Rejoicing

Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.
Philippians 4:4

This command from Paul in Scripture has been on my heart and mind this last week. It is a hard thing to do this rejoicing thing.
But, I think I may have turned a spiritual corner so to speak.
The key here is "in the Lord." 

I suppose that is pretty basic and obvious, but it has not been something I have ever really put into practice on an ongoing basis.

This last week, no matter what situation I find myself in, I am disciplining myself to turn my mind to "in the Lord," rather than the situation. 

Although there have been some instances when I have forgotten, I am at least remembering within a few moments of my frustrations. 

The result - 

• much more contentment
• a much more realistic perspective of life. 
• calmer emotions
• a better attitude toward God.

 

Thanksgiving

Looking for the small things in the day is one of the best ways I know for me to enhance an attitude of thankfulness. There are so many more small blessings in one day than there are enourmous miracles in a life time.

Anna-Lee found this chipmunk on our front
 porch chowing down on one of our home
 grown cherry tomatoes! I never knew a 
chipmunk ate tomatoes! I am always grateful
 for nature and new experiences!

 Sometimes gratefulness comes from a memory.
Like today when I was overcome by thankfulness that God chose me. He is the One who created in me a yearning for Him when I didn't even know Him. He is the One who entered my dreams as a young girl. He is the One who organized people and events in my life to introduce Himself to me. He chose me! 

I could go on and on about the small things in our day today that culminate into a realization that God is truly engaged in my life.

• Anna-Lee wanting to help Monica create a nice hair style
• a beautiful Sunday School class with students who participated and had fun
• a gorgeous sunny day
• a beautiful family walk through the woods - even a path groomed enough for the wheelchair
• laughter during our family game tonight
• Anna-Lee successfully and quickly working out fractions in her mind while converting recipes -  a very great blessing indeed for a homeschooling Mom.
• timing working out to see and invite someone to our Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow
• an idea that popped into my mind tonight
• just discovering that a book I was interested in reading was a free download and accessible now!

I know as I seek and ask God to open my eyes and ears and heart to His presence and interaction with me, I will see even more of these small instances where He has been involved in my life.
Nothing can come close to giving me joy and thankfulness that that!

What Happened To August?

My last post was July and now it's the second day of school! What happened to August?

Well...
We got new neighbours!
Over the last few months we watched as across the street a new house got built. Anna-Lee prayed there would be a ten year old girl to play with and Monica prayed there would be a dog for Cyrus to play with. 

Lo and behold there was a ten year old girl and a nice black lab/chow mix that loves to play with Cyrus.
Ever since, Anna-Lee and the three children (10, 7 and 4) have been fast friends, along with the two dogs.

And our home has not been the same since (in a good way). 

I love to watch/listen to children at creative  play.
One of their favorite games is BUS. They use one of Monica's old manual chairs as a bus. One child rides it, two children push it, one child acts as stop signs, animals crossing the road and the occasional meteor shower of flying stuffed animals. 

Occasionally, the bus becomes a train and moves side to side, and it has even morphed into a plane where the two girls pick it up with one four year old in it and fly it around the basement.

Every now and then there is a CRASH, a BANG, a THUMP, and a WAIL, but for the most part the louder the noise the more fun they are having. 

And here they come now!
God is fun.

This Moment

"I love this moment," I told my ten year old tonight.
This moment that I can hold your hand, kneel by your bed and pray for you.

A Dramatic Answer

My ears know it's there but my eyes just can't find it.
That in a nutshell describes my nature walks.
I pick things out with my ears and then usually tell whomever I am with to look in a certain direction for a particular bird or animal.
 If I am fortunate, they in turn will be able to describe to me exactly where to look and I will be able to find it before it takes off.

Tonight however, I opted to stay on the boardwalk while the rest of the family went to Kawartha Dairy for ice cream.

I so wanted to see the beaver but dark water and dark beaver just don't work for me. So I prayed, "Lord, You know how much I want to see Your creation, but I just can't see it. Will you please help me locate the beaver?"

SPLASH!

Right at my feet. That got my attention!

So, I got wet, and my eyes got directed to the beaver. In all the time that we as a famly had watched the beaver, and others had come and gone, he hadn't thumped his tail. Only when I stood silently alone having just finished uttering my prayer, did he choose to give his tail one slap. 

I still had some trouble following him when he started to move, but eventually located it and got so close I saw his nostrils open and close!

 I am so appreciative of God's compassion and unique methods of answering prayer!

A Few of My Favorite Things

This is one of my favorite times of year. 
Yes, I love summer weather.
Yes, I love that we aren't controlled by schedules.
Yes, I love the vacations, the cottage, the travel, the family time...
These are some of my favorite things.

But, one of my very favorite things at this time of year is seeking God's plan for Anna-Lee's schooling for the next year.

Yesterday, I sat by the lake asking God what He'd like Anna-Lee to spend her time doing next year. It is so much fun to have an idea then float into mind. 

Anna-Lee loves reading. One idea that I am now researching is to focus on different types of writing. For the first part of next year we will study writing in the form of plays as well as studying the playwrights. That of course then gets us into to all things drama. Did you know that "intermission" began in theatres when the theatre companies moved indoors and needed time to resnuff, replace and relight the candles! They used that time to start to sell food such as oranges and liquor and economically it was a boon. Intermission has remained. Fascinating!

This whole process of custom designing curriculum, custom designing the days and weeks and months is truly a joy. God surely knows our kids better than anyone, and we parents know our kids the next best. Working together, education becomes a truly beautiful process. 
One of my favorite things!

Clarinet music spilling across the lake. Another of my favorite things!

 

Eye Opening Experiences

I've heard the stories and I've met the familes, but now I have a weeks worth of experience!
What am I referring to?

School!

Anna-Lee is at a Music Day Camp for two weeks playing her clarinet in wind ensemble, band, and orchestra and she even gets to take a percussion class! She is gone from 7:45 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. each day (travel included as the school is way out in the east end). On the whole she is enjoying the experience and learning lots.

I however...

• am experiencing waking my daughter up each morning and her being so tired that on Tuesday she fell back asleep - reminds me of the Zits cartoon.
• am experiencing making her breakfast to go - she eats it in the car on the way as it's just too early for her to sit down and eat before she goes.
• am experiencing making zip lock bag lunches every morning.
• am experiencing getting things done around the house in the day and even having time for some extras.
• am experiencing having to get supper on the table as early as possible so she can go to bed on schedule.
• am experiencing homework - she's working all day and they want her to practice at night. Are you kidding me?! She needs to go swimming and get some exercise. I think homework (and school for that matter)  is the root of obesity in children!
• am experiencing a turn to prayer all day in a new area as she eats in the cafeteria with other girls in her class and is being exposed to the concept of peer pressure with people I have never met.
• Most of all I am experiencing missing the quality and quantity of time I am used to spending with my daughter.

On the other hand this is only for two weeks and she is learning lots. We are making sure we have our story times each day at the dinner hour. Instead of asking "What did you learn today?" which I am told from others is a useless questions, I ask her "What stories do you have to tell us?" and there are always lots. 

Certainly these experiences have given me a new gratitude and appreciation for our precious homeschooling way of life.