On Being Real...
I recently attended the St. Louis Homeschool Expo. I came away encouraged and peaceful knowing that the thoughts that had recently been constantly swirling in my mind apparently were also swirling in a lot of other folks' minds.
The month prior I had attended the St. Louis Catholic Homeschool Conference and the keynote speaker was Danielle Bean. As I sat and listened I was struck by the fact that it seemed as though she were talking directly to me and the concerns I had recenly been experiencing. In an earlier post, I wrote about my confessions as a catholic homeschool mom and simply as a catholic. I wrote about the struggles of being a 'good enough catholic' and what does that really mean? In no way do I want to suggest that I have a minimalist attitude toward our beautiful catholic faith. Indeed, quite the opposite, I desire to reach the real 'nitty-gritty' of being catholic and christian. I long for a heart that Jesus can visit unexpectedly and not be saddened by what he encounters there. I want my life to be genuinely open to His visit and visibly joyful at His presence.
I have finally started to realize that the faith that I profess is truly most visible and alive in the mess we call life. Yes, I know we have all heard that said before but did we really hear it? The constantly recurring theme that keeps knocking at the door of my heart is that life is MESSY!!! I used the word messy a while back while trying to describe what I was sensing and then everywhere I turned, my favorite writers and fellow catholics and homeschoolers, people were using that very same word - messy. Life is messy! Life cannot be forced into a perfect routine or schedule and unexpected things always happen - always! My husband and I refer to all the unexpected events as 'ankle-biters'. With the passing of time I have come to realize that ankle-biters are not the exception, they are the rule. The sooner we come to grips with the fact that we are not in control the better off we will be because we will simply surrender to God knowing that only He is in control.
Todd Wilson puts this all in perspective in his talk "Will the Real Homeschoolers Please Stand Up". I can't even begin to say it all here and I don't need to because he does it for me. I was so unbelievably relieved and uplifted listening to him because he really knows us. I highly recommend listening to it if you get a chance. I believe I will make a comittment to listen to it annually.
Speaking of messes, I feel like my words have come across rather messy. I'm not sure if I'm able to express myself as well as I once was... I'll keep working on it :-)
Remember to laugh often, especially at yourself! Our shortcomings, the things that we feel we will never be able to overcome - we all need to know that we are not alone. On days when you still find yourself in your pajamas at 1:00 and no one in the house fed a decent meal because you stayed up too late doing something totally unproductive and got up late to discover that your husband left for work mumbling that the dog had a small accident that you quickly find out was actually a really big, stinkly mess that you have to clean up before the other dog that you have agreed to dogsit for a friend for a week arrives and your dad calls and asks you when are you going to learn and then a friend is beeping in on call waiting (you still haven't had a single cup of coffee) as you are taking the doggy vomit/poop clean-up rags to the washing machine and discover that there is a load of laundry from several days ago that has now started to grow mildew and another load in the dryer that has wrinkled clothes including a seriously shrunken soccer uniform for your son who has a game at, oh no! 2:00 in the town that's 35 minutes away... just give it to God and He'll get you through to another day and more unknown adventures.
Hugs,
Susan
The month prior I had attended the St. Louis Catholic Homeschool Conference and the keynote speaker was Danielle Bean. As I sat and listened I was struck by the fact that it seemed as though she were talking directly to me and the concerns I had recenly been experiencing. In an earlier post, I wrote about my confessions as a catholic homeschool mom and simply as a catholic. I wrote about the struggles of being a 'good enough catholic' and what does that really mean? In no way do I want to suggest that I have a minimalist attitude toward our beautiful catholic faith. Indeed, quite the opposite, I desire to reach the real 'nitty-gritty' of being catholic and christian. I long for a heart that Jesus can visit unexpectedly and not be saddened by what he encounters there. I want my life to be genuinely open to His visit and visibly joyful at His presence.
I have finally started to realize that the faith that I profess is truly most visible and alive in the mess we call life. Yes, I know we have all heard that said before but did we really hear it? The constantly recurring theme that keeps knocking at the door of my heart is that life is MESSY!!! I used the word messy a while back while trying to describe what I was sensing and then everywhere I turned, my favorite writers and fellow catholics and homeschoolers, people were using that very same word - messy. Life is messy! Life cannot be forced into a perfect routine or schedule and unexpected things always happen - always! My husband and I refer to all the unexpected events as 'ankle-biters'. With the passing of time I have come to realize that ankle-biters are not the exception, they are the rule. The sooner we come to grips with the fact that we are not in control the better off we will be because we will simply surrender to God knowing that only He is in control.
Todd Wilson puts this all in perspective in his talk "Will the Real Homeschoolers Please Stand Up". I can't even begin to say it all here and I don't need to because he does it for me. I was so unbelievably relieved and uplifted listening to him because he really knows us. I highly recommend listening to it if you get a chance. I believe I will make a comittment to listen to it annually.
Speaking of messes, I feel like my words have come across rather messy. I'm not sure if I'm able to express myself as well as I once was... I'll keep working on it :-)
Remember to laugh often, especially at yourself! Our shortcomings, the things that we feel we will never be able to overcome - we all need to know that we are not alone. On days when you still find yourself in your pajamas at 1:00 and no one in the house fed a decent meal because you stayed up too late doing something totally unproductive and got up late to discover that your husband left for work mumbling that the dog had a small accident that you quickly find out was actually a really big, stinkly mess that you have to clean up before the other dog that you have agreed to dogsit for a friend for a week arrives and your dad calls and asks you when are you going to learn and then a friend is beeping in on call waiting (you still haven't had a single cup of coffee) as you are taking the doggy vomit/poop clean-up rags to the washing machine and discover that there is a load of laundry from several days ago that has now started to grow mildew and another load in the dryer that has wrinkled clothes including a seriously shrunken soccer uniform for your son who has a game at, oh no! 2:00 in the town that's 35 minutes away... just give it to God and He'll get you through to another day and more unknown adventures.
Hugs,
Susan
I was there too! I thought Danielle really spoke to the heart's of mothers that day.
ReplyDeleteMaureen in IL
LOL! Messy, that summed it up pretty well!! I have a draft from that day but couldn't form coherent sentences such that anyone besides you and I could follow along so it never got published. TY for saying it better than I could! btw what reality is this you speak of where we let go of control?? tell me more :)
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