Grateful for the “We Made It!” Adventures
I often remember the night we pulled into the driveway after a trip out west. Mary Evelyn, six-months pregnant, was at the wheel. The other passengers in the van were Ray, our son-in-law Nate, our then-two-year-old, and me. We were at the end of a fun-packed trip. It had been a great combination — homeschool conventions in California, Arizona, and Colorado and sightseeing at the Grand Canyon, Chaco Canyon, Bandelier, and Painted Desert national parks along the way. I had enjoyed my middle seat next to our granddaughter, all the way to California and back.
Two hours before getting home, we had stopped to see my mother in the hospital, where she was recovering well from her first stroke. She couldn’t talk yet, but she could sing “Jesus Loves Me.”
When we pulled into the driveway, our granddaughter piped up: “We’re home! We made it! Good job, Mama!” My heart swells every time I remember it. Ray and I have pulled into that driveway after dozens and dozens of trips since then. Every time we do so, we feel exactly like she did that night.
We feel that way after other grand adventures, too. Today Ray and I are basking in another “We’re home. We made it!” experience. After months of researching and writing and graphic design and proofreading and gallons of kefir water . . .
. . . our family and our co-workers just finished a huge adventure (actually Ray and I drank almost all of those gallons of kefir water). We sent Our Star-Spangled Story (our first history curriculum for grades 1-4) to the printer in the early hours of Monday morning. In this amazing “age we live in” (one of Ray’s common sayings is “What an age we live in”), the company that prints our books overnighted proofs to us later that day and we received them yesterday. It was my joy to co-write this curriculum with our two homeschooling mama daughters, Bethany and Mary Evelyn.
We have lots of stories about this process. Here is one of my favorites. One day one of our daughters was sitting at her computer. She gave her four-year-old permission to have some time on another computer. After a little while, she told him it was time to wrap up the picture he was making on the screen. After a bit, he said: “I was working on Notgrass History. I guess that’s why it took me so long.”
Yesterday morning our videographer and I made an introductory video that we plan to send out later today. Please rejoice with us in our “We made it!” experience. We made three other videos which we plan to send out in the next few days.
When we are in our right minds, we all should get down on our knees and thank the Creator of the Universe for every “We made it!” experience. Only by the grace of God do any of us ever do anything. I love that homeschooling gives us the opportunity to help our children see that in every aspect of what they learn.
Happy Wednesday, Everyone!
Rejoice always;
pray without ceasing;
in everything give thanks;
for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
I Thessalonians 5:16-18
PTL for His blessings every day!
And this made me think of the BEST blessing… We can KNOW that we WILL make it to Heaven if we are trusting in Christ. That surety is priceless.
Thanks again for your wonderful encouragements.
Congratulations, Charlene and Ray! So happy that your curriculum is complete, and wishing I still had a child in that age range!:-)
On another note…I just love how you and Ray, dress “for the office” while working at home. Ray with his crisp button-downs and you with your dresses and colorful leggings. I just find it a breath of fresh air to see people looking professional and caring enough to be dressed for the day!:-) Thanks for always being an inspiration in many ways, big and little!