graduation

Sweet Memories

There is a lot of musing at different times in our lives. I feel like the older I get the more time I spend reflecting and less time I spend planning. That does seem pretty obvious since there is more behind me to muse about than what what there is ahead to plan.

It wasn’t too long ago it seems that I started to teach Danielle how to read. I have always loved reading and knew that books were a good way to not only educate others but a way to stimulate a powerful imagination. Even when they were newborns, I read books to them. I had my favorites to read to them. When they were small we read simple books like Peek-A-Boo, Pat the Bunny, and Ten Little Ladybugs. Then we read Sleeping BeautySleeping Beauty, The Large and Growly Bear, and Nurse Nancy. (I was secretly trying to nudge one of my children into medicine, but that didn’t work.)

Soon we were homeschooling and used things like Five In a Row Vol. I, II , IIIto help guide our book choices. We fell in love with Ping, Lentil, and Madeline. We started playing the shoe throwing game because of A Pair of Red Clogs .

Then we started spending hours after lunch reading our all-time favorite series The Chronicles of Narnia. I would finish a chapter and the girls would beg me, “Mom, just one more chapter.” So we read more. I must admit I had some good voices for all the characters which added to the joy.

We read so many good books and spent so many hours around the kitchen table imagining the world that was written on the page. We would sit on the front porch, and enjoy the sweet smells of summer while being whisked away into another world that in each of our minds was not the same and yet was so real to each of us.

I long for those days and those storybook friends to rejoin our lives. I long for those simple days when we had time to read, “One more chapter.”

And yet as I reminisce about those days and enjoy those sweet memories, I am overjoyed that I had the honor and the privilege to spend all those hours with my children. As the tears flood my eyes as I write these words, I am thankful that I had the privilege to homeschool my children.

Sweet Firsts

We experienced so many firsts together. I enjoyed those sweet days of learning together. Even when there were tears of frustration, there were also shouts of triumph as a difficult concept was understood. There was much laughter over some silly little thing.

When it was time to pick a major, I never thought I could be a teacher. I couldn’t explain anything with the hopes that anyone could understand it. Yet God took that feeling of inadequacy and my joy in learning and allowed me to homeschool our daughters.

Now in just a few short days, our oldest daughter, who I affectionately call my guinea pig, is going to graduate from Cedarville University with a degree in Middle childhood education.

A Monumental Day

What a monumental day for me.

What a monumental day for her.

My daughter, who I homeschooled, is going to graduate from college with an education degree. What an unbelievable and ironic event. The mom who felt inadequate with only a passion for learning and a desire to be faithful is going to watch her sweet little guinea pig get a college degree.

Danielle is doing her student teaching now, and sometimes she calls me and says, “Mom, remember when we… I did that with my students today.” Such a sweet blessing.

The years have gone by so quickly, but I have treasured them all. There are many cherished memories.

Just four years ago, we stood with red eyes, wet cheeks, and some fear as to what lay ahead. Even though Dave and I both graduated from Cedarville and loved it, it was still a new adventure for Danielle and for us. She didn’t have any friends, had to go to class every day, keep track of her own schedule, and wash her laundry and hopefully her  sheets.

Had I prepared her for all of this?

There were a lot of phone calls that first semester. Never telling me she was lonely, but I knew she was. It takes time to build a new community. It takes intentionality. It takes hard work and perseverance to begin a new life.

A Day to be Proud of

Danielle, I am so proud of who you have become. I am so proud of your desire to be intentional with people. You can accomplish anything you set your mind to. You have a great work ethic. You are faithful. You have a great sense of humor.  Most importantly, you love God and your walk with Him is evident by the fruit in your life.

So on Saturday as you hear your name called…you feel that hard earned diploma in your hand…and you walk across that stage as a college graduate never forget the simple things that made you who you are.

Our morning times learning about the Lord around the kitchen table. The shoe throwing game. The voices from the Land of Narnia. And a family that loves you more than you will ever know.

We are proud of you!