A Quote
"Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well the main end of his life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life, and therefore to lay Christ in the bottom as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning, and seeing the Lord only giveth wisdom, let everyone seriously set himself to prayer in secret to seek it of Him."
-Harvard 1646 Rules and Precepts
One of the speakers at our homeschool conference this year shared this quote, and I loved it so much that I wrote it down and I've been reminding myself of it as the school year approaches. I hope and pray this for my kids in our homeschool journey, that they would recognize and know that the main end of their lives and studies is to know Christ! Can you believe this quote was a statement from Harvard? How far they have strayed from their original purpose.
A Bit Of Nature
Look at my little herb garden in our tiny greenhouse on our front porch. The herbs are thriving out there, much more than I thought they would! As of this writing, my lavender and my basil are flowering. I've never seen flowering basil before.
A Recommendation And A Book
I'm combining these two categories today, because I thought I'd walk you through my morning routine, which is where most of my recommendations are coming from today.
After I get the kids’ oatmeal made, I light a couple candles and then head out to the porch for my morning quiet time. During the school year I would try to squeeze my quiet time in before breakfast, but it's still summer around here. Weirdly, my Afternoon Alfresco Yankee Candle and this candle smell really amazing when burned together.
First I try to catch up on my "To The Word" reading plan. This is a reading plan put out by Canon Press to read over the course of the school year, and I've done it a couple times now, but I’m just now finishing last year’s plan. It's about 5-7 chapters a day, but I've come to realize it's more doable than I think, and it's cool to go through the whole Bible in less than a year and see the whole context of Scripture! The next reading plan will be starting soon, and I believe it will be here.
However, I'm not totally sure if I'll participate in the next challenge, or if I'll take a little time this school year to dive further into one book of the Bible. I'd like to finish studying Hebrews, and then maybe pick a new book. This little guide for studying any single book of the Bible looks great, and I am thinking I will take the questions from it and write them into my own study notebook.
Next, I started Face To Face: Praying The Scriptures For Intimate Worship by Kenneth Boa. This is prayer guide book that gives you Scriptures you can pray each day in several categories: adoration, confession, renewal, petition, intercession, affirmation, thanksgiving, and a closing prayer. Prayer is something I have struggled with for years - I get so distracted! Having this little guide to help me focus on meaningful prayer was really a refreshment today, and I'm looking forward to incorporating it into my morning devotion time.
Finally, after I've gone through all my Bible and prayer routines, I read a Christian encouragement book or two if I have time. I find that it's a nice way to lead into my day, especially if it's Bible-focused and practical. Right now I'm reading Pitchin' A Fit: Overcoming Angry And Stressed Out Parenting by Israel and Brook Wayne, and Teaching From Rest by Sarah MacKenzie (both are very good).
A Moment Of Happiness
I've had so many moments of happiness in the last couple days, it's hard to pick just one. We went on a visit to my grandparents’ mountain cabin last weekend, and had a grand time playing cards, fishing, and visiting. We went swimming with my mom and sister last night, and enjoyed a great waterslide that made me laugh when Derek and I went down it together! Yesterday my little girls made me chuckle with their game of "Queen and Servant" (exactly what it sounds like), which entertained them for hours. And this morning, as I was sitting in the cool air for my quiet time, watching the kids explore the yard and jump on the trampoline together, I just felt really blessed. A lot of crazy things are happening in the world, but this is a season where I'm pulling in and focusing on those closest to me, and I'm finding there is so much to be grateful for in the midst of the chaos.
Such a beautiful quote! It's such a sweet reminder of what we should all hold fast to in the education of our children.
Your lavender plants are beautiful, but you'll want to pinch off the basil flowers to keep the plant from going into reproductive mode and withering. Once you pinch off the flowers, the plant will continue to give you more basil leaves. :)
The mountain cabin sounds like a dream!! Is it available for rent? ;)
I haven't revived my blog yet but wanted to stop by yours and check for updates. Despite your blog address literally being the name of the blog, I still couldn't find it via Google and ended up going through the link from my blog. Craziness! I did see your name on a bunch of other pages where you've been featured. Anyway, I hope you will continue to post and share about your faith, homeschooling, etc!
I love reading your blog! I need to keep up! The "old school blog" is so refreshing and encouraging to read!
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