Prairie Lily Arts

Memorial Day Prayer

 
Lord,

Loving Father, walking so abidingly with this spirited girl,

Lavishly pouring out Your grace over the meagerness of me,

Until my life is a flowing sea of You,

Boundless, complete and amazing.

Father, hear my quiet plea

In this gentle morning light.

Lord, I name them by name

Yet, You know every corner of each heart.

Homeschooling at the Hearth: The Heart of the Family

First, I must say, the interaction I've had with so many of you  mama hearts this week has blessed me beyond measure!

 
We've talked about why I homeschool, what curricula I'm using and how it is that I think we are able to reap so much from this journey... by connecting to my little men at the heart level.  As we wrap up the week, I just want to take the how, the heart piece of this, a little further and broaden our attention to not only tending to the heart of your child, but the heart of your family.  A loving, Christ-centered home will be successful on any journey He lays on your heart.  

     
  So many of you write to me with aching hearts.  You visit me here and idealize my family and my life... and I will be the first one to tell you that I am indeed drinking from my saucer because my cup overflows.  I am blessed beyond all anticipation and expectation!  However, no life, no person, no family is perfect. 

Homeschooling at the Hearth: Are You Speaking Their Language?

While my homeschooling friends are asking, "What are you doing next year?" my non-homeschooling friends are asking, "How do you do it?!"  (Here's where we get to the good stuff.)  I am learning that, secondary to who we spend our moments with, the how of our days may be the next most important aspect of life.  Not what I did, when I got it done, or where I've been... but how did I arrive at wherever I am.  The story. 

Likewise in homeschooling our success or failure is bound up in how we do what we do.  There has only ever been one answer to the question of how I homeschool... the only answer there ever will be.  I must hold the hearts of these children... my little men. 

Homeschooling at the Hearth: Answering the "What" Question

 
Ok, maybe it's the leftover reporter in me... wanting to poke and prod at the who, what, when, where, why and how of everything.  After writing a guest post about why I homeschool recently for Stef, a dear URL friend, several tender mama hearts have offered me the honor of sharing with them in their journey, of opening the book of my walk for them to see, of helping them find their way, or simply the privilege of listening.

This time of year so many families begin to reevaluate the education and discipleship of their children.  Homeschoolers reflect on the past year in determining goals for the next.  Each child's needs are unique, and the only constant is change.  Some families are taking a closer look at the possibility of homeschooling for the first time.  Their hearts are convicted that this is their calling... because it is indeed a calling upon the whole family... yet that conviction comes with a mingled sense of uncertainty and excitement.

To My Airman, With Love

 
Last Saturday felt like the best hug from my beloved Airman.  As I walked beneath the wings and bellies of Air Force planes and shared time with our troops at Robins AFB, I missed my dad.  These machines and our cherished armed forces apparently course through the blood.  I felt like I was coming home.

My Heart Is In Your Hands

~My Heart Is In Your Hands~

It had been awhile since I looked at this image,

but it seems like yesterday that it was in my lens. 

His Will... His Way

Back home on our family farms the stars shine brighter, the air is clearer and the way just seems more sure.  I suppose that's a part of the known, the familiar.  I don't have to keep monitoring my steps.   It's open space, and I know the paths.  I know where the fence rows are.  I know where I can easily swing over the barbed wire... and where I'll get caught.  I know where the sun will rise and how it will fade behind the trees again come dusk.  I know that there will be three hot meals, when they'll be served and where I'll sit.  And if I've wondered too far, I know the sound of the cast iron dinner bell. There's an ease about that.

 

Sometimes we find ourselves in new experiences, in new places, with new people and the path is uncut.  An adventure for sure!  This prairie girl loves the untamed, the untrod, the unexplored!  But when there are no boundaries and no road markers, no worn trail smooth and sure, you have to know how to find your way.

Wishes

"Mama, may I go wish on the stars?"

It is late.  We've just come home from a long, but beautiful day.

"Yes, little one.  I'll come with you."

I kneel beside this precious child, so small under the expanse above.  Bright eyes look deep into mine for a moment...  and then to the sky.  The soft voice of a little boy rises in the night air.

 

"Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may.  I wish I might.  Have this wish I wish tonight."

My mama heart listens intently to hear the wish.  What does my baby boy desire?  What is his little heart set upon?  Can I make his wish come true?  I long to know the corners of his heart.

A New To-Do List

My to-do list is out of control.  Was out of control.  I have an entirely new list tonight. 

Big life changes have meant a mile-long list of business and busyness.  Until I stopped.  I realized today that in the blink of an eye, that never-ending list was beginning to rob me of more than I can ever achieve from it. Spontaneity. Joy. The moments of , "Oh, come see this, boys!" We moms rely on running lists, and generally once we note a task, it gets accomplished. While it is true that the list as big as Santa's must still be accomplished, it need not consume my life and taint the treasured moments I have with those I love.

So tonight, that list is tucked quietly aside while I make a new list.  A not-to-be-forgotten list.  Things I've always done and don't want to forget.  Things I need to do more often.  Things I need to begin again.  Things I've never done before.  The important stuff. 

My Wild Daisies

It's been one of those days...

When at the end of the day you aren't quite sure where you stand...

But you know you won't forget the journey. 

You will remember it always.

Gentle Men

 

Where have the gentle men gone? Not just gentlemen... but gentle men.  In so outright shaming acts of gentility and chivalry have we not only lost our gentlemen but the gentle men?  We have scoffed when gentlemen open doors, remain standing until ladies are seated, order on a lady's behalf, or otherwise change their decorum to reflect deference for a woman's sensibilities.

Aye, therein does lie the rub?! We refuse to recognize that men are created to be dominate creatures, providers, protectors, defenders, warriors, conquerors and all of the characteristically male behaviors which naturally follow and support this design.  We refuse to recognize that women are created to be nurturing creatures, cultivating an environment of love, learning, growth, nourishment, renewal, tenderness and safe harbor for our mates and our children.  We cast off these designs as mere labels and limitations.

In our pursuit to be modern, to be politically correct, to be equal, we have sent a clear message that gentlemen need not apply.  And so one by one, they disappeared...  these men among men, so strong in character and secure in themselves that they come bearing true gentleness.  Being gentle is not an indication of weakness.  On the contrary, in a gentle man one finds abundant strength.  But in our world of independence and equality we sacrificed perfect design.  We lost the moments of jackets draped across our shoulders, having our hair brushed slow and smooth, having coarse, boisterous speech softened to bright, attentive eyes, having arms opened to tenderly receive.  We lost our gentle men.

Happy Mother's Day

 
To  my mom,

who is as present for these two little girls today as she was then.

I love you

My Road to Homeschooling

You homeschool?! 

 
I have no idea how many times I've attempted to answer those words.  Often they are a question of intrigue, curiosity or surprise.  Let's face it, other times they are a dismissive accusation toward  the life's work I've embraced with my whole heart.  Sometimes they are a wonderful opportunity to come alongside another family searching to find the path we've walked.   When I volunteered to write a guest post for my friend, Stef, about my homeschool journey in order to help families who might be considering this life-altering decision, I didn't know how to summarize the journey that has become our way of life.

How Strong a Nation?

How strong a nation would we be

If hands throughout this land would clasp one after another...

If voices all around the country would rise up

In unison to say,

"Our Father,

Which art in heaven,

Tears Come

Sometimes Tears come. Tears of joy Of surprise Of thanksgiving Of laughter Of cleansing Of inspiration Of faith Of hope Of love.   Sometimes Tears come. Tears of Of desire Of regret Of disappointment Of heartbreak Of goodbye. Sometimes Tears come.   Sometimes Tears come. For the stomachs which ache with hunger For the children alone and scared in the night For those stumbling fearfully in the darkness For the desperate sinking in the sand For the hearts hardened and calloused... and lonely For eyes that will not hear, hearts that will not listen. Sometimes Tears come.  
  Always, He bears them With me.

Promises After the Storm

"Oh child from my heart,

Promise stretches before you in full glory...

Entirely beautiful,

Masterful in design...

Will you joyfully receive  the gift offered unto you,

Or do you look fearfully for the storm?

Why listen for the threat of the wind?

Why look back in caution when the storm has passed?

Yours is today,

A journey unfolding...

A path I have already prepared you to trod.