When Homeschooling went from frustrating to beautiful part 2

I firmly believe in long luxurious Saturday mornings.
A third cup of coffee?  Yes please.
Still in jammies at 9:30 am,
 perched at the window taking in a swath of forest in quiet contemplation suits me just fine.
The rest of the family know it is a more relaxed, hushed morning.
 The teens sleep in.
Our littles have anticipated, plotted and planned what creative play
these carefree hours will hold.
Eventually, I will make a big, lavish brunch of warm comfort food.
Saturdays are defined by order and structure
 that become a standard of living 
which breathes life
 and beauty into our home.

Order and beauty.

The question was posed to me a few weeks ago:
 "Just how did you  transform your home schooling into something beautiful?"

We began with a new vision for raising our children.
  First, we endeavored to live a life of nurturing. (part 1)

Secondly, seeing that our children had met the necessary educational standards
 suddenly became not enough,
 and, not even the point.
 What was our reason for home schooling anyway?
This must be determined.
Without a goal, there is nothing to aim at.
"Where there is no vision, the people perish."
(Proverbs 29:18)
We determined that what was most important to us is
that our children would grow in refinement, in knowledge, in strength,
in wisdom, in patience, gentleness, kindliness, in physical vigor,
 and be trained in all that would make them true and noble men and women.

Obviously, it would take more than a good working knowledge of math, English and science.

Our definite purpose
 is that of training, building up, and sending out people
filled with lofty ideas and aspirations,
governed by principles of honor
 and outfitted to embark upon the duties and struggles of life
 with wisdom and faith.

So, what kind of culture would produce such results?

Again, we turned to the rich wisdom of J.R. Miller in the book "Homemaking."
"There is nothing in all the influences
 and surroundings of the home so small 
that it does not leave its touch of beauty 
or of marring
 upon the life. Wherever a child grows up
 it carries in its character 
the subtle impressions of the home in which it lives."

 Wow. Oh my.
 Wow.
This would not be a task easily attained,
 and it would take everything we have to make it happen,
 and alot we didn't have.
 It was these thoughts, the gravity of the responsibility,
that drove us to our knees and caused us to cling to the Lord for the strength, resolve,
 and perseverance to see this thing through.

 We then discussed how order and beauty would be
  purposefully created and planned,
 so that our home life would be,
 every moment,
a structure for educating and discipling our children.

Home schooling would not be confined to text books.
In fact, I gave up all text books except math.
 The content of our schooling as it was, was happily, freeingly, defenestrated.
I recall telling a friend that we determined to not home school our children anymore,
in the sense of doing what the public schools do, just at home....
 but rather disciple them....which would include some school, of course.
 What this idea birthed was something bigger, more grand, and.... more beautiful
than home schooling had ever produced.

All of our home life was affected.

 We would have to fashion a godly culture in our home,
which means a culture based on Biblical ideas and on the very nature of God Himself.
This implies also that we wage war on the current culture,
because current culture is completely, thoroughly anti-family.
  I hope you realize that.
(this is another post entirely)
So, I firmly aim everyday to do exactly what the trend isn't.
 Wholesome movie, yes,
 Lovely outfits, yes,
 Dinner together at the table, yes,
Slowing down long enough to spend time with God, yes.
 Planning nothing Thursday night so we can visit with one another without any technology, yes.
 Inserting a half hour of silence into our day, yes.
Beauty in our daily lives, yes.
  Orderliness in our home, yes.

The very essence of the homelife we desired to create would be
 orderlines and beauty.

When God created the earth,
 He didn’t have to get everything done right now, in one day,
rushing it all through so he could get on to the next project.

  Instead, he took His time,

and enjoyed every minute of it,

for at the end of the day, He proclaimed his work “very good.”

He spoke,
 and carefully, creatively fashioned everything into being,
 in an orderly way, relishing the moment, making it worth savoring.
So should we. 

When I get up,

there is no reason to slosh my way through the morning

without paying careful attention to the details of beauty and creativity. 

As the Creator God modeled, I should follow suit in my work.
In every part of our day, we look to see the beauty,
we savor every good thing with eyes of wonder.
The idea is to live ordinary life artfully, appreciatively.

The thesaurus says that
to beautify is to sanctify, hallow, consecrate and bless. 

Interesting.
Is that how we see our day or our homes?
Something to sanctify and bless?
To consecrate?
Or is it something to endure, or to conquer, or to survive?

All of us create a culture of some kind.
As home maker, my choice and joy is to adorn my home with gifts of the soul,
purposefully creating rich experiences,
a sacrificial, validating, forgiving atmosphere of loving kindness,
 a treasure trove of all that is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and excellent.
(Phil. 4:8)
I will not allow the destructiveness of selfishness, strife, slothfulness, or apathy
 to have a place in my home.
  I do not want there to be any room for those things,
 because it is instead filled with an inspired lifestyle
which billows sweetness mingled with grace.
This is living fully, beautifully, abundantly. 

When I think about uplifting rituals that add beauty to our life, 

my desire is to enhance our home life in a way that does not idolize materialism,

so I look to the Lord, and ask Him for creative solutions. 

I have spoken often of these ways many times:
singing at the dinner table,

taking turns listing what we are thankful for that day,

holding hands while joining in prayer, 

reading aloud at bedtime,

taking walks together, 

and relishing the gentle moments throughout the day.

 There won't be any gentle moments if you do not purposely fashion them.
We must create the beauty.

Order, may contain cleanliness, but I think it is much more.
  Order is the road map.
What will we do when we get up to make life more meaningful?
What will it look like?
Really it is the detailed plan of how we are going to accomplish our goal.
Orderliness, is the actual habit of having a time and place for everything.
Orderliness is a wonderful, blessed thing.
For example, Ecclesiastes says there is "a time and place for everything under the sun."
  I love that.
  It has helped me manage my home more effectively and efficiently.
When is the time for sweeping the floor?  After breakfast everyday.
How about dusting and cobwebs?  That would be on Friday, our current day for weekly cleaning.
When does Jim get his laundry done?  Ah, yes, this is my favorite....
Jim is on Tuesday.
Joe is Monday, Jim is Tuesday, Ben is Wednesday, Bethany- Thursday, Gabe is on Friday,
Olivia-Saturday.
This is soooooo freeing.  It is really just the best!
This means that instead of 12 loads of laundry that fill the laundry area and always need to be done,
 I only have Joe's two loads in the laundry room to get done on Monday,
 so I will also add  a load of towels.
 Three loads a day, and I am done.
These three finished loads go back to the rooms they came from,
 Then, on Tuesday, there will be Jim's laundry, and I will add a load of my own.
 Three loads, done.
  A time and place for everything. 
 All our laundry gets done in an orderly fashion every week without it being a burden,
 or an overwhelming force to be wearily reckoned with.
 Order is lovely.

It is also lovely with school.
 Math, English, Science, History every day?  Nope, not in our home school.
We will make time for those things through out the year,
More importantly, a daily study of Proverbs-to instill wisdom.
 And a full hour to read good quality living books.
And a time and a season to work outdoors with the garden, or providing meat and wood.
 There is also time to learn ancient church History and all about the Puritans,
because it is important to our faith,
 much more so than Greek Mythology...which, by the way, we literally threw out the window.
Apologetics as a subject for speech?  Yes.
Missionary biographies instead of English lit?  Yes.
This has all become part of our beautiful schooling.
Home Educating becomes beautiful when the biblical culture 
of nurturing, order and beauty,
 rock the path of everyday life. 
Each day then has a smooth, well thought out surface to travel.

"There is nothing insignificant in the life that we live within our doors. 
 There is nothing that is without influence in the building up of character."
 -J.R. Miller

Seven year old Olivia proclaims that she wants to be just like Betsy Ross when she grows up.
Her new 18" doll is named Elizabeth, after the virgin Mary's cousin.
She is dressed as a princess, like usual,
and today she has set up a beautiful tea table because her friends are coming over.
This wasn't accidental.  It is all consequences of our home life...
overflowing into the makings of the next generation.