Not Bitter About Blissdom..Anymore

You remember that post I wrote about how this year's word is REDEMPTION? And how I planned on sharing, throughout the year, ways God has blessed and redeemed things in my life? Well, this is one of those times.

I'm 26 weeks along in this blessed pregnancy - our baby girl is due in June. I know, once I have the baby I'll be sticking close to home. I usually become a hermit for about a year after my babies are born. I don't even like to go out to dinner.



I had planned to go to Savvy Blogging in October - but knowing I wouldn't be up to it with a 4 month old, I sold my ticket. I will of course be at The 2:1 Conference in April (you will too right?!?) But being that Blissdom was happening in February I started scheming a way to go in order to fit in one more conference before my self imposed exile.

Someone had offered me a ticket and my sweet friend Rachel had offered to let me room with her. All I needed was a sponsor for my flight. I came close - but didn't get one, so my Blissdom dreams evaporated. I wasn't happy. I wanted to squish in as much social media madness as I could before I have the baby.

But I knew if I couldn't go God had a reason. I trusted He would reveal His reason.

And He did. He fully redeemed my Blissdom weekend with a different kind of bliss. The kind of bliss only available through family time and contentment.


(Far left-right: my aunt, Grandma's sister Anita, my mom, me, my Grandma, Grandma's sister Carrie and my cousin)
I was able to spend time with my Grandma. She is savoring her last months with family and friends while riding the roller coaster of brain cancer - glioblastoma. In addition to seeing Grandma, I got to meet her sisters who flew in from different states.

It was hilarious to sit with them - in their 70s they all still bicker like kids. And I got to hear some lively stories! Apparently Grandma was ornery. She told stories of the whippings she and her sisters used to get for the mischief they caused - and how they would wrap magazines around their legs, under their nightgowns, to avoid the pain of their punishment.

My favorite story was how Grandma and her sisters felt the need to kill bugs in their basement - by drowning them - with the garden hose -while their mother was napping. There was almost 6 inches of water in the basement before their mother woke and caught them!

It was also nice to get to meet my Great Aunt Carrie - I shared stories about her time in Lybia back when we were going to move there. It was like a first time meeting with someone I felt I already knew.

It was a magical time. One I wouldn't trade for all the conferences in the world.

God truly redeemed my weekend.

And I am grateful.

Literature, Science and the big GENDER REVEAL!

This week went pretty well - except for when I got my weeks mixed up and we missed the big boy's Movies and Literature class. Oops! So next week we'll have to fit in time to watch the movie they missed and work on their reports.

An exciting moment this week happened when I realized Fox is finally enjoying science this year. We love Apologia science, we've used it since Fox was in 3rd grade with lots of success. He completed Biology last year and this year he moved on to Chemistry. Chemistry was a real struggle. He just didn't "get" it.

I finally realized it was because of the math - Chemistry is extremely math heavy and at least Algebra I is required. Fox is in pre-algebra and the Chemistry math was just too much of a stretch.

Thankfully Apologia has lots of choices and I switched him to Marine Biology. Science has not been a struggle since. He's really enjoying the experiments and exploring aquatic life. And he's really looking forward to dissecting a baby shark later in the year.

In other news...we found out the gender of the baby today!! We decided to find out as a family with a gender reveal cake. My cousin has a cakery, Dragonflies Cakery, she's very talented! We had the sonogram technician put the gender results in a sealed envelope. We then mailed the unopened results to my cousin who made us this gorgeous Noah's Ark cake. All we had to do was cut into it to see what we are having.

So, as you can see. It's a GIRL!!!!! I am in shock and ecstatic!! All the boys are thrilled too. We immediately called parents, aunts, uncles, etc. Everyone was so happy for us. This baby will be the first Pitt girl born in over 25 years - and only the second girl in well over 70 years. So we're long overdue for a little more estrogen!

I guess the baby girl diet worked! :)

How did your week go? Link up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers!

Word of the Year - Redemption. I Think...

You know how lots of people are now naming their years instead of doing resolutions? I do that too. Since November I have known what my word for 2012 would be. Redemption.

I was looking over my life and finding myself incredibly thankful for all the things God has redeemed in me. Things I didn't even know He was working on, and I was/am humbled.

I had spent some time following a trail of verses I had written on the pages of my Bible - the Bible I had at 16 years old when I was pregnant with Fox. I hopscotched through the pages and was in tears. Each verse had to do with forgiveness, grace and redemption. My 16 year old self had been searching for forgiveness and a path forward. Hope.

I planned (and still plan) to share these verses and the many ways God has redeemed so many things in my life. I was stoked to share my word for 2012. Redemption! I wanted to shout about it.

Then something happened. 2012 got off to a very bumpy start.

January was not easy.

To start, I had a falling out with a dearly loved family member on New Years Day. A week later I had a fender bender. No one was hurt (praise!) but our 11 year old family van was totaled by the relatively small amount of damage. I spent half a day in the ER for precautionary treatment and Rh shot for the baby. We hoped to refinance our old home (we are renting it to family) only to find the appraisal came back much, much lower than expected - thank you economy. A close family member is separated from his wife, it's a very sad situation. And my maternal grandmother was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of brain cancer.

*Sigh*

It's been a day by day walk. I asked God if this was His sense of humor. Really? I named this year Redemption - I planned to share all the glorious things You have done for me - and this is how the year starts? You give me NEW STUFF that needs to be redeemed? Will the whole year be like this? Ugh.

I began to wish I named my year "Full Time Fun" or "Smooth Sailing". Can I have a do over? Is it too late too change my word? The way this year is going, I should rename it something more fitting. I can see it now! 2012 - Year Craptastica! Yes, that will work.

But here I am. It's February 1st. And I'm here to tell you I still have hope. My God is bigger than ALL this. He deserves praise during the storm. Just last night, amends were made with the estranged family member. Shane can usually work from home one day a week so I can use his SUV for field trips or errands. A sweet friend gave all 5 of us a ride to co-op in her amazing 8 passenger van. The baby is healthy and active. Finances may be tight, but we still have plenty. The family member separated from his wife has a great support system and is dealing well with the stress. My grandmother, the prayer warrior, is singing praises in her hospital bed. She told me "I'm healed either way. I'll be healed on earth or in heaven" and she told my father "I've got my foot on the Rock and He has me on His roll." That's my grandma.

A friend at co-op shared this verse last week:

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances." Phillipians 4:11

Did you catch that very important word? Learned. I have learned to be content. It might not come instantly or naturally. But we need to teach ourselves to be content, even in difficult situations. Because God is in control and He works all things to His glory.