Writing Inspiration Week - Spring Fever

Spring boredom has arrived for me - mom. Boredom with routine, a disdain for workbooks and all things curriculum looking. With the emerging crocuses and daffodils comes a desire for the truly great and inspiring. This week we declared “Writing Inspiration Week”. It was a great title because anything that had to do with writing was allowed. We read the first few pages of several great books in the morning to gain momentum, then attempted some work of our own. Throughout the week, we read a short story here and there and one morning studied one of my favorite poets, Robert Frost. By the miracles of technology, we even were honored to hear Frost himself read a few of his poems to us via the internet. We finished the book “Spy for the Night Riders” about the trial at Worms and Martin Luther. A pretty good read aloud (3.5 out of 5.0 was the official grade by the kids) made better by daily popcorn with parmesan cheese. During reading this week we worked on puzzle maps of Europe and the world.

My oldest son, 10, was inspired to personify baseball. He wrote three poems: The Bat, The Ball, and The Game. They were short, but full of vivid imagery. I was pleased. Next we talked about illustrating those poems and what it might look like. I drew a picture of the ball from his description. “It’s just like I pictured when I wrote it!” he commented, feeling surprisingly successful. Thankful that my unschooling methods of the week were working for me, we finished the week having done more describing of everything we saw than writing anything down. We described the butterfly that emerged from it’s cocoon in the mason jar on the shelf Thursday, making words described how it felt to be a new creature, in a completely new form. I was not in the mood for books to describe how to teach this week. I tried, but when I attempted to follow their plan, it just killed the wonder and joy of teaching writing. So we continued to describe things orally.

By today, we’d discussed a lot and boys were now much more motivated to research and read than they had been in previous weeks. They spent the morning gathering encyclopedias and nature books. I caught up on the cleaning that didn’t happen according to the chore list this week. When I checked on them they were studying a map of Africa and all the places they would have to go to stop poachers from destroying wildlife. They were also wondering what could be done about all the water quality in the Mediterranean and other bodies of water that I can’t now remember. Happy that science, community and geography were occurring without me, I decided I had no excuse not to scrub the tub.

When their brains were full, we all teamed up to get the chores done and headed off to the neighborhood indoor pool for a swim. What will we call next week? Another adventure.

My Solution to Frustration and Impatience - Solitude

This week I met with my two dear friends in our accountability group (see previous post) and talked about our need to let God deal with us in solitude.  However,  I neglected to follow my own advice. Today became a dark day for me today. A cloud of latent anger, hostility and restlessness was looming over me. I knew I had to run to God, but seemed to be able to find no quiet place to do it.  My dh suggested I get out of the house. After some shopping and lunch on my own, no change. Every noise my kids made tried my patience. I wondered if I was prone to depression.

This happens every once in a while and, in hindsight, it is imperative that I let others know, but I often feel I can put it off, because there are just things that I should do. I fail to clearly express what I need because the routine must go on. Meanwhile, I hurt others with my impatience and lack of peace. The frustration builds until my body cannot rest, my calm is lost and I can find joy in nothing. A pain pierces the side of my head and I know I’ve let go of my self-control. I call it the spiritual flu. You can try to cure it with cover-ups like a shopping trip or a day to yourself, but the real cure is to run to the All-Sufficient One.

Sometimes He waits and I run a different direction, yet I know I am desperate for His presence. I need to act more quickly, recognize the symptoms earlier and communicate to my family that I need to reconnect with God in solitude, by myself, with no one around. I am reminded that scheduled solitude is the lifeline of my soul. Because I’d let myself get physically anxious, I began with exercise to get out my frustration and then was able to sit in the quiet and listen for God’s voice (of correction).

I’m not a person who neglects my Bible, so reading on a daily basis is not the only thing we need to stay spiritually healthy. We need the presence of God, the healing, energizing, peace-giving presence. I had to let it search me and address what was lurking inside so I could let it go. Our Father knows us so well. Within a few minutes, it was gone and I was free again. Sometimes, in spite of what we know about God, we need to just sit in His presence.

My peace was restored.

Today as I worked on scheduling academics for the new year, I also know that my alone time with my Father is the one thing that will make or break the whole tone of my home. “Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you.”