The Crow Caws

My last post was on January 4, 2016, so it has been nearly five years since I put fingertips to keyboard and spilled my thoughts all over the place. Here goes nothin’!

First of all, I want to thank those of you who are already here!  I got a little choked up when comments came in so quickly from readers I recognize. That was completely unexpected. I thought I’d be all alone in here. Welcome back! I hope you can still find something useful, interesting, or uplifting here. 

I read once that Tolstoy called his most marvelous work “wordy trash”. I know exactly how he felt after reading over my old posts to see which ones I want to rescue from the ash-heap. You think you’re doing something so very special at the time you write it, but when the fire isn’t in your belly for that particular work anymore, it is, indeed, wordy trash, no matter how much of a genius* you are. It just doesn’t sparkle anymore. 

Blogging is really an ephemeral thing, anyway. You say it, and it’s said, and it’s really not resayable. I do have a few perennials that I may republish, but probably not too many. After five years, my aptitudes and interests have moved on, and no doubt yours have, too, Dear Reader. So if you find we’re not a good fit anymore after a while, that will be perfectly understandable. I am immensely gratified, though, to see your comments rolling in already. I missed you people! 

Secondly, a word about what to expect from this blog:

Jesus, and how He saves. I will always strive to honor and remember Christ in what I say. Some posts will be overtly religious in nature, but I hope that I will always sprinkle a little salt on the many that are not. I’m likely to be about as graceful and tactful as ever, which is to say not very much, but I promise I will try. Readers have always been very kind to point it out when I fail at that, so I’m sure I’ll never have to wonder how I’m doing in that regard. 

Health and beauty. I’ve lost about fifty pounds, first on a ketogenic, and now a zero-carb diet. I love weight training, high intensity exercise, and running, which is definitely not something I ever expected to say about myself. I feel better than I’ve felt since my early twenties, so I will be talking about that. There may be some one-on-one coaching available in the future, if anyone is interested. I feel pretty confident that what I’ve done can work for absolutely anybody, with some tweaks for individual differences. 

Large family stuff. This topic is pretty well unavoidable, ain’t it? There are eight children in this family now. I thought I was getting the hang of this mothering thing a few years ago. I’m much less certain of that now, but I do have a few more years of experience upon which to draw. 

Homeschooling. Obviously. 

Current events, politics. Probably. Certainly I have some thoughts. I don’t really like the kinds of trolls that show up for that, but they’ll probably turn up no matter what I write about. We’ll see. 

So, that’s where I am today. What’s changed for you in the last several years? I’m so ready to hear from you!

*Please note that I am saying Tolstoy was a genius. I actually am cranking out wordy trash, and I’m fully aware of it. But I have no doubt the crow enjoys his caw every bit as much as the songbird does her warbles. We all do what we can with whatever meager gifts we’re given, right? 

9 thoughts on “The Crow Caws

  1. SO nice to hear from you. I was thinking about you after I saw your name in my inbox, and was trying to remember what you were up to last time I read your blog. I remember that you had six children then, and that seemed SUCH a lot to me. (I have six myself now- and it IS such a lot to me still, but not so many as other people seem to think.)

    I am very interested to hear about your health journey, and about homeschooling and other things. And of course- Christ and His work. I am Australian, and politics here is pretty bad, but maybe not so dramatic as over the water where you are right now. I pray for my brothers and sisters in your country a lot. May God give us all grace to stand in the days, weeks, months and years ahead! (If He tarries).

  2. What has changed for me: I have seven children now. Iā€™ve gone from being a stay at home homeschooling frugal mom on the east coast, to single parenting for the last two years near the Midwest, with kids in a mix of Christian school, public school, and homeschooling. Iā€™ve been following the Root Cause Protocol to address some significant health issues, and I, too, feel better than I have in years. My husband has recently returned, and we are attempting to fix the shambles of our lives. I lost one of my best friends to domestic violence, so awareness, education, and action on that front has become very important to me, as has understanding mental health, good boundaries, and emotional maturity. My love for God has grown and matured, and my theology has definitely become a lot less ā€œthis is right, this is wrong, and there are no grey areasā€. Iā€™ve seen God work in wondrous ways, and have fallen in love with his word again, as Iā€™ve seen his heart revealed in ways I hadnā€™t seen before. I have three teenagers, and while Iā€™d say Iā€™m an expert on infant and toddler care and training, Iā€™m clueless with just about everything else. We should have gotten all that sorted by now, right?!

    Iā€™m so glad to see you back! Iā€™d searched several times for your old blog, as snippets of your words would come to mind. Iā€™m looking forward to hearing what you have to say, five years on.

    • What tough time you’ve had! I’m praying (right now, for real, not just saying that) that you and your husband find God’s glory in your “shambles”, and that things only get better from here. So glad you’re here, Melissa!

  3. Oh I am so glad you are back. I will love hearing all you have to say. My best wishes to your family.

  4. Hello hello hello!
    I guess Iā€™ve not looked at my feed for several days and so I missed the announcement! Catching up now. So happy to see you again online!
    Congratulations on reaching some health goals! I am staring the beginning of that journey in the face now. My husband and I both did keto a couple years ago with great success. A job loss, move, baby all kind of took us away from being disciplined. But weā€™re both ready to jump back in. If not keto, probably a paleo and cleaner eating plan.
    Cant wait to read more from you!

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