let's party!

They're leaving ... on a jet plane... and I've decided to party while they're gone (my RN husband and 12 year old daughter are traveling to Guatemala today for a week long medical missions trip.  This is their second trip and I now understand that my heart will be in a knot for 8 days). 


 It's been a few years since I've joined the Ultimate Blog Party.   So, I figure there is no better way to make time go faster than to party, right?


Thanks to Janice and Susan at 5 Minutes for Mom for hosting the Ultimate Blog Party.  Join in!  

I'm Heidi... and, honestly, sometimes this is what being a mom to 3 feels like for me.  Crazy, out of control fun... and often my peripheral vision is blurry and unclear!  I never know what's coming next.  


I am mom to 4 Es (if you count the dog).  Eric is 15, Emily is almost 13, Ellen is 8, and Ebony, our lab/chow mix is 3.  For many years I described myself as a homeschool mom.  I found my identity in the homeschool community and started to dig deep roots there... thinking I would be the quintessential homeschool mother who graduates her brilliant children with high honors. 


The greatest lesson I'm learning these days is to not get very comfortable with life.  This place... this earth... this life, it's not my home.  God has taught me this lesson by uprooting me a few times.  Last year, he uprooted Eric and he went to public school and loves it!  He's a dynamite athlete and is excelling above our expectations with his academics and with his athletic ability.


So... I redefined myself as a homeschool mom of two girls and thought I could be happy letting Eric do his thing and I would graduate my two girls.  Wrong again.  In mid August of last year, God allowed Emily to win a one-year scholarship to our local Christian academy for 7-12 grades.  She loves it there and in her own right is excelling in sports and classes above our expectations.  She's clearly where God wants her... and I'm down to one at home.


I no longer have visions of grandeur and after ten years of homeschooling, I'm learning to redefine myself.   I'm realizing that I am uniquely made by my Creator to accomplish great things for Him.  I am not defined by one aspect of my life, whether good or bad.  Instead, there is a grander scheme and I have been made for more.

 I am a homeschool mom but I am also many other things...

I am child of the King, seeking to live for Him

I am a wife, of almost 18 years, who still struggles to put her husband first

I am a mother, to three incredible individuals

I am a home maker, whose home is constantly being unmade

I am a sister, who maybe is finally figuring out that sisters are your best friends for life

I am an aunt, I have 11 nieces and nephews who I adore

I am a friend, who is blessed beyond measure

I am an elders wife, though I often fail to embrace my role in ministry

I am an author, who, now that 2 kids are in school, is pursuing a life-long dream

So... you see, that funny iPhoto picture of Ellen and I.  I think it's an accurate portrayal of myself.  I'm learning to let go... to have fun but to not get comfy.  This life... my life... it's fleeing and maybe that is why the edges are blurry and unclear.  I don't need to see what is in the edges, I just need to keep my eyes on Jesus.