In the world...

I will admit, in my First Day of School emotion, to having fleeting thoughts of, "I could home school! We could go on field trips all the time! We could set our own schedule! It would be amazing and wonderful!" Then I called Jen to talk me off the proverbial ledge of idealism. Not that there is anything wrong with homeschooling as a choice. It's just not the right choice for me.

How lucky I am to live in a place where there are so many options when it comes to school. Neighborhood public school, neighborhood private school, traditional calendar, extended calendar, Montessori, projects-based, home school, home school co-op, Christian school, foreign language learning, etc, etc.  And further, how fortunate that I am part of a family that has the financial and emotional resources to understand and take advantage of any of those options.

It's scary to send your baby off into the Great Unknown for 7 hours of the day. Will he pick the right friends? Will he be learning the things that I think are important? Will he ever eat a fruit or vegetable without my encouraging (read: bribing) presence? He's only 6! What if someone else tells him about sex, or swear words, or the Tea Party? (just a joke- sorry, TP friends, I couldn't resist. ;) ) It's not wrong of me to want to shelter him just a little longer.

Jen and I have had many conversations about this, and we always come back to the idea that we feel called to have our children "in the world." There are plenty of ways that we continue to shelter them-- we monitor their play dates, we set up their after-school activities, we choose their church. But as long as my neighborhood school offers a safe environment with caring, committed teachers and quality learning, I will trust my child to mingle with the masses, so to speak.

Now, I would never say never. I don't believe that any choice is one-size-fits-all. If circumstances change, if my child's needs change, I have to be open to finding the best learning option for him and for our family. But for now--even as I miss him and mourn the passing of summer's freedom--this choice feels good. And, because I don't want him to be "of the world," I can still sneak my influence into his school day in small ways. I pack his lunch, after all.

Be Still- better late than never!

I had intentions to post this last week, but didn't get to it until now. :)

It's always good to have reminders to Be Still, but they seem especially pertinent at the times of year when things are a little bit crazy.  In this season of transition as summer winds down and school-year activities wind up it is important that we, as parents, model how to take time for quiet and calm. And let's be real-- if I wasn't being intentional to try and model it, I probably wouldn't do it at all, no matter how much I actually need it.

So I challenge you: model 1 minute (or more! is it even possible?!) of stillness for your children. 

I don't remember exactly where I learned this (I think it was from my pastor, Angie), but this is one of my favorite ways to pray Psalm 46:10...First, breathe deeply and say the whole verse in your mind, "Be still and know that I am God."  On the next breath, say it again, except remove the last word, "Be still and know that I am..."  On each successive breath, remove another word, "Be still and know that I..."  By the end, you are left with this command: be.  Just be.  Amen.

1 John 3:18

Thanks to our friend Natalie's mom, Jan, for giving us this cd-- G.T. & the Halo Express!  Great for learning Bible verses!!

Dear children, let us not love/ let us not love with words or tongue/ but with actions and in truth/ but with actions and in truth.

Fruits of the Spirit

Thanks to Jenny for sharing this great idea related to the fruits of the Spirit:

"We 'studied' that and did activities with it this past school year, and I'd read a cute idea on another blog and copied it.  Depends if you let your kids have candy or not I guess :o) but I took an empty glass jar and filled it with runts candy (from the dollar tree).  Whenever I spot the girls using a fruit of the spirit they get a fruit shaped candy from the jar.  They love it, and it's good for me to recognize and point them out to them."

Fruit snacks would work for this, too. Or actual fruit, I suppose, if you have amazing children who consider fruit to be a treat. (And if you do, please tell me what it's like...sigh...)

James 1:19-20

Tales from a Recovering Perfectionist

"He's perfect!" pronounced the pediatrician.  Fresh from his first examination, our first-born squirmed a little in his isolette as the doctor snuggled him back into the hospital's stiff flannel blanket.  Perfect.  10 fingers, 10 toes, his momma's lips and daddy's hairline.  A sense of reassurance washed over my swirling new-mother anxiety and hormones.  He's perfect.

"His respiration rate is still high.  We need to get that under control.  I would like to increase the C-PAP pressure to 60 and give him some phenobarbital to help him relax.  He's a sick little boy."  This was not how things were supposed to turn out.  I was not supposed to have a November baby.  My due date was still 4 weeks away.  My toddler, as a newly-minted big brother, was supposed to bring flowers to my hospital bed and seranade the new baby with the lullaby we'd practiced.  Instead, our baby was attached to monitors, an IV pumping drugs through his fragile veins, a tube down his throat delivering whatever I could pump.  No pronouncements of perfection.  In an act that almost felt like defiance, I penned a message on the whiteboard on his NICU wall: "We praise you for Connor is wonderfully made."  I wanted everyone to know--and needed the reminder, myself--that this baby was God's handiwork.  God knit him together in my womb.  God made him, and he was wonderful.

And he is wonderful.  And healthy.  And funny.  And naughty.  And all the things that God made him to be.  There's actually no reassurance in perfection, because it's not realistic.  God didn't create us to be perfect.  God's love formed us from the start and continues to hold us and shape us, while God's abundant grace smoothes over all our rough edges.  And isn't that wonderful?

Rejoice! Be patient! Pray!

It's been a busy week at our house...3 different people doing 3 different day camps and 2 doing swimming lessons.  I decided to shorten our verse for this week to just Romans 12:12.  To me, the important points are that God wants us to rejoice, God wants us to be patient, and God wants us to pray.  We had a discussion at the lunch table about those three things.  What causes us to rejoice?  When is a time that we've had to practice patience?  What are some things we have prayed about?  The list is unfiltered and a good glimpse into the minds of my boys:

Deut. 6:5 Prayer (Or how Jimmy Choo leads us to the Lord)

While returning a pair of so-cute-but-so-uncomfortable sandals at Nordstrom yesterday my back was turned to my children. Clearly my love of quality footwear has been passed to my 3-year-old, because when I turned around she was carrying a pair of pumps complete with what were probably real diamond sequins and squealing "Oh, Mommy, you have to get these!!" The lovely salesman behind the register almost yelped, I kid you not. I gently pried away the bedazzled beauties to discover they were in fact $695 Jimmy Choos. And they were exceptionally beautiful.
Upon finishing my transaction (with said-preschooler safely hoisted up to sit on counter) the girls and I sat down to discuss the Choo shoes. It went down something like this, right there in Nordstrom shoes.
Me: "Those shoes you found were very pretty, weren't they?"
Girls, even less-girlie big sister: "YES! Wow! And the sparkles and the heel, etc."
Me: "Do you remember our verse this week?"
Girls: "Huh?"
Me, disappointed, sings "Love Round" very quietly. Big sister is annoyed, Little sister starts singing loudly. We left singing, hopefully quieter, and I prayed while we walked out what I now call The Mall Prayer:
"Lord, your love is even more beautiful than Jimmy Choos.
Help me love you with all my heart."

Play it! with placemats

The boys colored these, then we had them laminated at Kinko's. I'm sure others could be much more fancy with graphic design, but if you'd like a copy of my quick-and-dirty version, just email us at homeschoolvbs@gmail.com .

What activities are going well at your house? Let us know! Post a comment or email us a note or picture!!

Heart, Soul and Might!

Sing along with Elizabeth and Sarah as they share "Love Round (Deut. 6:5)" a song sung at our favorite church camp, Rainbow Trail. (Rainbow Trail Lutheran Camp was recently spared during forest fire- yay God!)

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your might and
Love all humankind as you would love yourself...
We've got Christian lives to live
We've got Jesus' love to give
We've got nothing to hide
Because in Him we abide in Love

Seek ye first...

If you've browsed through our 12 weeks of verses, you may have noticed the variety of Bible translations we have used. The Bible translation I prefer is the NRSV, but some verses are just more familiar to us in other translations. Like this week: for those of you who grew up listening to Psalty and Kids' Praise, here's a walk down memory lane!

Here are some pics of my boys enjoying an indoor treasure hunt on a rainy day. Brady got written clues, Connor got picture clues (he still needed a lot of assistance). One highlight of this activity was the 20 minutes I got by myself in my room with the door closed while I wrote the clues! :)

S'more Light

While getting our flashlights ready for our outside walk Sarah asked were we also making s'mores? Because of course that is what my children of think of at night in the summer- what could be better?

We managed just a few minutes of "Look how well we can see these rocks with the light? Almost better than when the sun is shining!" and "See how the beam shows us where we can walk?" Sarah realized it was actually getting dark. Too dark for games, and definitely too dark for any singing of "Thy Word." Sarah begins begging,  "Mommy, please can we GO INSIDE! I am getting scared!" Somehow fear was not supposed to be part of this process- how proud I was feeling that moment. So before big sister had even managed to join us, we had returned inside where even the darkened family room felt too spooky.

The evening ended in overtired tears from a week busy with dance recitals and grandparents visiting and bedtime without even a marshmallow.

Surely there are times that feel too dark even for God. Loving this Word that reminds me Jesus is the Word made flesh and the Word made light.

*We must find profound theological significance of this treat so we can include in Bible learning somehow.The trinity works, right??

A Light Unto My Crabbiness

Doesn't this picture look nice? Our loving family gathered around the Bible, voices harmonious, spirits joined in unity...ahhhh. What a nice idea. In reality, this week was filled with whining, tantrums, fighting and time-outs. At least that's how it felt to "MooOOOMMmmMMMYYY!!!!" The heat? The rain? The new togetherness now that school is out? Probably all of the above, and I found my patience thin and my voice raised a lot more than I would like them to be. Time spent focusing on God's word is just as much for me (maybe more?) than it is for them. A chance to stop, take a breath (or several), and refocus on something positive and life-giving.

Okay, so the week wasn't all bad. We spent a couple glorious days at the pool. We played some games. We worked together to get the house clean for our weekend guest. And we did some fun things together learning Psalm 119:105. The boys loved learning the familiar song that accompanies this verse.

Brady was thrilled to recognize this song at our church's high school choir's home concert this week! Both boys really got into singing it as our mealtime prayer. We also enjoyed staying up late one warm night and taking a walk with flashlights, "lighting our path" and hunting for lightening bugs. We didn't get around to starting a prayer journal this week...maybe tomorrow. Or next week. In the meantime, I'll be working on my crabbiness.

Light unto my path

As this Bible-learning operation unfolds, I am realizing it is already Tuesday, and unlike Molly, I have no chart for stickers and have not yet mentioned the project to my children. Hooray for GRACE, yes?

That said, "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path." What better way to get a jump start for this mommy than to actually open The Word herself? (Had to find it first- took it on family camping trip thinking I might have some lovely God-time by the creek by which we pitched our tents. HA!)  Because God is so good, I opened up to Deuteronomy and my eyes were guided to the story of Moses instructing God's people, "Gather the people together—men, women, children, and the foreigners living among you—so they can listen well, so they may learn to live in holy awe before God, your God, and diligently keep everything in this Revelation." Now surely it was the work of the Spirit that lead me to such a passage, but we know the Word is filled with such urgings to love God's teachings and share them with one another.

Prayer: Thank you for your Word in my life, that I can find your mighty truths turning to simple guidance that feels as if it's meant just for me. Thank you that each word whispers "I love you" to my heart. Thank you GOD for making me a mom, even as I watch Sarah precariously climb upon the counter to reach for a water bottle even after I caution her not-so-gently. Help us to learn to live in holy awe of you.

Why do I hear crying coming from the basement?!

Here we go!

So, a few weeks ago I emailed my friend Jen and told her we had a mission from God to do this summer.  This is how I know Jen is a great friend: she didn't even blink. (Or, I imagine she didn't as she read.) Instead she jumped right in to this project, full of her own brilliant insights and ideas. 

I love summer. I love warm weather, vacations, and a more open schedule. However, I've found that things at my house operate better if we still have a little structure. Not too much, but a little. I'm very excited to work on learning Bible verses with my boys and to have a framework and some accountability to make it happen! Our plan is to learn one verse a week for 12 weeks, using the Say it!/Play it!/Pray it! method (Jen's genuis). We didn't want to make this too complicated, so each week we'll do one activity from each category. We hope some of our friends will join us in this project and also share how it goes in your households. Jen and I look forward to sharing with each other and with you.

I'm getting a jump-start on Week 1-- I've written our verse on the chalkboard and posted sticker charts for each of the boys. At the end of the week, they'll get a sticker in the box. I'm excited to see what ideas Jen has to motivate her girls! Here we go!