Whole-Hearted Living

Though I do not want to think about it, school is around the corner.  For all of July, I just put it out of my head knowing August would be when I sat and planned.  Now, sadly, August is here....summer always goes so fast.  Why doesn't winter go fast?!  So today, my mom will come over to watch the littler ones and I'll sit and plan, organize bins and shelves, make schedules, chore packs....blah, blah, blah.....but knowing this was coming as I don't get a lot of time to do this, I knew I needed to go to bed early in order to get up early in order to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time!

I sat and read, drank my coffee, while it was still quiet in the house, (even dark outside now in the morning...sigh).  I came across a great verse that will probably be our school verse for the year, as it sums up even my bad attitude about school,

"And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart."  2 Chronicles 25:2

Didn't you hear how I was going to go about my planning this year?  Yes, I was going to do it, it's the right thing to do, but with such a bad attitude!  Instead of waking up excited, I was kind of dreading it.  Instead of looking forward to planning what amazing things are going to go in my children's heads this year, I was about to go about it with a half-hearted attitude.  This verse says no - it must be done with a whole heart.

The message on Sunday was about having a whole heart as well, how God loved David because he was a man after His own heart.  He loves whole-hearted people.

One of my favourite bands is For King and Country.  These guys write lyrics that often speak to what I'm trying to say, but much more poetically, not to mention they have such incredibly catchy tunes....

The song I've been blaring around the house lately has been on this very theme..."Wholehearted".  It speaks of not taking the easy road, the smoother ride, but to live whole-hearted, no matter what. The lyrics are below and the link to the song comes right after that to listen to.  Love it.

Look how far we've come
look where we started from
best thing about it is you know we've only just begun
they say life's a dance
10 percent circumstance but,
what great adventure ever plays out just the way you've planned it
oh oh oh
we'll fly into the turbulence
oh oh oh
no telling where we're gonna land
oh oh oh
isn't that just part of this romance?
oh oh oh
so when I'm stuck out in the cold
let me be warm-hearted
when it weighs too much to hold
let me be light-hearted
when all I have is not enough
won't be broken hearted
cuz you taught me how to love, to live to learn
to live whole hearted
oh wholehearted
should we take the easy life?
should we take the smoother ride?
no need to ask, I see the answer written in your eyes
oh oh oh
so sail the ship onto the sand
oh oh oh
no telling where we're gonna land
oh oh oh
oh that's just part of our romance
oh oh oh
he-ey
when I'm stuck out in the cold
let me be warm-hearted
when it weighs too much to hold
let me be light-hearted
when all I have is not enough
won't be broken-hearted
cuz you taught me how to love, to live to learn,
to love, to live whole hearted

(yeah) (oh wholehearted)

(oh) (oh wholehearted)
(yeah) (oh wholehearted)
(oh) (oh wholehearted)
when you love somebody
(yeah) (oh wholehearted)
(oh) (oh wholehearted)
when you love somebody
oh wholehearted
on and on and on we'll go
and to our lives through the unknown
on and on and on we'll fly
write the legend of our lives
on and on and on we'll fly
for every day and every night
the greatest stories ever told
were written with a heart that's
whole
so when I'm stuck out in the cold
let me be warm-hearted
when it weighs too much to hold
let me be light-hearted
when I'm stuck out in the cold!
(let me be warm-hearted)
when it weighs too much to hold!
(let me be light-hearted)
when all I have is not enough
won't be broken-hearted
cuz you taught me how to love, to live, to learn,
to love, to live whole hearted
whole wholehearted
when you love somebody x2
you live wholehearted
wholehearted
whole, wholehearted
oh you taught me how to love, to live, to learn,
to live wholehearted

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fdic64bteg

I think my favourite line in the song is this, "On and on and on we'll fly, Write the legend of our lives, On and on and on we'll fly, For every day and every night, THE GREATEST STORIES EVER TOLD WERE WRITTEN WITH A HEART THAT'S WHOLE"

That is the lesson I want my kids to learn this year - do everything with your WHOLE heart, be it school, work, marriage, church, raising kids, serving God.....all of life.  The king in 2 Chronicles that did not live whole-hearted, Amaziah, did not have life go so well with him.  That is not how I want things to go for my kids (or myself).  I want their legends, their stories to be the greatest stories ever told!

So, that has helped me change my whole perspective on today.  I will no longer go into this day of planning with dread, but instead with excitement!  What will our year hold?  What great things can we do together, learn together, visit together?  It suddenly makes my day so full of anticipation!

Every night we go out to pick beans as it is waaay too hot to pick them in the middle of the day.  I love this time of day as we're all outside, soaking up the last few weeks of summer.  Every child is outside.  Ideas start to come to me as I see the kids playing of things we can do this Fall.  They've been playing "Indians" every night.  We now have two teepees on the property, full of zucchinis, cucumbers, and tomatoes.  They're bringing in their supplies for the winter months, so funny.  So, immediately I thought of an Indian village we can go visit in September.  I started to realize I need to capitalize on this and visit places like that as well as Pioneer villages nearby.  The Canadian History curriculum I have will actually interest them this year as they are living it out before my eyes!

So, I start to see how my year is going to be fun and alive.  No need to dread.  That's living half-hearted or even one-quarter-hearted.  Not how God intends us to live.