A trip to the library or bookstore is exciting for me because I love books.  Looking through all the book covers, flipping through pages of text and illustrations literally lights up my day.

Honestly, my greatest joy is when we are reading as a family. Some of the sweetest times that we have had in our homeschool is our time enjoying books together. When I think back over the past 10 years of school, my heart swells the most when I reflect on our times sharing a story together.

Regardless of where we are or what season we are in, we can always find a reading spot and a good story to share.

Even if you haven’t developed the habit of sharing stories aloud as a family, give it a try.  Choose a title and read it together over the next month (or two). Even five minutes together in story will create a safe and cozy memory for your family.

• Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
• The Magician's Nephew
• Ramona Quimby Series
• Henry Huggins Series
• Flora and Ulysses
• Because of Winn Dixie
• The One and Only Ivan
• The Witch of Blackbird Pond
• The Sign of the Beaver
• Among the... People Series
• FIfty Famous Stories Retold

For more information and links to all the books, visit:

11 Best Read Aloud Books for Kids of All Ages - A Heart for All Students

Many women have navigated the painful journey of infertility.  Some of gone on from infertility to adoption.  We each have our own story.  If you have navigated these waters, know that you are seen and are not alone.  I hope by sharing some of my journey, you will find some encouragement and hope.

As I look back on it, I now know that this season of time in the Word was just one step in my journey.   It was His preparation for the next tumultuous chapter of our story.

The ten-hour drive to meet our little boy and his selfless and desperately hurting birth mother would cut to the core.  We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.

And that is exactly the way it needed to be.

For more information, post transcript and time stamps visit: https://aheartforallstudents.com/aheart-2/

Our adoption story began back in December of 2013 when we adopted our now 6 year-old son at birth.  Almost one year prior to carrying our newborn little man out of the hospital, we had left a different hospital in our home town with empty arms and broken hearts.  In December of 2012 my husband and I joyfully entered my OBGYN’s office with eager anticipation to find out the sex of our third child.

Within an hour’s time our world came crashing down as I was whisked to the labor and delivery floor of the hospital to deliver my baby.  According to her measurements, her heart had stopped just 24 hours earlier. My life would NEVER be the same. My Ryan Adeline was not coming home to live an earthly life with the girls, Ian and I.  She had already left for her forever home to be with God.

For more information, post transcript and time stamps visit: https://aheartforallstudents.com/aheart-1/

In the past year, we had been through what seemed like a nightmare.  We had lost 7 pregnancies.

We passed through the threshold of the hospital and into the sterile foyer.  My emotional state began to tilt towards anxiety and dread.   The ups and downs of the multiple miscarriages led me to expect the worst.

Our social worker led us through the maze of dependent newborns to our little man’s incubator.  I remember staring at him for the first time as if I was watching myself on film.

Adoption is beautiful, but it is at the same time so tragic.  In order for my family to grow here on earth, a broken woman would have to suffer.  She would have to say goodbye to a baby whom she had carried for 9 months.

Nothing could have prepared me for what we were about to experience those next 36 hours.

For more information, post transcript and time stamps visit:  https://aheartforallstudents.com/aheart-3/

To say that meeting our son’s birth mom was emotionally intense is an understatement.  Just 18 hours earlier, he was delivered into the world by an incredibly brave and desperately broken woman.

For the first time, we saw the woman whom God would use to bring us another little deliverer. Beyond the point of exhaustion from the year-long emotional hurricane that we had just survived, I was on the verge of a break down.

As she signed the paperwork, a death occurred.  The slightest hope that she would be able to parent was annihilated with the stroke of a pen.  And with that same signature came new life in the form of a family which just grew by one.

In her brokenness, she loved him enough to give him a chance at a better life. She is the picture of humility and my heart continues to grieve for her loss.

Additionally, our family is indebted to her forever.  She gave us a son.

For more information, post transcript and time stamps visit:  https://aheartforallstudents.com/aheart-4/