Bird's Eye View

Preamble A new school year is about to begin. I’m seeing pictures of children looking all grown up in their new uniforms, or out of uniforms going to University! I’m just here waiting on my new curriculum to arrive. We’re homeschooling! I’m so excited! If you are thinking of homeschooling, this post might be helpful . If you are not homeschooling, it will be a bore. Be warned. Technically, this is Judah’s first year. He really should have registered last year (He turned 5 in June, which is still within the 2016-2017 school year), but I went, bodily, to the ministry when he was 3 and they told me I didn’t need to. When I went this year to register, they said I should have registered last year. Anyhow… (The actual registration process was pretty straightforward and not at all unpleasant. ) The wonderful thing about homeschool, though, is that you work at your child’s pace. So I did do more ‘formal’ instruction with Judah last year. It probably took us about 20 minutes to do a...

Have you ever had to take the bus with 2 babies? Do you know that those children come with equipment? Like a stroller to get to and from the bus stop. Or a super-sized diaper bag, cause if something goes wrong in town, there’s no jumping into a car and driving home. Have you ever been kicked off a ZR with expletives being hurled at you because you had all that stuff taking up more space than the driver would like? Or being forced to pay for an underage child because he fell asleep on a seat that an adult should occupy even though the bus still had space? Have you ever tried to push a stroller with one hand and hold a baby and an umbrella with another because the rain started right as you got off the bus?  Have you ever had to change a baby on your lap at the bus stop with passing cars staring, while watching the toddler so he doesn’t run off into the traffic? Why didn’t I go to the restroom close by with the changing station? Because I had been at that bus stop, in the sun...

I went to Trinidad to study at UWI, or that was the plan. But one thing I did learn from Trinidad is that they loved an excuse to lime. If you could imagine it, then it could be a public (bank) holiday so they could lime. Jesus’ Birthday? Public Holiday. The day the Indians arrived on the island? Public Holiday. The day after the two public holidays for Carnival where people will likely be exhausted? Unofficial Public Holiday. Oh, and Lime they did! I may have forgotten most of what I did at UWI, but I’ve not forgotten how to lime nor how to use dates for valid excuses. Today is Valentine’s Day. In my youth, I was on a high horse, so far above needing calendar dates to express my love. But now that I’ve aged, and some amount of Grace has accompanied it, I am grateful for the excuses to love. Everybody’s in red today and there’s chocolate all around. Here’s your perfect excuse to stop worrying about the New Year’s Resolutions that have already crashed and burned. You can put it a...

I look around the room and notice the other children sitting still. One little girl is at the table next to ours so Judah asks to go sit over there. I allow him to, but neither she nor the adults seem interested in a conversation so he doesn’t stay long. Another little boy that just came in is sitting quietly on his mother’s lap. He looks a little younger than Judah, but still old enough for comparison. It could be possible that he’s just not warmed up to the new setting yet. We did arrive on time (aka way too early in Bajan time) so Judah and Ezra already had a good run around the room and worked up quite a sweat. When I first arrived, I wondered how the evening would go with so many tables…just sitting expected? But here were these other children sitting. Was my child missing out on being forced to sit still all day at school? I really wouldn’t want that for him, but it did cross my mind. Was he normal? What about ADHD?   During dinner, I notice the ‘quiet boy’ is sta...

In becoming a parent, I knew it was my responsibility (and not the church’s) to train my child and teach him about the Lord. I did the usual books, Google searches and talking to people. I found many great suggestions, but it was difficult to find a step by step practical guide. So I thought I’d share what I’ve pieced together so far. Year by Year The Voddie Baucham sermon 'The importance of Biblically disciplining children' got me excited with his breakdown by age. In summary, for the first 3 years, you are focusing on obedience, so that you can prepare the children to learn from you. Then, secondly, whenever they begin to talk they will be learning the facts of the Faith. This is done through memorizing Scripture, catechisms and songs. And thirdly, when the children are about 12 years old, true discipleship begins as you are able to walk with your children through life experiences. We have been able to start the first two phases with Judah (he turns 4 later...

My 30 Yr Old Trophy Husband My husband does the usual things any reasonable 20something year old would do, like taking out the garbage, washing dishes and changing diapers. He’s generally a better cook than I am (though he has pretty much taught himself out of a job by now) and according to Judah, also tells better bed time stories ‘from his mouth’. I could tell you that he never puts things back, that he procrastinates and even struggles with sin, but I won’t. That would go against proper social media etiquette of being totally one sided. Plus it is his birthday after all. What impresses me most about Mario is that he leads by example and with such patience and grace. He depends on Jesus and is constantly improving. When we were adjusting to being new parents (back in the day, lol), we quickly realized the ‘me vs you’ struggle. Someone had to get up in the middle of the night. Both of us were exhausted. But if he refused to do it, he was forcing me to. My darling husband ch...

I feel like Peter right now. I was fine, I knew the Lord pretty well. We had a good thing going on. I had Faith. I stepped out and I was walking strong among the doubters. Then I lost it. How on this earth did I start to sink?!? I knew who He was, I saw him calm a storm before, so I knew that this little wind wasn’t an issue. But here I am, still sinking. And I don’t know what to do. What else can I do? I’m saved sanctified, Holy Ghost filled blah blah blah. But here I sink. Most of my doubt has to do with God’s Sovereignty. We got a Christmas gift one year with these words inscribed on it: “Faith is not believing God can, it is knowing that He will.” It boggled my mind then I realized that it was incorrect. Can anybody really say what God WILL do? I mean for things he hasn’t explicitly said. I believe His Word and the promises therein, but I cannot say that God will heal a friend’s unfruitful womb, or save a failing marriage. He thinks children are a blessing and He hates divorce...