Dear Self

Dear Self: Today did not happen the way that I envisioned it would when I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling this morning. Maybe that's because I turned off my 6:00am alarm and let myself sleep until 6:45........ so in my estimation, I got started 'behind'. The kids were up when I got up....... I made breakfast....... I exercised......I took a shower......I changed the sheets on the beds and started a load of laundry.......I put dinner in the crockpot........ and then I looked at the clock........ it was 10am...... the kids had been playing happily (without arguing) so I let them play. Perhaps that wasn't what I thought of when my day started 'behind' but maybe that was what was needed today. We read the Bible, in 1 Samuel 26 and talked about David not killing King Saul, even though David was close enough to do it and Saul wanted to kill him..... we talked about David recognizing that God is the one who brings Justice....... we continued our read aloud called The Secret of Roan Inish and read about Fiona and Rory and their hard work to get a cottage ready for their grandparents to live in......a great lesson in work ethic..... we ate lunch and played outside in the sunshine before the weather turns cold and the rains and snow come......and now we are ready to leave for choir practice.
Today did not pan out as I expected it to but that's okay. I am coming to realize that it's okay to have days like today where learning takes place in a different way. Learning takes place through read alouds and laundry and making dinner....... memorizing Awana verses and reading chapters in the Bible and exercising...... this is life learning and while academic learning is necessary and valuable and something we do Monday through Friday, sometimes it's okay to have a day (or two) that is all about life learning...... and that was today. And in the past, I would have been stressed out about a day like today. But I am learning to embrace these days and find joy in watching my children grow up and learn life lessons, academic lessons and spiritual lessons, every day.

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