Wife, Homeschool Mom. Walking through season of raising children and witnessing a mother's journey with dementia…all about faith and hope and challenge
Every year I am surprised. Another year has passed. I look through the pictures of the last year, and beyond, and think of how much my children change in the passing of days.
Today is the Creative One’s birthday. Nate-the-Great. 12. Unbelievable. Sometimes we are struck that it can’t be ‘just’ 12 because you seem so much older, and other times we are struck by the reality that you are already 12. You are this mix of innocence and maturity, of goofiness and deep thoughts.
Creative. You amaze us with the endless making of worlds on Minecraft…of games and ideas and servers and administration and dialog. You are constantly creating. Beyond Minecraft into the real world with pictures and colors and games and ideas. From your purple hair to laughter, you make the world brighter and funnier and deeper, just by being yourself.
I love the fact that you are willing to try new things, and you want the freedom to try them your way. You want to jump in by yourself. I’ll never forget the first Nashville Children’s Theater camp you attended, when I dropped you off and you just jumped into the game they were playing. You didn’t know anyone, it was all new, and you just went for it. I never could have done that at your age.
You are growing up, though. The goofiness and the innocence is tempered with a maturity that is beginning to show. You think things through and you want to know the why and the what if. You keep Dad and I on our toes as we have to think through our reasons for groundings and rules and life. Keep questioning, it is good for all of us.
I am so thankful for you, Nate-the-Great. I cannot wait to see what the next year holds. To see how your faith deepens and how your creativity grows.I cannot wait to see your confidence grow as you find more and more who you are. You continue to delight us, year after year, and I know this year will be even better. Keep bringing laughter and goofiness and games, along with the questions and the deep thoughts. Keep being you. You are loved.
Each night for the last couple months I have been met by this exclamation from my youngest boy.
The lights are dimmed, he is in his bed and the Littlest Princess (I’m still settling on their nicknames for this blog) is in some degree of resting. Prayers are done and we have read one chapter out loud from our latest book.
We have been taking our time, savoring George MacDonald’s books. About Princesses. Yes, reading my boy books about princesses.
But these are George MacDonald books about princesses.
The Princess and the Goblin.
The Princess and Curdie.
The Lost Princess (or The Wise Woman: A Parable)
Books which greet us with comments like these:
“It was foolish indeed – thus to run farther and farther from all who could help her, as if she had been seeking a fit spot for the goblin creature to eat her in at his leisure; but that is the way fear serves us: it always sides with the thing we are afraid of.”
“There is this difference between the growth of some human beings and that of others: in the one case it is a continuous dying, in the other a continuous resurrection.”
“What honest boy would pride himself on not picking pockets ? A thief who was trying to reform would. To be conceited of doing one’s duty is then a sign of how little one does it, and how little one sees what a contemptible thing it is not to do it. Could any but a low creature be conceited of not being contemptible? Until our duty becomes to us common as breathing, we are poor creatures.”
These are books which carry weight, and I have been happy to read slowly. The other night, though, I thought we might read two or three chapters so we could finish the book that night. The Youngest Boy would have none of that.
I get carried away reading books. Looking up I will find that I have read for two hours when I only meant to take a few minutes to read. This boy, though…he has restraint.
Stop reading.
Savor what we have.
He wanted me to stop so the book would last longer, so we would have more nights to think about Rosamond or Curdie or all the other cast of characters. He asked last night if there were any more after this…I told him there is this little one called At The Back of the North Wind.
There will be plenty of time to be swept away by stories and read for hours….there is something priceless about a 9 year old being aware that we need to savor the moment. He knows there will come a time when we have read all the MacDonald books, and he wants to hold that off as long as possible.
There is wonder, and sometimes we just glance and acknowledge what should make us stop in our tracks. The absolute-out-of-control laughter of children. Sunsets which turn the sky to fire and make our hearts beat faster. The smell of honeysuckle.
The reality of a God who creates all these things, and who cares for all of us. And for me. And for you.
Wonder. On a Monday it may feel far away….but think about the last time you took something in just a piece at a time to make it last. Today, take in just a piece…
How is it possibly already August? I don’t know about you, but it feels like this very important month snuck up on me this year.
We just returned from our annual trek to New Mexico and Colorado
This year we drove straight from Tennessee from New Mexico. 21 hours, and yet we were still smiling! These kids are seriously great road trip kids.
We went to one of my favorite places in the world.
A little place tucked into the South West corner of Durango, where I have been romping since the mid-1970’s. It is amazing to see my kids now romping here, excited to come back each year. The Eldest is getting pretty great at taking pictures of the clouds. Which were amazing.
I snapped a few as well.
This year Little Miss was pretty intent on riding a horse. Thankfully her Aunt has some great horses, including Tess. The brothers quickly wanted a ride as well. Well, most of the brothers.
Lots of laughter, lots of hanging out and relaxing. We went later this year than normal, and it was good.
Now, it is suddenly August. Like on a Monday morning, slap-you-in-the-face-with-reality, August. Around here public schools are trickling back into session. We are trickling back in as well. A bit like dipping your toe in the pool to check the water. We are getting some work done this week, but our routine is not established yet.
Normally I take a day or two at a hotel and plan out the year. Not sure that will happen this year, since, um, school has begun. I feel a little like I am scrambling, although much is already in place. We have the benefit of some great tutorials, and The Eldest is taking most of his classes through a fantastic place. The middle boy…who I think I’ll refer to as Mr. Creative from here on…is joining that tutorial this year and will catch Math and Science, an English class and Drama.
I still have the Youngest Boy and Little Miss. They are taking a couple classes at another tutorial, but for the most part are being taught by me. Bible, History, Reading, English…yep.
So. My many homeschool friends, what did you learn last year that is helping you tweak this year? What did you learn that was grand, and what did you learn to set aside or change completely?
I think the thing I am setting aside is feeling the need to tackle every subject every day. I think it wears the kids out a bit, and it means shorter time spent on each subject, but spread out. This year we are going to try a longer chunk of time, but just a couple times a week, for Bible and History.
The thing that went well last year…morning reading time and color / relax time. We started the day with me reading something. We worked through the Harry Potter series and are now working through Andrew Peterson’s fantastic series, The Wingfeather Saga.
Now as I figure out final details of our homeschool year, I thought I would share a few blogs which help inspire and encourage me. Hopefully you’ll find something that sparks your ideas for this coming year:
Homeschool Mom had a good article today about planning your homeschool year, with some good tips.
Add any blogs you enjoy in the comments. The main thing, especially if you are new to homeschool, is to not stress. Be disciplined, think ahead, plan…and enjoy. Some days the dishes will absolutely pile up and the laundry will look like Mount Everest. Some days you will eat cereal for dinner. Some days you will get caught up in a discussion and forget something else.
Some days will be absolutely crazy.
Some days will be perfect.
Just like life…maybe that is one of the biggest lessons of homeschool. Our kids learn that life happens and we have to learn to adjust.
And…just to add some encouragement…you might end up with kids like these:
I have been listening to the debate raging on my FaceBook feed, on Twitter and in the news. The debate about the Planned Parenthood video. It seems issues of deep importance, with political ramifications, keep demanding my attention. As I said the other day, I am not a fan of entering political or theological debates on FaceBook or Twitter. I simply do better hearing the voice and having the chance to draw out my thoughts in dialog.
Still. I was left feeling chilled and deeply saddened by the video. Many of us were impacted as deeply by the callousness of the conversation as we were by the topic. I’m not sure I could have eaten in the discussion.
There are certain truths that define us. For myself, the reality of God as Creator places such a deep value on each person. I confess I do not always carry that value in the forefront of my thoughts…and that is to my shame. As a mother of four, though, the amazing wonder of infancy and of simply the reality of how we are made is staggering.
We truly are fearfully and wonderfully created.
Fearfully.
Awesomely.
It should take our breath away when we realize we are carrying a life within us. Staggering. There should be a healthy fear, a Godly fear, of the gift we have in carrying life within ourselves. Carrying that Image Bearer. It is not something to be taken casually….it is staggering.
For some that reality is overwhelming to the point they feel the need to end that life.
I cannot go there. We have to do better in helping those who are overwhelmed by a pregnancy….but we so deeply need to be formed by the reality of the God of Creation marking each soul as an image bearer of Himself.
Image Bearer.
Deeply valued.
Still…my voice seems so small, and sometimes I feel I don’t have a ‘right’ to talk because I have no experience with abortion. I do, however, have a dear friend who is intimately formed by the abortion practice.
Gianna Jessen has spoken for most of her life about her experience.
“Born during saline abortion” is stamped on her birth certificate.
Intended not to live, she survived. And she values life in a way that shouts not only of that auspicious entrance, but also of the deep mark of a Creator who knew her, cared for her and has loved her since she was formed. Listen:
Who better to be engaged in this dialog than one who survived abortion?
I asked her permission to cull some of her thoughts from her FaceBook page to share with you here:
“enough with the cocktail party Jesus we create with our enlightenment. the one that makes the neighbors happy.
he’s not even real. we created him in the image of tmz.
all these things we face, will bring us face to face with what, and who we do or do not want. do we really want the Jesus that can raise us from the dead? the only One that can heal our land?
i am sitting here singing. in the darkness. all i want to do is sing to my passionate, beautiful God.”
“i know it’s not uber cool to mention Jesus anymore. but we have the blood of over fifty million unborn children on our hands as a nation. how can we bear the weight of that burden without Him?
how can i be embarrassed to proclaim the God Who spared me from that?
If you are in a position to share Gianna’s story, what better time? She has a perspective few of us have. A perspective that is vital in this dialog.
It is not simply that abortion is bad. It is this…you are created by a loving God. The little one within you is created, not forgotten or ignored. Not simply a lump of tissue…a little soul and light and life with a purpose.
Did you hear? You….sitting right there….you are known and loved and marked by the image of a Creator God. He knows you, loves you and has so much grace for you. And, Oh my soul, we need to be moved by these videos and by this reality.
you are Loved by God and not forgotten. nothing about you is forgotten.
victory!
(For booking info see giannajessen.com. Text message updates (no spam) text: gianna to 95577)
The Small Rain 