Butterfly love!

I used to say to people, "I'm going to home school our kids." Even though Daniel is completely supportive and enthusiastic about the idea, I considered the task mine to bear. I do believe I'm going to change my way of thinking and speaking about our homeschooling endeavours, however.

When we were 17 years old and driving in the car, Daniel looked at me out of nowhere and quietly asked, "When we have kids, will you keep them home and teach them?" This was not a question with the tone of how I will educate them (public, private or homeschooling) or even about my thoughts on the prior choices. This was a question coming from a young boy who wanted me (his future wife) to care for and teach our children in our home. He was asking me to do something I already believed so passionately in. He was asking me to live out a dream that God planted in me long ago. This boy, who so many believed had no aspirations, dreams or hope of a future, knew that he wanted his children to be taught at home by their mother in an environment that would enable them to learn about Jesus as much as evolution.

I know I have said it before, but that day so many years ago was a confirmation of my love for this man. That was the day that I knew without a doubt I would marry him, follow him, stand beside him and have his children. I loved him quickly, easily and eagerly before that day, no doubt. But it was that question, and that moment that God gave to me from the mouth of this young boy that spoke volumes to my heart. I knew that I had found my husband--the one that would also stand beside me and believe in me, no matter what path I chose.

Daniel doesnt even remember that day. When I talk to him about it and smile, he casually shrugs his shoulders as if it's just another memory. And it is, I suppose.

It's mine. God gave it to me. He knows just what we need.

Now, back to homeschooling. Ahem.

When Jake was younger and my mom was teaching him at home, I enjoyed the different ways that she came up with to make sure he was learning. For instance, sometimes he would go into the post office for her and buy stamps. Seeing how change was made, how the exchange of money for a product took place and interacting with people working in the public were things that he learned in a 5 minute experience outside of a classroom. I love that!

So the other day when Daniel called me from his mail route to tell me that he had found a butterfly cocoon I couldn't help but get excited. I told him to bring it home so we could show the kids. Nora has a few different books about butterflies that we have read before, but how awesome to be able to give her a real-life image to put with the words we were reading. When daddy got home, we whipped out the book and explained all about the process of becoming a beautiful butterfly! It was awesome.

The night he brought it home, Daniel used his infamous duct tape to attach it to a stick. He hung it above where our laptop sits, close to our living room. It was a beautiful teal color with gold embedded into it... That night, we looked it up online and discovered that it was, in fact, a monarch butterfly and that it could take weeks to emerge from the cocoon. We were going to wait! The next morning, however, it looked like this... A few hours later as I was blogging away, I looked above me to find that our beauty was climbing out of hiding! She was gorgeous and so calm. The whole process was extremely delicate and simple. Or so it seemed. And no mess! Just a beautiful, symmetrical gift from God. The kids were in awe, watching it climb out of it's home. It took a long time for her to finally spread her wings. In fact, Daniel came home just to see it and I asked him to take her outside. A couple hours later, I spotted her with her wings wide open and not long after, she made her way to my gorgeous flowers! It was incredible and made me feel so fulfilled! Watching this butterfly overwhelmed me! It also excites me knowing that even now, Daniel & I are still on the same page about teaching our children. It was important to both of us to show them exactly how the butterfly came to be and I'm sure we'll share the same excitement over many things to come as we dive into this journey of homeschooling.

I am beyond blessed to have a partner who not only supports me, and believes in me to teach our children...but who joins with me to do so. He's a great dad and I am thankful that we are on this path together. It's going to be challenging, no doubt. But even watching this butterfly spread it's wings and fly away gave me hope that we can teach our children to do the same. Elegantly, tactfully, and gracefully.

Won't you join with us in praying for schools around this world? Children are learning and growing every day and although they are resilient, they need our strength in prayers to get them through. As do their teachers, mentors, and parents. No matter what choice a family makes for their child's education, it is the right one for them and we firmly believe in praying for not only our own children, but those in private schools and public alike. This is the future generation, after all. And they need us to stand in for them to make a difference! God has a plan for the children of this age. Do you see it? Do you want to be part of it?

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Oh, oh, oh! I wanted to announce the winner of the giveaway from a few days ago!

Angie, my dear, you will be receiving a cute scarecrow decoration to hang in your house this fall! Send me your address to my email and I'll mail it out asap. Thanks for being such a faithful reader and friend! I'm thankful that you're in my life!