Closing the Shutters on this Space....

Well, friends, you've probably noticed that things have been pretty quiet around here lately.   There are a lot of reasons for that.

Most of you know that until recently, our family was living overseas.  This summer we came back to the States.  Originally, it was only going to be for a year, but now it looks like we will be settling down here for good.   This is a little bit of a sad thing, but mostly a really good thing for our family.  My husband and I are on the same page and at peace about this new direction for our family.

While we were overseas, we had a very small homeschooling community and even smaller community at all interested in Charlotte Mason or the Classical Liberal Arts tradition.  Blogging was one way that I was able to stay connected to others pursuing this way of education (the AO Forum being the other way).    My life was also much simpler and less busy in many ways, so I had the time to write more consistently.

Since returning to the States, my day to day life has changed drastically.   We have been welcomed in to a local church family with open arms.  We are part of a co-op this year, and I am teaching there which has been a wonderful experience.  I have made other connections with old friends and new.  All of these things are wonderful: I am so very grateful for the opportunities and relationships that God has given us in this new chapter and am excited to see them unfold.

 I am also a lot busier than I was.  I don't have the time to invest as much time online as I used to.  I don't think this is entirely a bad thing...actually I think it's probably a good thing.   But it does mean I've needed to prioritize how I spend the online time I have.  I've wrestled for awhile with what those priorities need to be.  My local real-life relationships come first.  Educating, nurturing and discipling  my children, supporting my husband in our new ministry endeavors here in the States, teaching my co-op class, and investing in those others that God has placed in our path.    My involvement over on the AO Forum is also high priority to me - many of those ladies have become my very dear, real-life friends as we've discussed books and life and prayed for one another online, and then offline at the conference this summer, and now back online again.  I have other hobbies that I'd like to be able to pursue: reading, crochet, embroidery, nature journaling.  And realistically, that's about all that I have time for right now. 

So that is why it is time to say goodbye for now.  I will be leaving this blog here for future reference, but there won't be any new content for the foreseeable future.  I appreciate all of you who have taken the time to read and comment here.   May the Lord bless and keep you wherever you are.