the one about sally

"you'll love this book" laura fowler said. "really, you will. let's read it together."

and she was right.

i remember dropping off three-year-old avery and one-year-old ashton and newborn ian at my mom's and driving over the hill to the einsteins on powers.  i would sit up at the high chair bar right by the window where the sun streams in warm and bright through the glass.

i tried to sip my coffee and read and wipe tears simultaneously.

the words i read were from seasons of a mother's heart by dear sally clarkson, and they had this tender way of shaping and forming my new mother's tattered and tired heart.

what i read brought life and joy, but also mission and vision for my home.  it made me eager to submit this season of raising children to the Lord and to pour all of myself into this ministry of motherhood. (which, coincidentally, is the name of the next book of sally's that i read :) )

i have watched the momheart conference that sally does come and go over the past few years.  there was always a very valid reason why i could not go. (or it sure seemed valid, anyway)

last spring when i was going through the infamous i-want-to-plan-all-the-things-for-next-years-school phase i borrowed educating the whole hearted child from the library.  a few pages in and i quickly realized that this was one i needed to own.  and well, amazon makes it incredibly easy and so i was holding my very own copy inside of a week.

it's a manual and i was drinking it in.  i never thought an essay about routine would have such an impact on my heart, but it did.  it truly did.  sally gave words to the phenomenon of routine that has been so important to me, though i never quite knew why.  that short three paragraphs towards the end of the book is perhaps my most favorite piece of homeschooling wisdom that i have ever read.

in early fall i saw an email about the momheart conferences coming up and quickly forwarded it to dave.  "good christmas present" i wrote. "maybe this is the year i can go."

he's a good man and i opened a framed copy of my conference registration on christmas morning.

after two days with friends and with sally ;) i'm home and refreshed and overjoyed at the grounding that comes from being reminded of what is truly important.

i highly encourage you to check out sally's books and ministry.  she brings Jesus into focus and it's beautiful.