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
  • About
Faith, Five Minute Friday, Writing

Upward and Outward: When You Don’t Know Which Way to Go

January 10, 2020 by Bethany 7 Comments

It’s the time of year of New Year’s resolutions. There is something natural in us that wants to look at…

Advent, Faith, Five Minute Friday, Writing

Unto Us Is Born This Day: What Are You Carrying?

December 21, 2019 by Bethany 2 Comments

I think a lot about the birth of Jesus this time of year. Especially about what the phrase God with…

Advent, Faith, Family, Five Minute Friday, Writing

Out of the Darkness: The Wonder of Birth at Christmas

December 17, 2019 by Bethany 6 Comments

I was jolted awake, unable to fully register what time it was. The voice on the other end told me…

Advent, Five Minute Friday, Writing

Embracing The White Space of Advent

December 6, 2019 by Bethany 4 Comments

It’s been one of those weeks. Thanksgiving fell early, we traveled, we had a long trek home in an ice…

Advent, Faith, Family, Five Minute Friday, Writing

When My Life is Full Enough: Discovering the Beauty of Less

November 29, 2019 by Bethany 7 Comments

It’s the end of the year. When holiday sales declare “You NEED this and if you don’t buy it now,…

Faith, Family, Five Minute Friday, Writing

Remember When? How the Valleys of Yesterday Prepare Us for the Hilltops of Tomorrow

November 15, 2019 by Bethany 2 Comments

This is my favorite time of year. I’m fully within the throes of embracing the Thanksgiving, Advent, Christmas sweep. While…

Faith, Women's Health

Let Nothing Make Me Its Slave: Why I Decided to Give Up Sugar, Again

November 13, 2019 by Bethany No Comments

I’m a generally healthy person, but 35 has not been kind to my metabolism. I’ve become determined to improve my…

Faith, Five Minute Friday, Writing

The Waiting Season: Embracing the Quiet In-Betweens

October 25, 2019 by Bethany 2 Comments

There is something comforting about the sound of migrating geese as they pass above my house. It’s a sound I…

Faith

Growing Down, Not Just Up: Acknowledging Invisible Progress

October 23, 2019 by Bethany No Comments

This is the time of year, at least in my part of the world, where the world seems to be…

Faith, Five Minute Friday, Writing

Don’t Just Do Something, Stand There: Embracing a Sabbath

October 17, 2019 by Bethany 10 Comments

My mind is always so active. Even when I’m not doing something, I’m usually thinking about what I’m going to…

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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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