My last article generated more comments than any I've written. Even though I am unable to respond individually I do want to thank you for your encouraging words (and even a poem) which all help to keep me spurred on in my life work.
Work has started on "the brick house" [the older home we are fixing up]. My new haunts have become Home Depot, Lowe's, and plumbing and lighting stores. The house has been stripped of all its broken and worn out parts and taken down to its bare bones. Now it is being rebuilt, replumbed, rewired, reroofed, rewindowed, redrywalled, and the yard regraded. There is great satisfaction in taking dominion over and redeeming this house and turning it into our home full of usefulness and beauty for the Lord. As I see the house make this transformation I am reminded of what the Lord does in our lives as he confronts us with our sins often times tearing off layers of disobedience and then rebuilding, making us useful and beautiful for him.
In the May issue of Victoria magazine there was a section with reflections by women about their mothers and I was struck by the following one: "My mother didn't use a lesson plan, she didn't have a to-do list. She simply lived what she believed and, in doing so, was a wonderful role model."
This quote has given me pause and I have enjoyed reflecting on its possible meaning for me. I love the simplicity and peacefulness it implies. At this time of year my thoughts are turning to our schooling schedule, which will be abnormal this fall, as work is in full swing on the house and this is prime harvesting/canning season. I work on not listening to the tape that plays in my head which says that a GOOD school starts September 1, has wonderful lesson plans all written for the year and great new books all bought and lined up neatly on the shelves. The magazine quote causes me to remember that all of life is education, and what I do and say and how I relate to my children is so much more important than the perfect lesson plan (which does have its place). I need to consider what our life is like right now and how I can use our present circumstances as a very valuable learning environment.
How I respond to my life right now will be better than any book. How I respond to delays in the remodeling schedule or problems that WILL arise that call upon me to revise my plans and dreams will go a long way in teaching my children to trust God and his timing, to learn patience and contentment, to live beautifully and creatively in the here and now rather than in the when…. How Phil and I resolve the differences that just naturally arise when working on a project, especially when our working styles are so different, will teach them about the marriage relationship and how to work out differences.
So what is my current schooling schedule, what are my lesson plans? In general our school will have an emphasis early in the year on the practical arts plus math and reading. As we move into the house and the winter months set in and the library is unpacked we will add other subjects. I'm looking forward to cozy nights reading with the wood stove burning brightly and finally being settled physically and mentally.
Our life right now looks somewhat like this:
Sarah, 20, continues to work for Phil, is working on some midwifery reading and projects, and is in charge of canning the produce we grow or buy. She learned to pressure can this summer and so far has added cherries, peaches, apples, pork, beef, green beans, sauerkraut, and a variety of tomato products to our larder. She is also training Laura and Joanna in this homemaking skill. She continues her hand work and her hope chest continues to grow - in boxes now, having already filled her hope chest a long time ago.
Drew, almost 19, continues to work fulltime in home construction and he is part of the crew remodeling our house. He is in charge of our animals, which have grown from the two horses we came with to now include a colt, a milk cow and calf, a boar, two sows and nine baby pigs. He is setting up his own home next to ours having bought a used trailer which he is fixing up. As I write this I am sitting in the waiting room of a local hospital. Drew has just gotten out of surgery where he had his nose re-broken and set (he broke it last spring and it didn't heal properly). So for the next six weeks he will be limiting his work and activities as his nose heals.
Laura,16, and Joanna, 12, are learning to can and have helped with vegetable and flower gardening. Laura continues to draw and paint nature subjects and has found some interesting specimens at our new place. Laura is currently reading Christy and Joanna is reading The Secret Garden. Both girls are working on their new room decor and arrangement as they will be sharing a room with Alice. I want to get the Emilie Barnes' book for girls on decorating to let them do some study and thinking in this area as they plan.
Seth, 13, learned fencing this summer under another young man's tutelage as they fenced in about two thirds of our pasture. He is Phil's right-hand man on property projects and has helped other community families with some of their outside work. Seth and I built a grape arbor out of felled trees and we have plans to build a couple of trellises for my honeysuckle, plus another arbor for some wisteria vines. He is currently reading in the Narnia series for a second time.
Alice, 6, enjoys playing with her dolls, new kitten, and new friends. She loves to wash dishes and the bathroom sink. In the last article I mentioned Alice's talking about "the spirit of loveliness." As I have thought more about this I've realized the blessing Alice has in a mother and three older sisters who all pursue the godly character quality of creativity and beauty. For me this journey has been a much studied and pursued activity. My three older daughters have benefited from my pursuits and study and have listened to my talks on the subject. They have grown up learning by observation and also by a conscious pursuit of the subject. For Alice it is an unconscious learning process as she listens and watches the rest of us actively pursuing creativity and beauty. She is just naturally and unconsciously doing it daily. And that is how it should be.
Let this be an encouragement to those of you who see the importance of beauty and creativity in the home but find it doesn't come easily to you. Keep working at it even just a little because the fruit of even your simplest efforts will be children who are freer and more naturally inclined in these areas in their daily lives. Encourage and promote their efforts. How about a Lego centerpiece for dinner tonight or using those precious child bouquets or treasures of rocks and feathers in a centerpiece? You be creative in encouraging their creativity. Perhaps this next generation of daughters will enter marriage better equipped in the art of homemaking.
Since Sarah took charge of canning that has freed me to work on taking dominion over the neglected yard. This has been very therapeutic for me because I am definitely still in the remedial class for learning patience and contentment. Working in the yard has given me lots of time to pray and think, often times doing battle within myself on various issues. I started first with an herb garden. On an anniversary trip to Asheville, NC, Phil and I found a wonderful herb nursery where we were able to buy most of the herbs on my list plus many others that weren't. The Lord has blessed my efforts and all but two of the herbs have not only grown but greatly prospered - so much so that I can divide some this fall and share with others. Next I moved on to some perennial flower beds which I have lined with rocks and are quite attractive. We have some wonderful rocks here in Virginia, lots of quartz which is a personal favorite. As the house progresses and various sides of it become free from construction work I want to make shrub and flower beds there too.
As I close this visit I have now joined Drew in his recovery room. His nose is in a cast and bandaged and he has been given some drugs to help him rest and for the pain. He slips in and out of lucidity and as I sit and watch him rest my heart wells up with love for him. He has grown into a wonderful, hardworking young man. I see and feel God's gracious blessings on Phil and me. My finiteness rushes over me as I think of my many failures/sins in mothering this child. I am so thankful that Drew is God's child first of all and that God works through my failures. He remembers I am dust. I see before me on his hospital bed a young man who is actively pursing the faith of his father and grandfathers. A young man who is setting up a home so that he can marry and raise another generation of covenant children for the Lord. Where have the years gone? They have flown by so quickly just as many an older woman said they would.
I am drawn back to my beginning quote. I see the importance of living a godly life as the very best lesson plan that I can work on because what I want most for each of my children is a heart that loves and serves God above all else. So I will turn off the tape in my mind playing the tune that seeks to discourage me because my lesson plans aren't all written or even planned. I'll continue to work on having my daily time with the Lord and fighting my daily battles with patience and contentment. I'll continue to work on loving and honoring my husband and loving my children because in actuality these are the best lessons plans for the long haul.
May your best lesson plan this year be yourself.