Longing for Spring

February 1, 2010 in Miscellaneous Matters by KayinMaine | 1 comment

Forgive my long absense from blogging.  I have been wrestling for some time with whether to continue this blog or whether it may be time to say goodbye and move on.  I am still not decided on what I will do.  I find it necessary these days to direct my energies in other directions.  To be honest, for the past few months, I have not had the time or the motivation to keep this blog up.  There are so many wonderful things going on in my life right now, but many of them I hesitate to share with just anyone.  So, I waver.

I find myself longing for spring.  Winters in Maine can be long, dark and cold.  This is the time of year I start to feel restless.  So many of our days consist of simply trying to stay warm and bide our time till spring comes.  Maple syrup season gives our family something to look forward to as a way to pass the late winter days while waiting for the newness and freshness of springtime, but that is more than two weeks away.  In the meantime, life goes on and I look for the hope of spring.

Keeping It Simple

December 24, 2009 in Family Life by KayinMaine | Permalink

This year, I have been striving for simplification in our observance of Christmas.  Though we have never gone overboard in our celebration of Christmas in the past, we have done a lot more running around, decorating, shopping, baking, visiting, and other Christmas-related activities than we have chosen to do this year.  The simplicity with which we have faced the season this year has taught me couple of things about celebrating Christmas in general and about my part in my family’s celbration of Christmas in particular.

I didn’t realize until this year how much pressure I have put on myself in the past–unnecessary pressure.  I am beginning to understand and appreciate what my children truly enjoy about holiday festivities and what they can forgo as not as meaningful or important.  When we pulled out the decorations at the beginning of the month, I informed them that I wanted to keep the decorating simple.  They chose their favorites, and then did most of the work in putting everything up.  This told me a lot about what they treasured as Christmas traditions and what wasn’t so important to them.  Our collection of nutcrackers, for instance, found a prominent place at the insistence of every child, yet the lighted village wasn’t begged for.  The large nativity, the tree with its special ornaments, the lighted wreath for the door were all taken out, but other things were passed by without a second thought.  I learned a valuable lesson on what traditions are making an impression.

Christmas-related activities also gave me a glimpse into what my children especially enjoy about the season.  SInging carols, baking cookies, and watching holiday movies have figured prominently in our celebrating this year.  They really haven’t missed the scurrying around to parties, programs, classes, and shopping trips.  I haven’t either.

I’m not sure if this simplified version of Christmas celebration will happen next year, but I do know I have enjoyed it.  It has given our family the opportunity to focus on what (or more specifically Who) Christmas is truly about.  We have spent more time with one another on things that have strengthened our ties as a family, and we have looked to Christ with more ferver. 

Christ is, very simply, the reason for CHRISTmas.

Home from the SOS

December 18, 2009 in Church Life by KayinMaine | 2 comments

 

My family and I made it home safely from the Sufficiency of Scripture Conference.  The experience of attending the conference was an indescribable blessing for our entire family.  The speakers’ messages were powerful and solidly Biblical.  We had many opportunities to meet and fellowship with likeminded families.  The children benefited from listening to the teaching and meeting other children who are being raised in similar ways and with similar values.  Each message we heard, each family we talked with, each and every experience we had throughout the week was a gift of encouragement to us.

God was so good to us through the entire time away from home.  The trip out and back went smoothly (despite the length of the drive and the number of little ones which with we were traveling), the visit to the Creation Museum was life-impacting for our children, and the conference itself was a blessing beyond what we could have imagined.  Each message challenged us to look to Scripture as sufficient for every area of life.  There is nothing in life for which God has not given direction in His Word.  Each speaker reminded us that we can find the answers to every problem, every question, every situation in the Bible.

Scott Brown has done an excellent job highlighting many of the encouraging and convicting messages we were privileged to hear throughout the week.  Check out the National Center for Family Integrated Churches website for a taste of some of these wonderfully challenging messages.

Though it was wonderful to be at the conference, it is good to be back home and back into a routine.  Now the challenge is to live out what we learned over the week….

Of Car Trips and Creation Museums

December 9, 2009 in Family Life by KayinMaine | 3 comments

Where oh where is Kay in Maine?  Well, right now I’m not in Maine.  I’m in Kentucky.  That’s right.  After a car trip taking just 18 hours, I and my family find ourselves a thousand miles away from home. 

Why, you may ask, is Kay in Maine and her family in Kentucky?  We’re here for the  Sufficiency of Scripture Conference hosted by the National Center for Family Integrated Churches, of course!

We also happened to have visited Creation Museum, which is just a few miles away from the conference center.

So far, it has been well worth the 18 hour drive, and the conference hasn’t even started yet!

Family Photo

December 2, 2009 in Family Life by KayinMaine | 2 comments

 A dear sister in the Lord took this lovely picture of our family while she, her husband, and her sweet daughters were visiting a few weeks ago.  I think the photo came out well, though I’m not sure of the reason for the look on my second son’s face.  Maybe this one makes up for it….

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