Little Things

Little things about today that I don't want to forget:

1- Sarah and Matthew spent the afternoon practicing archery in the shade under our big oak trees. They made targets out of large cardboard boxes, with wobbly concentric circles carefully drawn on with marker. They have a delightful time shooting arrows together and discussing their grand plans to become skilled marksmen. I love the fact that they can do sports like this on our property! This is exactly the type of childhood I want my kids to have- playing outside and getting dirty while having fun.

2- Today I spotted Daniel purposefully marching towards the back of our pasture to a thick stand of trees. Over his should was casually slung a huge set of sharp limb loppers. When I inquired to his plans, he hollered over his shoulder with glee that they were constructing a new secret fort and needed to trim away the branches that blocked their emergency exit. One of the girls from the DI team had brought a cute strappy purse today, from which she proudly extracted some pruning shears as if it were contraband. Evidently last week the entire team schemed for today's outdoor projects. They spent all recess busily shaping a cozy home out of several juniper trees. The goats who live in the pasture were pleased with so much company and the children were so delighted with their work. Things like this feed my soul and I am so thankful our kids get to experience days like this.

3- My children have been asking me for a Pride and Prejudice movie night for quite some time. It's been ages since we've watched it together, so tonight we began the BBC version, otherwise known as the 6-hour marathon of estrogen. We had a picnic on the game room floor for dinner while we enjoyed the movie, laughing together at the witty script. I delight in the fact that my boys are big enough to understand and enjoy movies like this, and I really enjoyed cuddling with them on the couch for a couple of hours. We paused the movie after 2 hours since it is a school night, so we'll pick it back up again tomorrow. Daniel was particularly funny tonight when he did some spot-on impersonations of Mr. Collins.

4- Today was quite a whirlwind of activity, with non-stop commitments from 7:00 am until 6:00 pm. I am quite tired, but today was overall a wonderful day. I am immensely thankful for Sarah and Matthew and all the help they give around the house. They are wonderful kids to have around all day, and Daniel brings home plenty of sunshine each afternoon. I feel very blessed with the family I have and I sometimes wonder (well, I OFTEN wonder) how it is possible that they can be so good in spite of all my failures as a parent. I think the Lord is really making up for some of my many inadequacies, for which I am truly grateful.

5- My art classes are going so well and the students are really enjoying the class. They are SO excited to begin painting 'Starry Night' after sketching the outline today. Our DI team is making fantastic progress at a rapid rate, so I'm quite hopeful they will compete phenomenally at the competition this year. They are coming up with some clever ideas and are pulling together as a team really well.

6- We invited our neighbors over for lunch today and had a lovely time chatting and letting the children play together after lunch. We feel very blessed to have neighbors who are also home schooling and who have children the same age range as us. They are such good people, and I always feel enlivened after our conversations.  Today another friend from church, our Texan Nana Precious, stopped by to say hello, deliver treats, and check in on us. She was so kind and is always so generous with her love. The greatest blessings of living here has been our kind neighbors, tight-knit neighborhood, and loving local congregation. We are surrounded by good people everywhere, and I feel so privileged to know them.

I feel very watched over by the Lord lately. He has answered my daily prayers so promptly and generously, which makes me feel very humbled and filled with gratitude. Even though my life is in the fast lane for now, I feel peace.