Remaining Teachable
Dan and I had a rare day of going to a museum with just Michael. Today's visit was to Naticus, The Naval and Maritime Museum in Norfolk VA. It was a fun educational day for us all. The traveling exhibit right now is Playing with Time. One of the features was how things grow over time. When Mt. St. Helens erupted in 1980 nearly 200 miles of the surrounding landscape was changed forever. In the exhibit they show 9 years of growth in a high speed 42 second film. "The first plants to emerge from the ruins were the pioneers. These plants can grow under harsh conditions. They set the stage for other plants by providing shade, containing moisture and converting raw material into nutrients." Initially, I thought about those radical homeschoolers who started in the late 70's and early 80's. They really set the stage for the rest of us. Opening the way for us to choose a better way of life for our family (if you know me than you know how bias I am :-). The thought of this is still ruminating in my thoughts.

Following up on the Home Education theme. Another exhibit demonstrated to us one of the ways our brain works. We have what is called persistence of vision. "Our brains are really good at filling in any gaps." The experiment to test this persistence of vision actually shows how the brain fills in the gaps through our vision. It was fascinating. Of course my brain thought of the parents who are educating their children at home who are worried about leaving gaps in their children's education. If our brain can fill the gaps for our vision by design, don't you trust that the Lord will fill in the gaps that may be in our children's education? I am trusting in Him!!

Lastly, the three of us went to an interactive presentation where we got to be a part of a design team for building battleship X. We had to vote on certain aspects of the design of the ship. Michael took a thoughtful approach to the matter. He is a very logical thinker. To say the least he was a slightly astonished by the other kids in the room who are probably his age who were fooling around, voting joinly with their friends (when it was suppose to be an anonymous vote), and just not respecting the process. These group of kids were not very respectful and Michael notices.
To our delight Michael was thrilled to have his Mum and Dad all to himself. Exploring, learning, laughing and having sweet fellowship together. We pray that God will fill in the gaps where we falter in our parenting. Yes, we are very aware of our need for God's grace in this area of our lives. Thanks for letting me continue to cherish this day with our youngest who is in the later half of his 12th year of life and on the verge of entering the teen years.

May my heart and mind remain teachable. CM