Year 8, Week: Happy Thanksgiving!

   

   

     This week we're on our Thanksgiving break and given the last two weeks (13 and 14), it's arrived at just the right time. Our homeschooling is going well. We've found our rhythm, albeit mostly a monotonous one since we're staying close to home. However, we did have a few exciting things happen in the past couple of weeks.

     Week 14 started with Little Toughie's online recital. This was a livestream and it was great to see how all the students were doing, even in the midst of this pandemic. She sang a version of "Fly Me to the Moon". It was pretty spectacular!

     Week 14 also ended with my winning NaNoWriMo nine days early. It wasn't my intention, but my daily goal has always been to write between 1800 and 2000 words. I  purposely buffered it keeping my birthday and Thanksgiving in mind. Toward the end of week 13 I surpassed the halfway mark of NaNoWriMo with a total of 27,177 words. The next day I hit 30,000. The words just kept adding up. When I reached 35,000 it seemed to move at warp speed and in no time I was 44,000 words. I decided to finish, spending most of Friday night and Saturday afternoon finishing my novel.

     In the end, I had written 50,312 words. While I've never ran a full marathon (I've ran a half) it was like crossing the finish line. There were tears of joy and I think I may have been holding my breath during the last 20 minute writing session because when I saw the work count hit 50,017 I had to stop and take deep breaths. My story wasn't quite done yet at that point so I had to get back to it and finish. I'll write more about my experience later on but I can say that I can't wait to do it again next year!

     A380 started our break week with lunch with our church's youth group directors. When it was confirmed that they'd be going it was all he could talk about. We're so very blessed to have young adults in our church to rise up and faithfully walk with Christ, proclaim His truth and lead the next generation. We need more of them!

     I'm finishing this blog after our traditional post-Thanksgiving walk and watching Captain Marvel. We're big Marvel fans! We'll be having a Zoom dinner with my family soon so I wish you all well. Cheers to you and yours on this Thanksgiving.

Year 8, Weeks 11 and 12: Better Late Than Never?

     I'm writing this a few days after the election as we continue to wait on confirmation of who our next President will be. Better late than never, maybe?  I know a lot of people are anxious about the results.  My family and I have been in prayer about all of  this.  Ultimately, my trust and hope is in the Lord and I know no matter who is elected, God is sovereign and knows better than we do. JESUS IS KING!

     The past couple of weeks have been more of the same with the exception of helping Little Toughie for her recital and me reaching 10,000 words for NaNoWriMo. I pray before each writing session as I seek to glorify him in all of it, whether or not it gets published (But I hope it does!)

     I write this also as a reminder that life is precious.  I lost another friend, a sister-in-Christ, this week.  It came as a shock to everyone; it happened in her sleep.  She had a gentle and kind spirit, one that was obvious even if you had just met her.  Our church lost a great woman of God. She has a daughter the same age as Little Toughie and my heart breaks for her.

     Know this: in the end, nobody is going to remember who you voted for. They're going to remember how you served others. And when I say serve I don't mean a version where someone thinks they're doing another a "service" by sharing an article or video that backs what they're trying prove because the other person is seen as "wrong". Let's be honest, even the media uses tactics of sharing what they find in their echo chamber.  Also it's not a service to bash or shame someone who doesn't see things your way.  That's not serving.  That's bullying.  In the end you will be remembered for how you served and loved others, no matter the differences.

     I saw this a few days before the election and thought I'd share it here.  I'm sorry I don't know the original source, but I found it on Instagram:

 

     Speaking of serving, Veteran's Day is coming up. I received this email from a local homeschool book shop that contained this image:

 

          Nothing is free. Even with this election, your right to vote didn't come for free.  Know your country's history, understand the world's history. Everything came at a price. Please remember that.