The last few weeks have been emotionally draining on me – and not in a good way. I briefly (and vaguely) asked for prayer on Facebook for our family because we were in the midst of some fairly serious tests being run and a surgery happening with my both of my parents.

For those of you that don’t know, we have been blessed to have my parents living near us these last seven years. There were many years that a twelve hour drive separated us. And right now, I am so very thankful they live nearby.

Last week my dad had back surgery in a hospital several hours away while I sat and held my mom’s hand in another hospital as she had a biopsy testing for breast cancer. A few short days later we had the results we didn’t want to hear but had already assumed – it was definitely cancer.

Years ago, my mom walked through breast cancer, so while it isn’t an unfamiliar road, it is still really difficult to process everything and still feel like life is normal. Today we sat down with the doctor and planned surgery for next week – BUT we did receive some good news too. The cancer is only in the early stages, not in advanced stages like we had thought (thank you, Lord!).

We are surrounded by friends who have been praying and have been so wonderfully supportive – and again, I so appreciate all of you that have sent emails, messages, and more to let me know you were praying. It truly has meant the world and know that we have felt such a peace during this process.

One day at a time is the focus, but today walking out of the office today felt like such a relief. Yes, there are going to be some rough days in the weeks to come, but in all things we are striving to keep our eyes and hearts turned toward Jesus and holding on to hope.

The album that I’ve had on ‘repeat’ the last few weeks is one of my favorites from Bethel Music, You Make Me Brave. I just can’t say enough wonderful things about it (really, I’ve given it to several friends who were going through tough times because it is so encouraging).

Today, if you are going through a difficult time, I’d love to leave you with a few words from one of the songs and ask you to leave a comment if there is something you need prayer for – I’d love to pray for you and I know that others would too! Let’s encourage each other!

It is Well

Far be it from me to not believe
Even when my eyes can’t see.

And this mountain that’s in front of me
Will be thrown into the midst of the sea.

Through it all, through it all
My eyes are on You.
Through it all, through it all
It is well.

Read more: Bethel Music – It Is Well Lyrics | MetroLyrics

Do you have a word that defines your year? For the last several years I’ve had a word engraved on a charm – one word – that I’ve prayed over at the beginning of the year. One that would define that year to come.

Last year, I thought. I prayed. Wrote a few things down. But nothing stood out and felt right. If you know anything about my personality, that may have been a wee bit bothersome to me. I’m a girl who likes to get it done. Have it finished. Yesterday.

That may at times be detrimental to different areas of my life.

The year moved on and it wasn’t until the end of December (the end of the year, people!!!!) when a friend was talking to me and asking some questions, that suddenly I knew exactly what my word was. 

Undone.

While I share some things that go on in our lives, typically from a homeschool perspective, there are often many things going on behind the scenes that others don’t get to see. It’s not that I don’t want to share, but sometimes can’t – or don’t want to bore others with all the silly details of life. Or sound like I’m whining. Because this is a homeschool blog and somewhere deep down inside of me, there’s a little something that whispers, “If it’s not about homeschooling, it isn’t something you should really post.”

I’m so getting over that! We are ALL more than just homeschoolers, and sometimes we need to know that another person is going through something similar. Maybe there is a little something that can be an encouragement to another person – and I am definitely okay with that!

I’ll be truthful and tell you that last year was a bit rough on me in different ways. I was pushed out of my comfort zone in several areas. Spent time dealing with extended family issues. And worked through some things personally that needed focusing on – and still do.

Remember how I mentioned that I like things done? Yesterday. Right away. (My way). I’m a girl who like to get things checked off, finished, completed in a timely manner, yet last year there was so much that felt completely out of my control. Places I needed to just step back and let go.

And leave undone.

Can I tell you how hard that was for me? But can I also tell you how FREEING it was as well?

There are times when it is okay for things to be left undone. Often many of the things that we hold as a priority – well, they really aren’t.

Every single one of us has stuff going on behind the scenes. Junk we’re dealing with. This thing called homeschooling is just one of the many areas in our lives. We are moms (or dads), parents, spouses, teachers – the list goes on. We can’t get it all done and don’t have to either. Yes, it’s easy to feel like we are missing the mark and have SO MUCH MORE we should be doing or need to do, whether it be in our homeschool time or any area of time.

There are times when we just need to let it go. Let it rest. Leave it undone. Because maybe, just maybe there is something else that can’t be done, unless that ‘thing’ is left undone.

So my bracelet this year reminds me that my past year of ‘undone’ – I survived it. All that stuff that was piling up and just had to be finished, well, a bunch of it was unnecessary. The things that really needed to get done – they were.

And this year’s word? Well, that one dropped into my heart immediately after the word undone.

Perfect – but with one of the letter e’s upside down. Because it doesn’t have to be perfect to be done either. (Oh…there’s a whole other post there with thoughts I’ve been wrestling with).

So while I don’t usually dig ‘deep’ and share stuff like this, I’ve really been feeling it was time to get a little more personal. Maybe you’re walking through some similar feelings lately. (Hugs to you). Know that you aren’t alone – and I’d love to pray for you too. Hang in there! Release yourself from all those expectations that are unnecessary and focus on what really needs to be done today – ok?

This is the first year that I did absolutely nothing school-related during our Christmas break. We finished up the second week of December, turned the temperature down to 45 in the schoolroom – and walked out.

In case you were wondering, that’s pretty much a ‘never before happened’ event in the years we’ve been homeschooling. Typically my brain has trouble shutting off, ignoring all the stuff that I feel needs to be ‘done’, and just relaxing.

Can I tell you how nice it truly is to shut down and just BE?

Not a paper was graded from co-op lit class. I didn’t once sneak up to finish filling out lesson plans from the week prior. No sorting, re-organizing of the schoolroom, or anything. Instead we all just relaxed. Visited the library. Read a LOT.  Played with friends. Took at trip to visit family. And did pretty much nothing – with the exception of wrapping up a home project that was smack dab in the middle of our living room.

Doing nothing is nice.

It’s given me time to reflect on this past year, think ahead to the upcoming year, and put down some thoughts on paper. While I don’t exactly make resolutions, there are some goals that I’ve set for myself and will sharing this week with you all.

our living room – before the redo

Maybe you remember my sharing one of my November goals – to paint our fireplace and get the bookcase home project started. The fireplace did get finished, but unfortunately, the rest of the project didn’t go quite as quickly as we planned. We thought it would be completed at the end of November.

Note to self: when planning a home project, start earlier than you think you should. Especially if you want to make sure it’s done before the upcoming holidays.

We started decorating for Christmas (thought we’d be waaaaay farther on the project at this point), cleaned out all the bookcases. And waited.

But wood doesn’t come painted. Who knew? So… much of the two weeks my hubby had off over Christmas were spent priming and painting. Granted, his work looks fabulous, but I’m pretty sure he would have loved to be a whole lot more lazy. (grins)

the living room after

Finally though – we are DONE! All the books, games, and such were finally moved from our bedroom (we won’t talk about how those piles about threw me over the edge for close to a month…). I cannot tell you how wonderful it feels to have books that were hidden in the basement for years finally see the light of day and everything in one place – pretty much how it was all pictured in my head. What do you think?

And as a bonus, I even managed to hang up a decoration on the fireplace for Valentine’s Day, a fun garland from Family Life that will be a devotional to talk about love in the weeks leading up to February 14.  I’m feeling rather giddy about that at the moment.

I don’t think I’ll be able to wait go into the schoolroom until we start back Monday morning – a quick trip up the night before is in the plans, but I have to tell you, shutting down is definitely something I plan to do again. AND I highly recommend it, especially for your sanity. Minus any home improvement projects.

How did YOU spend your break? Did you relax and really rest?