I Could Do This All Night (Guest Post - Beth Pensinger)

My dog Daisy has a stubborn streak. You can see it in the defiant lift of her head.

Image Credit - B. Pensinger

Within the confines of our backyard fence, I am boss. She is completely obedient. But when we step out into the wide world, Daisy likes to tune me out.

There was a time when I used to walk her around the neighborhood without a leash. I’m not sure what happened, but the hound in her mutt blood must’ve won out and she started chasing anything with four legs and fur. Needless to say, she’s back under leash arrest. This doesn’t make me happy. I like it when she’s obedient so she can trot freely beside me, sniffing recycle bins and cat poop to her hearts content.

Image Credit - Beth Pensinger

If she takes a #2 while I have her on the leash, I make her sit before I bend down to clean it up. Poo patrol is a nasty business made only worse by Daisy potentially jeopardizing my already klutzy center of gravity. So the other night after she took care of business, I told her to sit.

Nothin.

I tried to imitate a man’s deep voice and barked the command a few more times.

Nada. So I grabbed her by the snout and forced her to lock eyes with mine.

“Sit.” I said through clenched teeth.

The only movement she made was to try to wrestle her face out of my iron grip. I was ahead in the staring competition, but that was about it. Suddenly, I laughed. This was a battle of wills, and I was going to win.

“Oh girl,” I said. “I could do this all night.” Thankfully not long after, she waved her white flag.

I was consumed with the showdown for the remainder of our walk. I am often made aware of scary parallels between me and my dog and me and God. Only I’m Daisy and God takes my place.

Image Credit - Beth Pensinger

In this particular parallel, I think God is happy when I’m obedient so I can trot freely beside Him. He takes no pleasure in placing me under leash arrest. But when I consistently tune Him out, what else can I expect? He knows if I chase the cat, I’ll end up at a very busy and dangerous highway that’s not to be trifled with.

Yet I continue to be stubborn once on the leash. He tells me to do something and I refuse. He locks eyes with mine and we engage in a battle of wills. He repeats His command—hopefully not through clenched teeth—and I look away.

“Oh daughter,” He says. “I could do this all night.”

He’s so right.

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”

                                                                                         - Hebrews 12:5-6

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Image Credit - Beth Pensinger

I am so thankful for Beth's friendship, inspiration, and encouragement since meeting her in May of 2012 at Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference. 

It was my pleasure to help critique her newly published book, Let Me Fall.  She is certainly no dimwit. The story of her journey with God is an engrossing one. 

She has a passion for young women who will identify with the struggles she unravels in this insightful offering. If you or someone you know loves a good Romance novel, this book is probably for you - and not for the reasons you think!  

To visit her blog: click here.

To find her on Facebook: click here.

You'll find her on Twitter: by clicking here.

What if Disaster Came to Visit?

I was going about my complicated life thinking complicated thoughts when the

Courtesy D. Horrocks

Moore, Oklahoma tornado hit. In an instant, my life seemed much less  complicated. How about you?

I cannot wrap my head around recreating life from rubble that looks like a box of spilled matchsticks.

My community of bloggers and I began to wonder what we could do and how. My friend, Tabitha, suggested a campaign to highlight the work of Samaritan’s Purse which quickly moved into the area to assist in recovery.

Samaritan’s Purse is the parent organization for Operation Christmas Child. Many of you have probably packed shoe boxes at Christmas bound for children overseas.

I enjoyed three wonderful years working with OCC training volunteers who were preparing the boxes for overseas shipping. Knowing the organization like I do, I quickly signed on for the suggested campaign. 

The news cycle is shifting. The recovery has only begun. I wonder how quickly I'd feel forgotten after the satellite trucks move on to the next big story.

Today, my blogging community and I would like to invite you to reach out and touch Oklahoma from where ever you are. Every dollar contributed goes to the two organizations linked below. You choose your recipient organization.
Won't you share this post with everyone you know? 

The devastation in the United State's Midwest region breaks our hearts, and the Inspired Bloggers Network desires to use our influence and the power of our blogs to make a difference.

How Can We Help?

Volunteer One of the charities we are choosing to feature, Samaritan's Purse, is currently enlisting volunteers. So, if you are close to the areas affected, please visit the Samaritan's Purse website to see how you can serve those in need. (Click here to see an on the ground report.)

“Our prayers are with all of those who are suffering because of this massive storm. We are going to stand by them and do everything we can to help them recover physically, emotionally and spiritually.” - Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham

Volunteers are already in action and more help is needed. Please consider donating your time to Samaritan's Purse and if you are not available to serve physically, keep those who are working in your prayers. Contribute If you are Inspired to Help, please make a donation to either Samaritan's Purse or the American Red Cross to support their relief efforts in Texas and Oklahoma and help us track our impact by marking the amount you donated in the form below. If you would like, you can let us know you joined our effort by commenting on one of our blogs listed below.

Message and data rates may apply.

The following bloggers are all participating in the Inspired to Help campaign by posting a call to give on their blogs on Memorial Day... Monday, May 27th.

• The Encouraging Home
• Milk and Cookies
• Becoming a Strong Woman of God
• Homeschooling...On Faith and Coffee
• Simplified Saving
• Royal Little Lambs
• Confessions of a Fraidy Cat
• Heels to Kicks
• the Vicki Arnold blog
• Learning Table
• WordTraveling
• These Temporary Tents
• His Mercy is New
• Be Social, Get Success
• Layered Soul
• MedinaMom
• Jennifer A. Janes
• Free Homeschool Deals
• Pennies of Time: Teach Children to Serve
• Where He Leads, We Follo
• NextGen Homeschool
• Our Homeschool Studio
• Practical Savings
• CherylPitt.com
• Mommy Evangelism
• Teaching with Cents
• Online Coupon Workshop
• Meet Penny

Please visit one or all of these blogs for their personal thoughts on the Inspired to Help campaign.

What is the Inspired Bloggers Network?

The Inspired Bloggers Network is a group of over 250 women bloggers of various niches, backgrounds, and experiences but all are united as they seek to support and encourage one another while growing their blogs in order to impact the world in a positive way.

How to join the InspiredBN

To join the Inspired Bloggers Network, you must be 1) female and 2) a blogger. Ask to join our Facebook group HERE. For questions or media inquiries, please contact Tabitha.

Homeschool Conferences: What's in it for You?

Are you are pumped over the early arrival of next year’s curriculum? Maybe you are wondering if you’ll finish this year’s work in time to start again next fall.

Homeschool conventions are an invaluable resource for both the confident and struggling homeschool family. The return on investment of time, energy, and cost to attend a conference is exponential.

Wondering what a conference has to offer?

1) Conventions are like huge family reunions. Whether your family is large with lots of littles or small with only a couple of teens, you will know you’ve found your tribe. Everyone gets you. There is nothing to explain. It’s fun to catch up with old friends and to make new ones.

2) Vendor halls provide direct communication with curriculum experts. There’s nothing like a face-to-face conversation with curriculum providers while you peruse their products. You’ll have the chance to talk to other families who’ve used what you’re salivating over. Between the two, you will feel empowered to make better curriculum decisions for the year ahead.

3) Workshops offer a variety of topics meaning you will be encouraged and reassured in a variety of ways. Conferences release schedules ahead of time. Take the time to look them over, and define the types of workshops offered. Map out a preliminary plan of the ones that seem to resonate with you. Be flexible as sessions sometimes fill up, or speaker line ups change at the last minute.

4) Sessions topics vary widely but typically include information about the following subjects: vendor product lines, parenting/marriage enrichment, special needs concerns, practical ‘how to’ ideas, entrepreneurial opportunities, budgeting/financial support, time management, transcript prep, College Board testing, and tracks specifically for teens and children.

In addition to mapping out your session interest list, there are other things you can do to prepare for a successful conference.

1) Expect to be overwhelmed if it is your first conference. Plan    crockpot or make ahead casserole meals for your return home.    Make two days before and after the conference teacher work    days. Use the ones before to get your house in order. Use the    ones after to rest up, refocus, regroup and, of course, do    laundry.

2) Invite a few friends to go along. We always feel less    overwhelmed if we know there will be a friendly face in the    crowd. 

3) Check the website for food/snack policies and providers before you go. Some conferences are more flexible than others about   bringing outside food in to the venue. Knowing the policies and  vendors represented, you can make a plan that works for your  family.

4) Check the website vendor list and research curriculum you    want to see when you arrive. Have your list of questions ready   because reps will be eager to answer them. 

5) Don’t be shy. Speak to strangers. The mom next to you at the vendor booth may have the information you need. The mom seated next to you may live in your community and have children the same ages as yours. Can you say, “Park day!”

6) It’s o.k. to take a breather when information overload hits.   Most conferences record sessions and offer copies for a minimal fee.

7) If you travel, plan your packing to include room for purchases   made while at the convention.  Plan your budget before you   arrive lest you get carried away and overspend. After all, homeschoolers never meet a book they didn’t love, right?

8) Expect to return home energized and equipped for new challenges ahead. Don’t forget to share your new found enthusiasm with friends who didn’t get to attend.

9) Consult your state’s homeschool organization for a list of conferences in your area. Most states have multiple listings of local and state wide conferences and book sales, and many will take place in the next couple of months.

If you are looking for a great regional conference, consider Teach

Source: Kathy Ulrich Balman

Them Diligently. In addition to conferences in Nashville and Omaha, TTD is hosting a variety of upcoming ‘marketplace’ place events. There is sure to be one near you. 

To check out TTD’s upcoming conferences, click the link below. 

Teach Them Diligently homepage

To check out the TTD market place events, click the following link:

Teach Them Diligently Marketplace Events

To find TTD on Facebook, click here:

Teach Them Diligently Facebook page

Monday Meet Up for the Desperate who Need to Breathe

I am desperate and cannot breathe. I am not alone.

Perhaps you have many little feet pattering around your home while taking care of an aging grandfather in end stage Alzheimer’s.

Did your child walk in, drop a bombshell, and blow the ground out from under you?

Has a family court judge stared down at you and declared your husband free to choose sinful selfishness over you today?

Have you made the harder choices in life believing one day the tipping point would come? It has come and tipped you into the depths of an abyss you could never imagine.

Maybe you have cancer, and your employer said you no longer have a job.

The depth of human misery represented in my community of friends alone is staggering.

Courtesy Mad Penguin Creative

Is chaos crouching at the door? Are you weary? Can you breathe?

Do you hear the voice of the accuser echoing in your heart? He’s good. He’s had time to refine his act. He’s been practicing his craft since he and creation’s Eve sized up that infamous, history changing tree together.

He whispers just loud enough that you must strain to hear him, but that’s part of his plan too. He’s reeling you in, closer. He mocks.

Who do you think you are? What right do you have to call yourself a person of faith? Look at your life. That dude on television said you could have your best life now. Is this your best? Really? Faker!

He stalks off leaving you to lick your wounds knowing if he can defeat you now, his job just got easier. He knows we live in a world filled with desperate folks who cannot breathe.

He looks over his shoulder snickering as he departs. If he shuts you up, how many will remain oxygen deprived?  

Courtesy Mad Penguin Creative 

He uses your faith against you because that is your tender spot. He tells you only perfect faith, all spiffed up and television shiny, is the real deal.

Your faith is messy. Your life is messier. You are no match for him. Sit down. Be quiet. Hide. Under your blanket. It’ll be better that way.

The icy wind whipping down off the snowy mountain was no match for the icy wind blowing over my soul today.

I reached out from under my soul-hiding blanket to answer a text. Not long after, the phone rang. “Are you really o.k.? You aren’t, are you?”

One messy soul-faith sister reached out to another. A hint of air seeped into my lungs.

Courtesy Mad Penguin Creative

Strengthened by the call, I started to pay it forward. Before I could hit send, an incoming text popped up.

“Just checking in. I love you, and I am praying.”

“Weird,” I answer back. “I was just texting you to ask about you.”

“God,” she says. No further explanation needed.  

Emboldened, I text a friend I met a year ago. I did not expect to be forever friends. I never knew I would need her the way I did today – as desperately as I did today.

She lives on the other side of the continent. In this flat world, she is instantly available. “Pray?” I pour out my heart in 140 character bursts.

Before I can blink, her answer pours out of my text screen into my heart:

Courtesy Mad Penguin Creative

You have not failed your God. Listen to the Lover of your soul. He’ll whisper truth. He is at work in your life and in the life of your family. The truth: when God sees you, he sees Jesus.

Big ugly gasping breaths fill my lungs as tears pour down my cheeks. I can breathe.

I do not know who you are nor the cause and depth of the pain you bear. I do know that hiding under a blanket of protection  only serves to suffocate you.

It takes a while before you notice, but without warning there is no air. In those desperately, lonely moments when we cannot breathe, friends are God’s gift of CPR.

Our society makes it difficult to cultivate friends. I’ve said so often, the more interconnected we are, the less connected we are.

If you are looking for air, please consider joining the in(RL) community for a celebration of relationships on April 26^th and

Join us? 

27^th. Almost 500 groups are registered in 437 cities across the globe. So far, over 1,000 women are planning to participate.

Won’t you be the next one to join us? You never know when you may need a friend to help you breathe.
To see the trailer and register, click here. 

If you are gasping for breath, Desperate, Hope for the Mom Who Needs to Breathe is chock full of wisdom and advice. To learn more: click here. 

The Co-ed in the Corner - a Story of Messy Faith

Picturesque implication of a stress free life . . . . 

Don’t let slicked up televangelists in designer clothes fool you when they tell you how easy faith is. Not everyone who embraces faith will live on Easy Street.

Some of us – we live in the trenches on the battlefield of faith. We live there every day. Trench warfare faith means putting one foot in front of the other and just doing the next thing.

It means clinging to faith when clinging no longer makes sense. We cling when clinging hurts and costs us something.  

When was the last time you ran and where? 

I’ve been in those trenches. In fact, if I could have run away today, I would have run all the way to New Mexico before I stopped running. It’s been that kinda week.

Today, I ran as far as I could which was all the way to the local deli. I had plans to batten down the hatches, lick my wounds, and ignore the world while I buried myself in words.

Life has been too untamed to corral this last month. So, words were overdue and ready to spill out of me onto my keyboard. I determined to ignore the world until I exhausted my cathartic words.

Little snatches of conversation floated onto my auditory radar screen but vanished into nothingness until I heard her voice.

.

Courtesy of/in loving memory of Christina Jones Hooker - on her birthday

“I hate it here. All I’ve done is stare at the walls today. I’m so bored.”

I looked up thinking she must be a local college student stuck on campus for spring break until she mentioned her Sergeant. Then, I listened closer even as I tried not to be an old stalker lady – the kind who talks to herself and collects bony cats.

I busied myself with my own business again until I realized her phone call was over. Our eyes met when I looked up at her.

“May I intrude and ask you a question?”

Courtesy Mad Penguin Creative

A shy smile didn’t cover the hesitation in her eyes. “Yes?”

“Are you in the military?” I asked even though I suspected she was fulfilling her two week National Guard assignment. She confirmed my assumption.

I could have never guessed she was a veteran of four years and has already served in Afghanistan. She was young enough to be my daughter. No older than my son, I was sure.

My heart broke with an ache I cannot describe. Conversation began to flow as I told her how much I appreciated her courage and thanked her for her sacrificial service.

In bits and snatches she told me about her plans and dreams. Those are changing as the military endures funding cuts. Disappointment shadowed her features. Life is not fair.  

We talked about her once-a-month commute of one-thousand miles. A transfer to a unit in her home state can’t come soon enough. Maybe then she can have the surgery to correct an injury she received in theater?

Courtesy Mad Penguin Creative

I hesitate and slowly stutter out the words, “Are you a person of faith?”  

She nods, “Somewhat. I believe everything happens for a reason, and people are put in your life for a reason.”

Tears begin to glisten at the corners of her eyes as she shrugs unsure of where to go from there.  

I think of all the folks bustling by as she sat huddled in the corner. To them, she had been just another co-ed killing time on a rainy Saturday.

I think of my plans to run away from life for just a few hours. All the time, what I was really doing was running to.

Courtesy Mad Penguin Creative

“A man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” The words of Proverbs 16:9 echoed in my ears nearly drowning out her voice. 

This day had not really been about running away and writing at all.

Before I was ready, I knew life was moving her along to other places and people. 

“How,” I asked, “may I pray for you?”

She hesitated. I could see tears begin to glisten again. Was there something she was afraid to say? Did my request hit too close to home? Had I intruded too far and become the stalker I had feared I might seem?

The answer slipped from her lips along with a request of her own. “Could I . . . could I hug you?”  

I stood and met her halfway. I tried not to cling like a mother sending her child off to war, but boy was it hard. I whispered a promise that my prayers would follow her, and I asked her to stay in touch.

As she turned to pack away her things and head off to meet some friends, she turned back to me. “I’m so glad I met you. I’m really so glad.”

Then, mine were the tears that glistened. In a few seconds, she was gone. I might have wondered if she had ever really been there but for her email address recorded safely on my phone.

Despite my messy life and messy faith, God let me run away for just a little while because I was really running to the appointment he had ordained when he threw the stars in space.

And tonight, I have breathed a prayer just as I promised. Trench faith is amazing faith. Don’t be afraid to embrace it.

Courtesy B. Creasy - 2010

Hebrews 13:1-2 (NKJV)
Let brotherly love continue. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.

Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)
For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Monday Meet Up - Wk. 6

“Hah. You gonna keep that place as clean as she did?” Her zinger hung in the air like stale, acrid cigarette smoke.

Within the question, my inquisitor hinted at her own guilt over personal failure and begrudging admiration for the one in question.

I was new, but I sized up the reputation of the previous lady of the house right quick like.

She rose at four in the morning, ran three miles, and did chores. She taught elementary school full-time, hauled twin boys to after school sporting events, and was at all her high school coach husband’s important events.

I met her twice – both times early on Saturday mornings. She had on big yellow work gloves and apologized for things not being spic and span. 

I had last seen her version of ‘messy’ the week before my two-year-old was born when I was cleaning out furniture crevices with a damp Q-tip.

Taking a deep breath before replying, I tried not to sound as challenged as I felt by the question or the new neighbor posing it.

1999

“We homeschool. That means we live in our house twenty-four seven. It’ll never look like hers did now that it’s mine. I’ll have a BH&G photo cover of a home again one day. I just hope I live long enough to see it.” 

In that moment, I felt as though the Stepford wives outnumbered me.

Most of my days consisted of dueling breathing treatments for two boys. The doctor’s office installed a revolving door just for us.

If we weren’t battling asthma flares and respiratory infections, I was trying to sort out the mysteries of sensory processing disorders, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and all the other complexities that colored our school days.

I’m not saying it was trench warfare or anything, but I woke up more than one sunrise sitting straight up on the sofa, a schoolbook open in my lap, and still wearing clothes from the day before.

Almost fourteen years later, that question still hangs in the air and turns my heart hazy blue with smoky self-doubt and regret.

I think of it every time another writer stirs the social media pot with the mommy war spoon. I look at something you do better than me and tell myself I’ll always be less than.

I see the frazzled young mom at the doctor's office or the troubled teen in the grocery store parking lot, and I think of that day.

1994

No matter what your heritage, this Facebook and Pinterest laden world can leave you in a state of despair. Who can measure up against those high bars?

What a comfort it has been to read Desperate: Hope for the Mom Who Needs to Breathe. The words resonate with me because the tone is one of mentorship.

Sarah presents a problem while Sally reflects on the times in her life when she struggled with similar issues and failures.

Both offer insight into their journey through the wilderness seasons of parenting.  And, if you are one, you know parenting is sometimes a wilderness!

How wonderful it was to turn the page to Chapter Six and see them deal with the issues of lack of training and perfectionism.  I realized that in any season of life, we can all feel inept and inadequate for the task.

I found comfort, encouragement and a challenge this week. Here is the challenge:

While there is some validity to that excuse [I wasn’t trained], it has an expiration date: the day you decide to make a change. (p.70)

Here is the comfort:

Your relationship with your children and their ability to enjoy the comfort of your home are gifts you can give your family by choosing to accept and appreciate the limitations of a full and lively house. (p. 71)

Those truths resonate no matter your life experience or age. We can choose change at any age and begin to address our shortcomings. 

2009

Once we decide to change, we can approach the journey in a way that fosters a spirit of joy and companionship as we go.

If you feel lost and alone and want a network of women with whom you can experience mutual mentorship, please consider joining the in(RL) event on April 26^th and 27^th.

Watch the trailer and meet Sarah, Sally, and a few other friends. I promise, if you watch it, you won’t be able to stay away!

To view the trailer: click here

To purchase Desperate: click here

Click here to read: Fear and Loathing at the Grocery Store

Click here to read: Monday Meet Up - Wk. 1

2 Corinthians 4: 16-18 (The Message)

Courtesy B. Creasy - 2010

So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.