Excited for Change?!

Did you notice that came with a question mark AND an exclamation point?  Subtle, yet says so very much.

I'm not the kind of person that really likes change- but sometimes you're just ready for it and the cleansing momentary pain it brings.  Lots of change going on around here- so much that I'm not really sure where to start...kids?me?blog?  Guess I'll start at the beginning!

The kids are constantly changing and let's face it, there's nothing to be done about it.  I would love to keep them sweet and four with their tiny voices and gargantuous amount of wonder, but their eight and eleven and they have relevant opinions and deep thoughts and I fall in love with them more and more every day. (Then there's days I consider the padlock on the bedroom door- but the good FAR outweigh the bad!)  This homeschooling journey has taught me one lesson very clearly and that is that change is inevitable, and I can't trap my children in one single learning box.  Some years we've done private school in a neighbors beautiful basement schoolroom(2nd and 3rd for Abby), some years I've had Ben to myself, some years we've stayed home and schooled on our own, and some years we've co-opped.  I have to continuously pray and ask for guidance from the One who designed them so that I may better understand how to teach them academically.  Every summer is a time of reflection and decision-making.

Me?  Well I find that change is inevitable for myself as well.  I have recently enrolled in a local community college in an effort to complete that nagging degree that I only have one class left to finish- which I began over 20 years ago.  Why, you may ask, has she waited so long when she has so little left?  Because, I would answer, no college will let you take one class to graduate- they usually require 12-18..... and I just haven't had the time for that.  I'm not sure what this little college trek might look like.  A class here, a class there- online or in a classroom with my kids doing their schoolwork in the hallway?  Hey, dual enrollment! ;o)  I just got a word of encouragement from Andy and felt like it was time to pursue it.  Cross your fingers for me and we'll see what happens!

Now, about the blog.

Do you folks know how much I enjoy writing?  I used to.  And I'd like to get back to writing about our lives and homeschooling and crafting and the Lord and the bajillions of other things that we love, so I'm giving up reviewing for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.  It just became too much and dominated Sincerely Home.  I will still post reviews now and then independently, and I encourage you to continue discovering the awesome things the Crew is finding over at the Schoolhouse Review Crew.  By tomorrow afternoon I will post my last review on behalf of the Crew.  I am so grateful for the opportunity they have given me to not only try various homeschooling products and build my knowledge base, but also share those products with fellow homeschoolers who may be trying to wrap their head around the world of curriculum as well.  It's been a true blessing.

So, there you have it!  Enough change for one day?  Are you going through a period of change in your home/family/life as well?  I found great encouragement this morning in what Moses told the Israelites when speaking of obedience.....
Deuteronomy 4:7-10
      "For what great nation is there that has God so near to it, as the Lord our God is to us, for whatever reasons we may call upon Him?  And what great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all this law which I set before you this day?  Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life.  And teach them to your children and your grandchildren, especially concerning the day you stood before the Lord your God in Horeb, when the Lord said to me 'Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.'"