We are pretty infrequent with our posts to our YouTube channel these days, but per requests on our social media, we wanted to share a quick day-in-the-life video to catch you up on some of our daily happenings.
You may be surprised to see in the video that we are homeschooling now! Our decision to homeschool our kids is one that we didn’t take lightly, but is just something that worked out best for us during this season. And just like when we decided to do public school, we will continue to reevaluate year-by-year. We continue to believe that parents know their kids best and should have the right to choose whatever education route works best for their family, so long as their kids are set up for success.
Please note that any family photos on this site are copyrighted and may not be used without the express written permission of the copyright holder.
I share your perspective!
My siblings and I were variously homeschooled and went to public and private schools, depending on what was best for each kid in each year.
My oldest kid has always gone to public school. I expect we will keep him there. But I’m hoping to homeschool my second oldest for his first year or two. They’re just different people with different learning styles and personalities. Our family circumstances and level of energy vary as well over time.
I purchased your audiobook and have been enjoying listening to it in between laundry, meals and tending to kids. I wasn’t prepared, however, for Samuel’s birth story. Had I known it were coming, I would have saved that chapter for a time when I was alone and could grieve.
As I listened to you tell the story, it played like a movie in my mind and I began to relive my own story. Our stories are parallel in a lot of ways, although I had never had a C-section so the uterine rupture I experienced 10 hours into labor was a completely out of left field. Your story was my story, down to so many of the details. My husband sat outside of the OR as people rushed in and out and all they could say is: “We’re working on them.”
As more and more blood was brought in, he was told “We’re working on her” & when I woke up and asked, “Where’s my baby?” I was met the silence. My husband had asked that no one tell me, he wanted to be the one. After several times of asking, I heard his voice and felt his hand, “He didn’t make it”.
The grief I felt was undescribable and the months ahead were some of the hardest. His nursery had an anchor theme with this verse: Hebrews 6:19
“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil..”
The anchor of my soul stepped into my pain in such intimate ways, I cannot even describe it. My uterus was gone, I had no idea how God could “restore” this. God is God and I am not and he would go on to restore in ways that I never could have imagined.
Healing, I always say, is cyclical. God does some healing in an area and we move on, but it will come back around and a little more healing will take place. With each cycle of healing that area becomes stronger and stronger. Only God can do that.
As I cried through your recounting of Samuel’s birth story, a little more healing took place in my heart. I know that my son, whom we had named Simeon (after the Simeon in Luke 2:25), is a treasure waiting for me in heaven.
Thank you for sharing.
Amanda,
Thanks so much for sharing your story. I’m so sorry for your loss and trauma you’ve endured. May you continue to feel God near and may he continue to be your strength and comfort.