after graduation from College with a Business major, now in California. Overjoyed at our adult children seeking Gods hand in relationships, re-cooperating after open houses. Another cap and gown worn and hung and a little gap before our next one.

Life and it's choas!!!! Find the joy in those little moments, capture them, cling to those times together while learning to let go little by little. God has used those moments to teach me, AS MOM, so much. Even when I thought I couldn't possible know my children any more then I do, I am so taken back by their strength, their faith, and desire to experience life, sometimes test the waters and bounce back from their mistakes. It's not easy, to let the grip go, watch, counsel a little, and then wait but even in this faze of our life, 4 adult children, graduated, moving on, God showed me again, "Angel, dear child of mine , I got this, I entrusted these children to you, you have done a job worthy of my calling, now you are releasing them to me once again, and I will fill in those gaps for you, I will watch over them and see MY job through, because I too have a plan for them." Thank you, LORD Jesus........