Julie Naturally
healthy, natural living for Christians
I sank to my knees in despair, sobbing, imagining the next forty years. I loved Jesus, but still I felt as though all hope for a graceful ripening of years slipped away with the diagnosis. My mind filled with thoughts of broken dreams, maddening headaches and a body wracked with pain, an eventual wheelchair, and …
In 2018, we graduated our second child from our homeschool. The first question everyone asks upon discovering this is–you guessed it–“Where is he going to college?” Well, he’s not going to college. He completed a career assessment tool and his path doesn’t necessarily need college. The question is uncomfortable, and I wish people would broaden …
Sometimes we want to change the world through homeschooling. When we hear someone say that they wish they could homeschool, our ears prick up. Before we can stop ourselves, we say, “I can help you!” or even think about homeschooling other people’s kids for them. Mostly, though, they outright ask us, “Hey, you homeschool your …
Forgiving others can be a lot like dealing with physical pain. Have you ever been riddled with muscular knots all over your back? Doctors call them “trigger points.” As a woman living with fibromyalgia, my back frequently hurts with several of these. The only way to truly dissolve the knots is by pressing on them. …
It’s easy to trust in God when everything goes well. We may start thinking of God as a cosmic vending machine. Prayer in and blessings out. Thanks, God. But what about when you see tragedy coming and you are helpless to stop it–whether it be a car accident, poor life choices, or other circumstances? What …
I love fall. Usually, it’s still warm enough to get outside for fall nature activities but cool enough that I’m not sweating buckets. I hate feeling sticky and lethargic. But, I love cool, crisp mornings with a hot drink and wrapping myself in fuzzy softness. Can you tell I’m a northerner? I also love fall …
I’m loving those back-to-school sales, aren’t you? Now is the time to stock up! Just because we homeschool doesn’t mean we don’t use school supplies, right? I’ve flipped through the pages of catalogs and scrolled through the websites, ordering the books and materials we will use for the next several months, if not the whole …
Lately, I have been wrestling with whether I have over-committed myself. I worry about whether my efforts are really my best or just “getting it done.” Is all the research I conducted going to be enough? Will it be a good homeschooling year or will I fall into the same traps as I have before? …
When I started homeschooling, I visited a couple of local support groups and joined one. That served our needs for a little while and then I discovered that a local church had a homeschool coop. That seemed like a fun idea, so we tried it for a couple of years. Since then, coops have become …
It’s time for vacation Bible school, or VBS, as we commonly call it. Many of us participate in this summer camp type experience, either as volunteers or as participants. While I wholeheartedly believe in community outreach and teaching the Gospel, I do not always send my children to VBS. Why not? Here are some pros …
Here in the northern hemisphere, it is summer and since I live near the Great Lakes, it is precious. For three months, it is warm enough to swim in Lake Michigan (although I don’t think the lake ever gets warmer than 70 degrees Fahrenheit.) When I was a kid, the streets swarmed with kids, we …
When my children were younger, I struggled to keep everyone at the table at the same time. Living books were important to me, but my rambunctious bunch wouldn?t quiet down. I was okay with them playing with Legos or squishing clay while I read, but quietly? That seldom happened. At that time, only one child …
Do you think that singing is the only way to worship our Lord? I want to challenge you to engage in creative worship ideas this summer. Just like vacations take us outside our comfort zone and rekindle our appreciation of home, exploring alternative ways to worship can deepen your relationship with Jesus. Here are some …
As homeschoolers, many of us are called upon to be more than high school instructors. We also need to be career coaches and guidance counselors. As such, we tirelessly research the ins and outs of college admission, vocational school requirements, financial aid and scholarships, and other valuable information on behalf of our teens. It’s our …
Sometimes, our lack of discipline can bring us close to death. We know we shouldn’t eat certain foods or we know we ought to exercise, but we ignore it or put it off. I know I’ve done this. My mind tells me, Nothing happened last time. It’s okay. It’s not like you eat that ALL …
When my oldest daughter hit her teen years, she longed to see what it would be like to attend public school. She didn’t exactly hate homeschooling, but she tired of being “different.” She fought with us about it, but in the end we did not relent. She stayed home for high school and ended up …
Sometimes, God takes us to the desert to build our faith and fill us with new life. When we think of a desert, we don’t often think of it as a place full of life. The desert conjures up feelings of thirst, scorching heat, exhaustion, and death. If we fell out of an airplane, it …
As parents, we naturally enjoy praising our children for good behavior, academic achievement, and other desirable traits. For example, have you ever said any of these things to your child? An Impossible Standard Of course, we want to encourage our children. But, sometimes children develop performance anxiety because of the words we choose when we …
As homeschooling parents, we lay down our lives for our children. Often, we give up friendships, dreams, income, and more so that our precious little ones can be taught at home. We feel we demonstrate service to them because every day most of our activity revolves around serving their needs. Maybe we feel that they …
Can?t eat wheat? Can?t eat corn? Good luck on vacation where all the restaurants and fast food places serve breaded and fried food. Vegetarian? Paleo? Sorry. Hardly any vegetables and lots of beef patties served in most locales. Sometimes a vacation feels more stressful than just staying home. The planning, baking, driving around shopping?I wish …
It’s the end of the school year and some of us are at the end of the homeschool journey with one or more of our children. After all the applications and visits, after all the tests, how will we mark homeschool graduation? How will we mark this rite of passage into adulthood in a way …
I never thought that I’d have to deal with churches persecuting homeschoolers when I first started out. Boy, was I wrong. I had never heard of a pastor who hates homeschooling. I thought that the church would be especially friendly to homeschoolers. And many are. When I first started homeschooling, the pastor of my church …
