Posted by Hannah Rae on Mar 20, 2011 in
Life in the Stubborn house
Stretching. Growing. Growing pains. Growing JOYS!
I was given an incredible book titled “Loving Our Kids on Purpose” by Danny Silk. It’s totally wrecking me, in a completely great and painfully stretching way.
I have the opportunity to go to this therapeutic parenting conference in two weeks. If God opens the doors, which He totally is already doing, I am totally expecting to be challenged in crazy ways there too. Plus, I will get to meet my amazing friend, Christine, face to face for the first time. I can admit, I’m more than a little giddy. Yeah, I am totally having middle-school “I want to be the cool kid,” or at least “WITH the cool kid,” anxiety.
Finally, Jeremiah has expressed interest in joining the Boy Scouts. I grew up in Girl Scouts (before they started taking sex-ed liberties), and then later, Calvinettes, so I am excited that he is expressing interest in this respected, character-developing program. I contacted two local troops, and I’m hoping that even though he has no experience, we will find a troop where he can fit and excel.He will be challenged, and that is good!
How are you being stretched?
Blessings!
Hannah
Leave a comment | | Tags: Being set apart, blogging, Education Everywhere, Good Books, The SAHM Adventure
Posted by Hannah Rae on Feb 12, 2011 in
Life in the Stubborn house
First of all, should you capitalize post titles like you do book or article titles?
Anywho, here’s a little Hannah-factoid for you: I am a huge fan of the Duggar family. Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar have been an inspiration to Hubby and myself ever since we saw their first special on TLC back when they only had 14 kids and one on the way. I love the way that they love their children and teach them purposefully about God’s character and who God wants them to be. I love the way they run their home so efficiently. I even love Jim Bob’s awesome hair! 
Anywho, another thing I really enjoy is audio books. I have a subscription to an audio book retailer that gives me 2 credits to spend on books a month. I go through audio books like water, especially when I am commuting, which I am not anymore, but I also really enjoy them when I am cleaning the house, especially when I am putting laundry away. SO I was so excited when on Monday’s episode of “19 Kids and Counting” Michelle mentioned that she was recording their family’s book into an audio book. The next day I went onto my retailer’s site and found that the book was just released in January. YIPEE! I downloaded it and have been hooked to it ever since. It’s a 6 1/2 hour book, and I finished it in 3 days.
What I really enjoyed about it was learning all of their tricks of the trade. Jim Bob is a very shrewd business man, and Hubby has always wondered how they have been able to afford their life style without going into debt. So after I found out, I excitedly talked Hubby’s ear off about how they started out with their small businesses and how God has blessed their obedience. Hubby was asking me to continue, so I knew it had perked his interest. Anywho, it’s very wisdom-based stuff. They’ve made their fair share of mistakes and learned from them, and that is just as valuable to hear.
My favorite section is the section that talks about how they manage their household, including discipline and chores. Fascinating stuff. I am still going to buy the actual book, as it would be much easier to reference, but I am such an audial (sp?) learner that I am getting much more from listening to Michelle’s sweet voice explain everything so enthusiastically than I would from reading it.
Anywho, again this is just a book I am enjoying and there has been no compensation, but if you want to check out the book you can find it here or the audio book here.
Blessings!
Hannah
Leave a comment | | Tags: finances, Good Books, The SAHM Adventure
Posted by Hannah Rae on Jan 20, 2010 in
Life in the Stubborn house
Of “When the Cradle is Empty: Answering Tough Questions about Infertility” by John and Sylvia Van Regenmorter (Say that 10 times fast)
Okay, so I ordered this book on Amazon the other day because, as you well know, I’ve been struggling lately with how to handle my thoughts and feelings about infertility. I picked it up to start reading today and only got through the first chapter, but I can already tell that this book will be very straight forward, real, and practical.
First of all, the authors are from Sioux Falls, SD, which just happens to be my home town. Woot woot! So I knew we were off to a good start.
After a good introduction explaining the background of the authors and a little of their story, the first chapter starts off by talking about the journey that is infertility. The chapter walks through the different stages or steps that many experience on this journey. As soon as I started reading I knew that this book was going to challenge my heart to some realities about myself that I would have to chew on. The first step resonated right away, and the more I kept reading, the more my heart screamed “Hey! This is me! How did they get a microphone into my brain?”
Okay, so the first step is Fog, and the second sentence of the chapter says “You may have used ‘the pill’ for a year or two while you settled into married life and set up a savings account. But you’ve been off birth control for some time and nothing has happened.”
Well, besides the whole savings account thing, that pretty much has described our situation. I went on BC as a very young bride because that made sense. There was no reason to suspect anything was wrong, so of coarse that’s what I did. The pill made me very sick, so after a year and a half I stopped taking it. I didn’t have a cycle for two months, but not biggie, that’s common. But then it didn’t happen for 6 months, and then 9, and then I went an entire year without having a single cycle. WHAT?!?!
That’s the fog.
The next few steps are “The realization”, “Downplaying the problem”, “The Shock”, “Denial and Anger” (Oh, so been there!), “Guilt and Depression”, and the stage I am currently in, “Weariness.” The authors say that it is common to flip flop back and forth between the last two. Yup. Uh huh.
What I loved is that I was reading my own words, so it makes me feel not so crazy. Wow. Other women have gone through these same feelings and SURVIVED!!!
Okay, so tomorrow, maybe I will be able to digest chapter two. I will let you know how that goes.
Blessings!
Hannah
Leave a comment | | Tags: Good Books, infertility
