Pieces of Life

I feel like every time I post I say it.... Life is full!  We are busy, but as much as life seems to be moving fast.... It, also, seems to be moving slowly.  Some days are amazing, and some days are crazy, but, all in all, I wouldn't change a thing about these days. 

Watching Joshua play travel basketball, watching him learn and grow and get better at the game he loves has been such a joy to me. Watching the boys learn and grow in reading and writing and math makes my heart smile.  But, watching them grow in the wisdom of God is by far the greatest blessing of my life right now.  I love teaching them His word.  I want so much for them to understand and learn so many wonderful truths about the God we love while they are home with me.  I love it when we are reading His sweet words, and the boys hear something Erik and I pray over them or something we challenge them with repeatedly.  They look up at me like, "Mom, that is in here?"  And, I just smile and shake my head like, "Did you think we just made it up?  This is the truth of God and not the invention of any man!"  There is no wisdom apart from His wisdom. 

Occasionally Laura reads my blog, so I don't know if she will stumble across this post or not??  But, Laura teaches my two oldest sons Bible.  And, I love Laura for many reasons, but the fact that she instructs them in His word every Friday is such blessing to me. I am thankful for her and her knowledge of God's word.  Anyway, Laura sent out an email earlier this week challenging the parents of her students to make Bible the center of their homeschool.  She wanted to challenge us as parents to not "weary in well-doing." I'm so thankful for the accountability!

God is a powerful force.  He is like the wind ~ blowing, moving, whispering...  He doesn't make His will a mystery, but we must abide in Him in order to hear His still small voice.  And, He is the master weaver ~ weaving lessons in so many different ways.  Speaking slowly, sweetly, a gentle flow, and we must catch Him and hold on for dear life. He is Life and Breath and All we need. His word is precious and holy and wise, and there is not a thing in life more important than planting these words into the fertile soil of our children.

Lately, like a gentle flow, God has been speaking to my heart very tenderly saying, "Character."  I have very clearly felt Him leading Erik and I to focus on character training.  Jen, my sweet Jen, made a statement last week that really hit me.  Out of the blue, she said, "You know, Erin, character trumps A,B,C's every time."  Her point was that our focus shouldn't be so much on academics that we lose sight of our main goal ~ raising children who love Jesus and seek with their whole hearts to be His light in this dark world.  And, Sarah, my sweet Charlotte Mason friend, encouraged me to not just study history with the boys but to look at the character of those we are studying, to really focus on the life lessons and applications not just the facts.  And, then in a sermon by our interim pastor and a post by Sally Clarkson and in a dozen other ways, God kept repeatedly whispering... "Character...."  I heard it everywhere I turned. 

Then, the email from Laura came.  And, I thought about how character takes root in the foundation of God's word, His wisdom.  Wisdom to discern, wisdom to make good decisions, wisdom to see this fallen, broken world for what it is, wisdom to know that we are broken messes ourselves, and wisdom to trust in Jesus and the grace He offers.

Okay, so I didn't plan to write all that!  I really only planned to post a bunch of pictures of our life lately!  So, here they are in no particular order....

Eriky helping me with dinner.  I love these little ones all around me learning and growing...

We made snowflakes one day in January and hung them from the light in our schoolroom...

Our new hobby is watching birds.  We are identifying birds in our yard and making a list.  James is stalking a woodpecker ~ trying desperately to identify him!

I made this fun little craft with my favorite kindergarteners a couple Fridays ago.  Today we made an owl puppet, and it was so cute!!  I'll have to take a picture of Lijah's.

Ya'll, I found this the other day and had to take a picture....

I opened the silverware drawer and there it was!  Pb among the clean utensils.  Love it!  One day I won't find funny things like that!!  JACK!!! :-)

I don't know if she will be girly.  I don't know if she will like princesses.  I don't know if her favorite color will be pink, if she will want to take dance, or if she will like bows and sparkly things.  But, I do know one thing.

She will be tough.  Jack will make sure of that.  This started out as a hug, but it turned into a tackle.  He took baby girl down!

Sweet visits with Pop...

My little bookworm...

Can you tell how much she loves her baby doll?  Hands. down. Favorite. Toy.

Fell asleep playing...  Love her!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The boys first hunting trip....

Elijah made this for me...

And, last but not least, will I ever tire of making lesson plans???  They are such a joy to do!!!  I look forward to them every weekend.  I guess it is the planner in me.  But, the colored pens!!  The blanks to fill in!!!  The boxes to check!!!  OH, happy, happy, happy!!! :-)  I make a page for the two big boys, and I promise you, they get the same intense satisfaction from checking things off as I do!!! Maybe it is genetic???

And, so now I will come full circle.  I do not consider myself to be an amazing teacher.  I am not qualified by the world's standards.  Some days I feel in over my head and completely inadequate.  But, my heart has this steadfast knowledge that this is right.  I don't pride myself in the fact that they are advanced or exquisitely educated because they aren't.  I'm a simple mom who loves her kids and is following the leading of a wild unpredictable force that continues to spur me on day in and day out.  And, one day they may find that they are behind in math or that they don't write a paper as well as so and so....  I can only lean in and trust... trust that He will fill my gaps.  And, while they are here in our home, I will do the only thing that I know to do, the thing that I feel called to do ~ immerse them in Him and His love.