Our New Era---trying to transform our family culture *be* the Morning People

I want to do more than keep my kids alive.....I want to teach the kids how to actually live.

I told the kids this was our new era. We are going to run a clean household, and actually invite their friends over (after me promising 'when the house is clean...' for the last decade)

Each Tuesday in Lent, I will expand on one of these points, which I will hyperlink here.

 OUR NEW ERA

God our strength : put on your own oxygen mask!

Make prayer, worship, and Bible-study the rhythm of our lives

1.      Morning Prayer 

2.      CircleTime Intercessory Prayer

3.      Worship

4.      Bible at night with Daddy (focus, absorb, discuss)

5.      Life Skills

a.      Bible Study

b.     Intercessory Prayer

Now that your oxygen mask is on....

Outward Focus: Be a blessing to others

1.      Intercessory Prayer [Think of others]

a.      VOM prayerlist

b.     Prayercards of others in our lives

c.      Circle Time Prayer style [draw cards out of the deck]

2.      Social Skills [Kindness] Teach it to them rooted in scripture, in real life stories

a.      Think of Others before yourself

b.     Spread Kindness with your mouth

c.      Seek to find why God brings ppl into your life (humility, openness to listening etc)

d.     Christian boundaries, etc.

3.      Functional Sanity---the car needs to run, to be able to go anywhere

a.      Food

b.     Chores

c.      Laundry

d.     Homeschool Basics

4.      (Be a net plus on the world)

a.      Project sanity/youre ok….especially of the little ones!!!

                                                              i.      Appearance---grooming: hair, smell, clean face

                                                            ii.      Appearance—clothing [nice enough or looks on purpose]

                                                          iii.      House---like the family that hosted the dance---their home was amazing. It exuded little house in the prairie vibes. Or medieval cottage vibes. Because everything was clean, organized, and beautiful even if it wasn't fancy/expensive/fixed. FUNCTIONALITY and USEFULNESS and BEAUTY

                                                          iv.      Outside of House---even more important

b.     Try to bring more food to events than we take

c.      Give generously

5.      Joyful Charity

a.      Go with them to Donate to Foodbanks, buy socks, etc

b.     Visiting those in Prison//for kids: Visit hose home-bound, older people, nursing homes, hospitals, and in hospice

c.      Packs for Homeless people, Feed my starving children, etc

d.     Help them donate money to cool charities (like buy a goat, etc), where they get to put money toward it, by doing various chores for us, etc. So they are working to help others.

Desert Ranger Plans, updated

  Little Rangers need to get their kits out at least once a month. They need to explore outside, learn valuable skills like tracking, stamina, waking at dawn, building fires, watching the stars....they need SKILLS and they are only going to get said skills by going out and roughing it in the wilderness.

Alas, one skill for a ranger mom trapped in the valley of the Sun, is to reserve campsites far in advance. 6-5.5 months in advance....

If we were really cool, we'd figure out how to make camp in the site-less wilderness...preferably under bracken where the Crebain of Dunland cannot sight us....but we aren't at that awesome yet. So we'll stick with reserved sites, until our skills are much much better. Dispersed Camping is far far more epic. This year, research dispersed camping and how it works, also scout out places for dispersed camping near our favorite sites.

UPDATE:  IT seems that contrary to my impression, Payson is actually COOLER than Sedona in the summer....So next year we are going to check Payson first for June, July, Aug. Sedona is more for April, May, Sept

UPDATE UPDATE: Driving up towards Heber from Payson gives you 2000+ ft of elevation, and its a little cooler, at the cost of 20 more min driving.

Feb-March really focus on my own little piece of earth, gardening, etc.

March--AZ Desert dawn hikes, Lost Dutchman campsite...or THE MINE cold 

[I need to reserve the Spring reservations by Nov/Dec, and Summer reservations by Feb/March]

April -- AZ Rim-country/Sedona Oak Creek--- AZ desert Dawn Hikes 

• [too hot to camp in AZ desert]
• [Mingus Mountain and Mogollan Campground and Aspen AZ not open till May], 
• THE MINE Morenci, AZ
• Yavapai, White Spar (Prescott) is open [but terrible bathrooms] not alot of trees 
• Sedona/Oak Creek stuff is Open
• Maybe....Payson IS ALL FF IN APRIL [Christopher Creek] and Ponderosea (AZ)
•  Houston Mesa [Payson near Water Wheel, Flowing Springs] are FF in April 

May -- AZ Rim-country, Prescott, ----Sedona/Oak Creek stuff is Open  (Payson is open)

• Mingus Mountain! 
• Mogollon Campground on Rim ?? (too cold?) 
• Ponderosa AZ ??
• Sedona/Oak Creek stuff is Open(Pine Flatts) [We had a great time at Cave Spring Sedona in May] Manzanita campground?
• Christopher creek might have water in it
• Houston Mesa Campground NEAR Water Wheel Falls (Payson) 

June 

• last chance at Prescott,  
• Payson-ish Houston Mesa Campground (5200 ft) NEAR Water Wheel Falls (Payson) NEAR Flowing Springs
• Payson--Christopher Creek [bit too hot only 5000 ft elevation]
• past Payson towards Heber, up on the rim, elevation 7000 ft higher on the Rim near Woods Canyon Lakes---Sinkhole Campground (7560 ft), Spillway campground, Aspen AZ (7000 ft)Mogollon campground (7700 ft)
• Maybe Sedona & Oak Creek Canyon Too Hot

July--Mountains or Creeks, 

• CHRISTOPHER CREEK IN PAYSON (no water in the campsite creek yet, hot at 5000 ft)
• Houston Mesa Campground NEAR Water Wheel Falls (Payson) NEAR Flowing Springs
• past Payson towards Heber, up on the rim, elevation 7000 ft higher on the Rim near Woods Canyon Lakes---Sinkhole Campground (7560 ft), Spillway campground, Aspen AZ (7000 ft) or Mogollon campground (7700 ft) 
• Maybe Oak Creek Canyon/Sedona [bc of Oak creek. Also Manzanita is COOLER they say, Pine Flats, Bootlegger, Cave Spring], 
• Maybe Mogollon Campground is 2mi from a lake....  Too Hot
• DREAM: THE ROCKIES, GORE CREEK

Aug--Mountains or Creeks, PAYSON,OR THE ROCKIES GORE CREEK Oak Creek Canyon/Sedona... Too Hot

DREAM: THE ROCKIES, GORE CREEK

CHRISTOPHER CREEK IN PAYSON 

Payson-ish Houston Mesa Campground NEAR Water Wheel Falls (Payson) NEAR Flowing Springs

Sept--Mountains or Creeks, PAYSON, OR Oak Creek Canyon/Sedona [Finally Cool Enough!...]

• CHRISTOPHER CREEK IN PAYSON 
• Payson-ish Houston Mesa Campground NEAR Water Wheel Falls (Payson) NEAR Flowing Springs

Oct -- AZ Rim-country, Prescott, Mingus [may-oct] OR Oak Creek Canyon/Sedona...

• Last chance for Mingus !!!!

Nov--AZ Desert 

• AZ desert dawn hikes,  
• Hidden Valley, 
• Fat Man's pass
• Sears-Kay Ruin (Hohokam)
• Check out Alltrails
• ??Montezuma's well [3 hr drive]
• Pioneer Museum? 
• Lost Dutchman campsite

Dec & Jan--AZ Desert dawn hikes [Hidden Valley, Pioneer Museum? Fat Man's pass, Sears-Kay Ruin (Hohokam)] Have back-yard fires and toast marshmallows.

Feb --AZ Desert dawn hikes, Lost Dutchman campsite. 

And how to homestead...when we are in a little quarter-acre lot in a desert, and may move in the near-ish future?

Homestead, but not as the homestead being the goal---as we may need to sell, and later owners destroy it. Plant fruit trees, for the future if owners keep it. And always garden with the kids. Involve my little rangers as much as possible...because its about the memories being forged WITH them, and the skills being forged IN them, and not about the physical garden or home so much. We are traveling, but we can make these way-stations along the way as beautiful as we can. As green as we can. As productive as we can. 

But it should always be about the little Rangers, and not the way-station.

So let's get out there, and go Rangering....

Fragile Beings Suspended

 We are such fragile beings, suspended above eternity.

Just one lungfull of oxygen, one burst brain-blood-vessel, one heartbeat away, from the edge of time. From the mysteries that sages have searched for, mystics climbing mountains. Just there, just hovering, right on the other side.

Changing our Family Culture

 I want to change our family culture closer to our original vision, of making Rivendell.

Family culture matters, routines and prayers matter. To put a rhythm to our lives, that can give something to fill up the kids hearts, to show them what is important. Habit shapes souls, because it is a continual time-offering of our lives, and our souls exist in time.

 Josh has already drastically changed our family culture the last year, by taking on the McCheyne Bible reading plan every evening as a family. And sticking to it, even when we come home 9:30 pm exhausted from a social event. He is stubborn, in the best way possible.

Josh has also changed our family culture the last few years, with the whole concept of "Family Fun Time" and the creation of the "Family Fun Time Wheel". He urges the kids to finish their after-dinner chores in time, that we take an hour to do something fun as a family. There's a wheel he had me make, with 6 different options to choose from, so that even when we are brain-dead at the end of the day, the options are clearly laid out for us.

[Image of the family fun time wheel]

We also got a little closer to our dream, last year, with our 4 weekend camping trips and 2 water wheel hikes. With the Family Fun Time the kids look forward too every evening, and the nightly Bible time with prayertime, as the girls dance to "He is Lord" at the end, there is a rhythm to our lives.

Five things I want my kids to have interwoven throughout their lives.

Prayer [The God who is here]

Joy [Singing, always singing]

Adventure [camping trips, attitude toward life, challenges unlocked etc]

Love [Kind, gentle to one another, forgiving one another]

The Holy [to see Him, to really see Him. The pillar of fire and cloud, come down to us]

Reshaping family culture through Lent

 Recently I've reflected on how little my daily expense of time reflects my actual ideals. 

I want to live like God is real.

I want to create Rivendell---a place of joy and peace.

I want to show my children, by how I live my daily life, what I truly think is important and life-giving.

Through daily tangible choices, I can change our family culture.

The point is to change our daily routine to where it actually shapes us. Because our daily time-slots do shape our souls, since our souls are being formed in real time. 

"Mental patterns" and all that, as psychologists talk about.

So I want to give the kids a life centered around the rhythm of joy and worship. Josh has already changed our family culture so much, with the evening Bible Readings added into family prayer. 

Now its my turn, to do my part when he's gone at work, to make our home more filled with God's presence. I want my kids to be like the Israelites, growing up with the Pillar of Cloud and Fire.

Another issue is how we treat eachother. There is too much fighting, too much negative talk and gossip and fussing. The change starts with me. I must get right with God in the mornings, and also, reset the family culture of how we treat eachother. Kindness is a fruit of the Holy Spirit.

For Lent 2026 I have changed my plans. 

Family disciplines

1. Family Prayer & Worship
1. Morning Prayer in the Babygarden every morning
2. the 5,7,7 QT in the mornings, five minutes listening to Bible, 7 minutes journaling/quiet praying, 7 minutes praying out loud, Korean-style.
3. Worship songs [Let the kids pick the songs with the lyric videos] at the end of school.
2. No whining, fussing, gossiping, fighting at all. [take it to Jesus] [-5 min gametime per infraction]
3. No sweet treats at all. [Fruit is ok]. UNLESS guests are over, or its a feast day [Birthday, or Sunday]
4. We will eat our way through our split peas, beans, and freezer. [goal empty the freezer]

Personal Disciplines

For me, I've changed my plans. I need a hard reset on how I cope with daily life, and my mid-life crisis.

1. Give up writing my Star Wars story. I think I am turning to it too much, as an escape or another world in dealing with my mid-life crisis.
• Instead fill those gaps of time with doing things with the kids. At the end of Lent I want to have done something significant with each child.
• Teach Isaiah how to draw
• Teach Isaiah how to recite poetry
• Teach kids (esp sarah) how to play the recorder
• Garden with the kids
• Teach the girls how to sew
• Paint iwth the kids, perhaps help them 
• ??Finally illustrate the woodcutter and the wolf-king
2. Give up personal Youtube browsing in the evenings
• [except 15 min max per day with a timer, for topics to research for home-improvement research for classes etc]
• Never change the 7 min internet timer on my phone.
• Instead fill gaps of time with reading books, praying. Read the Ignatius Examen, watch things on Formed, read various religious books I've bought over the years and haven't read. 

My general usage of time should be

1. Morning Prayer
2. Breakfast,
3. Devotions
4. School with big kids
5. When Big Kids do busywork, then go and cuddle little ones, Hide 'em in your heart playing. Go back to help big kids as needed.
6. Lunch
7. Worship God
8. Freetime---[This is where I will try to do those things with the kids]
9. House projects
10. Dinner
11. Cleanup
12. Family Fun Time
13. Evening Bible and Prayers
14. Time to talk with Isaiah, Josh, or read, or pray.