Welcome to the third day of my blog pause. This is a wonderful idea I gleaned from my dear friend Robin, over at Robin Kramer Writes.

The idea of this is I share three posts… you can read all three or choose one or two that appeal the most to you.

Also, if you have a moment, would you please complete this brief reader SURVEY? I would greatly appreciate it. You can access the survey HERE.

These posts are some of my favourites from 2014….

Overcoming Obstacles {trauma and faith}

Today I was going to share a recipe post with you. I had the posting crafted, the photo taken, everything was ready to go… and then life happened.

I had taken my daughters on an outing to a park. It was a park that was across town but I wanted them to enjoy this particular park before it’s flooded with children during summer break.

After a lovely morning of sliding, swinging, and running, I loaded my girls into the car and started the long trek home. The problem was, I knew how to get there but I wasn’t so sure how to get home.

I wove through side roads, streets, and freeways until I got to the familiar… downtown.

I didn’t realize until I was parallel to my old workplace that I was, indeed, downtown.

Downtown… the place where a man pulled out a gun and shot at me several times….

Continue reading this post HERE.

What I Learned From My First Year of Homeschooling {homeschool}

I can’t believe our first year of homeschooling is coming to a close! Tomorrow our facilitator (whom I like to refer to as our mentor teacher) is coming to assess my daughter’s work for this semester. I’m a bit anxious about the process but I’m looking forward to celebrating my daughter’s learning.

As I assembled the materials for my daughter’s assessment, I began to reflect on the journey that this first year of homeschooling has been for us. Like when I was a month into homeschooling and realized I was teaching in a manner which was not comfortable for me. I immediately changed my style of teaching and then several months later fell into the rut of worksheets and teacher-directed work. It has been an amazing educational journey and out of it I have learned some valuable lessons which I would like to share with you.

To continue reading this post, please go HERE.

Why am I Blogging? {blogging}

I started this year on a mission to build my blog. I made a strategic plan, then wrote, read, commented, and posted my way through months of goals.

I met many of my goals back in June but then something happened. Or perhaps it was the lack of something….

There were no balloons and party hats. There was no major breakthrough with a sponsor. There was no book contract. There was nothing.

This left me wondering. Just what am I doing this for?

I have been seeking and searching, hoping I could find the purpose of why I am blogging. Here is what I came up with…

To continue reading this post, go HERE.

Thank you for joining me for another edition of my blog pause. The last day of the blog pause will be tomorrow.

Jennifer Bly

Author of My Kitchen, My Classroom: An Introduction to Homeschool and creator of The Deliberate Mom. Jennifer writes about parenting, homeschooling, her faith, and life with her husband and two girls. Jennifer has a Bachelor of Applied Human Service Administration Degree with a specialization in Early Learning in Child Care.