Together

Sarah in a meal photo! The others were out of town for various reasons.

This week we are enjoying advancing into more normal, pre-Covid family interactions.

Gigi was two weeks out from her second Covid vaccine on April 21st. Because of that she felt the freedom to resume some activities she missed for 13 months—like going to church. She joined us at our church (her normal church has been Main Post Chapel on Ft. Leavenworth for over 35 years) and then came to Sunday family lunch. What a treat for us!

Anna Marie recently finished her last treatment at the cancer center, and they are also stepping back into more social interactions. They invited Steve, me, and the aunts to a delicious Mexican feast Monday evening. Everyone was so excited to be able to be with them in their home again. And we are delighted that Anna Marie has the health and energy to want to cook for and have guests over for dinner! Thank You, Jesus!!

Trusting in Jesus,
Teri

“I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound:
every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full
and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need” (Philippians 4:12).

Sarah Maxwell’s Update

After my first run!

Hello everyone! I wanted to share great news with y’all. I’m feeling AMAZING! In late February, my doctor suggested it was time for me to see a concussion specialist. The specialist tested me and prescribed a combination of physical therapy (at home!) and medicine for five weeks. By my third visit to the specialist, I felt good! At that visit, they tested again, and I “aced” their tests. They released me to embrace life with a return to my normal activities! To celebrate later that week, I went on my first run in 9 months and didn’t experience dizziness or headaches afterward. I love feeling like myself once more.

In other news, I purchased my first car. I’m grateful to have used the family’s car all these years as it has saved me so much, and I appreciate Dad and Mom’s generosity. I asked Dad to car shop with me last week. I wanted a vehicle that was reliable and would last a long time. After driving several vehicles (multiple times) and going to two dealerships, the next day, I purchased a Honda Accord with low miles.

I’m thankful for the Lord filling my life with work, ministry, church, and family. I’m also grateful for all your interest and concern in how I’m feeling. It’s been quite the past year, and I don’t wish to repeat another concussion!

Love,
Sarah

“My soul, wait thou only upon God;
for my expectation is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation:
he is my defence; I shall not be moved”
(Psalm 62:5-6).

Random Life from Winter to Spring and Back to “winter”

Random life is just that: random pictures to give you a glimpse into the Maxwell family. This spring is beautiful and full, and we praise God for giving us opportunities to share with others.

While the United States is in turmoil, it seems for us as Christians, persecution is coming closer. We’ve known nothing of what most Christians in other countries live under, and yet so many of them REJOICE.

“But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled” (1 Peter 3:14).

I’d love to hear something the Lord is teaching you.

Love,
Sarah
PS: I hope to post a health update soon!

Elliot and Ellie
A Benji birthday evening, so we played a game with him.
Everything looks some brown, although you can see a hint of green. Amazing what some time does to green things up.
Reading time with Grandma
Dad cleaned up the garage after all the grit from the snowy roads
A Sunday lunch cleanup chat going on here.
A late birthday gift for Kyle
Little Debi with cat buddies
Enjoying spring break
The Springfield animal drive-through safari
Arnold likes Mom
A new tortilla helper
Sunday lunch
A hot game of JENGA
A morning walk with a friend of Ellie’s 🙂
Installing a gate we received at no cost, and it’s perfect for the deck. Ellie likes to spend time out in the sun.
Dad and Joshua on a project, more on that later
Easter baking (Mom, Mary, and Jesse’s Anna)
Our friend from church wanted to surprise Anna one day with coffee, and she stayed for lunch.
An outdoor vet tune-up for Ellie with our favorite vet
A visit with Elissa and crew

This morning, we woke up to probably the most snow we had all season!
Spring can’t be hidden, and it will burst forth in even more beauty soon.

“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to
give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope
that is in you with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15).

The HSLDA Resource Winner

Yesterday, we did the drawing as mentioned in the HSLDA post. We used a random number generator to give us the winning comment. I was surprised to see #1 be drawn. I did it again to make sure it was working correctly and it was. Here is the winning comment:

Nancy M says:
April 9, 2021 at 5:07 am
We joined HSLDA since our first year of homeschooling which was 2005. Even though we have never had to use their services (thankfully) we loved that our membership help give others the legal representation they would need. We did purchase our graduation diplomas from them and we’ve lived in different states or be praying about a potential job change and was always grateful to search out the homeschool laws for a different state. Even though MO is a homeschool friendly state, I have always encouraged families to join HSLDA. My youngest will be a junior in HS next year and this would be a great resource to add to his curriculum.

We will be asking Nancy for her address so we can ship her the resource. We are grateful that the Lord has used HSLDA for many years to be a blessing to homeschoolers. If you aren’t a member, we would strongly encourage you to join.

“O taste and see that the LORD is good:
blessed is the man that trusteth in him” (Psalm 34:8).

Resurrection Sunday

We were blessed and rejoiced in Resurrection Sunday. This was our first year to be back in a church building for a Resurrection Sunday service, and we loved celebrating our Saviour’s resurrection with our church family.

We navigated our holiday meal around being at church for 3 hours since our family planned to gather and eat at our house at 1:00 p.m. to allow us to be back to church at 6:00 p.m.

This year Gigi was able to join us, whereas last year Covid restrictions meant no one else could be here. Because Gigi was here, Nathan’s family chose to stay back since several in their families had colds. Christopher’s family also didn’t come since they continue to social distance until later in April when they reach the 1-year mark for Anna Marie’s chemo treatments.

For the two families who couldn’t join us, we plated their food, and they picked it up from our house. That was a bit of a feat since we sent food out to 15 (Anna Marie is on a very special diet so she wasn’t eating our meal.) while trying to keep food hot for the 17 eating here.

It was a sweet time to be together and also to enjoy, what is for many in the family, our favorite meal of the year. We have that meal at Christmas too.

“He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come,
see the place where the Lord lay” (Matthew 28:6).

HSLDA is a Blessing Giveaway

In March, we had the post Don’t Homeschool Without It and invited those who aren’t current Home School Legal Defense of Association (HSLDA) members to join HSLDA. HSLDA graciously gave a resource to everyone who joined after reading that blog post.

To our surprise, HSLDA gifted us with the same resource after the post, which is the Constitutional Literacy DVD. Since that original offer was only available to new members, we thought we would give our resource to someone who is currently a member.

To join our HSLDA is a Blessing Giveaway, simply comment on this post with two things. Tell us how long you have been an HSLDA member and why you like being part of HSLDA.

We will then have a random drawing on April 15th to give away the copy HSLDA gave us. (The giveaway is for U.S. addresses only.)

BTW, there is still a few days left (April 15th) to join if you are not yet an HSLDA member and receive a copy of the Constitutional Literacy resource from them.

“Well done, thou good and faithful servant…” Matthew 25:21