Happy Mother's Day!

One of our favorite quotes on mothers....

"The modern challenge to motherhood is the eternal challenge — that of being a godly woman. The very phrase sounds strange in our ears. We never hear it now. We hear about every other kind of women — beautiful women, smart women, sophisticated women, career woman, talented women, divorced women, but so seldom do we hear of a godly woman — or of a godly man either, for that matter.

"I believe women come nearer fulfilling their God-given function in the home than anywhere else. It is a much nobler thing to be a good wife than to be Miss America. It is a greater achievement to establish a Christian home than it is to produce a second-rate novel filled with filth. It is a far, far better thing in the realm of morals to be old-fashioned than to be ultramodern. The world has enough women who know how to hold their cocktails, who have lost all their illusions and their faith. The world has enough women who know how to be smart.

"It needs women who are willing to be simple. The world has enough women who know how to be brilliant. It needs some who will be brave. The world has enough women who are popular. It needs more who are pure. We need women, and men, too, who would rather be morally right that socially correct."

Scottish American preacher Peter Marshall,
before the United States Senate, 1950

Needed: 120 Dump Truck Loads of Gravel

At the other end of this deeply-rutted, muddy half-mile driveway is the nearly-completed first stage of our little home. We've been building it ourselves for two years now, and after holdup after holdup and delay after delay, we're nearly ready to move in ... as soon as we can drive down our driveway, that is. We'll be working on graveling it in the next few years, but until then, for 6-8 months during breakup, we have to walk.

Tait and his dad carrying tools and building materials out to our house

Things can get a little exciting if we try to drive down too early. One year both trucks got stuck at once, and we had to call on a trusty friend and his monster truck to pull us out.

Photo from May of 2008, courtesy of Esther Zimmerman

Coming soon: We'll be working soon on getting up pictures and a full update on the home construction project!
Also coming soon: A funny story about our driveway and my arrival to Alaska!

"4 Moms, 35 Kids: How Moms of Many Manage"

Kim, mom of 10, over at Life in a Shoe, has joined with 3 other "moms of many" to share how in the world they stay afloat! This has been so helpful for a new mom like me! I find myself wondering throughout the day, when the 18-month-old is waking up from a nap wanting lunch and the 7-month-old needs a diaper change and his meal as well (and there's 10 loads of clean unfolded laundry on the couch, like now [did I just admit to that?]), how in the world I'll ever manage with (Lord willing!) 3 kids ... 6 kids ... 8 kids ... 10 kids!

The most encouraging part for me came fairly early on in the series:

After those early years of madcap panic trying to get through the days and weeks and months with all the members of the family receiving at least a meal a day and a bath a week, now I'm surrounded by helpers with able bodies and sound minds. I have 7 children who can tie their own shoes, and what's more they can find and tie shoes for those who can't....

My main purpose in explaining this is to encourage mothers whose children are all or mostly below the age of shoe-tying. Your days will get easier. You will, someday, struggle more with the temptation to laziness than the temptation to fall into a teary heap on the kitchen floor because there's just not enough time in the day to do the absolute bare necessities.

Hmmm ... that last part (the "teary heap on the kitchen floor" part) sounds a little like me sometimes. Or at least, the way I'm tempted to be when I'm overwhelmingly overwhelmed with everything that needs to be done in a day just to keep things functioning! Thankfully, I have an encouraging, helpful husband who urges me to "rejoice evermore" (1 Thessalonians 5:16), even when things get tough (and when the word "rejoice" is honestly the last thing I want to hear). And I know that our home will be a happier, more uplifting and refreshing place if Mommy is bright and cheerful.

Little Tait and Miles will grow up all too quickly, and I know I'll miss their baby days. But if they're trained well, they'll be able to help me with chores and with the new little ones!

Meantime, Kim at Life in a Shoe, Connie at Smockity Frocks, Kimberly at Raising Olives, and "The Deputy Headmistress" at The Common Room all have helpful, practical tips to share about everything from scheduling to cooking to homeschooling to shopping with little ones!

Two Years Ago Yesterday...

...We became a family.


Since May 3, 2008, we've...

~doubled our family size
~nearly built the first stage of our house
~grown infinitely closer together
~faced our share of hard times and struggles
~come to understand more clearly the beauty of the husband's
and wife's respective roles
~matured as Christians and endeavored to bring our lives more
in line with His Word
~increased in our love towards each other
~made great plans for the future!

Oh yes, and in the past two years we've not gotten around to getting our wedding pictures off of the disc yet (it's in a box ... somewhere), which is why we need to give Jason Kent, one of the fabulous groomsmen, credit for this photo.