March was a whirlwind…. I’m not sure if it came in like a lion or went out like a lion….but there was a lot of lions in between and not so many lambs. But I did learn to refocus on the most important Lamb…. the lamb of God. So that, my friends, is a good thing. It has indeed been a full month even though I didn’t post near as much as I had been.
Writing: I started out the month on a roll… I was actively involved in revising several manuscripts and sent one to Rate Your Story. The review came back…not as promising as I had hoped for but it wasn’t abysmal either. I think if I let it sit for a bit, I can go back and do some necessary revisions without it being quite so painful and then submit it to both of my critique groups before resubmitting it to Rate Your Story. I enjoyed submitting two manuscripts to my critique groups as well, but by the third week I felt over my head and let them know I was behind and needed some time to get back into the swing of things. I also stopped posting so often on here… I just needed the time (and still do) to catch up on other things in life! I was also reading a lot of blog posts at the beginning of the month but have barely read any since the middle of March. Some of my favorites in early March though included two on The Modern Mrs. Darcy – this one on the 20 minute Frittata and this one on keeping focus on things that matter most. In the writing world I also LOVED this post on Write For Kids.
Homeschooling: In our Homeschooling, things have been …. well….it’s Spring…and while the weather isn’t all that warm yet, I’ve already been feeling Spring Feverish. I want sunshine and I want to chuck all the books…. shhhh…don’t tell my 15-year-old! 🙂 On a positive note he is starting to catch up a bit and there’s only 2 months left – plus I just got reenergized a bit at the 2014 St. Emmelia Orthodox Homeschool Conference. I’ll write more about it at a later time…but it was wonderful being together with a large group of like-minded people…both in our homeschooling and our Faith. What’s not to love about that? I am already looking forward to next year’s conference – which will be April 23rd- April 26th 2015!
Food & Nutrition: About the only posts I’ve kept up with are my weekly posts on our Whole30! Today marks Day #30!!! YAY!!!! BUT….we’re not done….we are going throughout the entirety of Lent… starting to add things back in (one item on a test trial by itself every three days) on April 8th. I’ll be sure to post the next update later today or tomorrow. If you haven’t seen the posts, start out with the first one on doing the Whole30 and then read the weekly updates starting with Week One. It’s been a challenging but very worthwhile adventure!
Orthodoxy and Lent: Lent started on March 3rd…I set some goals including our family’s decision (with the blessing of our priest) to make the Whole30 our Lenten Fast. I’ve been keeping up with reading though I haven’t quite gotten as much done as I would have liked…but I have done some each day and I’m getting into a much better habit of prayer. The homeschool conference always does wonders for me spiritually as well – helping me to refocus on my ultimate goal of making God real in our home and making Him the focus of everything. It has been a challenging month in several areas and wise words received at the conference and in my reading have helped me rethink my focus and feel more positive about those things. I must remember that there hasn’t been one single difficult day yet that I haven’t lived through and that God gives us grace and strength to get through the challenges…in fact, the challenges, if we approach them correctly, bring us closer to Him.
In Summary: At the beginning of the month I had grand ideas about writing a monthly summary post….well- this isn’t exactly what I had a mind but it is a summary! So it’s a start. Perhaps by the end of April I’ll be better organized and back on track…either way I just need to forgive myself for falling behind and also realize I just expect way to much from myself. Please bear with me readers as I figure out how to balance all these things I want in my life! I’m not willing to give any of it up….but I do need to remember which are most important and figure out how much time I can afford to the rest.
Be sure to check back on the upcoming post on Week 5 of our Whole 30 🙂
God bless you all!
The Many Hats of an Orthodox Mom 