About
Hi, I’m TulipGirl! I’ve been blogging at tulipgirl.com for over four years. My very own url was a Christmas gift from Hubby. *mush, mush*
Hubby and I met right after highschool, thanks his loving and meddlesome aunt. We had a four year long-distance courtship, and have now been married 13 years. We have four fabulous boys. They are ages 11, 10, 9, and 7. They are so different from one another, and yet ALL BOY and very energetic.
For 3 1/2 years we lived Kyiv, Ukraine, working with a church-planting team, in support of a Ukrainian pastor and Reformed denomination. After seventy years of communistic atheism, it is truly amazing to see God bring about the return to faith of so many people. We’ve been back in the States for about three years and finally feel a bit settled. For now.
Hubby is doing graduate work in U.S. history and transnational migration. Who-knows-where we’ll end up next, though we do hope to eventually return overseas and be supportive of local church plants in a more “tentmaker” sort of situation. I ‘ve recently begun again in university, and am looking forward to more learning and research opportunities.
I was homeschooled in high school and until recently, homeschooled our children. In Ukraine, our youngest went to a Russian language dyetski sad, kindergarten. Hubby has been the boys primary homeschool teacher for the past two years. And let me tell you–he is fabulous!
I’ve been involved with online communities since my oldest was 6 weeks old and I found a guestbook style comment forum for a stay-at-home-moms website. That website is now gone, but the community of mothers is still together–some of them for 12 years! With the many moves we’ve made over the years, I’m thankful that the Lord has given me relationships online which don’t alter much when we have a location change. Right now I’m part of the ad/mod team at Mothering By Grace, a community that has blessed me tremendously and challenged me in my walk with the Lord as well as my relationship with my family.
I believe that Reformed theology reflects what the Lord reveals to us in the Bible. My personal growth in the Lord and my study of Reformed theology has been very key in me becoming more grace-conscious in my parenting. I’ve found that God has done so much through this growing and changing, both in my relationship with Him and also my relationships in my family. I rejoice at the grace He shows me, and how He has helped me see that I need Him and His grace day by day, moment by moment. God has brought healing in my relationships with my children and in my heart.
When I’m not active with my boys, I enjoy blogging, watching tv-on-dvd with Hubby, puttering around in the kitchen, going on trips with the family, studying theology and psychology, advocacy work and reading.