Obedience and Repetion

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One of the first things that can be noticed about the Orthodox church is the amount of repetition.  Lord have Mercy, Lord have Mercy, Lord have Mercy.

This is sung countless times throughout each service. 

There are even times when it is chanted 40 times in succession.

 

Not only that, but each year is repeated Liturgically, so we celebrate and fast at about the same times year after year. 

 

When it comes to living life and obeying God, I could use a little bit of repetition.  It is so easy to forget that helpful point in the homily, or even the pleadings of morning prayers just minutes after they are completed. 

 

Lately, I have been pondering the amount of services that I attend with my children.  Managing 5 small kiddos at church is no easy task.  Thank God for a wonderful church family, or it couldn't be done!

 

But there are still times, no matter whose arms they are in, only Momma will do. 

And then there are many times I am at church as a single momma due to Josh's work schedule. 

Some services I probably make it only 5 minutes actually in the service, let alone actually hearing what is being said. 

 

I am learning to listen quite intently when I have the chance and to be thankful that most things are repeated so that I can have a chance to hear them again.

 

But to be honest, I just get weary sometimes. 

 

Loading up all the kids, packing all the diaper/formula bags, remembering all the blankies, etc. just to struggle through a service without ending up crying myself can sometimes be a toss-up in my head.

 

So why do I even bother?

 

Obedience and Repetition.

 

Because someday, my kids WILL sit quietly through service.

 

Someday my kids are going to understand what is being said/prayed during service.

 

Someday my kids are going to pray along with service.

 

Someday my kids are going to grow up and leave my house and have the choice of whether they are going to go to church or stay home. 

 

I want them to know that this life, this Orthodox thing, it's who we are, it's what we do. 

 

It's not something that we do when we feel like it or want to. 

 

It's not always easy.

 

But it's not about us, it's about God.

 

So regardless of how much I feel like going to as many services as possible, I continue to go because I want to obey God.  I need the repetition, not just for myself, but for the eternity of my children.

 

 

 

 

*This blog post was inspired by a homily by Fr. Stephen Rogers on Ancient Faith Radio, entitled Obedience and Repetition. 

 

March in our Home

It's only June!  It's not too late to share about our March, right?!  I'll be skipping April and heading straight to May next...such is life...

 

 

This is our 200lb wheat order.  Anything that requires flour, this is what I use.  I try to make as much as I can from scratch, but I'm still learning.  I do make all of our own bread and pizza dough.  I'm working on tortillas and would like to expand to hamburger and hot dog buns.  I plan on attempting more sprouting soon, maybe some soaking as well...when I have to time :)

Is that my husband in a Yakama?  Why, yes, it is!  Our neighbor turned 13 and we were invited to his Bar Mitzvah.  The husband is a Messianic Jew.  It was a very neat service!  It was an interesting mix of Jewish tradition with Christian influence.

 

The girls had a great time at the party afterwards. Once they warmed up, you couldn't get them off the dance floor!  



My sweet Babby.  I cannot remember at all what cute things she was doing in March, so wait for the May post and I'll catch you up then :)

Julianna cooking some eggs (no worries, the pan is empty and the stove is off)

Julianna sweeping the floor.

Julianna feeding Abby.  Do you think she likes to play house?  Just a friendly reminder they are always watching!

Sydney wearing her baby just like mommy!

 

The big girls got to go to a real Theater and see a play.  This one was based off of Rapunzel.

Caroline got to go visit our friend who just had a baby.  She is such a little mommy and loves to hold and play with babies!

 

Makayla was hit by a car in our neighborhood.  She only had some minor bruising and scratches.  Our sweet neighbor down the street brought us this Barbie with a homemade dress to help make her feel better.  So sweet!

For our history lesson we brought in a real Archaeologist to tell us about what they do.  She had some great things to show and tell us. 

Looking at fossils and artifacts.

 

Makayla dressed and ready for a dig.

To celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary Josh and I went to Charlotte for some R & R, if you can call racing 4 miles in the rain, cold and mud R &R.  We decided to go for "Something Different" for lunch :)

 

We visited St. Nektarios Greek Orthodox Church for their Friday Akathist service.  It was a beautiful church and fun to experience the Greek side of Orthodoxy.

We stopped at a used book store, it was crammed with books!  Readers paradise!

Krispy Kreme!

And of course a trip to Charlotte isn't complete without a stop at Ikea!

Pre-Race happy faces.

Post-Race sad faces.  It was a fun race, but SUPER cold, we were chattering for 2 hours afterwards!

My monkey Caroline

The girls helped me plant some seeds for the garden.



We made some homemade playdough for the babies to play with and the big girls to my hieroglyphics.

 

 

And finally, here is Juls picking up eggs at my parent's Easter (protestant style).  

Picking back up

We survived our first Lent.  All of my grand dreams of blogging through the 40+ days obviously didn't pan out. Life is settling now after Pascha, a long string of birthday celebrations, school and illnesses.
 
I had always seen myself as someone who was pretty active in church life when we were Protestant.  I mean, we were there pretty much every time the doors were open.  I taught Sunday School, I mean, come on, I even came regularly on Wednesday nights.

Yeah, that's nothing compared to Orthodoxy.  Orthodoxy is life. I'm not saying that Protestant Christianity is not.  Orthodoxy just takes things to the next level.  Not only am I at church all the time (one of our Deacons' sons was challenged by his friends, surely he couldn't be going to church yet again!), but I am also changing the way I eat, pray, and think about everything. 

And I can't keep up.


And that's OK.

At our last women's meeting we started with a devotional thought out of Hebrews 12.  The speaker shared how the author is telling us to run the race with endurance.  It's not a sprint, it's a Marathon.  If we try to sprint we'll run out of steam.  Not only do we need to stay at a good steady pace, we need to seek regular hydration through coming to services and refueling.  We keep chugging along, at every stage of life, and we don't stop until Jesus calls us home. 

That's such a 360 from my previous mindset of our Christian life as a series of Mountains and Valleys.  There were times where I was sprinting hard and fast, basking in the moment, only to trip up and fall in a low valley only to come up with the next spiritual high.  It was hard.  I never felt like I was performing well enough.  I was never reading/praying/studying enough and if someone else had some great spiritual thought in class and I didn't, I was obviously lacking in something. 

I felt myself coming back to this place at the end of Lent, entering the Paschal season.  Lent is hard, by Holy Week I was so consumed with the services, the thought of coming home and reading yet even more scripture on my own was over the top. 

Then, we hit Pascha and all of the sudden there is no fasting and shorter prayers.

Is this really allowed?  Aren't we cheating some how? 

Absolutely not.  The church Fathers, in their wisdom, have arranged our church calendar to keep us at a steady pace, to give a challenge when we need a push and a rest when we need a break, and that's OK.  Keep it steady, just keep chugging along.

We have now experienced a full church year in services.  I have seen the patterns and am learning the pace.  I realize that there are some things I just can't do as the mother of 5 young children.  They will grow older and we will be able to do more.  I am still so thankful for the amount of help everyone so willingly gives while we are at church.  And it's not just my family. We are all working together to help our children grow.

My children amaze me at how much they are growing and changing through this time.  My sweet Julianna, who can barely talk, mumbles through the song "Christ is risen from the dead."  Sydney insists on lighting candles and "reading" through service books, and of course, she lights up like she's meeting Santa at the sight of Father Nicholas.  They have quite the friendship (of course, the jelly beans from his office don't hurt either).  My big girls, Makayla and Caroline spend their free time writing prayers.  They are developing some wonderful friendships and church and are disappointed when we have to miss a service. 

I am blessed. 

I am learning the pace and am chugging along.

My Rebuttal: Are you Really Mom Enough to Homeschool?

This past week the author from The Homeschool Diaries posted about being "Mom Enough" to homeschool.  While I'm sure her intentions were good, I came away from the article feeling quite overwhelmed and honestly feeling like maybe I was not mom enough to homeschool my kids, which is just silliness!  While some of her points might be valid, they are definitely not truths.  While her homeschooling world might look like her questions, I have some criteria of my own that might better quantify if you are "mom enough" to homeschool your children.

Do you love your children unconditionally?  To the point you want to give them the best you can offer? If yes, move to the next question.

Are you able to follow Harry Wong's teaching advice of "Steal, Steal, Steal!" There is NO NEED to stress about reinventing the wheel, someone has probably done it before. Google it, steal it and do it! If yes, move to the next question.

Are you looking forward to spending your days in jammies and sleeping in until your kids wake up on their own? If yes, move to the next question.

Are you looking forward to taking whatever field trips or family vacations you want because you are not confined to a school schedule? If yes, move to the next question.

Are you ready to enjoy the excitement in your childrens' eyes when they learn something new? If yes, move to the next question.
 
Homeschooling does not have to be stressful or complicated.  If the day is not working out so well, stop.  There is always tomorrow.  There is no time minimum of completion.  Do what you can when you can and enjoy it!  Who says you have to do school when your toddler is screaming from the potty?  Wait until they take a nap!  Enjoy your children, God has given them to you as a blessing!

Lent Let Downs

Sigh....We are almost half-way through Lent.  It has not been at all what I thought it would be!
 
I must admit, I had dreams of conquering Lent.  Despite the advice to take it easy, I was going to be at EVERY SINGLE SERVICE!  I just knew I could do it.  I'm super mom right?

Yeah, about that....

I was beat down by the first service.
 
The Canon of St. Andrew.  (not cannon)

It's about 2 hours long. 

Did I mention that Josh was working each night of the services the first week?  So it would be me and the kids by ourselves (and all the wonderful and helpful people at church). 

What was I thinking?  Keeping a 1 and 2 year old happy for that long?  I finally heeded the advice and decided to take Tuesday night off.

The Presanctified Liturgy went well. It was neat to see the transformation of the Liturgy.  I couldn't help but look up when we were supposed to be prostrating so I could see what Father was doing.  I LOVE all the added symbolism!  Plus, I knew there was food afterwards, who doesn't love a good church meal?! 

Then the next glitch, family in town.  Not exactly the type of service (The Canon of St. Andrew) you want to bring your non-Orthodox family to visit.  It's a great service, but it is intended for those participating in Lent and would mean very little to those who are not.

Now Josh and I are going out of town.  We are able to catch an Akathist at a Greek church in Charlotte.  It was beautiful.  We were alone... it was quiet!  The Priest was so kind and had such thought provoking words to share after the prayers. We missed the Sunday of Orthodoxy service, I was very sad about that.  It's a good thing it happens again next year!
Though it is the Lent season, Josh and I were celebrating our Anniversary, so now it was party time!  We had a blast celebrating, but it was very hard coming back and entering back in to the solemn attitude of Lent.  On top of that, I got sick....no services for me.

Then comes Protestant Easter.  Do what?  We're celebrating Easter, but not really.  I just got so mentally and spiritually confused!  How can I be happy about the Resurrection when I am just beginning the journey leading up to His death? 

Now the kids are starting to get sick.  My family RARELY gets sick, and of course, it happens during Lent, the time that I am trying to go to church as much a possible to learn about this Lent thing.

Then I get frustrated about the way I spend my time.  Since my meals are simple, I don't have as much prep time, so sometimes I even have a moment to myself.  Do I think first to spend that time in prayer or reading the Bible?  Nope.  Reading a book or to Facebook I go.  It's not until the time is up and it's time for a chore that I remember, duh!  I should have been praying!

Some of my meals are getting a little bit boring to me.  Repeating the same meals week after week does little for my pallet, but I think that's part of the point.  I don't plan to change the meals, I want to learn to deal with the monotony and focus more on Christ.  It could be much worse.

And then there is tonight, I got all dressed and showered (a rarity for me home without a spouse), only to have two sick children after naptime.

Sigh....

No Akathist for us.

I didn't pout. 

But I have been put in my place.  Humility....it's one of the first things we are supposed to be working on.  Apparently I needed a lot of practice with that one.

I am accepting the fact that I can't make it to every service and am thankful that there are people at church praying for me.  I am learning to be thankful for the opportunities that I do have to worship with my church family and to pray at home. I'm not perfect and I can't do it all. It's a good thing this will all happen again next year, and the year after, and the year after, etc.
 
Sunday marks the half-way point.  Amazing.  The Priest in Charlotte asked us rhetorically how our first week of Lent had gone.  He acknowledged that we might have made some mistakes, missed services, forgot about fasting, etc.  He also told us not to stress about it.  Pick up and move on to the next day and start all over again.  So that's what I plan to do.  Even if Lent isn't going the way I envisioned, each day is a new start!