Bethany Vitaro - Honest yarns of faith and family
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Bethany Vitaro - Honest yarns of faith and family

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Share Four Somethings February 2025

Share Four Somethings February 2025

February 27, 2025
  • My Books
  • Five Minute Friday
  • Parenting
  • Exercise
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Faith, Five Minute Friday, Writing

What If We Didn’t Do Anything Instead? Embracing a Sabbath Year

July 24, 2020 by Bethany 8 Comments

This week all my plans for this coming school year blew up. Not just mine, and mine and a lot…

Faith, Parenting

If They Can Understand, So Can We: Teaching Children about Biblical Submission

July 20, 2020 by Bethany 1 Comment

Submission is such an important concept to teach to our children. A kid friendly definition of submission is giving love,…

Five Minute Friday, Writing

Smile Anyway: Congeniality in Pademnic Life

July 17, 2020 by Bethany 7 Comments

I smile but they can’t see it. Because we’re on a Zoom call and I’m not visible. Because I’m wearing…

Faith

You Are Made of What You Do and Other Lies

July 13, 2020 by Bethany 1 Comment

I heard an ad the other day. The voice-over said: “You are made of the things you’ve done.” It stopped…

Faith, Five Minute Friday, Writing

As We Wait for the Dawn

July 11, 2020 by Bethany 8 Comments

Sometimes that night feels long. When the news seems to only be bad and the challenges we face seem to…

Faith

Self-Denial is Not Martyrdom: Pursuing a Life of Submission

July 6, 2020 by Bethany No Comments

How do you think we can find the difference between biblical self-denial and martyrdom? In his book, Celebration of Discipline,…

Faith, Mental Health

Information, Worry and the Illusion of Influence

June 29, 2020 by Bethany No Comments

In the last few weeks I’ve noticed a phenomenon that my husband and I have both suffered from. I’ll call…

blogging, Share Four Somethings

Share Four Somethings Saturday: June 2020

June 27, 2020 by Bethany 5 Comments

How is it already June? (Also how is it already afternoon? I’ve been working on this post since yesterday!) This…

Enneagram, Five Minute Friday, Writing

Compromise Is Not Surrender: Extending Grace to Myself

June 26, 2020 by Bethany 3 Comments

I took a walk this morning, which is quickly becoming a new normal. But what wasn’t normal was that I…

Faith

What Are We So Afraid of? A Further Exploration of the Discipline of Submission

June 24, 2020 by Bethany No Comments

Submission has become a dirty word in the body of Christ. We fear even talking about it because everyone has…

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This girl! She just comes to life on stage. The la This girl! She just comes to life on stage. The last three months have been grueling for us all. (Hard work for her trying to learn all the songs, dances and lines and for us managing schedules and transport). 
She'd never done a musical before and it's been quite an experience. In the end, I know she's proud of what she and the rest of the cast accomplished. (And still has two more shows to go!)
So grateful to @chrysostomacademy for opening their doors to homeschoolers and giving her this chance to shine. 

#musicmanjr #chrysostomacademy #parenting #parentingteens #theaterkid #homeschoolkid #babygirlgrowingup
At least seven years, possibly longer. I've lost t At least seven years, possibly longer. I've lost track at this point. 
There is still tons more work to do but I'm officially done with my first full manuscript edit and ready to send this well loved (and sometimes hated) project off to my beta readers. 
Holding my breath and hoping it's as good as I hope and not as bad as I fear. 

#manuscript #firstedit #betareaders #actsofwives #amwriting #amediting #historicfiction #onwriting #amwriting #writerproblems #theendisnear #musedontfailmenow #writingonthego #writerslife #wordcount #80000strong
#justafewmorewords #honestyarns #author #writing #workingtitle #AuthorsOfInstagram #WritersOfInstagram #alwaysawriter
What does rest mean to you? I've always thought of What does rest mean to you?
I've always thought of rest as either physical rest (sleeping) or something like a vacation when there is a freedom from responsibilities. 
I'm taking some time off from work this week and it's harder than I thought it would be. I'm not actually going anywhere so the daily needs of the house and family remain. 
If anything those needs loom even larger because without my job taking priority I suddenly feel responsible and even guilty for all of the undone projects. 
There is a sense of panic about what my in-box might look like when I return, and the need to feel valuable at my job.
Perfectionism raises its ugly head as I try to figure out the ideal, most efficient way to spend my week. 
But instead of galvanizing and exciting me, it paralyzes me. 
All the usual things still need to happen (laundry, cooking and cleaning), my children are still here and my husband is still working his paying job. 
Perhaps what I need most is freedom for my mind and spirit. 
The freedom to not be in charge of everything. The freedom to let go of the outcome (even though it wasn't truly within my control to begin with.) 
While I have always tried to create some sort of Sabbath rest, I wonder if this is the part I'm the worst at. Because the responsibility of life and parenthood never takes a day off. The weight of responsibility for their present and future needs is palpable. Some days I can almost feel my body bend under the pressure. 
Except these children are not mine alone, they are given to me to steward. The same power that spoke the world into motion is at work in their lives too. There are good plans for their life that I have no knowledge of or responsibility for. 
I may not be able to take the week off from parenting but I can take a break from worry and strife. I can be present without having to be pressured to produce perfection, in myself or in them. 
Now I just need to take a deep breath, and begin. 

#honestyarns #sabbathmonday #parenting #sabbath #rest #timeoff #presentoverperfect #freedom #recoveringoverachiever #preventingburnout
The only thing better than having a garden is havi The only thing better than having a garden is having a friend with a bigger, better garden. ☺️ Especially one who lives out in the country and invites you to come harvest berries (and peas) during a heatwave and it's a good ten degrees cooler than at home. 
So grateful for a community of friends that continue to be part of our kids' lives and education in so many ways. Last night was the most relaxing, fun I've had in a while, especially considering this heat. 

#garden #gardenlife #harvestoffriends #berries #summer #summergarden #natureday #notaschoolday #alwayslearning #alwaysgrowing #communityeducation #communityhomeschooling #microfarm
In the last week this kid has turned 15, and finis In the last week this kid has turned 15, and finished her first year of high school. She's become more independent while still being very aware of the benefits of childhood dependence. She's strong and stubborn, funny and deep, delightful and exhausting. 
I see glimpses of possibility and hear whispers of intermittent competence. Most weeks I'm not even sure how I feel about her growing up and I'm for sure grateful that she is my first and not my last. 
But this week has mostly been the joy of milestones completed with cautious moments of optimism. 
They get older. The problems are different. There is still joy, there is still struggle. But we change too. Our shoulders grow stronger and our hands open wider. 
I'm not ready to let go, but I'm getting used to the idea. 

#thisis15 #babygirlgrows #growingup #rootstogrow #wingstofly #celebrate #endofyear #homeschoolyear #honestyarns #faithandfamily
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