Settling Down

Compared to our time at Disney World, this week has been practically stagnant as far as activity goes. We were up each day at 6 a.m., to the kennels by 7:30 a.m. to drop off the dogs and to one of the parks by 8:00 a.m. most days. We sometimes returned to the camper for lunch or dinner, but generally didn't stop until well after dark each day. We've no idea how far we walked each day as we toured the parks. We were having so much fun that it didn't seem like exercise! Wouldn't it be nice if we could feel that way about our daily exercise routines?

Now that all that excitement is over, we needed to recuperate physically and adjust our expectations of what each day would hold. Our ongoing challenge as we take this adventure is to balance some basic level of academics for the boys with the opportunities in our surroundings. Getting our books out this week reinforced the need to make sure we keep those basics going! I also think there's a life lesson in learning that everything mustn't be at the brink of exhilaration every day to be interesting. While I hope and dream that my boys will be able to work in an area of their own unique passions someday, some jobs and a lot of days are full of just plain old routine. Developing the patience and fortitude to carry on with routine activities and to maintain a level of contentment is just as important as any academic lesson of the day.

Someone asked me some time ago about how to stay motivated for the daily rigors of teaching. My immediate and unchecked response was "I'm NOT very motivated most days!" Further explanation of that response includes that I'm not all that motivated about a lot of things in each day, but they still get done through force of habit. It doesn't hurt to have a particular spark now and then, but persistence and diligence are much more important to assure continual positive progress. I also have learned to take comfort in the knowledge that God in heaven above loves my kids more than even I do, and He's not going to allow me(due to my ignorance, laziness or stubbornness) to do irreparable harm to my children. He has lovingly and persistently corrected us and guided us all along the way.

We are often asked what curriculum we use, so I'll write something about that soon. We've been home schooling our kids for over 9 years now, we we're pretty settled in our academic choices. Today, however, I hoped to share some 'reality' of our new life with this post. Some things never change - clean clothes become dirty, satisfied children become hungry again, dirt and pet hair collects in every corner of our living space. Living in a house on wheels is in some ways just like living anywhere else. Our surroundings and the opportunity to regularly change them is exciting and tempts us to look for something amazing every day. But sometimes, in our life, what is amazing may need to be that my kids (and students) just need to learn how to read, write and do their math. If we happen to have the opportunity to include some very interesting vocabulary words to support our trip to the Kennedy Space Center tomorrow – great! But maybe our vocabulary word can be something about the amazing bird in the pond across the way (we have to find that bird book to find the name!).

Enough soap box for today. Here's an inspiring quote from the very eloquent Oswald Chambers "My Utmost for His Highest"

Ask God to keep the eyes of your spirit open to the risen Christ, and it will be impossible for drudgery to discourage you. Never allow yourself to think that some tasks are beneath your dignity or too insignificant for you to do, and remind yourself of the example of Christ in John 13:1-17.