The Purim Story

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(This article has been updated for 2024, and I'm sharing it the day before Purim. Purim 2024 begins at sundown on Saturday, March 23rd, and continues through Sunday night, March 24th. The original article was posted on February 25, 2021, and I have left my references to 2021 dates alone rather than rewrite too much.)

I'm pretty late to today's party, but did want to acknowledge the celebration of Purim today! 

If you're not Jewish (I'm not), you may be wondering what this holiday is all about, and you might also be wondering why it might matter to anyone who isn't Jewish. Like me. Well, for me, I'm interested in all kinds of cultural celebrations just because I'm interested in history and other cultures. But I find Jewish holidays especially intriguing because the most important ones are commanded by God, and tell us a lot about God and his relationship to his people. Purim is a celebration that isn't commanded by God, but the story of its origin is in the Bible, and it's also a story of God saving his people. 

 Purim is celebrated every year on the 14th of the Jewish month of Adar. In 2021 that's February 25th. The celebration begins at sundown on Thursday (today), and ends on Friday evening. It's a holiday that dates back to the ancient Persian empire and commemorates the Jewish people being saved from the evil plan of a Persian prime minister to wipe them out. The name comes from the Persian word for "lots" as in casting lots or throwing dice. So what happened? You can read the whole story in the Old Testament book of Esther, but here's my short summary:

The Jewish people were subjects of the Persian Empire during the 4th century BC. During the reign of King Ahasuerus, he deposed his queen and searched for a new queen among his subjects. A Jewish girl named Esther was chosen. She was cousin to Mordecai, a Jewish leader and an advisor to the king, but her Jewish heritage was kept a secret. The Persian prime minister Haman devises a plot to get revenge on his rival Mordecai by killing all the Jews and tricks the king into signing this into law. (This is the part where they cast lots - the purim - to determine the date for this genocide.) Mordecai alerts Esther and challenges her to go to the king. After a period of fasting, Esther risks her life to go to the king and is able to expose Haman's plot and thus save her people.

So on the day that the tables were turned and Haman and his family were executed instead, Jewish people celebrate to remember this event and how they were saved.

On the day before Purim, it's customary to fast because Esther and the Jews fasted before she went to the king. Once the celebration begins, though, it's fun and joyous! Purim celebrations include reading the story from the Megillah (the Hebrew scroll), giving gifts to the poor, feasting and sending gifts of food. Often children dress up in costumes - and sometimes adults do too! During the reading of the story, listeners will boo, stomp their feet, or use noisemakers when the name of Haman is mentioned. He's the bad guy, and his name is to be wiped out. 

Sometimes people wonder why the book of Esther is included in the Bible, since it doesn't mention God by name. I think that the "coincidences" surrounding Mordecai's favor with the king, Haman's plan and the timing of it, and Esther's position in the royal household all point to God's hand at work. Mordecai and Esther are observant Jews - they fast and pray and call upon all the Jews to do the same, and God works on their behalf. I believe the bold and unusual plan Esther used to appeal to the king was put on her heart by God as she fasted and prayed. 

You see, even though she was a royal wife and the queen, she was not supposed to go to the king. She had to wait for him to summon her, which he hadn't done for quite some time. If she went to him, and he wasn't interested, she could be put to death. She actually reminded Mordecai of this fact, and his response to her is one of my favorite lines: "For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?" (Esther 4.14)

She responds: "Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish." (Esther 4:16)

What courage! After this persistent calling on God through fasting, she is ready to go to the king. Here's where her plan is crazy brilliant and unexpected. She could be killed just for walking in uninvited, but when the king receives her warmly and says he'll give her anything at all she asks for, she says she just wants to invite him and Haman to dinner. What?! Then at the banquet, the king repeats his generous offer - he is persistent in wanting to honor her! - and she says that they are invited to dinner again the next day. Before that second dinner, Haman winds up having to honor Mordecai at the king's command, and he loathes it. In his fury, he has a gallows made ready thinking he'll get his revenge on Mordecai very soon. But then at the second banquet, Esther makes her request - she asks for her life and the lives of her people, and she reveals that Haman is the villain plotting against the Jews.

The persistence of Esther and Mordecai pays off when God intervenes and turns the tables so that the Jews are allowed to defend themselves and get revenge on their enemies. Despite Haman's persistent hatred, his plans are foiled and he gets what he deserves.

God has always kept his promises. He will always save his people, and he will always be in control. That's one of the lessons to learn from Esther - be persistent in faith and obedience to God.

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For more about Purim and the book of Esther, see these valuable resources:

Chabad.org - Purim

Jews for Jesus - Esther, Purim, and Why it All (Still) Matters

Jews for Jesus - A Clue in the Book of Esther

Jews for Jesus - Esther is the Real Hero of Purim

Proverbial Homemaker - Celebrate the Feast of Purim this Year

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There are a lot of foods associated with Purim celebrations, but the best known is the cookie called Hamentaschen. These are three-cornered pastries or cookies with a sweet filling. They are often given as gifts. Here's one of the recipes I've used before:

Hamentaschen (adapted from America the Beautiful)

2 2/3 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup cold butter

2/3 cup sugar

1 egg plus 1 egg white

cherry, strawberry or apricot preserves

Mix flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl.  Cut butter into small pieces and blend into flour mixture using a pastry blender.  Mix egg, egg white and sugar together, then blend into flour mixture.  Mix to a stiff dough.  Divide into two discs, wrap each in plastic and chill for about 30 minutes.  Roll out to 1/8-inch thickness.  (The original recipe suggested doing this between two sheets of waxed paper.  I used a floured pastry board, but did find that a sheet of waxed paper on top kept the dough from sticking to the rolling pin without incorporating more flour into the dough.)  Using a biscuit cutter or cookie cutter, cut dough out into circles about 2-1/2 to 3 inches in diameter.  Spoon about a quarter-sized drop of preserves onto each circle.  Fold the edges in to form a triangle, overlapping the corners and pinching them a little.  Bake about 1 inch apart on a lightly greased cookie sheet in a 350* oven, for about 15 minutes.  The preserves will start to bubble and the cookies will be a light golden brown when done.  Cool on a wire rack before serving.  Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

 

This is from my article: Hamentaschen

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The original post was part of the Write 28 Days Blogging Challenge hosted by Anita Ojeda. All my posts for the challenge are listed here: Write 28 Days Blogging Challenge - Disappointed

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 ©2006-2024 Homeschool Coffee Break. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://kympossibleblog.blogspot.com/ 

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From the High School Lesson Book - Happy Mother's Day

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Motherhood is the greatest thing and the hardest thing. ~Ricki Lake

I'm one of the lucky moms that gets to be with my kids this weekend―the Maryland kids anyway―so it's a good day for me! We are in Maryland for the weekend to celebrate our daughter's graduation from Mount St. Mary's University, and we had our Mother's Day dinner out on Friday evening. We're heading home sometime after church on Sunday, but will probably get back too late to see my Ohio family. I sent a card and letter to my Mom that I hoped would arrive on time, but I'm not counting on it. Sometimes it takes three days for my mail to reach its destination in Canada and other times it will take three weeks. But either way I'll call.

For some, Mother's Day is not a good day for various reasons. If it brings to mind pain or sorrow for you, I pray that you will find healing and peace.

Mother's Day 2021

Mother's Day 2019

Some form of Mother's Day is celebrated around the world, in more than fifty countries. The second Sunday in May is the "big day" in the United States, Canada, Australia, and many European countries. United Kingdom and Ireland celebrate in March, and Mexico and El Salvador celebrate on May 10th (so their "big day" was yesterday). France and Sweden celebrate later in May. Argentina celebrates in October, and Russia in November. 

Setting aside a day to honor mothers goes way back in history and at least a couple of very early traditions are related to religious practice. The ancient Greeks had a festival to honor the goddess Rhea, whom they believed was the mother of the gods. Early Christians honored Mary, the mother of Jesus, on a specific day during the Lent season. And the earliest version of Mother's Day in the United Kingdom was actually a Sunday during Lent on which everyone was supposed to attend their mother church. 

If you have a mom, there is nowhere you are likely to go where a prayer has not already been. ~Robert Brault

There are three suggested narratives for how our modern Mother's Day came about. In 1872, Julia Ward Howe, the writer of Battle Hymn of the Republic, pushed for a day dedicated to peace that would honor mothers. Another origin story involves Mrs. Juliet Calhoun Blakeley, who stepped into the pulpit when her pastor son left abruptly and called upon other mothers to join her. This was on the second Sunday of May in 1877. Her two sons made a practice of returning to their hometown to honour her and encouraged others to set aside the second Sunday of May to honour their mothers.

I am sure that if the mothers of various nations could meet, there would be no more wars. ~E.M. Forster

The story most of us have heard is about Anna Jarvis who began the movement to a national Mother's Day in 1907. She wanted a day to honour all mothers, living and dead, and felt this would help in bringing the country back together during the ongoing healing process following the War Between the States. In a church service on the second Sunday of May, she handed out her mother's favorite flowers, white carnations. She and her supporters wrote letters to clergy, businessmen, and politicians, and the movement and practice spread to most of the states by 1911. President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday of May in 1914 a national holiday in honour of mothers. 

Since President Wilson's proclamation, Mother's Day has continuously grown in popularity and is now a huge occasion for giving gifts and cards, and it's been said that Anna Jarvis was angry at how quickly the day became commercialized. 

The National Restaurant Association says it's the most popular day of the year to dine out in the U.S. with about 62 percent of Americans going to a restaurant. (This is why my family chooses a different day other than Sunday to go out!) 

The age of your children is a key factor in how quickly you are served in a restaurant. ~Erma Bombeck

It's the third largest card-sending holiday, with an estimated 150 million cards exchanged each year, according to the Greeting Card Association. And about 65 percent of card sales happen in the week leading up to Mother's Day!

Mother's Day is the busiest phone day of the year, with over 120 million calls placed. (Remember when the volume of calls slowed everything down and your call might not go through because everyone else was also phoning home? I sure do.)

There are more internet searches for 'flowers' leading up to Mother's Day than leading up to Valentine's Day. (Personally, I suspect this is because more people need to send flowers, while Valentine's flowers are more often given in person.)  One Mother's Day tradition is wearing a carnation. A colored carnation if your mother is still living, and a white carnation if she has passed away.

Mother's Day is the third largest retail holiday, according to the National Retail Federation. This year it's estimated that American consumers will spend over 21 billion dollars overall on Mother's Day. Wow!!

Everyone wants to save the world, but no one wants to help mom do the dishes. ~P.J. O'Rourke

When I was growing up, our church often opened up a time for anyone attending to say a few words about their mother. Of course there were many very heart-felt and moving statements of love and gratitude for moms, but there were always at least a few people who seemed overly sentimental and I had the impression it was a rehearsed speech so a box could be checked off. Annual obligatory statement about mother? Check. I always thought, and still do, that while it's absolutely wonderful to shower mothers with gifts and special treatment on this one day, but if that's the only day you call your mom or treat her right, you're doing it wrong. If you love your mom, you shouldn't need a Hallmark holiday or a big restaurant promotion to remind you to express your devotion.

Mothers are not the nameless, faceless stereotypes who appear once a year on a greeting card with their virtues set to prose, but women who have been dealt a hand for life and play each card one at a time the best way they know how. ~Erma Bombeck

While all old people have been young, no young people have been old, and this troubling fact engenders the frustration of all parents and elders, which is that while you can describe your experience, you cannot confer it. ~Andrew Solomon

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple. With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me. ~Jenny Joseph

No purple hats but we're wearing red! My sister
and me with our daughters.

The experience of motherhood sure changes as you get older, doesn't it? I guess that's a question for moms who have been at it for quite a few years. The things that were once a big deal might not be so any more, and sometimes things that seemed trivial earlier take on new meaning. With a first baby, many of us are meticulous about recording every milestone, no matter how tiny. But there are plenty of jokes about how third, fourth, or fifth children don't even have a baby book to record their early years. I was kind of like that, starting a baby book with high hopes for each of my children, but just finding it hard to write everything down. But like most moms I know, I have lots of memories of my babies. Sometimes I just need something to jog that memory out of the mental filing cabinet. I do wish I'd written more down, of course. But I think it's safe to say that moms can keep memories in their hearts, where they mean the most, even if the dates and specific details get lost over the years. 

Youth fades; love droops; the leaves of friendship fall; a mother's secret hope outlives them all. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Children are the anchors that hold a mother to life. ~Sophocles

I think that's what Mary was doing. Storing away all the precious memories of her experience of her very unusual pregnancy, Jesus' birth story and his childhood, and all the prophecies and teachings that she had to ponder and fit everything together.

Then he [Jesus, at about twelve years old] went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.

~Luke 2:51~

And though her son was God himself, she and Joseph were obedient in raising him right and in the faith. What an example of a good mother! Timothy's mother and grandmother were heroes of faith as well, and examples to me.

I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.

~II Timothy 1:5~

Wishing a very happy Mother's Day to all the homeschool moms out there! 

Sooner or later we all start quoting our mothers. ~Anonymous

This post is adapted from WQ - Happy Mother's Day!, which appeared on A Fresh Cup of Coffee in May 2023.

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A Groundhog Day Look at Light and Shadow

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Happy Groundhog Day! 

I don't think most people go around wishing each other a Happy Groundhog Day, and I've never seen a greeting card for this day. It's not a statutory holiday or a religious day, and other than checking whether Punxsutawney Phil (or your local rodent celebrity) is predicting an early or late spring, there's nothing special to do to celebrate. Right? Where did this strange little tradition of Groundhog Day come from anyway?

Although Groundhog Day has been shown on calendars for as far back as I can remember, and has been a part of folklore for centuries, it's probably fair to say general recognition of the date increased greatly thanks to the 1993 movie Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray. The movie drew attention to Gobbler's Knob, Pennsylvania, and the Groundhog Day ceremony there, but that wasn't an invention of the filmmakers. Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney is a real place, and Punxsutawney Phil has been the weather forecaster there since 1887. That's when a local newspaper gave the nickname Punxsutawney Groundhog Club to a group who had made a tradition of hunting groundhogs on February 2nd each year. February 2nd is Candlemas (more about that in a moment), and the tradition of watching for groundhogs or other hibernating animals on this date goes back centuries in Europe. Germans who came to American in the 1800s brought this tradition with them, and since groundhogs were common, that's the animal that earned the distinction.

Did you miss Punxsutawney Phil's prediction this morning? You can see it here: GoErie - Groundhog Day 2023

What's special about February 2nd?

The beginning of February is about the halfway mark between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. In an agrarian culture, it's really helpful to know when to expect the weather to warm up enough to start planting, and having enough sunlight to clearly see a shadow is a reminder of brighter and warmer days to come. But a clear and cloudless sky during winter usually means it's cold because the clouds aren't insulating and holding the warmth near the earth. Thus the weather superstition. Some ancient cultures had a mid-season celebration around the beginning of February, and this was a time to start planting crops.

But why February 2nd, in particular? It is forty days after the date for Christmas, when Christians recognize the birth of Christ. According to the Mosaic Law, a woman was to offer a purification sacrifice forty days after giving birth, and the Gospel of Luke records that Mary and Joseph obeyed this law and brought the baby Jesus to the temple to be dedicated to the Lord. So February 2nd became recognized as the Feast of the Presentation. As Europe was becoming Christianized, it was a handy thing when pre-Christian religious festivals or cultural traditions (such as looking for animals coming out of hibernation as an indicator of the weather) could be replaced or marked by a Christian festival, and that's exactly what happened in this case. The Feast of the Presentation, or Candlemas, as it became known, was also the day to check whether the hedgehogs or badgers were coming out of their winter dens.

What is Candlemas?

The Feast of the Presentation is the feast day marking Mary's ritual purification and the dedication of Jesus at the temple. You can read about in the Bible, in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2. The feast day was recognized as far back as the fourth century. The name Candlemas (Candle Mass) came later on, from the ceremony of blessing the candles on this day. The candles to be used in the church were blessed, and the people were invited to bring their own candles to be blessed for use in prayer at home. A candlelight procession is part of this celebration.

In many Catholic and Christian communities today, Candlemas represents a day of "purification, renewal, and hope." And all those candles are a fitting reminder that Jesus is the light of the world and God's light given to all nations.

"For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelations to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel." ~Luke 2:30-32 

Moreover, it is a much-needed reminder during the remaining dark, long days of winter that, no matter how grave things may be, "the light sines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (John 1:5).  ~Carolyn Pirtle¹

We celebrate Christmas and Christ's coming with so much joy and lots of candles and twinkling lights, but a bit over a month later, when all those decorations have been put away and it's still cold winter, it's probably a good time to be reminded of the light!

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." ~John 8:12

Candlemas Traditions

I found that one country, Liechtenstein, recognizes Candlemas as a national holiday! Traditionally, all the candles in the house should be lit, and, by the way, the nativity scenes from Christmas shouldn't be put away until Candlemas.

In Germany, where the Groundhog Day association originated, Candlemas was also associated with payment deadlines, the end of the "servant's year", and the beginning of the "farmer's year". 

In France and Belgium, it may be called "Le Chandeleur" and it's traditional to eat crepes. Apparently this goes back to an early pope that ordered pancakes be distributed to pilgrims, and the shape and color are supposed to remind people of the sun. 

(Now, if it were up to me, I'd have pancakes for dinner. But I didn't think my husband would be excited about that, so instead we will try this recipe for Savory Crepes tonight.) 

In Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries, it's celebrated as Candelaria. One custom is that the person who found the bean inside the Kings Cake on Epiphany is supposed to bring food to the feast on Candelaria. The family meal features tamales, so often the person who found the bean is responsible to make the tamales. 

Did you check your local groundhog forecast today? Whether we see signs of spring or a longer winter today, take heart in the knowledge that Jesus is still the Light of the World, and that to be in HIS shadow is to be kept safe.

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

~Psalm 91:1~

This post will be linked at Encouraging Hearts and Home.

Sources for this article include: www.OfficeHolidays.com, History.com, McGrath Blog, GrowChristians.org

¹ Pirtle, Carolyn. "What is Candlemas and how to observe it"; McGrath Institute for Church Life. University of Notre Dame. Jan. 30, 2019

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 ©2006-2023 Homeschool Coffee Break. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://kympossibleblog.blogspot.com/ 

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Chinese New Year - The Year of the Dragon

This post contains affiliate links - using affiliate links from HS Coffee Break helps fuel this blog. 

Happy New Year!

I'm not going to pretend I know very much about China, the Chinese culture, or Chinese New Year celebrations, because anything I do know has been gleaned from little bits of research over the years. Years ago, when my kids were young, there were several years when we took the opportunity of Chinese New Year to focus a bit on the celebration, learn a bit about it, and have a bit of fun with it ourselves.

Unlike our western (or Gregorian) calendar, the traditional Chinese calendar is based on a lunisolar year. That means the dates are based on both the phase of the moon and the time of the solar year. So the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year. In 2023, the Year of the Rabbit begins on January 22nd. The Spring Festival celebration last for sixteen days, although only the first seven days are part of the public holidays in China and several other countries. The festivities end with the Lantern Festival on February 5th. During the days of New Years celebrations, people display traditional decorations, and get together with family. In fact, this is the favored time for family reunions, and it's very important to visit grandparents and other elders. Shopping, fireworks, and visiting tourist destinations are also part of the festivities.

Countries that also recognize the Lunar New Year and Spring Festival include: Vietnam, Thailand, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and others. Chinese and Asian communities all over the world celebrate as well, so urban Chinatowns in major cities will be busy and popular places this week!

Preparations begin about a month in advance, as people start buying presents, getting decorations ready, and planning meals. On New Years Eve, it's time to clean the whole house, sweeping away bad luck along with the dust and cobwebs, I suppose. 

One of the traditional ways of decorating is to display paper cuttings in windows. These folk art "window flowers" are on display throughout the year, but especially during the Spring Festival. Templates of simplified Chinese papercuts can be found online, and you can create some of your own. We've done it a few times in the past, and it was an activity in a co-op class many years ago.

From my post: Virtual Refrigerator - Chinese Paper-Cutting 

If you've ever cut out paper snowflakes to decorate during the winter, you've got a bit of experience with something very similar to Chinese paper-cutting. Paper as we know it was a creation of a Chinese court official in about 100AD. At first paper was expensive so only the wealthiest or royal Chinese people could afford it for crafting paper cuttings. As paper became more affordable, all classes of society participated and paper cutting became an important folk art. Today, at festival times, cut paper designs are sold and are given as gifts and greetings. Traditional designs feature animals (often pandas, dragons, or tigers), birds, or flowers. For the Chinese New Year, the animal sign for the year is a popular choice. The traditional color of paper used is red because it represents good luck and success.

Another type of decoration is calligraphy on red paper. "Fu" which means "happiness and good fortune" is very popular. These can be displayed on walls, doors, or windows. Similar designs are sometimes added to the paper lanterns used in the Lantern Festival. Lanterns can be basic shapes or more elaborate, like lotuses or even dragons. People might write poetry or wishes on the lanterns before releasing them, hoping that their wishes will come true in the new year.

 During family visits, Chinese grandparents and elders give younger relatives gifts of money in red envelopes. Red because it's a lucky color! Long ago, Chinese currency was in the form of coins with a hole in the middle. They could be strung on a red cord as a gift. Eventually that tradition changed to red paper or red envelopes to hold paper money. Nowadays, digital red pockets are quite popular. 

So with all the red and gold decorations and symbols, golden colored fruits are popular during the Spring Festival. Favorites include kumquats, tangerines, mandarin oranges, and peaches. Also the Chinese character for tangerine looks similar to the character for luck! Traditionally, dumplings should be eaten at every meal during the Spring Festival, especially in the northern part of China. In the south, spring rolls are more popular. Other symbolic foods eaten on New Years or during the festival are fish and noodles. 

This isn't specifically related to the Chinese New Year, but it's a favorite piece of Chinese-inspired art, and it does feature red and gold - Virtual Refrigerator - Chinese Horse.

Chinese Horse by KAT, April 2017

If you want to try creating this Chinese Horse for yourself (or maybe a simpler Chinese Dragon or more advanced Chinese Lion print), the full instructions are available at SchoolhouseTeachers.com along with the entire collection of lessons from ArtAchieve - Achieving Art Success with ArtAchieve. We were able to use the ArtAchieve lessons at a few different points during our homeschool years, and we really liked them! They are inspired by folk art from all over the world, and range from very simple for young children or beginner artists to more complex projects for teens or artists with more experience. All projects are designed to be completed with simple art supplies you likely already have or are easy and relatively inexpensive to acquire.

 An affordably priced SchoolhouseTeachers.com membership gives you access to all 400+ courses in all subject areas and for all grade levels, plus lots of other resources too! 

The paper-cutting crafts (and lots of other ideas) came from the book Geography Through Art which was a favorite in our homeschool. It's a combination of cultural geography information and art projects inspired by different cultures and folk art from around the world. (See my post My Favorite Geography Resource for more details.)


Check out the Chinese New Year website for lots more about this celebration and its history and traditions. Or visit OfficeHolidays.com for information about the celebration in China, South Korea, and other countries.

A previous version of this article was published on Homeschool Coffee Break in February 2019.

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 ©2006-2023 HS Coffee Break. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://kympossibleblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Moving Updates

This post contains affiliate links - using affiliate links from HS Coffee Break helps fuel this blog. 

By now you might know that we recently moved from Maryland to Ohio and I've been working on getting my place here to look and feel like home. And this post does have an update about that project. But it's also about another project that I just started, and that is a new blog. 

A little background about this blog might be helpful as I explain what I'm doing. Years ago, I started a homeschool blog after a few online homeschool friends had done the same, and it was mostly a little record of how we spent our days. I thought maybe those friends and some of my family might be interested and that's about it. That blog had changed platforms a couple times before I settled here with the title Homeschool Coffee Break, and started reviewing homeschool curriculum and products for The Homeschool Review Crew. That gig helped grow the blog audience well past what I had originally expected as well! I also started a separate blog called Just A Second where I put my personal book reviews and other bookish things.

Fast forward a few years, and my youngest child was nearing graduation, and I had to give up reviewing curriculum. I realized that her graduation would also mean my retirement from my homeschool mom career. I've written about this whole process here quite a bit, and for a couple of years I continued writing homeschool content here, as I was still teaching at a homeschool co-op after she graduated. The direction and focus of this blog was changing though, obviously. I've been wondering for at least a year what I was going to do with a blog created for a homeschool niche audience now that I was no longer homeschooling. This winter, I seriously entertained the idea that maybe I should create a new personal blog and just keep this one here as sort of a resource for homeschooling interests, but only add new material occasionally. Our move to a new state in November brought a lot of changes my way, including leaving my teaching position at the co-op. And so, over the holidays, I was reminded of my idea to move my blogs, and I finally did it this week!

A couple of days ago, I put on the coffeepot and invited friends to join me for A Fresh Cup of Coffee.

Welcome To My New Coffee Break Project!

I wish I'd launched the new coffee break spot right at the first of the year, but my plan was still too nebulous at that point. Even now I'm still figuring it out, and it will be a bit of a gradual process, not unlike my move into a new home. When we first moved in, it was obvious where some things would go and what we'd need to buy. As we got settled and start acquiring new furniture, I changed my mind about a few things and reorganized other things. I suspect I'll do some of the same with the blog move. I know what's moving from this room to the other, but I'm sure I'll adjust things a little as we get settled.

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Or I guess I should say, STAYING here at Homeschool Coffee Break! This will still be my hub for all things homeschool, and I do plan on updating information here and on adding new content related to home education. Material like the High School Writing Tip Sheets series. Some new and some updated and renewed content from earlier in my blogging.

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Most of my new content will be at A Fresh Cup of Coffee! That will include the following link-ups and features:

Scripture and a Snapshot weekly on Saturdays.

Five Minute Friday weekly on Fridays.

The "Currently" link-up on the first Wednesday of each month, and the Share Four Somethings link-up on the last Saturday of each month. Both of these are hosted at Overflowing With Thankfulness.

The More Than Just A Mom link-up hosted by these bloggers on the second Monday of each month. (I just published my first article for this earlier this week, and it is on both blogs)

And I often share individual articles in other link-ups such as Inspire Me Monday hosted by Anita Ojeda, Let's Have Coffee hosted by Joanne Viola: Days and Thoughts, and others. The 2023 version of the Write 28 Days challenge is coming soon, for example, and I plan to participate on A Fresh Cup of Coffee.

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My Just A Second book blog will continue as usual, except that the Scripture and a Snapshot weekly link-up I've been hosting there will be moving to A Fresh Cup of Coffee. The two blogs will co-host for a few weeks to give others a chance to switch.

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I did not forget about an update on moving into the new house. Here are some photos of the progress - we started out about six weeks ago with this:

And now the dining room and living room look more like this:

I have pictures to put on the walls, but can't decide where they go until I get another loveseat or chair and a side table, and decide where those things go.

I finally have a new dresser in the bedroom, but haven't filled it yet, so the closet is still slightly chaotic (sorry - no photo of that!).

And the spare bedroom/office went from this:

to this:

So things are coming along!

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I hope you'll continue to enjoy your virtual coffee breaks with me here, or at A Fresh Cup of Coffee. Thank you especially to those of my readers that have stuck with me through the last few years of adjustments!

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