Wednesday, September 1, 2010

When Life Hands You An Allegory...


School has been particularly hard this year. We are on the third day of our third week of our eleventh year of homeschooling. I'm certainly no expert on the homeschooling front, but I've been pecking away at this long enough to know that, like all of life's endeavors, success and contentment ebb and flow on this journey.

My philosophy has always been to tweak where necessary, but to not fiddle with things not broken. Each year brings a few changes for us, but there is always some consistency too as we continue forward with books and methods that are working well for us. This year brought a few more changes than usual, not the least of which is adding a happy, active, talkative, inquisitive two year old into the fray. New curriculum, new schedule, new extracurricular activities.....it's a lot to absorb! I have a tendency to rush things like order. I want things to fall into place immediately, and am not typically patient about watching dust settle. Now I'm three weeks into a major dust storm and feeling a little wind blown. :)

Rain has been forecast for weeks. Skies turn dark, the humidity skyrockets, and clouds rumble overhead, but no rain comes. I've been waiting for that inevitable storm to blow in for days on end. Today it finally broke. It poured, actually. Pelting rain, clashes of thunder, and bolts of lightning; a true storm, with all the trimmings, right above my head.

My Mom called me while I was at the stove making dinner. We were still finishing school (at 7:00) and still in the midst of shuffling kids between choir and youth activities, and I was making Kraft macaroni (blech!) because it was all I could manage. She told us to hurry outside and look east, which we did, just in time to see a magnificent rainbow. It was a full arc, spanning the entire heavens, and clear as a bell. It took me by total surprise, but thrilled me with its striking beauty.

I guess that's the thing about life's storms. We should expect more rainbows, and look forward with eager hopefulness to rejoicing in their presence.

Onward. :)

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