Every Day Courage.

This week our history sentence has to do with writing the Consitution. We are back to reading more Landmark Books, which are wonderful, and Jean Fritz, who is one of my fav children's authoress'. It will be a rich week of reading and I'm glad that we have a couple of weeks to cover the books. Today was FULL and went fast- we spent a couple of hours on Bible as we missed it last week. We are really enjoying Memoria Press' Christian Studies and like all of Memoria Press curriculum, it is outstanding. The kids are always a little shocked at how FULL of humanity the Bible is and we had a great time discussing, memorizing and making time lines.

KB is back from her 2 month trek to TN, KY, OH and Washington D.C. The "Above Rubies" internship was not what was expected but full of surprises and growth. She suffered a little bit of cultural whiplash, I believe, going from the hollers of TN, without running water, to D.C. with all of it's glitz and swirl, to the grandparents and uncles houses that are solidly middle-to-upper-class, to home. Which is home. With all of it's familiarity and comfort and simpleness and faucets that don't work and parents who are human and little sibs who want to lounge on her and play with her. It is good to have her here. Flower says at every prayer, "Thank-you, God, for bringing KB back and please bring R back too."

I have been thinking a lot about Courage today. Every day courage. The courage that it takes to live and live well. Like Mel says in Braveheart, "Every man dies, not every man really lives." One of my proverbs is that "Life is never what you expect." It's always more expensive, more mundance, more difficult. Our husbands and in-laws and kids and selves are not what we thought they would or should be. It's easy to get discouraged. It's easy to give up. It's easy to just get by.

There is a lot in life that takes courage. Simple, every day courage. Bravely facing the day, when it is full of creditors calls, or sick children, or bad weather, illness, or a complicated marriage or just plain boredom. Dishes and laundry and mess. Courage. Every day courage is staying married when you find out your spouse is human, boring and disappointing. Every day courage is praying for that spouse, struggling together through the tough spots, being the iron that sharpens iron. How much easier not to be the sandpaper, to just play nice, to just get by! Every day courage is getting the dishes done and the dog doo cleaned up and the noses wiped. Like Verdi says on the Walton's, "They knew what to do and they did it. You can't get any better than that!"

This year we've done a lot of courageous things. We've said "good-bye" to Miss R as she boarded a plane to travel alone to the other end of the world. We've said "good-bye" to her again as she left for college, 15 hours away. We've suffered disappointments in ministry and left situations. We've courageously turned down jobs, that while they paid very well, were not what God had called us to. We've forced our children to learn and grow and stretch. We've continued to see the art in each other, when circumstances, or illness, or age have really caused us to be uglified. Some days have been harder than others. This past spring we suffered a disapointment that if it had worked out,would have put all of the jabs and jeers and mocking to shame. It didn't work out. I was sorely discouraged. For awhile. But some friends and Viking Man shared the courage they had, prayed me up and I found some more.

Life is never what you expect, for sure. Reading the history of this great nation, the beginnings of it, along with the beginnings of the Bible, we have been meeting lots of courageous people. They stood up to tryanny and godlessness, envisioned a new way of thinking and believing, held fast to God and each other, depstie all of the uglifying that happens as you live courageously. Being people of the Word has it's advantages. We get to know each other, despite the limitations of time and space, through the pages of a book. It's an honor to meet these dear hearts who let freedom ring long ago. Can't wait to meet them personally on the other side!

And I am grateful.

12. My in-laws generously gifted us a gently used mini-van; it has working windows! and A.C. and lots of other fun and frivolous features. The littles are in awe. We are so blessed!

13. My bil and sil gifted us with gently used kitchen cabinets and counter top! We set in one of the base counters and doubled our counter top space. Our old counters are 6" below standard height - it's hard on the old back when you are tall. Woohoo!

14. KB is home. Older (18 now!) and wiser and more directed.

15. We were able to see Miss. R this week-end. Her school was closed for the week due to Ike and she spent the week at G'mas, and made the trip so we could have lunch with her.

16. For homeschooling. To have time to teach my children. It is such a gift.

17. For our garden. Today we harvested a counter top full of green peppers, cukes, tomatoes, green beans, basil, mint, parsly, carrots.

18. For our library of children's books. For the creativity and talent and giftedness of so many authors.

19. For our kittens who are snuggly and friendly and fun.

20. For our pooch, whom we love depsite her dog-like qualities.

21. For our good friends in TN, who KB was able to spend 2 week-ends with. For the family of God, who are truly family.

22. For the vibrancy and color and warmth and coolness of fall.

23. For the good folks at Veritas Press and the wonderful Omnibus curriculum.

24. For the scholarship that was gifted to Miss. R. Full-ride, 4-years.

25. For my marriage and my husband; good, bad and ugly. He is still THE Man for me and I'm still his woman.