Heroes…

 

…theirs and mine.

The Dads took the kids on an overnight campout.  There were toads and frogs and hotdogs and marshmallows and tents and rain and mud and flashlights and fishing and…oh my, such fun!

Heart Check

Life is full of lists.  Responsibilities.  Laundry.  Menu plans.  Errands.  Lesson plans.  

Sometimes the lists can get heavy.  Sometimes other things in my life start turning into lists and they feel heavy too.

Amid slow and still days in the Colorado mountains, He reminded me that He doesn’t want to be on a list. He’s not supposed to feel heavy.  Another obligation.  Another weight.  

You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering.  The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.  You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God. 

But Samuel replied:  “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD ?  To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

 Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment.

He just wants my heart.

 

photos:  1: Mountain beauty and 2: I’ve decided to change the wording on the index card that I recently placed beside my bathroom sink.

First Day

 

 

      Pine Hill Elementary Picnic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Teacher’s Pets        

      

 

 

 

 

 

 

The kids were hoping for beginning of the school year festivities.  I’d rather just jump in and skip over the pressure of starting off “fun” and “right”.  I think part of what I feel is that there just isn’t a way to mimic the the typical first day of school when you homeschool.  Backpacks aren’t really needed.  Nobody has to tie the laces of their new shoes.  No one is looking to see what cool folders you have. No new teacher, no new seating arrangement, and no new desk.

Ahhh… the first day of school.  The “whole world” talks about it with enthusiasm – at the grocery store, on T.V., at grandpa’s house.  So what is a home school mom to do?  How could I ever compete with such excitement?  I couldn’t.  So how about just avoid it?  

“We’re easing into school this year,” I heard myself telling people, “just adding a few subjects at a time…” 

“Have you started school yet?” others would ask the kids.  They’d look at me questioningly, “Ummm…Mom says we’re ‘easing’ into it…?”

Well, now it’s official.  We’ve started.  Today was the first day of school!  Thanks to a friend’s inspiration we kicked off the school year last night with a “Back to School Backyard Picnic”  

Many thanks to my husband for planning the festivities – taking all the pressure off me to do it “fun” and “right”.  Food and entertainment included grilled hamburgers, corn on the cob, jello, a “ring around the principal” hula hoop toss and “recess rumble” on the trampoline.

The first day went great.  Copywork, Spelling, Grammar, Math, Science for Maggie, Writing for Simon, History – all checked off the list.  

Now, if I could just hire someone to clean and cook dinner…

Selah

This entire post is an excerpt from a devotional written by Amy Carmichael…

Pause is the word the Greek translation of the Bible uses for selah.  I like to meditate upon the way it occurs for the first time in the Psalms:

Many there be which say of my soul, ‘There is no help for him in God,’

Selah.

But Thou, O Lord, art my helper, my Glory and the lifter of my head!  (Psalm 3:2)

We have all been subjected to the wearying voices which flood the very atmosphere around us, complaining, “There is no help…”  These voices murmur and mutter the same words, no matter what the challenge or difficulty may be.  ”There is no help…”

But because you and I are in God, we need not listen:

“There is no help…,” they repeat.

Pause.

“But you, O Lord, are my helper!”

No matter to us what the voices say.  Their words bring only weariness – but with His Word comes peace and strength and courage to go on.

This is true, not only with the difficult outward circumstances of our lives, but with inward temptations too.  We are tempted.  And at once we recall past failures in this same area.  This causes us to feel weak and start to fall.  The voices within are saying, “There is no help…”

Even these inner struggles may be turned to peace.  How?  Instead of trying to answer the many voices of the enemy, or arguing with them (we can never win this type of argument), we must do something else.  

We pause.

We look away from self, away from the enemy.  We look up!

“There is no help…”

“But You, O Lord…!”

Some believe that selah signifies also a sudden pealing-forth of musical instruments.  The pause, then, was for praise.  

Then let us fill all our pauses with praise!  Let us give all that lies within us, not to the voices of the enemy, but to pure praise, to pure loving adoration, and to worship from a grateful heart – a heart that is trained to look up!

 

photo:  Rocky Mountain stream – admired during this past weekend’s much treasured “Selah”

Going

…to one of my favorite places in the world. I’m a Nebraska girl, but I’ve seen a few mountains.  Lush green in Costa Rica.  Exotic plants growing along narrow paths in Papua New Guinea.  Majestic heights in the Andes Mountains of Peru.  Beautiful.  But the Rocky Mountains…They are the first mountains I ever saw as a young girl.  To me, they are the “real” mountains.

…on a 4 day getaway with my love.  Long walks, long talks. (Thank you, dear friend)

…to the place I first understood my need for a Savior and called Him my own – where He drew my heart home.

 

photo:  Bear Lake – Rocky Mountain National Park…here I come…

Homeschool Lessons

 

Random things I learned today…

• Sand and a pond-size lake are just about as great as the ocean (and only 15 minutes from my house)
• Kids are good at making new friends – follow their example
• When you’re at the “beach” let the boy play – he can eat lunch later
• Toads don’t drink water – they take it in through their skin (maybe I learned that before but I had forgotten)
• Justin is afraid of toads.  ”What are you afraid the toad is going to do, honey?”  ”He…he…he might JUMP at me.” he said with big tears forming in his eyes.  And I was all set to explain how toads don’t have teeth and won’t bite.  But he had me with the jumping.  Yes, they do jump.  
• Old friends are good for reminding you of old truths
• Two hours in a room with 40 other homeschool moms makes a homeschool mom feel a little more normal – or at least normalizes her experiences

My heart needed a day like today.  He knew.  And He gave.  Grace.

Confessions of a Homeschool Mom

There’s a lot to do in a day.  I’m not sure how I am going to get it all done.  And keep smiling.  And keep giving grace.  

But a morning walk with praise music played at top volume can accomplish much. With truth flooding my ears, I think a little may have overflowed to my mind and heart.  And when my walk came to an end and I saw the neighbor kids with their backpacks climbing in the car with dad – their mom waving from the front porch, I almost didn’t mind.  I almost didn’t think about how she was going back into a quiet house – for the entire day.  Almost is a good start.

Inside, I was greeted with cheers and morning hugs.  They are ready for another day.  Still smiling, still giving grace to their Mama.  And they didn’t even think twice about the neighbor kids.

These days, smooth but long, are what He’s ask of me.  He is good.  What He does is good.  He is able.

Success

Day 7.  New Elmo underwear.  No accidents since Day 3.  Hooray!

Late Night Drama, Early Morning Truth

 

I am not sure if you’ve been there.  The hour is late and you can’t find the perfect language arts program for your third grader and you’ve wasted the last three hours looking and you still have to make a plan for your other student and you can’t figure out why it really matters what grammar program you use but for some reason it really does.  Well, in the midst of all that, there are tears, and frustration, and a strong feeling of foolishness for having been “terrorized” by something as insignificant as a language arts choice.  

Then morning comes.  And you can still feel the sting in your eyes from last night’s tears. The drama of it all has diminished in the night but the feeling of foolishness over such preoccupation remains.  And then…He speaks.  And you remember, I remember, that I am just a child, His child.  He stands near through every tantrum with open arms.  He will never walk away in disgust or disbelief.  He knows that I am dust and that I am His.

The Word:

“I, even I, am he who comforts you.  Who are you that you fear mortal men, the sons of men, who are but grass, that you forget the Lord your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, that you live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor who is bent on destruction?  For where is the wrath of the oppressor?  The cowering prisoners will soon be set free; they will not die in their dungeon, nor will they lack bread.  For I am the Lord your God, who churns up the sea so that its waves roar – the Lord Almighty is his name.  I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand.  I who set the heavens in place, who laid the foundations of the earth, and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’” Isaiah 51:12-16

His Word to me:

“Receive my comfort, child.  Have you forgotten that you are mine?  Fear of circumstances, weariness, fear of yourself - all these grip you and weigh you down.  You are forgetting the Lord your Maker.  Yes, you have an oppressor, and yes, he is bent on destruction and discouragement but I am He who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth.  I do not intend to leave you cowering in a dungeon of discouragment.  I will set you free.  For I am the Lord YOUR God.  I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand.  I who set the heavens in place, who laid the foundations of the earth.  I am the One who says to you, ‘You are mine.’”

O Lord, You have searched me and known me   My heart, my mind, my ways are all laid bare before You.  You know my foolishness, my pride, my flesh, my sin.  And still You stand waiting?

 

And kudos to the man who witnessed the late night drama and did not walk away or laugh or make any smart comments comparing this meltdown to one we’d seen recently from one of the children.  What a man.

Catching up…

Summer coming to an end.  The school year fast approaching.  Giving thanks for an end of the summer gift – family camp with my love and my three.  See more photos by clicking on Flikr on the sidebar.