large family living

Fall is by far my favorite season! I love the cooling of the air, the shortening of the days, and the invitation to prepare for winter by preserving the harvest (even if its not from my own garden). It is the time of returning to routines and the home is central to it all. Warm meals and baking are welcomed after so many hot months where the kitchen seems unappealing. School begins and the rhythms of life become more predictable.

Each season brings a time for reflection for me. What is working in our lives? What isn’t working? What can we do differently? How do we want to spend our time during this season? I try to take some time to really think through these things. The last 2 years I have been able to get away for a couple days and it has been such a blessing to have the time and space to consider our lives. We have made some huge changes this past year and having some space really helped me have some clarity.

This year I also started making a wall calendar on a half sheet of poster board for the family for the season. It has been amazing to me how much it has helped us be intentional about our time. Seeing our schedule a little zoomed out has helped us so much as we make our plans.

I have been thinking about how much September seems like new year. It is a time for making plans, lists and preparations for the coming time. And then it hit me as I looked at the calendar. Rosh Hashanah was this week. In the Jewish calendar, September has been the new year all along.

So Happy New Year! May God bless you in this coming year!

MamaKay

Nine years ago, I was expecting baby number 6 and we outgrew our minivan. The search began and we chose a 12 passenger van for our new to us vehicle. It served us well as we added to our family. It took us on adventures camping, trips to Kansas to see family, back and forth when we moved to Montana, it was great on our trip to Ohio. We could fit all 10 of us plus groceries.

But life has changed. The 10 of us rarely travel together anymore. Our children are growing up and going their own directions. (Half of our family is now drivers! How did that happen?)The gas mileage was terrible, getting 14 mpg at the most. And then there was the winter. Somehow a one ton vehicle with rear wheel drive is ridiculously difficult to get out of the steep incline of our driveway in the snow.

And so it was with a bit of sadness at the thought of not being able to travel all together that we decided this was the year to trade in the van.

While my husband was hanging out at the dealership getting our Kia Sorento serviced he found a 2015 VW Golf Sportswagen. It was one of those cars that got caught up in the scandal. So even though it is a 2015 it only had 160 miles on it when he test drove it. He totally fell in love with it and it brought him back to Geo Metro days only so much nicer! On long trips he has gotten as much as 53 mpg! They gave us a deal too good to resist and so we found ourselves trading in the van.

The Kia holds 7 passengers which is plenty most of the time. The rest of the time we just have to take two cars. And wow, driving the Kia is so nice. I was content driving the van but it was an Econoline, which pretty much means no extras. Now I have so many extras I can hardly believe it! I can talk on the phone or listen to things from my phone using Bluetooth, I have a backup camera, a trunk that opens & closes with the press of a button, heated/cooled seats, all wheel drive and so much more.

The big van was such a blessing while we had it (and a couple of the kids are still sad that it is gone). I feel so blessed that I get to drive such a nice car and it will be so nice not getting stuck this winter.

I frequently find myself thinking that this is the way things will always be but God keeps showing me that I need to open my hands and surrender my thoughts about my life and be ready for things to change. The harder I hold on the more difficult that change becomes. When I can hold things loosely the blessings are so much more quickly realized. I think I am learning!

Is there anything you have had to let go of lately? What are you learning?

MamaKay

large family living

September: the New (Old) January

The End of an Era