I grew up the oldest of five children, reared by two great parents, surrounded by extended family. I did well in school and always thought I would be a teacher. Well, that's what everyone told me I should be. I had nice handwriting and I liked kids. My favorite subject was art and I almost majored in it in college, but instead leaned toward Elementary Education like was suggested. (I've always been somewhat of a people-pleaser, but with age has come the strength and confidence to stand on my own two feet.)
Before my freshman year was over, I changed my major to social work because I wanted to work beyond just children. I wanted to work with families. I met Jamey in college and pretty much instantly fell in love. He took a bit longer to feel the same way about me, but what is important is that he did. We married just out of school.
For six years, I worked as a clinical social worker at a state psychiatric hospital for kids. I worked almost exclusively with adolescents and their families. Challenging and draining work indeed. In all my six years, I was bitten once and had one chair thrown at me. Not too shabby. Many people asked me if my job made me afraid to have kids. My answer was a resounding no. I knew my children would have a chance. They would be loved, cared for and protected. Their needs would be met in a loving way.
These feelings made things even more difficult when conceiving our first and second child became tricky (see our "ectopic pregnancy" label). After over a year of sorting my reproductive system out, Sam was born and I became a stay at home mom. Three years later came Sadie and three and a half years after that came Miriam. In addition to staying home with them, we homeschool. This was a very easy decision for us. We see it as an extension of parenting, a very natural thing to do.
My Faith
I was raised in the Mennonite Church. My parents are Mennonite. My grandparents are Mennonite. Jamey's parents and grandparents are/were Mennonite. I grew up attending church and Sunday school weekly and adopted this practice and this faith as my own.
While I am drawn to the Mennonite church's stance on peace, simple living and adult baptism, I am drawn most to Jesus Christ, His life, His example and teachings. To read more about how my faith plays out in my daily life, read my interview over at Clover Lane.
Our hope is that our children will follow Jesus as well and that Jamey and I will be used to further God's kingdom. We are very excited to see where God will lead us. The possibilities are daunting and endless. We pray for obedience.
I am hugely and utterly imperfect. Did you hear that? I am hugely and utterly imperfect. I need God's grace and forgiveness daily. Every good thing I do, I do to Him who gives me strength.
My Food
Oh, food. Where in the world do I begin? The bounty of all good food available to us is overwhelming in a world where so many are hungry. We strive to eat food in it's purer forms- without pesticides, chemicals and the necessity of miles and miles of transportation.
Over the past seven years, we have gone from buying all our food at the local grocery store to growing or buying locally about 70% of all the vegetables, fruit, meat and eggs we eat. This has been a slow and gradual process for us (a great way to make lasting changes). This means much preserving in the forms of canning, freezing, drying and storing. To read more about why we do what we do, read here. And, for my interview on homesteading at Homestead Revival, please go here.
Applesauce
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Lastly, I would like to say what a blessing blogging has been to me. It provides me with a creative outlet. It allows us to share with family and friends (count yourself included here) what goes on in our lives and lessons learned- be it about food, chickens, life, homeschooling or rearing children. My blog-world friends are dear to me. Thank you for visiting.