Making Room For Gods Plan.

post by Casey.

Maybe God really doesn’t give you more than you can handle…or are ready for…or need…or *think* you want. 

God equips you.

I’ve been feeling a bit down, miserable, depressed?, annoying;), and a a little sick and a lot exhausted from a cold for the last few weeks but then on Rocky’s 10th birthday on Wednesday I managed to turn it around and get so much done, and felt the weight of a terrible mood, lifting:).

Buttttt that was short-lived and this morning something as trivial as an overflowing garbage - and some sort of pink gooey substance that missed the garbage and is now stuck to the floor and walls?!!! Why doesn’t anyone notice this stuff? Why are the kids so careless? Why can’t Jacob take the initiative to take out the garbage? The kids never listen! Nothing would get done if I didn’t do it!! -  sent me reeling back to that rage/overwhelmed/angry/resentful mood, immediately.

That lead to a phone call with Jacob where I complained about the groundhogs day it is to live in this sh*thole mess. That may have been a direct quote, unfortunately:/. 

I wasn’t done yet though and texted my sister about how ragey I was feeling and how it’s really my own fault. I complain about finances and the overwhelm of the state of our home BUT I keep spending and bringing more into our home:|.

*Am I just now realizing that the thing I enjoy the most (thrifting - short term, excitement/happiness?!) seems to actually be the thing making me, at least slightly, miserable (too much - long term, overwhelm/mess?!).😬😅

*Let the record show that at the time I hit publish on this post I was in a perfectly fine mood…even after letting the little girls ‘help’ me make French toast for dinner🙃 and I’d had a fairly productive day and feel motivated and happy and at least slightly ridiculous complaining at all…about anything…and want the point to be: how amazing God is. How being in a place in my life where I turn to him for the hard and the silly and the serious and the insignificant is something I’m immensely grateful for and how incredible it is to find everything you need in 1 book. The Bible and scripture has all the answers. Wow:). Okay…on with it:)

So I’ve been praying on my knees every morning…that God would change my heart. 

Lord, help me to see the joy in all of my days. Lord, help me see my kids and be present with them. Lord, help me to be a happy wife and mom…to make Jacob happy and model what a happy heart and home looks like to my kids.

I wonder often why God so ‘easily’ helped me to quit drinking but I have so much difficulty having a consistently good mood and attitude…but then I remember I didn’t quit drinking overnight. There were years I tried and failed. God walked with me through it, He grew my conviction…until one day…I was finally done (10yrs alcohol free May2026🙏🏻).

I have the same hope for my heart. I know God hears my prayers. I know God is walking with me through this and I know He is good, even if this is something I struggle with the rest of my life.

I recently read a post on Instagram (that little app that also has such a strangle hold on me…but a hold that God is loosening very much these days).

Happiness Begins With Gratitude - Simon Alexander Ong

SO what does it all mean? Is there deeper meaning to why on days I’m down/overwhelmed and truly, even on the days I’m not…I have trouble dealing with what’s right in front of me?

I go thrifting.

I rearrange rooms.

I start new projects.

I load up the kids and go to the park.

I wonder what I’m worried about missing out on…why what I have and what I’m doing don’t feel like quite enough (which is odd because what I have and what I’m doing overwhelms me quite often already;). SO it’s clearly ENOUGH.

One of the things I haven’t tried…is anything different. Specifically, I haven’t trusted God with it. I’ve been asking Him to fix this problem that I clearly want to continue having.

2 Corinthians 12:9-11

He said to me, “My grace is enough for you, for in weakness power reaches perfection.” And so I willingly boast of my weaknesses instead, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I am content with weakness, with mistreatment, with distress, with persecutions and difficulties for the sake of Christ; for when I am powerless, it is then that I am strong.

I think…that I think I know better. Still, all that God has done in my life…I think I could somehow do better?! I’ve had these things in my life that I thought I needed to feel better. Alcohol being one…I thought I’d be missing out if I didn’t drink. I thought life might be less fun if I quit drinking…and yet, life has been so much better for me without it.

I didn’t actually ’need’ those things to feel good and be happier. Gods plan has always been better than anything I could have ever imagined. 

What if I’m clinging to these ‘things’…to stuff, to thrifting, to what I lack, to misery…when God has a better plan for me.?

“If you aren’t grateful for what you already have, what makes you think you’ll be satisfied with more?”

Or better yet…

Matthew 25:21

His master said to him, ‘Well done! You are an industrious and reliable servant. Since you were dependable in a small matter I will put you in charge of larger affairs. Come, share your masters joy!”

Saying No to things that I enjoy/make me feel good…that I like…isn’t always easy but I’ve never regretted it when it’s been something I felt convicted to stop and I’ve known it was good and right to say No, however hard. And maybe saying No to this thing I think I ‘need’ will make room for the better plan God has in store for me. Maybe it’s not a No but a Not Right Now.

So this isn’t me saying I’m quitting Instagram or thrifting…but maybe that I need to focus on what’s right in front of me for a minute. Be consistently thankful for everything I already have. 

And this isn’t me saying I have it ‘hard’. At all. It’s me saying I do NOT have it hard and my brain and hormones and heart and all of it aren’t on the same page a lot of days. And a lot of days it’s all good - it’s the consistency I’m missing. 

I’m praying daily that God can help me do the simple things it would take to maybe turn this ship around on a daily basis. I feel like God has something planned for me but I have some preparing to do. 

Philippians 4:13

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

And when I fail…as I’m bound to do, God is so gracious to take me back each and every time.

1 John 1:9

But if we acknowledge our sins, he who is just can be trusted to forgive our sins.

A Day In The Life: Homeschool 2025

 post by Casey.

8AM awake, cuddles in bed

836AM start water boiling (kids finished the rest: filling the French press/frothing milk)

Jacob stops home with more milk for coffee + takes H to work with him for the day

Until 910AM send vacation Airbnbs to group for upcoming 2026 big fam vacay:) 

Evan sits with her froth coffee and insists we sit with our legs crossed:)

Mae Mae has a fever:(

Kids do chores - we got a new pig:)

Welcome, Zoom(s/ey:)

930AM our way to get our raw milk, open mug of coffee in hand:)

946AM on our way back, holding Evan’s hand in the back seat:)

955AM get home/start oatmeal, kids are already working on school work

958AM fill 3cup ball jar of water + mineral drops (realize I forgot to add milk to the oatmeal on the stove;)

10AM check on Mae Mae (fever), make her drink some water and change out her cold rag.

Theo brings over a Bible verse she likes.

gets distracted by the Bible + oatmeal for 15min, starting a grocery list

1015AM serve breakfast

1050AM finished read aloud (good convo about globe vs firmament)

Never stop wondering:)

Sit down to read aloud from the Bible + start our first family read aloud

Link here.

1109AM so.many.interruptions. Texting the bff. Getting a couple bites of oatmeal (yes, it’s cold) 

Finally sitting down to start work with ike

1113AM Theo is dragging the vacuum upstairs…she’s done with school for the day and had rearranged her room yesterday (for the millionth time;) so she’s finishing up cleaning it

1116AM Ike has a breakdown about something…we’re taking a break. Gonna clear breakfast dishes in the meantime

*turning on Spotify Christian hits:)

1119AM he’s back. No time to clear dishes

Evan’s building a ‘house’ in the black room…with Izzy;)

1132AM clearing dishes, finally…while Ike does some independent work, Rocky’s been reading/tracing in a book:)

1134AM Ike has 2nd breakdown

1143AM Rocky is helping him through it

cleaning up breakfast and old food for animals: chicken bucket (need to do dishes)

kids brush teeth

1147AM sit down with Ike to do math

1210AM 3rd Ike breakdown (over writing the no8)

Looked at Theo’s room (only clean spot in the entire upstairs:/) but she did a good job. Reminded me we wanted to paint it and work with Papa to do a monthly homeschool/house project that kids can learn along with me (trim + doors:)

1223PM talking Theo into doing lunch cause I’m already feeling tired now that I had to sit down and nurse Izzy - who fell asleep!

1230PM Evan is racing in the living-room. Gonna read a couple pages of my book (Hannah’s children)

Feeling over stimulated. Dog opening the door. Food on the stove. Evan running and yelling. Boys asking to have their cousins over. Weiner dog barking. 

Turned off the music!!!

1258PM mal stops to give me cash for a sister bday present and a coffee she can’t finish. Talking vacay. 

115PM still chatting with mal, L stops by

2PM 3 additional kids came over, mal just left. Lots more vacay talk;)

215PM made bed, quick house clean-up

Turns music back on to get motivated (maybe I’ll go for a walk?!) 5 little boys playing catch outside:)

Mae says she’s doing 1/2 good and 1/2 bad…leaning towards fully bad;)

235PM filling diffuser, running a bath for Mae Mae. Talked girls into cleaning the closet room upstairs (it’s a disaster…again:/)

250PM hanging clothes on the line:)

339PM getting ready so Theo, myself, Izzy, Meg can go grocery shopping when Jacob gets home at 4.

Boys playing a board game:)

352PM finally brushing my teeth and washing my face for the day:/. Got toothpaste in my eye. Izzy toppled over and is crying:/

Wish I’d gotten the dishes done:/ maybe Jacob will do them while we’re gone. Never got around to my walk or workout or Mae’s bath… maybe I’ll get home early enough to do one or the other? I need to find the recycling bin and clean the front porch:/

415PM loading up to take kids home. Everybody’s sad:(

420PM lightly raining. Reminded that I just hung clothes on the line. 

The little boys are shocked at how small Izzy’s pinky toe is: it’s SO small! It’s like an ant! The head of an ant!

632PM spent too much time and money at Goodwill.

 

Just got to Hobby lobby (Theo has a GC) and hit with fall and Xmas decor!

657PM still at hobby lobby

750PM at 5 below (these girls have money burning a hole in their pockets;).

825PM “how old are they?” - the woman behind me in line at the grocery store asks me about Izzy…

832PM target: diapers and tp

903PM home. He did not do the dishes:)

Music to my ears.

post by casey.

I remember going to Courts’ for ‘coffee mornings’ - back when we did coffee mornings…where I would go to her house and we would always plan to accomplish something but definitely didn’t accomplish much of anything…for hours…multiple times a week;). 

She would turn the music down when I walked in and it was usually some Bible podcast or worship music of some sort (and sometimes 90’s country:). I remember thinking the Christian music was kinda intense…it just made me feel…awkward.

It wasn’t until I became a Christian myself, at least a handful of years later, that music started sounding a lot different to me.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

2 Corinthians 5:17

“When a Christian realizes his citizenship is in heaven, he begins acting as a responsible citizen of earth. He invests wisely in relationships because he knows they're eternal. His conversations, goals and motives become pure and honest because he realizes these will have a bearing on everlasting reward. ...He gives generously of time, money, and talent because he's laying up treasure for eternity. He spreads the good news of Christ because he longs to fill heaven's ranks with his friends and neighbors. All this serves the pilgrim well not only in heaven, but on earth; for it serves everyone around him.”

Excerpt found here.

^all things I strive for and fail to reach every.single.day.

I turned on 89Q when I was feeling overwhelmed and…it helped. When I got sick of listening to political podcasts I turned on a Christian classics spotify playlist and…it helped. 

When I was pregnant with Izzy, I thought for sure it would be 90’s country that gave me peace during labor. But in the very final hour of my pregnancy I created a playlist of only Christian music and memorized Philippians 4:13 and had both on repeat the entire time. 

It helped. 

The song playing when Izzy was born was My Prayer For You by Alisa Turner (I’m thankful the kids got some video of that exact moment:).

May God give you eyes to see, He’s still greater. Courage to rise and believe He’s able. May God be your peace in the fire you’re walking through. This is my prayer now. This is my prayer.

What can’t God do? He made music beautiful to me:).

I’m so thankful that God changed my heart (opened my eyes + ears) to music, specifically. 

The hymns in church will often bring me to tears.

Listening to worship music at home, if I’m struggling, will calm me every time.

Christmas music has taken on a whole new meaning this year.

I sometimes wonder why of all things, God changed how I hear music. Why not change my heart in the ways I feel like I’m REALLY struggling?! I know that He can. 

If these struggles/sins/weaknesses I have are meant to be endured all the days of my life…how amazing is it that God changed my heart for music? So that when I’m struggling with those exact things - that I go to bed every night and wake up every morning, praying he’ll take away - I could listen to music…not just any music but His. And…it helps:).

Gladness of heart…

post by Casey.

I’m sitting outside. I’m tired. Full…filled…with watermelon. Carrying around a watermelon:). Warm…on the verge of hot. Staring at an empty page…drawing a blank. 

Life has just been…moving:).

I sometimes get sleep these days.

I wake up with the (hungry:) kids.

I start coffee - adding a new French Press to my Amazon cart:).

We do some school.

There’s fighting and crying and laughing and a Bible podcast playing somewhere in the background.

I wish I would have done the dishes last night.

I get the chance to go thrifting and find a pair of shorts that remind me of my mom - the 80’s version:). I text her and request photos from when she was 40:).

I wish Jacob had been able to get off work to come with me. I love when he drives me. I love just sitting next to him in a vehicle while he drives:). I love him taking care of me. I love having his babies:).

I’m highly emotional these days.

On the way into the Post Office I catch sight of my reflection in the window and immediately start crying. It’s almost over…but it’s just the beginning. I’m scared and excited and overwhelmed…I’m anxious and…happy.

The kids are making calls to Jacob from our new house phone. We’re enjoying not ‘keeping up’…maybe even going back a bit.

Theo and Meg started dinner - paninis. 

Courts is bringing Homer home from work and Jacob will be late catering

After this movie, I’ll bath all 4 littles and tuck them in and nurse Evan to sleep. 

Gladness of heart is the very life of man.

My moms shorts;). I can’t wait to wear these things!

Bathroom progress.

Trying to make life a little easier + more organized:)

Coffee with friends:).

Homer thrifted a glass chess board recently and is learning the game himself, while teaching the kids so they can play with him!

I love our little orchard:). Our pear tree did the best this year!

I placed my very first Oliveda order on 12/28/23 and these are the only products I’ve gone through entirely, so far!! They really do last you a significant amount of time!:)

1/ Just waking up 

2/ Rinsing with water + applying Oliveda products 

3/ A few expired make-up products;) (no foundation or concealer!:)

The Oliveda make-up line - Olive Rose -  is coming out in just a few weeks! Consultants will be getting first dibs on purchasing and then it will open to customers at the end of November! If you’ve been considering ‘signing-up’ as a consultant….now would be a great time and the $50/annual fee is well worth it!!:)

Shop through my link HERE. - thank you!!:)

Sign-up to be a consultant HERE - sooo worth it!!!:)

My most recent purchase. I’m excited to start some intervals once the baby arrives and see what sort of difference that might make:).

001 is in stock HERE!:)

On my 16th book of the year! Gonna be a quick one but it’s really good and very timely:).

Happy Saturday, friends!:)