C.G.Koens's Blog, page 10

Not Lucky, But Blessed

As we wrap up spring break 2018, I've been thinking a lot about the difference a year can make. One year ago, I was stressed to the max, trying desperately to get some sense of the new normal of our lives with 5 new people taking up a large portion of each day. Most days I collapsed into bed either completely exhausted or feeling like a failure... or sometimes both. I lived for the minutes between their bedtime and mine, and wondered how I was going to make it through the next day. We have a...

Thoughts from My Desk

Spring break week for the work-from-home mom looks something like this...


While the kids take over the house, I am earbuds-in, door closed, and working away in my bedroom home office. One thing I never anticipated when I started freelancing six years ago was the freedom that it would give me to continue to use another section of my brain if we ever had kids. In fact, at the time of taking that leap from traditional employment to self-employed, the Hubs and I were happily kid-free by choice (an...

What's On My Nightstand ("Are 'Classics' Really Must Reads" Edition)

The last few weeks, I've been reading The Secret Garden out loud to our 7th grader for her Language Arts class. I remember starting this book as a kid, and a copy of it has remained on my shelf for all these years because, "it's a classic!" But as I read it through this time with my daughter, I remembered why I lost interest in it early on as a child. The language was over my head, the written Yorkshire accent lost me, and the story just really wasn't that interesting. I was looking for somet...

What's On My Nightstand (False Spring Edition)

Last week it was almost 80-degrees in the mountains of East Tennessee. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed having a posy of daffodils on my desk (freshly cut from our very own yard), and my windows open, and the glorious sunshine... but it's only February, and I have lived here long enough to know that it can't last, so it's all a bit of a tease. That being said, I enjoyed spending some time outside in the sunshine, book in hand, and soaking it all in before the cold returned.


Although I still have...

It's Not About Who YOU Are, But WHO You Know

My cousin (first, twice removed) died this morning. He lived a long and productive life, honoring God in all that he did, always taking the opportunity to share his faith and follow the calling God placed on him when he was a young man. A hard worker, a faithful husband, a loving father, a loyal family member. No matter how busy he was nor how important he became, he never forgot those who supported and encouraged him in the early days.

My cousin was Billy Graham.

My great grandfather and Billy...

Be Anxious for Nothing (A Clarification)

Okay, so look... I wrote a blog post (the first of several - still to come) last week about my experience with anxiety and panic attacks. There's a key word there - did you catch it? MY. This is important, so keep reading.

I was going to write part two today, but I feel that before I move any farther into the story, I need to get this out there - clearly.

I am not attempting to speak for anyone else, nor am I saying that my way of dealing with it (which was the way that GOD directed ME) is the...

What's On My (Kid's) Nightstand

When we first met our kids, we discovered the sad truth that they had never been read to. When I asked a caregiver about this, his comment was that it was basically impossible to keep their attention for any longer than 5 minutes or so, and that when he had tried to read to them (not just our kids, but all the children who lived in that home), it was a disaster. Solution: plop them in front of the TV.

Now, here's the deal...while we do not have cable TV in our house (and our one television is...

Be Anxious For Nothing (Part 1)

Confident. Independent. Happy. Secure. For the first 32 years of my life, I was all of those things. Then in the middle of the year of 2014 - and half-way through our 4 year adoption process - God began to break me. 

Instead of feeling confident, I was in a constant state of anxiety. Instead of being independent, I felt like I was falling apart. Instead of being happy, I was continually on the verge of tears for no known reason. Instead of feeling secure, I was overwhelmed by fear. When I...

What's On My (Daughter's) Nightstand

Over the last few months, I've found myself reading (and re-reading) a number of books because my oldest daughter needs to read AND comprehend them for her 7th grade language arts class. Since English is her second language (and she only started learning it a little over a year ago), she struggles to grasp a lot of the meanings of words in a book like The Hound of the Baskervilles.

In most cases I read them out loud to her, and then spend the next few minutes trying to simplify and define...

Attempting to Tame the Stuff Monster

Consider these "continuing thoughts" from last week's post on what is worth keeping and why we choose to hold on to things...

There have been several times over the years when I have gone through major purge/clean outs of our home and stuff. Whether you want to call it "simplifying" or "minimalizing" or "spring cleaning" the point is that it's a never ending battle - and it's gotten even worse since we've added five extra individuals with...unique...taste about what is worth keeping and what n...