Of Spring and Learning....

 Each morning I wake up early to the sound of birds outside my window. I hurry to pull on my jeans, grab a random shirt from the drawer in our still darkened bedroom, and find my running shoes. Then I slip out into the awakening day and enjoy all that nature has to offer. Some mornings the 11 year old joins me. He is usually still clinging to sleep and rather disoriented as he puts on his shoes, but once he is outside, he is transformed. His face lights up, his eyes open, and he pulls anyone of several bird calls out of his pocket, puckers up his whistle, and begins communicating with his feathered friends. He never misses a thing, every bird, every new flower, the clouds, it all draws him. He is a delight to walk with. Inside, he sometimes is a stubborn, preadolescent man-child, but out here, he is almost always joyful. Homeschooling works better out here too, so when the weather is nice, we take our books and off we go. The 13 year old is not quite so enthusiastic, but he too enjoys a nice sunny day, as long as it is after 7:00 a.m. 

Learning at its finest.

Red Admiral Butterfly

Oh, I remember Pre Algebra! Even though I've taught it 6 times, it still makes me cringe.

A ski shack roof and Robinson Crusoe! What could be better?

 We serve a marvelous God. And I am always thankful that His plan for our life has been (and is) to educate these children of ours. Often it is lovely, sometimes it has been daunting, but we are  not in this alone. God loves them more than we ever could and He has made each one of our seven children, unique individuals, that respond back to Him in their own unique ways. I love seeing that extended into children-in-law and grandchildren. Life is not easy, often it does not look like the pictures and impressions we make, but there is a steady hand that guides us, and we would not be here without it. "As for me, I trust in You, O Lord, I say, "You are my God", my times are in Your hand." Psalm 31:14,15.

Time Marches......

Early morning sun greeted me all last week. What lovely weather we've had.

But today the clouds were thick and my morning walk included a light rain.

I dug this kitty out of a box that I packed away before Christmas. Whimsical, right?

Sometimes there is not a lot to write about. Sometimes the days drift by in a comfortable sameness...homeschool, family, outdoor work. Sometimes the world is a little off kilter and there are things you just don't write about. You cover them with prayer instead. And the sun shines...last week was a gift. It was like June out. We played outside. We had camp fires. We cut down trees and stacked wood. I bought a new soccer ball for the boys and we got out the badminton set.
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I read a quote once from the song, 'Beautiful Boy' by John Lennon. It read, " Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans."  Its true. Life is fleeting. Time marches on so quickly. I am so glad we have eternity to look forward to. It would be sad if this were all there was. In the meantime, I'm watching my children fly out of the nest, one by one, clinging to the memories I am making with these last two boys, and sharing the joy of the growth process of our grandchildren who like my own children, won't pause the growing up long enough for me to stop and memorize them as they are.


Happy Spring, everyone!

Whether The Weather......

Not spring yet!...

So lets do something with the first large snow fall this winter!

The fort building kept the boys busy for two days until it rained!

I brought out my spring 'green' glass and set up the mantle.

God sends us seasons. He talks about them in the Bible. He is an orderly God who does all things well. Much as we long for warmer weather and spring flowers, we take things as they come. And He will send each season in its time.

In the meantime, we homeschool, go for long walks, and enjoy each day. Even the hard ones. God is a shelter. This is driven home to me so much lately. Like the storms of winter and the spring rain, like the summer heat and the cooler wet fall, we must also experience seasons in our lives. There is the bright, blinding sunshine of life that goes well, the crisp beauty of accomplishments and rewarded faith, the soft subtleties of God's wonderful love experienced in daily living; there are too the hard times, the desire to protect others from pain, deep sorrow for loved ones; hard personal battles; seasons of life.

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, will abide in the shadow of the Almighty." Psalm 91:1

This One Thing...

Morning sun across my knees,
I am sitting in my nighty,
On the couch...
With my Bible and a cup of tea.
And this one thing,
This infusing of the Word into my troubled heart,
Sets the pace for life.

Smooth...

There is this green glob in my blender these days...

The main ingredients are 2 of these bananas...

2 cups of this stuff...

And a 1/2 cup of this yogurt.

All mixed together, they make a pretty ok breakfast. The blender wakes everybody up, the looks of this in a cup drives people from the kitchen, and drinking it leaves me longing for toast and peanut butter, but those Christmas cookies are still hanging around and I want to get rid of them. No big steps, just some healthy changes. I did this last year too and it paid off. Plus I'm getting the old runners on in the early a.m. again too. I love walking out just before the sun comes up. Last year I watched spring arrive day by day and I will again this year. Not from the comfort of my couch with a cup of tea, but on the roads and pathways of our neighborhood. Lovely. 

Yesterday I Saw The Sun!

Sun through the trees

 

 

 

 

At the beginning of our walk.

Patrick loves the sun but found the wind a little cool.

And this beauty. Lichen under a microscope.

We went for a walk yesterday. It was too pretty to stay inside. The sun was out, although only in brief snatches of light here and there. I am tired of the gray. I want more sun, more blue sky, and some green, please! Everything to its own season, however. 

In homeschool, we are charting the weather on a lovely new *bird* calendar we purchased. Everyday we write down the cloud formations, temperature, bird sightings, and any other trivia we can come up with. Great fun, and a reason to look outside every morning, first thing. We are thankful for each day God gives us.

Sunshine, In and Out

O Worship The King

O worship the King
All glorious above;
O gratefully sing
His power and his love:
Our Shield and Defender,
The Ancient of days,
Pavilioned in splendour,
And girded with praise.

O tell of his might,
O sing of his grace,
Whose robe is the light,
Whose canopy space.
His chariots of wrath
The deep thunder-clouds form,
And dark is his path
On the wings of the storm.

This earth, with its store
Of wonders untold,
Almighty, thy power
Hath founded of old:
Hath stablished it fast
By a changeless decree,
And round it hath cast,
Like a mantle, the sea.

Thy bountiful care
What tongue can recite?
It breathes in the air,
It shines in the light;
It streams from the hills,
It descends to the plain,
And sweetly distils
In the dew and the rain.

Frail children of dust,
And feeble as frail,
In thee do we trust,
Nor find thee to fail;
Thy mercies how tender!
How firm to the end!
Our Maker, Defender,
Redeemer, and Friend.

O measureless Might,
Ineffable Love,
While angels delight
To hymn thee above,
Thy humbler creation,
Though feeble their lays,
With true adoration
Shall sing to thy praise.

I love this old hymn. It makes me happy when I sing it. It brings joy to my heart. We are committing it to memory in our homeschool so I use every excuse to bellow out the different verses. It echoes through the car, it slips from its position in the kitchen window and falls in the dishwater, it covers the fridge and runs across the whiteboard like water down hill. I love it, did I mention that?

My mother loved the old hymns. She sang them so often that we all learned them when we were still too young to read. And we were blessed to catch a glimpse of the  raw beauty of her relationship with her God, open, consuming.  

This hymn and many like it, are sunshine on the cloudiest of days, a dose of medicine for a winter worn heart.

Spring will come. The plants know...

So does my son's tree frog.

He basks in the lovely warmth of the sun whenever he gets a chance.

I can wait for spring. It will come soon enough. I am perusing seed catalogs, washing curtains, listening to crows stirring up the quiet of morning walks. And the sun...that glorious sun. It warms my outside as I stand by the patio door, while good hymns, quiet times with the Lord, and the encouragement of good friends warms my inside. And face it...Spring is a lot closer than it was in December!