Home Sweet Life ~ Weeks in Review

I'm just going to start this off by saying WEEKS in review, because it has been three weeks since my last wrap up post. For any of you that know us well, you know it has been a jam-packed three weeks, and hardly any of it was book learning!

I had a post all written in my mind, but there was never a good time to put sit down and type it up. Believe it or not, I still value sleeping over blogging-LOL!

I'll stick to the highlights, and some of the God moments, and you'll get an overview of the past 3 weeks! :)

My last wrap up was the day after Thanksgiving. I had just six more days of work to finish at my job before my Christmas vacation. I thought it might be a quiet two weeks, with just three days each week and not much else going on. I was wrong.

The week that crossed from November to December didn't have much on the calendar. Three days of work for me, an afternoon outing with friends on Em's day off, and a party at the library for Arlene to celebrate reaching her writing goal for NaNoWriMo. 

Work wasn't too bad, except the day I needed to work overnight because Kurt's car wouldn't start in the morning so he and Em took mine to work. I'm not used to working overnights anymore, and having gotten up at my usual 6:30 a.m. on Thursday meant I was really tired by the time 3 a.m. Friday morning arrived and I went home.  The afternoon  spent with our friends had been wonderful and kept me going, then Saturday (and Arlene's party) came around.  

Saturday morning we figured out what was wrong with Kurt's car (hurray!) Then we all went to run errands the rest of the morning. In the afternoon, I took Arlene to her party at the library, and of course, Em was up for a chance to spend another hour at the library. I dropped them off and I power shopped through my great big grocery list that I was too tired to shop for Friday morning. I picked the girls up, we went home, put everything away, and went to a local holiday open house.

Just as we were coming back in the door at home after the open house, I got a text from Kurt. He had gone out to do one more errand, and on his way home someone rear-ended his car and totaled it. Yes, this was the car we were so happy to have figured out what was wrong with that morning. The God moments were beyond measure. Although Kurt was injured, and has been suffering the after effects of a concussion, he was not hurt so much as to require hospitalization. The back of his car made me think of that line from the Avengers movie where the Incredible Hulk says "Hulk smash!"  The wreck happened just down the street from our good friends' house, so we called them and Kurt's friend was able to go meet Kurt before we even got there. The humorous God moment happened when the tow truck driver arrived. It was the same one who had helped us figure out the problem with Kurt's car that morning.  At least Kurt got one laugh out of the day.

Almost everything that happened the following week was either related to Kurt's car accident, or Emily's Graduation Open House which was happening the following Saturday.  We were really impressed with the care we received from our insurance company.  If you've ever been involved with a car wreck you'll understand how time consuming the whole process can sometimes become.

Arlene spent the week baking cookies. Cookies, cookies, and more cookies! It was worth it. :) I think she did some other math in there too, and maybe some history, but the main focus was on getting Kurt better and getting things ready for Emily's party. The books will still be there come January.

We started browsing online for another car, and we worked on cleaning up the house before the weekend. Thankfully Kurt's headaches from the concussion are lessening, but he still has ringing in his ears. Would you pray with us that God would do a complete healing, and the ringing would go away?

That Friday night the girls and I attended a Indiana History Block Party at our local library. It was fun, had several activities, including a trivia challenge featuring local celebrities as the contestants, and some awesome cupcakes! There were door prizes, and I found out later that I had won one. Now Arlene and I can have breakfast out one day next week at the local pancake place!

Saturday dawned cold but sunny. Kurt's brother's family came down for Emily's graduation party, so they came over and Kurt made everyone a big breakfast. Emily's party was in the afternoon. She had a really great turnout, and we were happy to celebrate with so many of her friends and our families.

This week Arlene and I have been running errands, watching Christmas movies, and all around just relaxing! One of the joys of homeschooling is being able to make our own schedule, so I've given her extra days off for the rest of the month. She has done a good job so far this school year, so we are enjoying some laid back days while I'm home from work.

I've been doing some reading, and so has Arlene. These past three weeks I've been reading: Teaching from Rest by Sarah MacKenzie, Bringing in the Sheaves by George Grant, some Melanie Dickerson books that Arlene recommended to me, and a classic Lamplighter book I borrowed from a friend at church. In my quiet time I just finished the book of Hebrews, and started on James. I have a feeling I'll be camped out in James for the rest of the year. James speaks so much on prayer, and since God has spent the entire year impressing upon my heart how much more there is to prayer than what I had previously understood, I think I'll need to read and study it for a while before He gives me leave to move on to another book.

Wednesday we went and had lunch with  one of my dear friends. She has younger kids that our girls used to watch before they moved. It was really good to catch up.

Three weeks, a car wreck, time spent with friends,and a graduation. Throughout it all God showed me over and over again how much He cares for us. How He protects us. How He desires us to know Him more. Christmas is just 9 days away. On Christmas we celebrate the gift of Christ as a baby, Who would grow up and become the sacrifice for our sins on the cross. We celebrate grace, mercy, and forgiveness. We celebrate God with us, Immanuel.

Hoping you found God in all the small and large happenings in your life this week! 

May the peace of Christ rule in your hearts this Christmas season!

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