The computer got hidden on me for a couple of days. I found out later, Daddy was not happy it was left on the floor so much, and put it waaaay up on high on a shelf so that it wouldn't get stepped on. No one could find it! He had no idea that it was being looked for until I mentioned last night that the computer was gone! Oh, ha ha, it's up there. What!?! Anyway, I used the last two mornings to keep prepping for the seminar, so no time was wasted.
I won't finish my book review just yet, but I thought I would share how we've had a couple of really neat blessings come our way. Last year we said no field trips that cost money for the kids. We had already booked a historical school/museum trip that has kind of become a tradition the last few years. The kids go this school in a local town and dress up as pioneer type children and all afternoon have to do activities as if they were real children in a real classroom back in the 1900s. I don't know why they love it so much, but they do. This year, I decided, if we were to book one trip that cost, that would be the one we would do, so we flexed a little and did this one trip. It wasn't a disappointment at all and I feel because we so rarely do things like that, that they were even more grateful than usual for being allowed to do it. Knowing we could have taken it away from them, but didn't seemed to put a spirit of gratitude that I haven't seen so keenly as when you can go wherever you want whenever you want.
Twice in the past week we took the kids to a beautiful path that follows a creek to one of the most amazing events that happens in nature - the salmon migration. I've always wanted to see this happen in real life. We've seen movies on it, read books on it, but never were able to get out to actually see it. Another homeschool mom just casually mentioned it to me at a meeting and I jumped at the opportunity. At the first warmish day, I told the kids in the middle of the afternoon, with no warning, "Get in the van, we're going for a hike!" That might not sound like a big deal, but again, our kids love going out for hikes. As we got closer, I told them what I was hoping to find and that I hoped it wasn't too late. Sure enough, as we got closer and closer to the creek, you got start to smell a fishy smell. Suddenly, the creek was there, just a little off the path. The kids ran over and to all our amazement, there they were, salmon everywhere! Right out of a movie! They were splashing their way up little waterfalls and swimming past us like a bunch of little sharks. We were in awe. We could only stand there with our mouths open at these amazing creatures that showed determination like I've never seen. We stayed there for a long time and saw a number of fish try to get up. So many were near death. Some were stuck in rocks and had died there. Others were still coming. We even got splashed by some of them in their fierce determination to keep going and make it back to the place of their birth. Over and over again, on the way home, my oldest boy, who has always been so verbal, couldn't thank me enough for what he had seen that day, "Thank you so much, Mom, for taking us. I'll never forget what I saw today." But wait, I hadn't spent any money! We hadn't gone on an expensive field trip! Don't you see what incredible thing is happening here!? This experience of going without for the past year has made even a hike one of the highlights of their life! They loved it, so much that when we got home, they immediately ran to their dad and told him all about it. He immediately suggested that we all go back as two of the girls had been unable to come that day. Sure enough, a few days later, off they all went. I stayed back with the two year old, and the rest of them got to go back for another hike to see the salmon. There were a lot less this time, but still enough to show the girls and their dad.
Yesterday, we were given another treat. My sister bid on a painting class at a silent auction. She could have chosen anyone to go with her kids, but chose the cousins - what a treat. Ten cousins and an extra friend got to do a splatter party where you basically throw paint at a wall and then on to a huge piece of canvas on the floor making as much mess as you possibly can. What kid doesn't love that?! It was a gift to us as she assumed the cost and our kids always love to get together, so that was fun in and of itself. Once again, a fun afternoon, another field trip, a gift, and my kids raved about it all the way home. I'm just not sure they would have been so thankful if we did that kind of thing all the time.
I'm reading a book that was written 30 years ago by a homeschool girl describing her life as an early homeschooler (when it wasn't so common as it is now). It's a fascinating read. Her family never struggled financially when they first started out. They went out to eat regularly, drove nice cars, lived in a nice house, got lots of gifts all the time, holidays, etc.....Then one day, out of the blue, her dad lost his job. Isn't that what I wrote about a couple of days ago, that everything is God's and that He can take it all away at a moment's notice? That's exactly what happened to this family. Suddenly, no nice cars anymore, no eating out, no extra gifts, no air-conditioning, nothing......they were on a budget that allowed for only the bare minimum. This girl, the oldest of ten, had unknowingly looked down upon people who had little or who drove dumpy vehicles. Now it was happening to her and she didn't like it. What came out of the experience was a compassion for others and a gratitude for all they had that they had all taken for granted for those years of "having". She called it the gift of going without.
We are experiencing that gift, too - going without is producing more character in my children than any expensive "Character Curriculum" ever could. I see how they appreciate the little things in life now evidenced in their attitudes to these special field trips. I'm seeing it, too, in their reactions in other areas, as well. Because we don't eat out anymore we've had to get creative in order to have a little fun now and then. We used to eat out at IKEA all the time as it was a cheap meal out for a large family. Now we don't even do that. But, IKEA has meatballs, sauce and dip, for a really good deal and thanks to a friend who had us over one night for "IKEA", we now do the same and have IKEA, at home! It is less than half the cost of eating out, but the kids feel it's like eating at a restaurant. They love it and are always so grateful for the meal!
This is how God works. He sees what we need to develop in our lives, in our kids lives and knows just what He needs to do to accomplish His will. How we fight it! But, as I've been on this journey for a while now, I'm starting to see the fruit. It's wonderful. So, we are experiencing the gift of going without. Of course, we still selfishly pray to be out of bondage, but I'm guessing until we've learned all that we're supposed to learn, it might not happen for awhile!
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