a wide place

Happy New Year, friends! Here’s a little update from sunny but cold South Carolina. Some things I’m enjoying this month:

The Sensible Shoes series
When my mom loaned me this stack of novels I was a bit skeptical and she knew it and urged me to give them a try. Christian fiction isn’t usually my genre — I feel like it can often be a bit saccharine and moralistic.

However, I’ve become captivated by this series. The characters are so real to me. I’m learning right alongside them about walking deeply with God in suffering, confessing sin, friendship, and life changes. Once you finish the 4-part Sensible Shoes series, the author has three other related novels that I love even more. I highly recommend.

Owning two dogs
This story begins in the fall, with a German Shepherd mix someone found and put in my arms on the side of the road. Since a German Shepherd rescue is Amie’s dream dog, the puppy spent two weeks in our home while we all tried our very best to make it work. But we quickly learned we are 1. Not ready for another puppy right now (for starters, she peed on and chewed everything in sight), and 2. Definitely not ready for a large dog that sheds a lot, probably ever.

Thankfully we found a great home for her through our boys’ birth mom, Christi. “Penny” now lives in a family with one child, and is being properly trained and cared for in ways we couldn’t manage in this busy season.

We thought we were content with our one dog, Kira, who is now four years old (can you believe that? We adopted her when she was 4 months!). But one weekend in November we were at the park and met the saddest, cutest rescue dog sporting an “Adopt Me” sign. When I knelt down to pet her, she rested her little chin on my shoulder, and that was it for me. My friend even snapped a picture of our meet-cute.

I got the number of her foster mom, we texted, and a week later — after the dog was spayed — I drove to Columbia Animal Services to pick her up.

Regret almost instantly flooded me when I signed the papers for us to foster-to-adopt this dog. She had kennel cough, a nosebleed, and was skin-and-bones. Also: she whined loudly the entire 25-minute drive home. I felt mildly panicked about my impulsive decision.

But from the very first night, this little girl fit right into our family. She’s a year-old so we know she’s full grown, and we’re guessing perhaps a pitbull, German Short-haired pointer mix? She just wants to be with people and to be loved — much like her big sister, Kira. She’s put on weight and is sleek, healthy, affectionate, and happy.

Two weeks later we had a family meeting and signed adoption papers. We named her Rue, after a beloved character from The Hunger Games, and Kira has grown to like having a (sometimes annoying) little sister. She keeps Kira active and in much better shape with their backyard zoomies and wrestling matches.

Who knew we’d be a two-dog family? It feels like the perfect fit and no matter what’s going on in life, our dogs bring us comfort, joy, and lots of laughter.

This season of homeschooling
I read back over some old journals yesterday and was struck by how much I love our current season of homeschooling — and particularly how much less stressful it is.

I can’t believe I nearly ended our homeschooling journey when Judah reached high school — I worried it would be way too complicated and that he’d need more than I could give. But it’s turned out to be the easiest season for me in many ways.

Now homeschooling high school does involve a lot of mental work, as you’re essentially your student’s guidance counselor. So you do need to stay organized. But I keep my weekly brain-dump list so I don’t go crazy with all the details swirling in my head for the education of four children. We have an excellent homeschool third option agency, who keeps records and transcripts for us, and I’ve had so much great help and advice from other homeschool parents. We just take it one year at a time.

Now I’ve got a high school senior who’s got major senior-itis. We’ve almost made it!

Between co-ops, outside classes, and dual enrollment, I’m not my high schoolers’ teacher at all anymore, and that’s a gift. I’ve shifted to the “mom” role of proof-reading papers and helping study for tests sometimes. My kids are self-motivated and over the course of high school have become responsible for all their work with very few reminders.

I’ll add that it’s also because their dad and I are willing to let them drop the ball and fail from time-to-time, forgetting a quiz here or assignment there. I care way more about the life skills they’re developing than their GPA, which is why all our kids will also have part-time jobs in high school.

It’s great preparation for college for homeschooled teenagers to take classes outside the house, and in-person dual enrollment has been the very best experience as they’ve learned skills like reading a syllabus, finding the right office on campus to get a parking decal, and contacting IT for tech questions.

Gabe and Noah are in their second year of a homeschool hybrid which meets two school days a week and assigns all of their homework except for math. It’s the perfect fit for them, and is the right balance of learning at home and learning in a classroom. I love having the curriculum chosen for me and the skills they’re growing of keeping a daily planner for homework and turning in work to their teachers. We’ve considered putting them in school but there isn’t an option we feel drawn to, and they’re thriving in this current situation so I’m not rocking the boat!

Gabe will start 9th grade in the fall and I’ll just have one middle-schooler left. Where have the years gone? We’re having the best time with our growing-up kids.

Walking
My current exercise goal is to move my body every single day. My top choices are a workout from the pilates app I’m trying out with a friend, our row-erg machine (located in our bedroom … not my favorite location for the huge machine, but very convenient), and walking.

A brisk 2-3 mile walk with hills has been a great habit for me to work on. I walk with a friend on Wednesday mornings, and I’ve adding in walking the soccer complex at my boys’ practice Wednesday evenings for an hour if the weather is okay. Unlike running, which immediately makes me feel like I want to take a nap, walking is energizing.

A Liturgy, A Legacy, and the Songs of Rich Mullins
My primary job these days is chauffeur of middle-school boys, which means I spend a lot of time listening to their music, namely NF and K-pop. I loved music growing up and always had the radio or a CD on, so it’s fun to see all four kids’ music taste evolve and share what we love with each other.

But currently, when I’m by myself I’m listening to this album on repeat. It’s two of my all-time favorite Christian musicians combined: Andrew Peterson and friends covering the songs of the late Rich Mullins.

It speaks to my soul.

Finlay Park

In 2025, the City of Columbia remodeled downtown Finlay Park. This is such a gift to our community: it’s spacious, fun (you can slide down a giant turf hill on a cardboard box or rent roller skates!), safe, and a lovely green space right in the middle of the city. Some combination of our family goes at least once a week, often more. My kids had outgrown playgrounds much to my chagrin, so I love having a park they want to spend time in — whether it’s a pick-up soccer game or pickle ball.

Thank you, City of Columbia, for our lovely park!