BUT LOVE...

3 GIFTS IN WEAKNESS...

It had always been that way... dark ... lonely blackness ... painful ugliness. That is all I knew. I had heard the happy people say it should be different, but, since the day of my entry to this world, this was all I knew... my reality.

BUT LOVE...God was always close...a gift

I got married.
My darling wanted to come into my world. He wanted to be close. He was optimistic... positive.

I didn't feel understood... retreated further into the darkness.

BUT LOVE... My darling chose to love me...a gift
He loved me for twelve years without saying a word, before I came to see that I was not well. I had a weakness.

Ten further years my darling loved me before I knew I was free of the darkness.

I had been made weak by the lies fed to me by the enemy of my soul. I chose to believe them... formed beliefs around these lies...convinced by the evidence I saw.

BUT LOVE...God reached out and slowly unraveled the chains that bind.  His strength... a gift

He taught me... I learned... slowly... 2 steps forward, 1 step back... this opportunity to learn, a gift.

He led me... still leads me... my Shepherd.

BUT LOVE...

This freedom is humbling... bends my knee in worship...Forever grateful.

~~~~~

"1000 Gifts"...

#138  A walk in the rain

#139  Opportunity to bless daughter with a ride to the bus stop in the heavy rain

#140  Son company in the supermarket

#141  Conversation with family Bible readings

#142  Finding the missing invoice

#143  Sun peeking through at day's end

#144  Quiet family time

#145  Remembering His goodness

#146  Sick son's goodnight request to not wake him in the morning unless he's dead :)

Victorious through RHYTHM, RHYME & REASON

Intertwined gifts ~

The RHYTHM of the home-schooling drum started beating again today. Third term commences...
19 years and it's still makes my insides hurt ... like a heavy bass in a confined space.

But the gift of RHYTHM has brought another gift...DISCIPLINE
(no wonder my insides hurt...who likes that word?!)

When we started home educating, discipline was not a quality I had very much of. But as I submit to the RHYTHM, I find DISCIPLINE tags along like an uninvited, but not unwanted, friend. The steady RHYTHM of home educating and I, may still not be BFFs (I prefer, by nature, a freer rhythm), but we sure do get along betterer and betterer the more time we spend together.

When I look in envy at my darling's disciplined nature, he tells me the secret is in 'not giving one-self a choice'. Do not ask yourself what you feel like. If you go down that path you'll only get trouble. Instead, just go with the RHYTHM...the RHYTHM of the alarm clock, the RHYTHM of the day's requirements...the RHYTHM of life.

 I try...I fail...I try again...I do a little better

The RHYME of home educating has changed over the years. It's also been a gift.
It used to have verses of games, crafts and fun-based learning. The next stanza - projects, groups and integrated learning. Now in senior years it is much more memorization, studying and text-book learning. But what a lot I've learned as we've gone through it with each one.

The poetry of it all as a whole, etched in the overflowing minds of my children.

But have I done this labour of love for the beauty of the RHYME, or the discipline of the RHYTHM? A resounding 'NO'! There is a REASON!

A REASON...a hope...a dream that we work towards. The REASON makes us keep going when the RHYTHM is hard. The REASON makes us search out new RHYMES to help us through. The REASON makes us able to stand strong and weather the tough times.

RHYTHMs  and RHYMEs help REASON to cross the finish line ...victorious!

~~~~~

"1000 gifts"...

#128  An early morning 'goodbye' cuddle 

#129  Nice memories of yesterday

#130  More fb birthday wishes

#131  Photography tip from creative daughter

#132  The familiar rhythm of school

#133  Daughter's piano chords emerging into a song

#134  Being reminded of the reason we home educate

#135  Easy dinners

#136  Phone call to my darling

#137  Smoothie from kind son