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Homeschool

Dec 2, 2022

Our Favorite Christmas Books: Classic and New

10 Comments

May 13, 2020

The NEW Homeschool Planner Pre-Order is Here!

Jul 4, 2019

The NEW Cultivated Homeschool Planner

8 Comments

Dec 14, 2018

20 Things I Invested in This Year That Paid Off

8 Comments

Oct 1, 2018

Introducing The Cultivated Homeschool Planner

40 Comments

Jul 25, 2017

How to Embrace Change + Join Me and Korie Robertson

24 Comments

Hi! I’m Lara!

I’m a grateful wife, mom to three (one through the gift of adoption), Charlotte Mason homeschooler, and an unlikely gardener. I’m the creator of PowerSheets Intentional Goal Planner, former CEO of Cultivate What Matters, and best-selling author of Make It Happen, Cultivate, and Gracie’s Garden. I love living in Chapel Hill, NC. You can learn more about me here!

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New Year, good-morning! Come and bring Us days tha New Year, good-morning! Come and bring
Us days that smile and days that sing
Out from the drifts of swirling snow
That through the mirky midnight blow
And clutch with frosty hands and cling.
Hark! how the joy-bells chime and ring
Thy birth, and new hope set a-wing.
With hands outstretched you come; and so
New Year, good-morning!
– Alexander Maclean 

January goals and my December recap are on the blog - LaraCasey.com/blog. Happy New Year, friends!
I can’t count the number of times friends have a I can’t count the number of times friends have asked me “what I’m doing next” or what project or business I have in mind. “What’s your next move?” they ask. Read my next move in my 12th annual Goal Setting Series on the blog! All three parts are live: Looking Back, Looking Forward, and my 6 Goals for 2023. I’m also sharing my word of the year, my vision board and lots of gratitude for this 43rd year of life. 🎉 Thank you for your love and kindness this year and always, friends. Read now at LaraCasey.com/blog or the link in my profile.
It’s a whole new holiday world with just the thr It’s a whole new holiday world with just the three of us. Read my December goals, how I’m preparing for the new year with my PowerSheets, and the thing I’m missing deeply this month at LaraCasey.com/blog. I’m also sharing the books I read and some homeschool favorites. It has been a gift to write on my blog lately and connect with you there more. I am very thankful. Read at the link in my profile - LaraCasey.com/blog.
It can feel like time is fleeting at moments and m It can feel like time is fleeting at moments and moving too fast for us to catch up. Ari and I were talking last night about the various reflection points we’ve experienced in life. Some we plan with intention, others simply happen, and all shift our steps - even in small ways. Many times, though, those smaller shifts make the biggest changes in our direction. If a ship’s captain changes course by even a small fraction, the destination is different. The change of the seasons, meaningful holidays, milestones, anniversaries - of good things and hard things - and traditions help us pause, remember what matters, and consider our course. Grieving my dad has been one of these experiences lately, helping me see what matters and live more wholeheartedly right now. Quite simply: reflection reaps rewards. It’s so easy to forget the good and forget the big picture, but the pauses I’ve had in my PowerSheets over these many years, seasons, and months have helped me remember. I love the intentional process of remembering and taking small steps. It has never happened perfectly, but it has added up - just as my garden is full of weeds, yet it’s still a garden. I am eagerly looking forward to pausing again in a new set of PowerSheets (I chose Garden Arches!) to reflect, let go, and dream anew. May you all have peace and joy in your own reflection points. Consider the wildflowers. The small things really are the big things. Wildflowers from Grace and a favorite memory from the @cultivatewhatmatters shoot earlier this summer - what you can’t see is my sweet kiddos tossing flower petal confetti in the wings. They loved every minute!
Dear Friends, it is my joy to share that Cultivate Dear Friends, it is my joy to share that Cultivate What Matters was acquired by Daily Grace Enterprises in June. I am grateful for this new season for Cultivate and a new chapter alongside my family.

This was not an easy decision and is the culmination of years of discernment and prayer. I’ve known for many years that God wanted me with my family more, and I’ve done my best to balance that alongside leading a growing company. I love making beautiful and meaningful things. I love helping people cultivate what matters, and God has asked me to do that here with my family by hanging up my entrepreneurial hat—especially now. I’m grateful that this transition has already allowed me to honor my mother and father for the last few months and to be fully present by my dad’s side as he took his last breath. No expression of gratitude feels big enough to say thank you for the gift of time I’ve had with them and our children.

If you know my joy in the work God gave me to do with Cultivate, you know, alongside my gratitude for this new season, how difficult it has been to take this step of faith. It has taken years of prayer and counsel, pruning, learning, praying on my knees, and waiting on the Lord. Psalm 90:12, about numbering our days, has come to mind often as I’ve sought His wisdom. Saying yes to God’s plans often means letting go of our plans, and two words that mean more to me now than they ever did: having faith.

Read the whole story now on LaraCasey.com/blog or the link in my profile. Thank you, friends, for your love. This has been the journey of a lifetime!

Photo by my wonderful friend @ginazeidler.
On behalf of my mom, Celia, and our family, we wan On behalf of my mom, Celia, and our family, we wanted to let you know that my Dad was welcomed home yesterday. He made the journey to home hospice 11 days ago - 10 more days than we thought we’d have with him. He held on till right after his 87th birthday, where he was surrounded by family and friends and joy — just what he wanted. I've had treasured time with him the last months, singing with him in the hospital (all his favorite jazz and classic musicals, of course) and talking about seeing the Lord soon. God is faithful. Dad came to faith just a decade ago, at the age of 77. If you knew him, you know he was your biggest cheerleader. He believed in you and your dreams. Dad gave us vision to see what matters most and how to love people well.

It was a beautiful day in Gulf Breeze—a "perfect 10," as dad would say. His breathing changed, and we knew his time was nearing. We spent a long time with him together, telling him how much we love him. Mom poured out love and devotion. Stephen cared for him just as he would have wanted. Dad settled for a bit, and I stayed so they could rest for a moment. I sang two of dad's favorites - "This Little Light of Mine" by Sam Cooke and "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley - and God decided it would be me there for his last breath. I assured him that his faith was about to become sight. I’ve never walked someone home before, and to be there for my dad leaves me without words. I called Stephen in the other room. He came in just as dad went home. 

And now life is different. When the gentlemen from the funeral home came, the hospice nurse held me and said, "This will be hard. One day, you'll be able to come into this room without your heart aching, but not for a long while. It won't go away. It will change, but it will always be there." Those words were what I needed to hear. The degree of our sadness and grief is directly proportional to the amount of love we shared. We will always have that. 

Dad finished every phone call and visit with me for the last decade with these words I now cherish: "Bye, bye, blues!" No more sadness or tears or pain—the blues are gone away, indeed, Dad. We love you and miss you terribly.
16 years of marriage today, by God’s grace and g 16 years of marriage today, by God’s grace and goodness! A year into our marriage, right after Ari returned from deployment to Iraq, we listened to Gary Chapman‘s 5 Love Languages in the car while driving from his base in Yuma, Arizona, back to California. We kept giggling at how the author said “recreational vehicle“ and it became a thing in our marriage. We’ve even had a recreational vehicle ornament for a decade as a reminder of that post-deployment drive—so grateful to be safely together again. This year, God made it clear to us that life is short and we only get so many years with our children. A real RV brings us full circle. We couldn’t be more grateful for these 16 years. P.S. All the RV tips are welcome. We are learning a whole new language together. Sure did try to drive away with the wheel chocks still in place last weekend. We are laughing at ourselves a LOT!
What if these are the wrong goals? What if I don’t have enough energy for them after this year? What if I fail? <- my thoughts

I paused. And I remembered these truths (maybe you need them right now, too?): 

A lot of things changed in our lives the last two years. One thing remained constant: what matters.

Striving for perfection halts real progress on the things that matter.

It’s okay to grow slow—in fact, it’s really good.

We can’t do it all and do it all well, but we can choose to cultivate what matters.

Small steps add up and good things grow little by little. Your intentional steps will add up faster than you think.

2020 was challenging. 2021 was challenging. 2022 may have its own challenges, too. But, would I rather wander aimlessly and waste time second-guessing my direction? NO. Would I be grateful I spent time on these goals at the end of 2022? YES! Would I be sad I didn’t spend more time getting the words just right? No way!

Read my 2022 Goals and my Word of the Year at LaraCasey.com/blog or click the link in my profile. And, if you’ve been waiting for a nudge, this is it. Get your PowerSheets for 25% off today. Get organized and focused on the things that matter most at @cultivatewhatmatters. I’m excited to grow good things with you!
@laracasey

There is no fear in love...

1 John 4:18
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