My Little Robins

Loving and Learning in the Nest

Your Secret Weapon for Forming Good Habits

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Chaos is often the leading lady in our home, as many mothers with very young children can most definitely relate to. But with chaos comes rattled nerves, tears (mostly mine), and a home atmosphere that is better prepared for battle than for learning. For the last year or so, I've been recognizing the importance of routine. This simple little thing, that children tend to crave, might be the key to habit training in our homes. 


The Chaos of the Past Year

When I sit down to tell you about the past year, my eyes can't hold back the tears. There was nothing tragic, and many could share their stories of far worse experiences. But almost everything that it contained was a struggle. There was the extremely explosive toddler, whom we realized had a Sensory Processing Disorder. The resulting therapy and work that we did with him drained us (me) to empty. There was the selling of our house, the buying of a new house, and the renovation that kicked us out of our home for five weeks (and is still going, ahem). And what I didn't prepare for was all the tears from little ones who were sad to have left their home, and didn't understand what was happening to their new one. 

Through all of these circumstances, a common theme kept arising: we needed a routine.

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My sensory guy desperately needed a routine so his little body could relax a bit and not feel the need to fight an overwhelming world. 

With the chaos of moving and renovating and moving again, I craved a routine of happy mornings with my children. 

Through blurry tears shed after losing the only home they'd ever known, my children needed a routine to show them that not so much had changed. 

And yet, I couldn't give it to them. Our days were unpredictable and chaotic and far from easy. But, in all that time, God was changing my heart. I was learning and preparing for the day when the gift of the mundane would walk back into our lives. I was planning out our routines. 

Related: The Complete Charlotte Mason Preschool Guide

The Secret Weapon For Forming Good Habits

Our habits require some kind of cue to set them in motion. The habit cue is why we accidentally turn off the lights when someone is firmly planted in the room- it's a habit to flip that switch when we walk out of that door! When our cues are completely shaken, then our habits crumble. I imagine that this is part of the reason why the last year was so challenging: we were without our routines, so all of those habits that we had worked so hard on had disintegrated into that thin Colorado air. 

Related: Toddler Schedule for a Charlotte Mason Home

Habits need routines.

If you have been struggling to help your children, and yourself, develop good habits, but there isn't consistency in your day, then you probably feel like you're shoveling during a snowstorm. Habits are entirely repetitive, and if we don't repeat those habit cues for good habits, then they will probably quickly morph into bad habits. 

When we follow routines in our day, the cues happen naturally. If everyone goes upstairs to clean their rooms after breakfast every day, there won't be so much of a fight. If the kids are used to playing independently outside for an hour while I work or rest, there won't be so much bickering. Establishing routines into our days when our kids are in their early years yields a high return of investment. 

Related: Family Habits Meeting

Establishing Routines

All the while that I wanted to establish routines, but couldn't, I spent time planning them out. The first thing that I knew we needed in order to have healthy routines and habits was more time at home together. We needed fewer activities because good habits are seldom formed in the rush to get shoes on and get into the car. 

After clearing our schedule a bit (and learning how to say "no" to some things, I thought about what our mornings should look like. What if everyone was really at peace, and if our home was filled with the sweet aroma of Jesus? I wrote a paragraph to describe it. This didn't factor in sensory meltdowns or teething toddlers, but I wanted to have a baseline of what I thought would be ideal. 

With my paragraph in hand, I thought about all of the habits that might need to happen in order to have a morning like this. If we were to all sit together at the table for breakfast and morning time,  we would need to work on our table manners. If the little boys were expected to play quietly during lessons, then we would need to work on the habit of being kind to each other. 

Finally, I wrote out a routine that would help support the habits I knew we needed help with. Instead of letting the kids graze throughout the morning and eat when they woke, we'd wait and eat breakfast together so I could get everyone to the table simultaneously for our morning time. Before beginning lessons, I'd play with my little boys and model how to be kind to each other. 

Habit Training Resources

Make sure to subscribe to My Little Robin's email list to get access to the subscriber library, It is full of great resources, including habit and routine planning worksheets. 

If you are figuring out what habit training looks like during the early years, be sure to check out Habits for the Early Years: A Mother's Journal.

 

Classic Hymns for Nature Study

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I’m holding my newborn baby close to me on a Sunday morning. He squirms gently in my arms, ready for sleep, but too enthralled with the world around him to dare shut his eyes. The gentle and familiar tune, All Creatures of Our God and King fills the chapel. This is a song that I’ve been singing to him the past few weeks when I want to calm him. It’s a song that connects me to nature and fills me with peace. I softly sing along with the worship leaders. When I look down, I see that my baby is sleeping.

Hymns are filled with rich history and beautiful language. They connect us to our past and we’ll continue to pass them on to our children and their children, linking us to our future. Sharing these hymns with our children allows them to see the beauty of God in His creation around us. As we focus on nature during the early years, I imagine filling my children’s hearts with these beautiful words so that when we’re outside watching the birds flit from tree to tree, their hearts sing the lines from All Things Bright and Beautiful:

Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colors,
He made their tiny wings.”

I want to keep these sweet hymns on my tongue so I can share them with my children. These are beautiful hymns for nature study, in the early years and beyond.

Classic Hymns for Nature Study

I’ve linked these hymns to a version that I enjoy, or to their written lyrics.

All Creatures of Our God and King

All Things Bright and Beautiful

Can You Count the Stars?

Fairest Lord Jesus

For the Beauty of the Earth

Holy, Holy, Holy

Joyful Joyful, We Adore Thee

How Great Thou Art

God of the Glorious Sunshine

All Things Bright and Beautiful

When the Earth is Bright With Dew

God Speaks to us in Bird and Song

This is my Father’s World

In the Garden

A Free Print for You

Spending precious time outdoors with my little ones allows us to appreciate the intricacies of God’s creation. As a reminder of God’s beautiful handiwork, I made this printable, which you can download right here.

(Note- There is no watermark on the downloadable file!)

#Nature #Hymn #Print with lyrics from All Things Bright and Beautiful

Mother Culture Read: Pierced and Embraced

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Isn’t book mail the best? A few weeks ago, on a particularly challenging day, a surprise package arrived from me. And it was a book! Moody Publishers sent me Pierced and Embraced: 7 Life Changing Encounters with the Love of Christ by Kelli Worrall. It got an express pass to the top of my reading list. As mothers, it’s important to keep learning and growing. In the Charlotte Mason community, this is often referred to as Mother Culture. In order to teach our children, we need to take the time to learn and be refreshed. This book, by Kelli Worrall, taught me, refreshed me, and challenged me. I am so happy to be a part of the launch team!

Pierced and Embraced is a book full of inspirational ideas. The focus is on women of the New Testament, and how they interact with Jesus. His interactions with them were often so different than his interactions with men, and the author contrasted these beautifully. She describes the historical context of each Bible event. Then, she weaves it in with stories from modern culture and from her own life. Stories of how we sometimes experience the piercing sting of loss or rejection before experiencing the transforming embrace of Christ’s love.

These are situations I can relate to. Situations of heart-wrenching tragedy, while simultaneously experiencing God’s grace.

Pierced and Embraced

The Woman with the Hemorrhage and Jairus

This was one of my favorite chapters. Worrall showed that the way this woman’s story intertwines with Jairus’s was not an accident. This desperate woman, bleeding for years, and this desperate man, who was used to being in a position of abundance rather than a position of need, both came to Jesus for healing. She came to him after years of being rejected by society. He came to Him after years of success and comfortable living. She experienced shame; he experienced a sudden humility. They both experienced healing. But sometimes healing doesn’t come. Worrall addressed experiences in her family, when healing came- her mother-in-law experiencing incredible emptiness and a failing marriage, and then God’s healing embrace as He drew her to him. And the time that healing didn’t come- when her mom died of cancer, but God used the precious last years of their time together to heal their relationship.

Reflections

This is the story that impacted me the most. I had been pierced and embraced in this way. After years of an often-strained relationship with my dad, I got a call one Friday night saying that Dad was in the hospital in a coma. He had had a stroke, a subsequent fall, and emergency brain surgery. My mom and sisters, our husbands, aunts, and uncles all rushed to be with him and we prayed for healing. Physical healing never came. He passed away after 10 days. Pierced. But through that difficult time, God’s grace shined through in the strangest places. The strangers who brought us meals and flowers and even a baby carrier for my newborn nephew. The prayer that touched on an unspoken need. The memory of a conversation with my dad where he said, just a few months before that he was ready to go to Heaven.  Embraced. Since that horrific time, I’ve experienced more and more of Christ’s embrace as He has healed my heart from some of the deeps wounds from my relationship with my dad, and the wounds from his death.

The chapter about the woman and Jairus obviously resonated deeply with me- but the final chapter, about the woman with the alabaster box of perfume, left me inspired and motivated. The chapter reflected on the acts of worship, in the Old and New Testaments, that involved using the five senses. This inspired me because teaching our children to learn to use their senses is one of the most important parts of Charlotte Mason’s philosophy in the early years. God created us to have a full life using all of our senses, not just our ears, as lectures and music often limit us to.

I am so excited to be able to offer you a 40% off discount code on this treasure of a book! Through September 30, 2017, use the code EMBRACED40 through this Moody Publishers link. 

 

 

 

Finding Summertime Rhythms of Grace

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This post contains affiliate links. Of course, I only recommend things we love and use. See more in my policies. 

May is always a crazy busy month for us. It holds our wedding anniversary, Mother’s Day, and my birthday. These events give me plenty of reason for reflection. Around our anniversary, I reflected on our marriage. On Mother’s Day, I ruminated on motherhood. By my birthday at the end of the month, I was thinking about life in general. One thing that came up in all of these reflections, the common thread that strung these thoughts together, is grace.

I need more grace for other people. More understanding of the grace that’s given to me. I need to give myself more grace.

For my birthday, Nate and the kids gave me the The Message Canvas journaling Bible. After a month of really thinking about grace, the first day I lifted that pretty coral cover open had the perfect verse for me.

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11: 28-30.

Summertime Rhythms of Grace

Unforced rhythms of Grace

This is going to be my summertime goal. It seems like a perfect time for unforced rhythms, for recognizing grace. Really paying attention to grace, letting the slow rhythm of the summer revolve around appreciating the graces in my days. Living a life of worship and appreciation, instead of rushed accomplishments.

I need to recognize God’s grace in the morning when I sneak downstairs to sit in the quiet, preparing to have the best possible day. And then again in the evening, when I sit down defeated, vowing that tomorrow will be better.

I need to give my husband grace when he says something I don’t understand- a miscommunication that is as much my fault as his. And grace for my daughter, when all she really wants is me, and all I really want is to tame the clutter that exploded all over the house.

Summertime Rhythms of Grace

Summer rhythms

When I lack grace for others, it’s usually because I’m not taking the time to relish in God’s grace for me.  I try to keep plenty of white space on our calendar, but there are these self-imposed deadlines and duties that invisibly appear, binding me in stress and busyness. Things to do around the house. Time-consuming projects that don’t really need to be done. How I long for a different summer rhythm.  A heading-to-the-back-patio-barefoot-with-my-coffee kind of rhythm. A let’s stay in pajamas because we don’t have anywhere to go kind of rhythm. We don’t do formal lessons yet, but I’m craving this separation from our normal routine.

But this goes deeper than schedules. This is living a life of thankfulness and worship, forgiveness and presence. I need rest, not just physically, but from the emotional burdens I incur by refusing to forgive myself. Instead of saying at the end of the summer, “That summer flew by!” I want to say, “I enjoyed every minute of it.” When I’m tired and overwhelmed, I want to sit and take in these fleeting moments with my little ones, instead of shutting down.

Keep Thinking

This is an idea that I can keep thinking about over and over again and continue to come up for fresh implications of it. I hope that this seed of an idea blooms and grows in your mind, too. Maybe you’re taking a break from homeschool, or maybe your days will continue with a similar rhythm. What will your summer rhythms look like? Hopefully filled with grace.

Convoy of Hope: Helping Those Who Need It Most

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This post was contributed by Leah who wanted to share information about the charitable partnerships Convoy of Hope Ministries has recently made. As a mom, I often feel like I don’t know how to get involved in making impacts in our world. Leah was more than happy to answer my questions, share Convoy of Hope’s ministry, and provide ideas on how we can support them.

There are hundreds, if not thousands of notable causes around the world that are working to give others in need a shot at a better life. Just as those people need organizations to step up and help, those organizations need us to help help and join the cause too. Convoy of Hope is one such organization with an incredibly worthy cause.

Convoy of Hope is a faith-based, not-for-profit, humanitarian-relief organization bringing about change throughout the U.S. (they’re currently responding to all of the flooding in the Midwest) and around the world. Their main goal is to “bring help and hope to those who are impoverished, hungry, and hurting.” They’re able to provide this assistance by providing food, water, and emergency supplies, as well as opportunities that work to empower people so that they can escape lives riddled with disease, poverty, and hunger. Since the organization’s inception back in 1994, Convoy of Hope has been comprised of over half a million volunteers working to serve over 80 million people. Their initiative is truly one where every dollar raised counts.  90% of their funds go directly toward the programs and services it delivers (the remaining 10% goes toward administrative overhead and costs associated with holding fundraising events).

To put their efforts into perspective, they’ve done an incredible amount of work thus far in terms of their response to the disastrous amount of flooding in the Midwest, particularly in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Missouri Governor Eric Greitens had declared a state of emergency and Convoy of Hope immediately went into action. Over the last few weeks, their efforts have resulted in hundreds of volunteers serving 40,000 flood survivors in 27 different communities with over 750,000 pounds of emergency supplies.

It’s encouraging to see how much of an impact we can make in our communities when we rally around a common cause. Here are some ways that everyone can get involved in the work that Convoy of Hope does:

Spend time volunteering

Serving others is one of the best ways to get involved in your surrounding community. You’ll see results every day and the immediate impact, but you’ll also be practicing some responsibility to those in your community who need your help. Convoy of Hope hosts several community events and offers disaster response all over. You can learn more about both on their volunteer page here.

Share with others

We surround ourselves with people who have similar interests as us. Don’t be afraid to discuss any charities or causes that are important to you. Chances are, they’ll be equally important to your friends and loved ones. The more people that know the cause, the more we can help those who need it most.

Support Convoy of Hope partners There are 30 partners helping to contribute everything they can to Convoy of Hope’s overall mission. There are name brands, companies, and even other charitable organizations pitching in. Some recognizable names are Plum Organics, Home Depot, Walgreens, and the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Supporting one or two, even a handful of them will bring about so much good. One that recently joined the cause is a company called Pure Flix. Through their streaming service of Christian movies, they’re currently working toward a goal of contributing $100,000 worth of food, clothing, and medicine to those desperately in need.

Give whatever you can

We all have different responsibilities to take care of, but donating is such an easy and efficient way to bring about change. Every single dollar is contributing to an overall mission that means a lot to you. Not only that, but your donations help a person or sometimes even an entire family. If you visit Convoy of Hope’s donation page, you’re even able to select exactly which initiative you’d like to contribute to. There are options to fund community events and disaster response, efforts to rid childhood hunger, and women’s empowerment initiatives among others.

Please consider sharing Convoy of Hope’s mission with others, and pledge to get involved any way you can. These volunteers, based all over the world, are working tirelessly and they could use all the support they can get. The more awareness we’re able to bring to Convoy of Hope’s cause, the more we’re able to help.

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