Hi! How do you do?

Hi, I’m Naja. I am so excited to be writing the blog post this year for our association. I will admit I have not written this much since undergrad. I do currently write product reviews through a major retailer and a “mom’s group” website. However, I haven’t written like this in years. So, please bear with me as I shake off some of the cobwebs, and I get back in the swing of writing for an audience again. My hope for this blog post is to simply share encouragement, knowledge, wisdom, tips, and tricks that will help you get through each week of this homeschool journey. I pray you all will find something useful in these lines this year. 

My life is full and busy. It revolves completely around my faith and my relationship with God. I’m most importantly a follower of Christ by who’s blood we believe there is salvation. We believe in biblical Truth only. Being led by the Spirit of God, we seek to raise our family by that Truth. My relationship with God through Christ is not a side deal. It’s a part of my everyday existence and something that will be illuminated in everything I do. My prayer for my family is that when people see us they see Him in us. And seeing our unique family dynamics really shows the outside world just how gracious, awesome, and merciful the God we serve is to those who believe in Him.

 I am a wife of 7 years to a wonderful man of God and minister of music. We were fortunate enough to be blessed with a quiverfull. We have 8 wonderful children ranging in age from 6 years old to 6 months. If you’ve started counting, you are probably wondering just how did we fit 8 children into 6 years. Twins? Adopt? Blended? Our family is not only unique because of our rather large number of children. There’s one more thing that sets us apart from most families. We have three sets of twins. Yes three!!! Now I’m pretty use to people’s reaction to learning that. I get shock, awe, sympathy, blessings, etc. I’ve heard it all. While everyone sees our brood as amazing, it’s just normal life for us. We don’t live everyday as if we are an anomaly. We’re just a family. I plan to share more on our unique family dynamics later. So stay tuned.

We have been homeschooling since our first child was born 6 years ago. However, this is our second year homeschooling through an association. Most homeschoolers start educating out of the womb it seems. Lol I’m no different. I believe children can learn just about anything you give them to learn especially at a very young age. Their minds are amazing. Their behaviors may not be so desirable, but they have the ability to gain and maintain a ridiculous amount of knowledge. I did not choose to homeschool. Homeschooling was chosen for me. God placed homeschooling on my heart when I was pregnant with our first child. I had no intentions of being a SAHM or a homeschooler. As I submitted to the idea and began to do research, I became more comfortable and confident in homeschooling. Now I’m convinced this is the best choice for my family, and as I continue to see the state of our world, I know it’s best for a lot of families. 

My faith and my family are major parts of my life for the most part. I am a Southern girl at heart with lots of big homesteading dreams. Dreams that I’d love to come true right away, but I know I’m not ready. I pray that I will continually have the opportunity to gain the skills I need so my family can live the homesteading lifestyle of my thoughts and dreams one day. I’m also a gardening enthusiast with little experience. That’s code for I have absolutely no clue what I’m doing! Lol I’m killing plants left and right. I like to say “I’m learning as I grow.”  However, with each passing season, I find myself with many triumphs. I also find myself growing to love just being in nature. My generation was bombarded with video games, cable tv, the internet, etc. So, I was never outdoors much. Now with each breeze or flower that grows, I gain an appreciation for the natural world. I can also see God in things and in ways I never did before.

I am new on the pescatarian scene also. As much as I love to cook and eat, I know changing my eating habits needed to be done. My husband and I have followed a pescatarian lifestyle before now. It was for a short time but proved to be beneficial for me healthwise. Now I’m back at it with a lot more knowledge and a commitment to succeed. I have also grown to be more natural-minded, and I am constantly finding ways to create a non-toxic household for me and my family. I know what your thinking now and…Yes I use essential oils! Yes I make my own laundry detergent! Yes I make my own cleaning products! And a bunch of other things that may make my seem like a bit of a hippie. Lol But I don’t care. It’s important for me to know that my family isn’t just surviving but thriving. I feel like taking back our homes and our health is the first step to creating an environment where our children can do just that, thrive.

I could probably type forever sharing one thing or another. But I won’t torture you all any longer. I am so excited to have this opportunity to share and encourage you guys this academic year. I pray that you guys will come back weekly to engage with me. I’d love to know what you think. Look for a new blog post each week (Sunday). If you ever have anything specific you want to see on a post, I’m always open to suggestions so don’t hesitate to let me know.

Naja

Matthew 4:17