Hope For Homeschool Moms

Hannah, Hannah Life is bananas How does your garden grow? Patiently and humorously,  With children stepping on each row. I'm always amazed at the difference a few short weeks in June make. Somehow, despite the weather, the amount of time I have, and the amount of times my beets have been stepped on by little feet, the garden takes off after a mere week of heavy humidity.  This is one of the many miracles of God. How seeds, sunlight, water and air can grow so large so quickly to produce a plant so full of vegetables is an incredible and fascinating phenomenon. Only God could do this! The gardener is simply the amazed steward and beholder.  How many life applications can be made by watching this process?  

 I love my yard in June. The grass is all grown in and freshly cut, the black flies have died down, the first summer flowers are blooming and there's the promise of late summer flowers on their way. The vegetable garden still looks neat and tidy, although every rain and each warm day brings a new noticeable growth to the plants. The green beans are popping up, and the newly planted flowers in the window box on the chicken coop seem to say that life is complete.  It is green, it is warm, it is summer. All the hard work from the spring has finally paid off!

I asked the seven year old to wash the breakfast dishes as I headed outside to finally plant the green beans and to take care of the chickens. We are currently transitioning new chicks to the flock, which takes extra time, and after a week of traveling I feel behind on just about everything....the garden, the house, the yard, the animals. A half an hour later as I came back inside to the puddles on the floor and counters, along with dishes that were not thoroughly cleaned, it felt like a useless endeavor to try and pull the kids into the household chores. To add insult to injury, at the same moment a candle was knocked over spreading glass onto the living room floor while the dog trudged into the kitchen with muddy paws.  The tension build up can often come bubbling out with angry words and raised voices at the culprits as everything falls apart yet again. But it hasn't fallen apart. Not yet. Not until I have yanked down the walls of my wonderful home by accusatory statements and a...