God in the Everyday
As amazing as it is to me that my husband loves me, it is even more astounding that the Lord cares for me. We’re studying astronomy this quarter, and the more I learn about the cosmos, the more I say with David:
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;
What is man that You take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him? (Psalm 8:3,4)
Yes, I know that He even cares for the birds and the flowers, but sometimes I find it hard to believe that He would actually be concerned about the mundane details of my life. This week I had one of those tender reminders of His love, even in the non-earth shaking things.
The past few weeks have been kind of rough ones in our homeschool. There’s just been too much to do, and not enough of me to go around. If I give someone enough attention, then someone or something else slips through the cracks. I’m already using all the tricks I know – pairing up kids to work on some subjects, teaching in groups, using the computer, etc. The older ones are very independent workers, but there are so many young ones. One day early this week I called Tim and said, “Something has to change. I don’t know what, but something! I think I need a teacher’s aide.”
Mornings are the real crunch time around here. Last year, second semester, our oldest daughter gave up an hour each morning to help as needed, usually teaching language arts to one sibling or another. (The first semester, when we were in crisis mode with a preemie baby, she gave not just an hour a day, but her life for our family.) Kristen, next in line, goes a long way in making up for Kara’s absence, especially in caring for Benjamin, but there’s still a huge hole.
“Time for some serious reevaluation of our schedule,” I thought. Usually when this happens I take an evening at the library to think, pray, and reconsider how to accomplish what the Lord wants for us. Maybe something needs to be dropped. Maybe I need to coordinate the children better with one another. Maybe…
Before I even had a chance to do that (and I still need to), the Lord dropped a wonderful surprise in my lap as a partial solution. Friday morning we heard a knock at the door, and to our surprise it was not the UPS man (our only normal interruption during school hours), but my sweet mother who had come to help us out with school! Here’s what’s interesting: I had not talked to her at all about my frustrations. She had just decided to drop one of her volunteer activities and replace it with helping out at Pleasant Hill School (that’s us) instead! So on some regular basis, maybe once a week, she will be coming out to help teach!
What a gracious provision from the Lord!
All around us there are clues that God is at work answering prayer, sparing us from something unpleasant or dangerous, teaching us something about Himself. Divine pennies gleam at our feet. How often do we step on them or ignore them in the busyness of life?
(Anne Kroekker, The Contemplative Mom)
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;
What is man that You take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him? (Psalm 8:3,4)
Yes, I know that He even cares for the birds and the flowers, but sometimes I find it hard to believe that He would actually be concerned about the mundane details of my life. This week I had one of those tender reminders of His love, even in the non-earth shaking things.
The past few weeks have been kind of rough ones in our homeschool. There’s just been too much to do, and not enough of me to go around. If I give someone enough attention, then someone or something else slips through the cracks. I’m already using all the tricks I know – pairing up kids to work on some subjects, teaching in groups, using the computer, etc. The older ones are very independent workers, but there are so many young ones. One day early this week I called Tim and said, “Something has to change. I don’t know what, but something! I think I need a teacher’s aide.”
Mornings are the real crunch time around here. Last year, second semester, our oldest daughter gave up an hour each morning to help as needed, usually teaching language arts to one sibling or another. (The first semester, when we were in crisis mode with a preemie baby, she gave not just an hour a day, but her life for our family.) Kristen, next in line, goes a long way in making up for Kara’s absence, especially in caring for Benjamin, but there’s still a huge hole.
“Time for some serious reevaluation of our schedule,” I thought. Usually when this happens I take an evening at the library to think, pray, and reconsider how to accomplish what the Lord wants for us. Maybe something needs to be dropped. Maybe I need to coordinate the children better with one another. Maybe…
Before I even had a chance to do that (and I still need to), the Lord dropped a wonderful surprise in my lap as a partial solution. Friday morning we heard a knock at the door, and to our surprise it was not the UPS man (our only normal interruption during school hours), but my sweet mother who had come to help us out with school! Here’s what’s interesting: I had not talked to her at all about my frustrations. She had just decided to drop one of her volunteer activities and replace it with helping out at Pleasant Hill School (that’s us) instead! So on some regular basis, maybe once a week, she will be coming out to help teach!
What a gracious provision from the Lord!
All around us there are clues that God is at work answering prayer, sparing us from something unpleasant or dangerous, teaching us something about Himself. Divine pennies gleam at our feet. How often do we step on them or ignore them in the busyness of life?
(Anne Kroekker, The Contemplative Mom)
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