Sunflower Discipleship

This was written by my dear friend, Stephanie Farris. Her family has been such a blessing and encouragement to us in the 5 years that we have known them. Read on to see why...

"It's that time of year...planting season. Last year, we planted seeds in a few of those seed starter containers. We sat out on our patio and neatly planted row after row of tomato, squash, lettuce, various herbs and sunflower seeds. We left the containers on the patio and hoped for the best. It was one of those home school days you feel like yay...good day!

Well, we had a torrential rain later that week. The container was flooded and seemingly ruined. I am a notoriously great starter. I love to take on new projects and am visionary and excited about starting things. It is the details and follow through I have trouble with. I love creating schedules, planning for the year, dreaming big. It is in the day to day I seem to fall so short. I get sidetracked easily. I grow weary and tired in the dailiness and the need for consistency and follow through. Spring Fever is rampant in my house and the difficulty is finishing and not fizzling:)

Well, nothing really grew well in those containers. We forgot about them. I chalked it up to having fun starting the garden. Just another example of a great start. Thankfully, I am laid back and I have a husband who thinks I am great no matter what I do or don't do:)

In about a month, I noticed a strange plant growing near the corner of my house right outside my kitchen window. I asked a friend what it was...thinking some kind of strange weed. She said it looked like a sunflower. Remembering the washed away seeds, I was somewhat amazed. Over the next few weeks we delightedly watched as several different varieties of sunflowers began to grow. They soon grew taller than my children, then taller than me, then taller than my 6 foot 5 husband( much to my kids delight!!) The blooms were amazing and we would watch each morning from our breakfast table as the heads would turn toward the sun. At lunch, they seemed to reach straight up shining their beautiful faces toward the overhead noonday sun. At the end of the day, the heads were facing the setting sun. They followed the sun throughout the day. It was like they couldn't get enough of that warmth and just sweetly and gently, slowly followed the sun wherever it went throughout the day.

Those little sunflowers brought our family so much joy and we took incredible delight in them.

There are many parallels in these little sunflower seeds to our lives as homeschoolers. We sow broadly( or even by accident on some days!. We diligently read the Bible to our kids, teach them Biblical principles like: be kind, God loves you, He is with you always, be honest, God created us to glorify Him, etc. We memorize verses. Sometimes, I wonder if they are getting thorough...taking root. I have done a ton of devotionals. We've read through Children's Bibles, done Bible time from curriculum's, character studies and books. I always feel a little inadequate. But, just like the sunflowers, my children's faith sprouts and grows and I see them turning toward The Son on a regular basis throughout the day. There is nothing sweeter than a little one seeing God in the midst of finding a parking place, helping them persevere in a trial or thanking Him for answering a prayer.

It is in these little moments, throughout the day that I see God at work in my life, in their lives. Jesus says in James if we draw near to Him he will draw near to us. As we think about Him and turn our face, our hearts, our minds towards Him from the start of our day, throughout our day, and at the end of our day, then our moments with our children will be the most fruitful, the most surprisingly beautiful. We may look out on our little family and see tall strong believers who tower in their love, hope and faith in Christ.

Discipling our children is just being with them. Homeschooling is about being there in the dailiness. It is about noticing the subtle ways the Lord is at work and throughout the day andd pointing them to Jesus. It is usually my heart that needs Him the most. God is good to sow broadly in my own heart and to teach me how to grow in Him. I am so excited to see how continuing to sow broadly from God's word will continue to develop little disciples for Him!!! Dawson Trottman says the only two things that are lasting are the Word of God and the souls of men. To spend your days discipling your children these short school years will reap a lifetime of things that last!!!!

Isn't God so good to give us pictures of how to love Him in His creation?

This time of year it's challenging to keep pressing on. The dailiness of wearing all of the hats we wear can be wearying. Try just wearing your sun hat for a few days and thinking like a gardener. Look to the SON and just rest in Him...sweetly, gently with a heart of love follow Him throughout your day and as you do your little disciples will be drawn to His warmth, grace and love as well!!

It's planting time again. I think I'll go scatter some sunflower seeds and see what happens:)"

Electricity?

Our little musical Rebekah loves to vacuum while listening to the ipod, singing away at the top of her lungs. It makes us all giggle, although, not much dirt is getting sucked away. Well, except for that one spot she does over and over and over and over...



The kids asked me if I had an ipod when I was a little girl. "No," I replied. "But I did have a walkman when I was in high school." "A what??" was their response.

The kids came rushing in the back door a few days ago wanting to know what the strange bug was that they had found. "Let's go look it up on the internet, Mom. We can google it." So we did. As we were googling away I told them that when I was a kid and found a strange bug, we'd go the encyclopedia or wait a few days until we could get to town to the library to pour through books to find out what it was. They looked at me as though I had 4 heads.

"You know, cell phones weren't around either."

"You're kidding! Did you have electricity?"

Ouch.

I don't think of myself as old. I feel young. But, I suppose in the eyes of my children, I am old. After all, I have an insurance policy.

Which confuses me because these little lines have been creeping around on my face lately. And our culture definitely does not value lines on a woman's face. (What's that commercial? 'Parenthese are fine, but not around your mouth. Try Botox! You, too, can inject yourself full of poison...') For what?

Our culture is quite focused on youth and beauty and not the wisdom that can come with the advancing years. (I say can because God clearly says that wisdom comes from Him and not with just growing older. Proverbs 2:6 - 'For the Lord gives wisdom...') I mean if our culture valued & respected age then Walmart would sell age spot cream. No, not the type of cream that makes them disappear, but the kind of cream that puts them on. It would sell like hotcakes.

Do I value and respect age?

'Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the LORD.' Leviticus 19:32

Strawberry Fun

Recess today consisted of picking 12 pounds of strawberries in about 12 minutes at Boone Hall Plantation - just a couple of miles from our house, then home for a strawberry lunch. Between the 4 big kids and me, we ate 3 pounds just for lunch! Mmmmm, I just love a big, red, juicy, sun-warmed strawberry fresh off the plant. Delicious!!

Education?

Well, we made it. We finally memorized all 43 presidents of the United States of America. I've included a clip below of Logan racing through them. It represents Logan's personality perfectly - get it done quickly, efficiently and don't waste his time. He is a no nonsense type of guy. I pray for his future wife. A lot. She will be an amazing gentle woman of great patience and understanding. I can't wait to meet her.

I must admit I was hesitant to post this video of Logan. But then I thought it'd give me a great opportunity to expand on something that God has been teaching Rich and I for a number of years now. We're finally starting to get it.

Why are we educating our children? What is our goal? Several years ago I would have responded, 'To get into a good college.' But what kind of goal is that? So, they get into a good college. Is that really the goal? That may or may not be a stepping stone, but that really isn't the goal. The goal is for them to be successful. But what does that mean? Whose glasses am I seeing success through? The world's? Or God's? God's Word is full of references to anyone who is a disciple of Christ - they are the successful ones. If my children love God with all of their heart, mind, soul, and strength, then they will be guaranteed success. A very wise friend of ours wrote this recently:

"I am amazed at how unwittingly we fall into the pagan worship of higher education. We are mortified that this 'pagan god' will not view us favorably. Will I send my kids to college? Maybe. My fundamental goal is discipleship. A disciple of Christ will be successful. A college educated kid may or may not be successful. A disciple of Christ may or may not go to college but will always be successful. God guarantees success: colleges can't."

While we are teaching our kids to read, communicate the spoken and written word with proficiency, the intricacies of proper punctuation, their math facts and more - it is no longer our primary focus. Their success in these disciplines does not guarantee them success in life.

Our 'school' day always begins in the Word of God. The past few weeks I have been praying for my kids to have a love for the Word of God that will last them their entire lifetime. I can already see the Lord answering. Rebekah runs up to me several times a day asking me to read her a story from her Bible storybook. Our Easter gift to the kids this year was the Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos. It's great! Our daily reading leaves them begging for more and into amazing discussions with depth of insight that amazes me for their ages. I see them growing in wisdom.

Then, if we have time we learn the 43 presidents of our country, in order. I can't wait to tell them they'll have to add another one in a few months...

Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Adams, Jackson, Van Buren, Harrison, Tyler, Polk, Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, Lincoln, Johnson, Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, Harrison, Cleveland, McKinley, T. Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, F. Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush

Logamotion

5 years ago I renewed my driver's license. (It's time to do it again.) 5 years ago I was 5 years younger. (Bet you couldn't have figured that one out.) 5 years ago I didn't know what I know now. (More on that later) And 5 years ago, our little Logan was born. "Logamotion." Or sometimes just "Motion." That nickname describes it all.

Right now I often see a little boy who loves to push the boundaries to see what he can get away with. But that actually excites me. I am praying that his determination and drive given to him by his Creator, God, will be used in mighty and powerful ways to advance the Kingdom of God. He is a fighter. He is determined. He is a leader. When he gets something on his mind, he does not let go - until his goal is achieved. I love that about my sweet little guy. Although, in his rough 5 year old state, it needs a lot of polishing. His daddy and I pray constantly that we are doing all that the Lord has directed us to teach him in the way of the Lord - to teach him self-control, otherness-thinking, compassion and most of all to love the Lord God with all of his heart, his strength, his mind and his soul. Left unpolished and untrained, our little guy could grow up with an inward focus, using all that energy, determination and drive to further only Logan's kingdom. Do you know someone like that? I think we all do and it ain't pretty!

For all of Logan's rough and tough exterior, he knows how to turn on 'sweet' and make his Mama melt. For some reason I just love the way he says, "Mommy, may I please have some Honey Vanilla Chamomile tea?" He can have all the tea in China when he smiles at me with his cute little dimples and ask me for his tea.

Happy Birthday, Logan! I love you!



New bike from Grandma and Grandpa-------Birthday candle fun!


Daddy and Anna on the big slide. Wheee!----Friends at his birthday party at jump castle heaven.


Logan decorated his 5 layer birthday cake all by himself!

Nothing Deep - Just Some Fun Pictures

Older Brothers

I have often wondered why my female friends with older brothers seem a bit more adventurous than I. They have a certain toughness about them, although, I'm not sure that's exactly the right word I'm looking for. Not a lot ruffles their feathers. When adversity or a challenge occurs, they seem ready to face the challenge head on. With 2 little girls in our house having 2 older brothers, I'm beginning to understand. The dots are starting to connect. See for yourself what I mean.