30.5.19

Spring Celebratio 2019

Here we are at the close of another school year.  We now have a 9th grader, 6th grader and 2nd grader.  I have to admit that on August 13, 2018, the year ahead seemed daunting.  It always does on the first day of school.  There were some very long days and a lot of hard work, but through it all God was faithful.  He is always faithful!  And so we gathered together last Thursday night for Celebratio, a celebration of the end of a school year, a year of learning and growing, but, most of all, a celebration of God's faithfulness.

We listened to Scripture and literature recitations and songs for over two hours.  Some would scoff or roll their eyes, and most don't understand why the emphasis on recitation in classical Christian education.  It was definitely a new thing for us when we began the classical Christian education journey five years ago, but I see so clearly and appreciate the beauty of it, the value in it and the necessity.  What we fill our minds with matters.  We may not be diligently and purposefully memorizing long passages of Scripture or Shakespeare or Tolkien or Lewis or Augustine or Homer, but we are filling our minds.  Make no mistake about it.  And at the end of the day, I pray my children recall the words of Scripture or some of the classical literature they've studied instead of the world's noise.  

"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy - meditate on these things."  ~Philippians 4:8

If I want to mediate on those things, I must - every single day - make the purposeful, diligent effort to do so.  I have to pray Colossians 3:2 every. single. day.  "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth."  My pastor growing up used to say we have to get rid of "stinkin'  thinkin'."  He probably still says that.  If I get caught up in the latest news feed or social media feed or community gossip, it breeds nothing but stinkin' thinkin'.  So, yes, I am more than willing to sit and listen as these students recite Scripture and the classics.

Ellie's sweet 1st grade class recited Proverbs 16:24, 15:1, 6:6 and 17:17, "The Swing" by Robert Louis Stevenson and The Doxology.

  

Hannah Kate's 5th grade class recited Sanctus in Latin and English, Matthew 5:2-16, the Preamble to the Constitution and "Thew New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus.

Mason's 8th grade class recited Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene 2 (Antony's speech).  I have loved the creativity of this class this year.  These kids and their families are really special, and I am grateful for this little community.

This kid has grown up this year - literally and figuratively.  He continues to amaze me.  This school stuff is not easy for him, and I absolutely hate how difficult some of this stuff is for him.  Someone asked me last week what he struggled with this year.  I thought about it for a minute.  I didn't have an answer.  Was it hard?  YES.  Did he have to work hard?  ABSOLUTELY.  But, looking back, there wasn't anything that was impossible or that he didn't understand or that he couldn't do.  His Latin teacher - who knows our story and understands it more than most because his son, too, is dyslexic - told me last week that he was amazed at Mason's progress and work this year and what he's able to accomplish in spite of the unique challenges of dyslexia.  "Most" dyslexics do not excel in a foreign language, much less take one.  That's a subject I don't even have to help him with except to quiz him for tests.

This was his entry in the art fair.  No, he didn't trace it.  He drew it free hand.  I meant to ask him why he chose this particular drawing, but I forgot.  Regardless, we've come a long ways from those occupational therapy days!

The most daunting assignment he had this year came the last six weeks of the semester.  He had to write a 5-page paper.  A 1-page paper is no small task for him, much less five pages!  He also had to choose his own topic.  He loved his humanities class this year (which, again, is only by the grace of God), and Mr. A did such a phenomenal job teaching his students.  Mason really wanted to take responsibility and be more independent in this class this year so I let him as much as possible.  Needless to say, he chose his thesis WITHOUT CONSULTING ME.  He comes home one day and asks me to help him with his proofs.  Sure.  I can do that.  What's your thesis?

I want to prove that Jesus is not a myth.

Can you imagine what emoji I would insert right here?!  After much conversation and a lot of questions so we could really hone in on his thesis, he modified it a bit to instead prove that Christianity is not a myth.  As the paper progressed, it evolved into a comparison of Christianity to Roman/Greek mythology.  Yes, indeed.  Apologetics for an 8th grader.  Again, CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT EMOJI I WOULD INSERT RIGHT HERE?!  I'm really no good with apologetics.  You know why?  The Bible says so.  THE END.  (Okay, not really.  But kind of.).  It took him about a month to write the paper, and it ended up at almost six pages.  I did spend a lot of time at the table with him as he continued developing his proofs and researching for content, but the work was his.  

This girl right here.  Goodness, I see so much of myself in her.  She's so independent.  She doesn't want any help at all, especially with anything school related.  She just gets it.  And she does it.  Because we've had so many changes with schooling, she's not had the opportunity to forge any deep friendships.  I thought that was happening last year, but that family experienced a change in their schooling situation, and Hannah Kate went back to school in August yet again "starting over" in the friendship department.  That's been a hard thing for me as her mom because I want her to have that.  I had a very best friend from kindergarten all the way through high school.  I do not think of my school days apart from her.  She was a huge part of my life, and I want a friend like that for Hannah Kate, too.  The Lord sent a new family to Sequitur this year, and He sent a new friend for Hannah Kate.  They share a lot in common, including their name!  They've had playdates. And they also like to talk on the phone.  We no longer have a land line, and none of my kids have a cell phone so she has to use my phone.  When she's talking, she ignores all of my texts and calls and returns my phone about three hours later.  I'm not even kidding.  But, again, I remember doing the exact same thing.  I'd come home from school and as soon as homework was finished and piano was practiced, I was on the phone.

And this girl!  All she wanted to do on the first day of 1st grade was read a chapter book.  And she nailed it before Christmas.  Her favorite series is The Boxcar Children.  When I asked her why, she said it's because she likes mysteries.  Hopefully that means she'll like Nancy Drew, one of my favorite series when I was growing up!  She's on book 4 now.  Her handwriting is beautiful.  She is very serious about school.  As a matter of fact, we've been out a week now, and she's already declared that "August is too far away" because she is "ready to go back to school."  Needless to say, that was not popular with her older siblings.  That's really not popular with Momma right now either if you want to know the truth!  I'm not sure why, but it just seems to me like she's so much older than she really is.  Her birthday isn't until July so she is still six years old (going on 16).  But she's a boss, I can tell you.  I wish I could keep her little for awhile longer.  I wasn't sure how she would respond to "school" this year, and I even worried that I hadn't adequately prepared her for 1st grade.  But she excelled.  I guess I shouldn't even be surprised.

Now we're on the verge of entering, for us, unchartered territory.  High school.  (Along with a middle schooler and an elementary schooler . . . insert another one of those emojis here!).  I have no doubt that first school day in August will open the door to our most daunting year yet.  I've already heard "stories" about 9th grade.  You know what kind of "stories" I'm talking about.  As a matter of fact, if I even go there right now, my mind is filled with angst.  So that's why I can't.  That's why it is imperative that I SET my mind and FILL my mind.  God was faithful in kindergarten.  He was faithful in 2nd grade and 3rd grade.  He was faithful in 5th grade and 7th grade.  He was faithful in 8th grade.  And He WILL BE FAITHFUL in 9th grade.

Lysa TerKeurst posted this on one of her social media platforms this week.  It was perfect timing, and it was just for me.  So I'm going to leave it here, too.

Sometimes I struggle trusting God with my kids. Can any moms out there relate?

When my middle daughter chose her college, I wanted to give her a list a mile long on why she absolutely should not go to that school.

But God. He had a plan I never could have imagined.

He had a woman at the school praying for her. He had friends waiting to love her. He had small group leaders waiting to show her how to have a real relationship with Jesus. And He had a young man waiting to fall in love with her and make her a preacher’s wife.

He also had a powerful lesson for me. Planning out my children’s lives isn’t my job. My best job as a mom is to be obedient to God. God’s job is everything else. 

Because God is good. And only God is good at being God.