“Don’t let schooling interfere with your education.” — Mark Twain Every year I lay out a scope and sequence for the school year. Then life happens. You know what I mean. Priorities in the home sometimes come before school work. Already this year we’ve missed plenty of hours at the dining room table because we…
Tag: Reflections
Fall 2018: Memory Walk
I am not a morning person. I am, by nature, a night owl. I have, however, discerned that I need a quiet and prayerful start to every day. Stealing the term from Jen Mackintosh, I have dedicated 30-60 minutes every morning for my Mother’s Morning Basket. “Everyone of us needs half an hour of prayer…
Having Our Senses Trained
“About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives…
A Mother’s Rule of Life
In the early days of my homeschooling, I discovered a little gem that I have read and re-read throughout the last decade. A Mother’s Rule of Life by Holly Pierlot is an interesting book which has proved to be a valuable resource in my homeschool and spiritual life. Understanding that the home is not a…
You Have Given Me Life
Hiding His Word in My Heart Each time I read through the Psalms, I wish I could commit more of them to memory. I even started working on one recently. I did really well for two weeks or so, then just gradually forgot to make it a priority. All right, then! I need a plan….
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
This is part of Diane’s Literature Course I Series It wasn’t easy to read Uncle Tom’s Cabin again. I knew how it was going to end. It has been about a quarter of a century since I read it the first time, so I didn’t remember details, but it came back to me as I got…
The Catholic Table
I want to tell you about a book I am reading, The Catholic Table, by Emily Stimpson Chapman. This book is fortifying me in an interesting way right now. I have really loathed my body this year. It is rare for me to mention that out loud. Typically I don’t talk about my body or…
Cicero’s On Duties
“Cicero, like thoughtful men of every age, knew that the reason vicious leaders like Caesar could rise to power was because the Roman population itself had been corrupted and no longer pursued the old virtues; a leader is, after all, a mirror of the people who choose him or at least allow him to retain…
Thoughts About The Benedict Option
In this speech, the author of The Awakening of Miss Prim says that only a minority of readers see her story as one of a spiritual journey and conversion. I was shocked when I read that. It seemed so obvious to me that that was the only thing it could really be about. In talking…
The Wednesday Witch at Stump Lake
The Wednesday Witch at Stump Lake I could almost believe a whiff of certain smells, caught just right, has the power to physically transport me to another time or place. Sourdough can be like that for me. This summer it was the mint in my garden. Mmm, Oregon cow pasture! Most recently, though, I experienced…
A Tale of Two Readers
“Friendship … is born at the moment when one man says to another, ‘What! You too?’” C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves Last July, Jennifer Halverson and I became reading buddies. What felt like an accident was, I am sure, Divine Providence. After repeated casual conversations about books that each of us wanted to read,…
Pillaging Anne
Stop pillaging Anne. For the love of Lucy Maud Montgomery, please just stop. In the last week I have been called a pearl-clutcher (laughable if you know me), closed-minded, small-minded, an ostrich, and a fear-monger. I guess my post on The Handmaid’s Tale hit a nerve. Mercifully, I knew what I was getting into when I…
Something like Tolkien’s Leaf Mould
This spring Diane, Jennifer Halverson and I re-read one of my top ten favorite books: Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe. A funny thing happened in this reading that I was not expecting. As a child, I feasted on the 1982 made-for-t.v. Ivanhoe movie featuring Anthony Andrews, James Mason, Olivia Hussey, and John Rhys-Davies. When I say…
Ears to Hear
In our book club, we delight in talking through the different ways we read. The question “do audiobooks count?” comes up frequently. Yes. Audiobooks count. You don’t have to take my word for it, a quick internet search will yield a lot of articles like this one at Forbes detailing the science and studies which…
A Muse Meant
muse: “to consider reflectively; a state of deep reflection or meditation.” (Webster’s II, 1984) I require time to muse. One thing I’ve been musing about lately is how often we a muse ourselves. The etymology of the word amuse gives me pause. From the Old French, amuser, to stupefy; from Latin, a, meaning “to” +…