Can I get a Witness?

"For as long as I shall live, I will testify to love. I'll be a witness in the silences when words are not enough. With every breath I take, I will give thanks to God above."

The day the reporter came from CNN to conduct our interview, Danny and I both questioned afterwards why it seemed we had both muted our faith in our responses to the interviewer. "Why do we homeschool?" I answered that it was because I felt it was best for our family. Necessarily succinct, yet the answer falls short of the truth. We homeschool because we believe as parents, God has assigned to us the responsibility of our children's education, and that we can give them a better education than any other school. Ultimately, I am accountable to the Lord. But perhaps I didn't find that answer suitably palatable when the camera was rolling. Even in private conversation with the crew later on, when opportunity came up to praise God, even simply to acknowledge his leading and provision in our lives, I just clammed up.

A week later at the homeschool moms park playgroup, there was a woman present who, since I had last seen her a year prior, had gotten divorced and remarried. She had a miserable way about her, lamenting her ex-husband's lack of support, dwelling on her organizational shortcomings, anxious about, well, everything. The thought crossed my mind that her mind and her life would be so different if she knew the Lord- peace that passeth understanding, joy of the Lord and strength that follows, shoulders to cast our burdens upon... not that I walk in this freedom all the time myself, but the Word of God promises that we have only to seize those blessings that have already been secured for us."How do you have it all together?" she asked. Hah! "Couldn't do it without my husband's support," I replied. I think I was a little bit tired that day. Ultimately, I guess I was feeling a little bit selfish. I gave an answer where no further explanation was required. And though it's true that Danny is instrumental, he's only as instrumental as he is available for God to use him. I totally left out the most important factor: the impetus, the motivator, the enabler... God.

Then last night, at our church's Thanksgiving Praise service, of all places, I did it again. I failed to give credit where credit is due. One after another, our church family members got up to thank God for miracles- emotional healing, lives spared in a near-fatal collision, financial provision, being placed on the list for kidney transplant.... but I couldn't think of anything so spectacular. I was just thankful that Danny came home from work safely every workday. And that my children were in good health. That I had a roof over my head. I felt compelled to speak on behalf of those that were grateful for 'normal.' So I stood at the mic with Noemie in my arms and my spasmodic dysphonia ( I HATE public speaking) and thanked God for the miracles he had done in our lives that we maybe didn't know about, and certainly, for the "normal" that we did know about. I felt kind of silly about it when I sat down, and got progressively more and more uncomfortable as the service went on and God brought to mind the great things he had done over the year that I forgot. Most significantly, Giannina's home birth where, not only was it a miracle that I was home at the time it happened, that people everywhere were praying at that moment because God had laid me on a friend's heart, and that the midwife arrived in time....but that God seemed to flag each miracle because he knew someday I'd shrug it off as coincidence, luck, or aligning planets. And just like the Israelites are so famously chided for forgetting God's miraculous provisions during their desert wanderings, here was I forgetting what God had done for me. Thousands of years later, human nature is still the same.

It's as if these recent failings of mine to acknowledge God's hand in my life is a facet on the gem that is "speaking the truth in love," but a facet that was turned away from the light while I was busy polishing another. At a homeschool parent support group recently, a speaker was encouraging parents to "speak Life" to their kids. What he meant by this was to use the Bible intentionally in our conversation, instruction, and discipline of our kids. Which carries more weight... mom saying, "You are so pretty!" or God saying, "You are fearfully and wonderfully made!"? Using the Bible for correction is wonderful because one, it excuses you from having to justify rules, assuming the rules you implement are the ones that are biblical. It also is a good check to make sure your rules aren't overbearing, or too lenient. Our list of house rules includes: Don't let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth (Ex. 20:16; Eph 4:29), Honor your father and mother (Ex. 20:12; Eph 6:2) and the often cited, BE KIND (Lev. 19:18; Mark 12:28-31; Eph 4:32). Dominic's even quoted it to me on occasion when he's gotten in trouble. My personal favorite is "Do everything decently and in order" (1 Cor. 14:40), which includes making the sofa a no-fly-zone and requiring that boogers go in tissues. Again, which carries more weight...mom saying, "...Because I said so!" or mom saying, "...Because we love the Lord!"? Another couple major advantages are accountability (you have to be reading God's Word if you're going to use it), and that it stresses to your family that God's Word is as important as you say it is. It's a lamp unto our feet! That's what I've been working on lately. I win some, I lose some.

We've had a lot more victories in school lately. Dominic's taken on cursive; and he has his mother's knack for it. I always thought the modern school standard D'Nealian script was kind of ugly, so I'm teaching him a cross between D'Nealian and Spencerian penmanship, which was the American standard in the 1920s. I can do that because I'm the teacher! Noemie's chugging along in her reader- more than halfway done! She's also working on manuscript writing, her arpeggios on the piano, and in her leisure time likes to do research on porcupines. She might be less interested in porcupines if she actually saw one.

 And Toby's actually beginning to speak intelligibly. Word has it, he even said the letters of his name in Sunday School last weekend! When I say intelligibly, what I mean is, that I can understand him sometimes. "Cannuhaf?" means "can I have it?" It's his favorite phrase, and usually follows a kitchen break-in. His name for "Papi" is Paaaaah! Predictably, Mami is Maaaaah! Noemie is Nnnnn, and Dominic is Kai, and Giannina is Jah!
 

 

Our homeschool group wrapped up the unit on sound and music. During the course of study, we visited a pediatric audiologist, a music store, a marching band practice, and an orchestra. The group also met one day to perform sound experiments. On Dominic's birthday, Tio Diego brought over his saxophone and Tio Jonny brought over his clarinet. Both Dominic and Noemie were able to make appreciable melodic sounds! They also had some success with a French horn a few weeks later after the orchestra performance. Dominic wants to learn the trumpet someday. Have him perform his Malagueña trumpet routine sometime. Just don't ask him to do it in front of me. I've had enough WAH WAH WAAAAAAH to last me until I must suffer through the real thing!

 

We're doing a quick Thanksgiving unit this week. Today I asked everyone what they were thankful for. Dominic was thankful for his Legos, his [Nerf] guns, and his skateboard. Noemie listed every individual member of our family, then added that she was also thankful that so many people know her name. "I'm kinda famous," she adds. Toby, when asked, responded with Ca-'na-Ha (Cat in the Hat). Where will we go next with our units?

Giannina started sitting up, eating solid foods, and getting up on her hands and knees. She's on the fast track! Not sure what the hurry is... Toby believes with his whole heart that she belongs to him. She accepts his generous, robust affection with great patience. Sometimes with amusement, sometimes with a sigh. She seems to be ok with this for now.

The house search was put on hold because of some logistical interruptions. And that exercise routine Danny and I started a few months ago? That was over in like 2 days. Oh well.