Ladies Brunch

 I was so blessed this weekend with a lovely gathering in my home.

This past winter I hosted a brunch for the homeschool moms in our church, and it was such a hit that I promised the ladies I'd do it again.

It is so fun for me to set my table, plan a menu, and excitedly await for my friends to arrive.

This time we were bubbling over and extra talkative because months of quarantine had made us miss each other!

I never plan a strict agenda or speech. No one likes to be lectured at, anyway.

Instead, I wish to have a relaxed dialogue where everyone is encouraged and comfortable to share.

We are a close group and get along very well, so there's never any awkward moments.

We talk, laugh, ask each other questions, and pray together.

(The cinnamon rolls hadn't made it out of the oven yet when I snapped this picture.)

It's a special thing to be a part of a church family. But it is all too tempting to succumb to the feeling that you don't fit in.

I've watched this happen many times through the years.

Someone will come to church thinking they'll find a mentor, a program, a class, or a kindred spirit to meet their needs.

Once they realize this doesn't exist, they assume they're in the wrong church and leave.

They didn't find that church was of any use to them, but they somehow failed to consider that maybe they could be of some use to the church!

Don't leave.

Maybe you can be the example and friend you were searching for.

For example, several years ago a woman left our church because she couldn't find the support she needed for her particular life circumstance.

But it makes me wonder... Could she have created the support she claimed our church lacked?

Could she have searched out others in her situation and started a Bible study out of her home?

When I began to feel isolated in my homeschool journey, and wished I had a support network, I sat down with our church directory and sought out all the homeschool families.

I made a list.

I purchased invitations.

I set a date.

I opened my home.

And the response was magnificent!

The seats around my table were full.

And when my friends left, my heart was full.

I no longer felt isolated.

It was so encouraging that we all felt it was necessary to keep our little gatherings going.

So it was such a delight to meet again this weekend.

As always, when I wish to be a blessing to others, they all bless me, instead.

"Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered." - Proverbs 11:25

I am already looking forward to the next one.

xo,

~ Courtney ~

Planting Season

 Somewhere in April, 2020, I found myself sipping coffee up in my front room very early one morning, as is my daily custom.

We call it the front room because it faces out the front of the house, through our large front yard, and into the quiet country street.

At least I was expecting it to be quiet. 

We were all to be home now, staying safe from the killer virus that lurked about in every nook and cranny of life except for in the comfort of our cozy homes.

Spring was trying so hard to arrive.

The early morning sunshine flickered through the bare branches of the trees and in through my front room window, splashing bright light all around me as I sat.

And that's when I noticed it.

Our quiet country street during a nation-wide lockdown wasn't quiet at all!

Tractors, work trucks, and farm equipment were keeping the road bustling hot, and as I sipped my coffee I watched them. One after another passing by my house.

It is planting season, I thought to myself. Bless these hard working farmers. They can't stay home. Harvest will come for them, pandemic or not, so they must plant!

 I took another sip of coffee and the children began to make their way down our open, wooden staircase. 

One by one they trickled down the stairs, shuffling along in their jammies, rubbing the sleep from their eyes.

I turned to look at them and say good morning...

I turned to look back out the window at the tractors...

And as if the Holy Spirit lit a warm and comforting glow inside of me, a thought was born that has been my motto for daily living during this pandemic ever since.

I am also in planting season, but with my kids, I thought, prayerfully... 

Mothers aren't that much different from farmers. We plant seeds into our kids every day! And as a mother I will experience a harvest from these years, pandemic or not. I refuse to plant seeds of worry, anxiety, and discontent. Therefore, I will not participate in the hype and obsession that will steal my time, joy, attention and peace.

I stopped paying attention to the news. I stopped clicking on political articles. I restrained from even speaking of the virus around my kids. I deliberately made an effort to live normally and joyfully during those months.

Because even though banks were offering people a 3-month extension on their mortgage payments to help during this catastrophe, I was never offered any sort of extension with my kids.

They continue growing and learning and spreading their wings more and more each day.

I will not get this time back.

"The thief cometh to kill, steal and destroy. But I have come that they might have life. And that they might have it more abundantly." - John 10:10

(My roses are so nosy. They poked their little heads through the fence to hear what the lettuce and peas were gossiping about...)

So, Micah was back to work the very day they would let him.

We were back in church the first Sunday they reopened.

We traveled this summer and visited friends and family.

And through it all the Lord blessed us tremendously.

I never lost the tiniest wink of sleep over the last several months, for I haven't been worried about any of this in the least.

And we have been happy, healthy and provided for.

For example, last winter, right before Covid hit, Micah came home one day and randomly announced to the family that he had purchased half a cow.

I was a little taken a back. 

That is not what we usually do.

But sure enough, that weekend we were all in the car, heading to a neighboring town to pick up our meat at the butcher.

It filled our basement chest freezer to the brim!

Not long after this, if you remember, the meat prices nationwide sky-rocketed, and many families were left either paying $16 a pound for beef, or going without.

Not to mention, Micah was suddenly and without warning laid off of work during that time, so our budget was tight. 

But we had more meat for our hungry, growing kids than we knew what to do with!

I look back at that and marvel at how God prompted my husband to make that purchase so we would be provided for. We ate so well during those months, and always had meat to share. 

I could record many more stories such as this, of how God demonstrated Himself to us and took good care of us.

I'm sure you have stories, too.

And now we are moving forward, aren't we?

At least we are trying to.

Things don't seem as scary as they did back in early spring.

I still sit each morning in my front room and sip my coffee. 

Soon I will see the tractors and farm equipment on our country road once again. For it will soon be harvest. 

The farmers will reap what they sowed back when the rest of the world was hunkered down, staying safe at home.

I don't know when when my harvest will come.

I only know that this is my planting season.

So I dare not let Coronavirus make me unfaithful.

  Someday I want my grown kids to say to me, "We didn't know our world was in such an upheaval. Our childhood was stable... carefree...  and we were at peace."

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." - Galatians 6:9

xo,

~ Courtney ~