Setting Up Our Learning Spaces

It's that time of year again.  And, as the summer ends, I'm finding myself even more deeply rooted in the very rich soil of organic learning.  My next blog post will cover the specifics of that.  For now, here's a look at setting up an area where thriving can happen.  Consider this the soil where the organic learning can take place.     

We have a large loft-ish area upstairs that has become our new homeschool area...affectionately called the learning loft.  It opens up to a back deck with an amazing view of the hills.  Perfect setting for letting imaginations roam and minds engage.

My goal was a perfect blend of workspaces...a comfortable couch, a big table, learning centers and every possible resource and supply necessary for the projects they will pursue.

First things first.  Out with the old...  I packed up the bulk of last school year's readers and put them in their container.  This happened to be Sonlight's World History.  Keeping everything contained in these Rubbermaid containers keeps my sanity and makes for an organized way to store everything.  (More about that storage area later in this post)  SIDE NOTE: Several people have asked me my opinion about Child's History of the World because we read it last school year.  I would say on a scale of 1-10, I'd rank it an 8.  It is much, much more interesting than any dry textbook, and my children and I all found it to be more enjoyable than Story of the World.  Child's History of the World is a very conversational, easy-to-grasp overview of world history.  We did have to keep in mind that there were parts of it that didn't jive with our beliefs (like how the universe came into being), so we skipped the first several chapters.  Occasionally, we would run across a fact that was not biblically accurate, but that gave excellent practice for my children to notice something false and look up in their Bibles to find the correct information.  Overall, this is an excellent book that I highly recommend.

After last year's books were stored away, the new books were unearthed from their respective containers and set up on these shelves.

Here's a great instance of repurposing something.  See the creme colored cabinets and drawers on each side?  That used to hook to a headboard as part of a bedroom set.  We simply installed shelves between the two, and voila...a great place to store lots of necessary items.

Here's a peek into one of those cabinets.  The top shelf stores some notebooks that collect things we do throughout the years.  I will show this in depth in another blog post.  Also on the top shelf is a notebook for recording what we do during our days.  The bottom shelf has umpteen notebooks...composition, spiral and 3-ring.  I stock up at the beginning of the school year when prices are rock bottom, and this supply will last us until next time school supplies go on sale.  When learning organically, you will often see a fire of some sort be ignited in a child's mind, and they will then go digging to find the supplies they need to pursue that fire.  For example, both of my boys got highly intrigued with inventions after they watched Meet the Robinsons.  The next day, they both grabbed a notebook and turned it into an inventions book, where they tried their hand at drawing up plans for new inventions.  The plans on paper soon led to them sending an email out to a few friends, asking them to collect odd things (rubber bands, nails, old door knobs, etc) from around their house and donate it to the young inventors.  These supplies were stored in a tool box, and they still dig into that box to try to invent something now and then.  Having supplies on hand is key to letting them run with their ideas when they strike.

I love these blue and white containers from Target, and they keep the coloring books, drawing books and audio books nicely contained.  The small containers on the floor are mainly for our youngest child...sensory bins, farm animals and builders.

The top row has play dough, clay, art, crafts and paint...as well as a box of seasonal books and activities (for holidays).

The second shelf now houses this school year's readers.  We will be studying American history (our favorite!), and we adored most of the readers in America: An Integrated Curriciulum when we read them 4 years ago, so we have pulled those out again for our rotation back into American history.  This particular study is aimed at grades 3-6, but I have found it very easy to adjust for any age (K-high school).  In fact, our high schooler, who has very fond memories of all these readers, is looking forward to diving in again.  I have ordered some more advanced books for her to also read on her own, so we expect this to be a very rich study of U.S. history.  Overall, we have been very pleased with the readers, though a few we weren't too thrilled with.  So we have ordered other books to substitute in their place.  For example, the book that references Christopher Columbus was not very accurate, so we have ordered a Heroes of History book about him.

These drawers are great for storing paper and other items that need to be accessed regularly.  I've found this to be the best way to keep paper-type supplies neatly under control when children are accessing them frequently.  Having an organic learning environment means having plenty of supplies on hand so that on-the-spot ideas can flow easily with all the supplies at their fingertips.

Again, easy access to pencils, highlighters and pens.

Composers also occupy a spot on one of the shelves.  Music is a phenomenal way to stimulate the brain, and having classical music playing in the background while we work on other things makes for a very soothing and rich environment. While the music is playing, we sometimes get into discussions about who the composer is, what his style is, what emotions his music evokes, etc.  And other times we simply listen.  Either way, music appreciation is part of our lives, not a class to take.  Again, organic learning instead of synthetic learning.

And here are some of the readers we will be diving into this year.  These are living books, meaning that they touch on our emotions, bring us in, and make the subject come alive.  We will be inhaling the sickening smells on board the Mayflower, seeing through the eyes of an apprentice who participates in the Boston Tea Party, walking (and crying) alongside Native Americans who are forced from their homes, traveling with pioneer families on the long trek west, and many other adventures that we will see, hear, smell, and feel through the eyes of characters who draw us into these places and events in history.  Seriously RICH experience that I highly recommend.  Dry textbooks simply cannot hold a candle to this type of learning.

Here's one treasure I happened upon a couple of weeks ago at Hobby Lobby for just $8.  It is a book with all kinds of fun and interesting facts about each state in the United States.  I like to keep these kinds of books out on shelves but then to place them on display in our history area, where I rotate different books from time to time.  When I lay these books out (which is called "strewing" in unschooling terms), my children almost always pick them up and dig into them.  Because these books are interesting, I'm always hearing, "Hey...did you know that _________?"  And they rattle off some interesting facts that they just read.  When this happens, true learning is taking place.  One, they are interested in it instead of being forced to read, memorize or "learn" something.  And two, when they can tell others what they just read or heard or saw, they then own the information.  This is true learning.

I have a large container that holds U.S. history resources of all kinds.  I pulled some of these things out to put on shelves in our learning loft.  Other items I will rotate in at different times in the year.  Here are a few goodies to supplement and add some extra fun stuff this year.  I especially love the 3D White House puzzle that we bought in Washington D.C. last year.  I tucked it away in a container, saving it for this school year when we will learn about the White House.  What better way to make it come alive than to build the White House while we read about it?

And when we get to the point in history where we read about slaves and plantations, we will be breaking into these delicious books that I purchased at the Atlanta History Center last year.  One of them gives intriguing photos and information about life on a plantation.  The other book is a cut & assemble model of a southern plantation.  We did something similar when we were studying Medieval times, and they cut and built a model of a castle while we read about it.  They loved that.  So, I know they will also thoroughly enjoy creating a southern plantation.

Here is our science area.  This is a repurposed coffee table..perfectly low for little people to have access to all kinds of interesting things.  This table gets switched out often, rotating in new things.  Sometimes it has something to do with what we are reading at the time.  For example, when we read about Christopher Columbus crossing the ocean to America, I will strew some books about oceans and ocean creatures, as well as some sea shells and coral that we have.  But other times, the things on this table are not related to anything we are reading but are simply interesting.

I decided to use a muffin tin to store the many items they collect and want to keep.  Here you will see sea shells, sugar cane from Georgia, a lichen-covered stick from the woods, chestnuts from Belarus, butterfly wings, a mud wasp nest, the top of an acorn, rocks, a feather from a blue jay, a baby bird egg and a stick bug.

When I pull this collection down off the shelf, little hands are quick to explore it and remember, "Oh yeah...I remember when I found this egg shell.  I wonder what kind of bird grew inside it?"

"Ohhhh, and look at how the stick bug has changed since he died."

And why do I keep this amazing nature collection up on a high shelf most of the time?  Welllll, it seems that kitties are just as interested in certain specimen as the children are!  If you don't have indoor animals, you might be able to keep your nature collection on display all day.

We have quite a collection of rocks from all over the place (seems boys are drawn to rocks, and we always have a fresh supply...usually found in pockets of jeans when I do the laundry).  We found this great book at the gold mine in Dahlonega.  Whenever we go to explore a new place (like the mine or a museum or other significant place), I try to purchase something with meaning, even if it's a small postcard or book or something that will remind us of our visit.  Almost always, we look back with fond memories and enjoy learning more about it.

I love this nature basket!  In the back, I have nature journals for each child (as well as one for me).  Then there are reference charts for all kinds of things....bugs, wildflowers, birds, snakes, tracks, hummingbirds, etc.  These are GREAT, and many times a child will come in from playing outdoors, fly up the stairs to grab a chart and head back outside to identify some animal or flower or track.  The tracks chart has pictures of scat (which the boys were thrilled to discover is a fancy name for wild animal poop), so that has been very intriguing for them to identify which animals are on our property (not to mention funny conversations about whether that really is raccoon scat or just a big ant hill).  Also in the nature basket are magnifying glasses and binoculars, which get used very often.

Next to the science table, I keep a box of interesting science-realted books that they can dig into when they want to discover things like whether foxes live in Texas, or where their kidneys are located, or what the coolest-looking ocean animal is.

I love how this repurposed coffee table has an area underneath to store hands-on science stuff.

A favorite...gears that can all hook together and turn.

And this little gem I found on clearance at Toys R Us.  The boys are both intrigued with dinosaurs, so I bought them each one of these lab kits where they dig for dinosaur bones and build the dinosaur.  Hands-on paleontology!  They are itching to do this.

Here is our U.S. history area, which is heavily dominated by Civil War things, as that is their favorite historical event.  The wood filing cabinet is a world of its own, storing construction paper, portfolio items, etc.  As you can see, it doubles as a table for the history area.

The cork board above our history area displays postcards and photos from some of the places they have visited.  A map reminds them of all the states they have been (not too shabby of a list so far).  To actually set foot in and explore these places across our country has been a truly rich part of our education.

And here's a new item I added for this school year.  I found this at Hobby Lobby.  It's a map that cannot tear.  It hangs in a little pouch on the cork board and can be grabbed anytime they want to look at where such-and-such is located (which happens quite often in our learning experiences).  I LOVE this map, because it can be grabbed by little hands and used without fear of ripping or wrinkling.  Wonderful idea!

Another bookshelf is set up with math games.  On top, we have some supplies such as thumb tacks, sticky notes, erasers, paperclips, brads, etc.  The stapler and hole punch are kept here and are used nearly every day.

I will have another blog post about our math center, as that subject tends to trip up anyone who wants to unschool or learn organically.  LOTS of goodies here!

And you know you're a homeschooler when the linen closet has been overtaken with learning games, puzzles and such.  The top 2 shelves are reserved for extra towels, sheets and blankets...but the rest is for learning.

This is how I maintain sanity with the crayons, markers and colored pencils.  I also keep Kleenex for little noses and wet wipes for sticky hands.

We always buy fresh crayons at the beginning of the school year.  I like to get a big box that includes all the wild and fun colors.  Then, I add in a 24-pack as a duplicate of the most common colors (because those colors get used more often, and with multiple children, inevitably 2 people will be searching for red at the same time!).

I dump them into a box, take a good whiff of that intoxicating smell of crayons, and off we go into a new school year.  Oh, and I was tickled pink to find this cute red crayon sharpener in the big box of crayons.  YAY...no more tiny sharpener that is hard to use and gets lost in the the pile of crayons.  Love this!  Kudos to the smarty at Crayola who came up with it.

And, of all the things in our learning loft, I'd have to say that this shelf holds the most valuable of books.  These are biographies of people who allowed God to use their lives.  Especially in our current American culture where real heroes are few and far between, it is so crucial that we expose ourselves to people who truly lived their lives in ways that mattered for eternity.  I've seen my children's thinking process alter considerably due to being exposed to the minds and hearts of men and women who are and were wholly living their lives.  Instead of talking about courage, it so much more hard-hitting to read about a man who knew a tribe killed all outsiders but still chose to enter into their territory to take them the love of Jesus.  Instead of lecturing about forgiveness, it is so much more effective to be drawn into the life story of a World War 2 soldier who was mercilessly tortured by Japanese soldiers in a prison camp but later forgave them and went back to Japan to let God love them through himself.  Through these very engaging biographies, we see how God can use ANYBODY...He can take a man filled with insurmountable doubt and transform him into one of the most noted Christian authors whose Narnia books still to this day give us spiritual insight into our daily lives.  More than any other book or resource, these books have been the thing that have grown our faith to huge heights and have given us a new outlook in facing any situation.  We can honestly say, "NOTHING is impossible with our God" and truly believe it.

The biographies are displayed on a shelf below the world map, reminding us that wherever God opens the door for us, we will GO...step by step in full faith.  A flip calendar gives us a different country to pray for every 3 days.

Let's talk storage...  When you have multiple children, you know that today's read alouds for your older children will no doubt still be excellent read alouds for the younger children when they grow a bit older.  Families with multiple children cannot simply use the resources for one school year, sell them at the end of the year and then buy more books for the next year.  We usually save and reuse for younger children.  So, how in the world do we keep ALL those books and fun things without getting overrun in the clutter?  The solution I've found has worked the best for us is an ample supply of Rubbermaid totes (purchased at Walmart for $6 or $7 each).  Every tote is dedicated to a different category.  Some I need access to daily (math manipulatives, early childhood manipulatives); some I need occasionally (like when I need to get into my grammar box to pull out blank newspapers so that we can make newspapers highlighting a certain event in history); and still others will be stored for a few years until we rotate into that learning cycle again (like the world history readers that I stored away).  These totes are neatly organized in a closet on wire shelves that are typically used for restaurant supplies.  Close the closet doors, and it all goes neatly away.  Open the closet doors, and I have access to literally hundreds of resources (I've been in education for 20 years now, so I have a nice collection of goodies!).

A very quick look in our "activity room," which is where the totes are all stored...  This room is an extension of our learning loft, so it is speckled with great areas for learning.  Here's the little kitchen area, where our youngest spends much of her time pretending to cook.  A Rubbermaid tote houses all her cooking supplies and pretend food.

I love this nook in the activity room, where we have a comfy sofa for reading, a keyboard for music and our Big Mac.  Lots of learning spaces.

And that is how we have set things up for the learning environment in our home.  Future blog posts will go into more details on the specifics.  There was huge interest in the post about hackschooling, so I plan to give more glimpses into what all this nontraditional education looks like in real life.  

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And for those who have been keeping up with our family after our big move, here are some photos of recent happenings...

The children and I took a trip to Dallas to see extended family, and we stopped at Baylor University on the way (of course...simply cannot drive by without stopping!).  Here they are doing their Sic 'em Bears!!

In front of Pat Neff Hall...

In front of my old dorm...  This was really surreal for me to see my children here where I lived 20 years ago.

In Dallas, they gardened with their grandpa.

We spent a day in downtown Dallas visiting my brother at his place of work, touring the Old Red Museum, and visiting the site of the assassination of President Kennedy.

Here's the famous grassy knoll nearby the site of JFK's assassination.  Huge X's on the street mark the 2 spots where gunshots hit.

Cooking runs in the family, and these 2 are quite a team.  Here they were grilling BBQ chicken, which honestly is the best chicken I've ever eaten in my life.  (I have no idea what the Windex was doing out there!)

My brother and his sweet family hosted a very fun swimming party for D's birthday.  Here's my nephew in mid-air (I LOVE this shot!).

Here's my niece with our youngest...

Five cousins jumping into the pool at the same time (gotta love sports shot mode on the camera!).

 Ahhh, one of the reasons we love being in Texas...grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles celebrating birthdays together.

Back at home, we had another birthday celebration.

And, word to the wise...if you ever think about making black frosting for a cake, keep in mind that black teeth will surely follow. 

Over the Past Month...

Here ya go...  I'm making up for my month of silence.  Some of y'all have asked me some questions, and I will be getting to those soon.  I have some outside-of-the-box education blog posts that are on their way, so for those of you who are curious about hackschooling, unschooling, Charlotte Mason, etc...that is coming soon.  And for those of you who have been asking me for the past few years what my secret is to making our house such a cozy home (to which I didn't have an exact answer), I've taken some notes this time around as we have had to start from scratch in a new house.  All of those things are in the wings, so drop in again soon.  

In the meantime, here's another quick photo nutshell of the past month.

Summer brought on the filming of new movies in our home.  This particular movie is a historical fictional account of President Lincoln's son Tad as he travels to the Confederate White House to spy.  Yes, this was their idea.  I try to just provide what they need and then stay out of the way.  They yell out, "QUIET ON THE SET!!!"  And the poor cats are not allowed to meow, and the noisy overalls flipping in the dryer have to be silenced until the film crew is finished with their scene.  

I love these creative little people!

Family friends from Kansas visited us.  The lady in the center of the photo has been my mom's prayer partner since I was in junior high.  Every Tuesday and Friday for all these years, they have prayed together faithfully.  They used to meet in person, but after both moved to other places, they continue to pray together over the phone.  I have no doubt that their prayers were (and are) a huge factor in my life.  Seeing their prayer life and the miracles that often came out of it was one of my first lessons in the power of prayer and the reality of God.

And in answer to your questions about the ministry we moved here to work with, YES, we have visited their facilities.  We were given a tour, and we will meet with them again soon to discuss what our exact role will be in their work.  I will have to blog about this separately some day, because it's impossible to put it in a simple nutshell.

One section of one of their warehouses...

One section of their clothing room...

There is another warehouse that is lined with hundreds of these boxes ready to be filled with food.

Here are many of the boxes that were being filled for that week's delivery.

Volunteers are busy at work all over the place in order to make this ministry run.  There is such a sweet spirit there among the workers.  It's hard to describe, but it's definitely felt.  When people's lives are spent focussing on loving and serving others, there is simply a very sweet atmosphere that you cannot get anywhere else.  Corporate American holds no candle whatsoever to it...it is an entirely different world.

Here's the site of their future facilities...10 acres.  Very exciting time for them as they break ground and move toward a bigger, more efficient site where more people can be served.

Here's a rather typical scene in our front yard...  These deer eat everything, so we fenced in a portion of our back yard that they cannot touch.  But the front yard is free for grazing (we don't have to mow nearly as often with these helpers!).

The little Asian princess had her 8th birthday.  Those of you with kiddos with DS can relate to the sense of accomplishment as she skillfully formed her lips into an "O" and blew each candle out.  :)

Seriously, have you ever seen anyone so incredibly thrilled with a piece of cake and some ice cream??  One thing that this gal has is sincere appreciation for the little things in life.  Perhaps it was her years in an orphanage that produced it.  She has taught me volumes about being thankful for the little gifts and the special people in my life.

Most of her gifts this year were therapy toys.  Shhhh...she doesn't know they are for therapy...she thinks they are just plain fun.  This is one of the texture balls we bought for her.  Yay for the one-handed throw too!  Doesn't every princess play ball in her frilliest dress??

I ventured on a road trip with one of our children.  We went to help my mom when she wasn't feeling well.  On the way to Dallas, we stopped in Austin at a bookstore and in Waco at my alma mater, Baylor University.  We had lots of fun looking at the black bears that live on campus.

He was in awe at the huge bookstore and called it "Baylor Galore."

Ahhhh...SO good to set eyes on this place that was such an instrumental part of my life!  I do love this spot on the planet and the memories that flood me when I'm on campus.

While we were in Dallas, we were invited to watch my nephew's karate class.  He's the best little karate guy (and, no, I'm not a biased Auntie!).

We spent 4th of July in Boerne.  After eating at Longhorn with approximately 6 billion other people, we sat in their parking lot and watched the fireworks that were held just down the street at the park.  Grace and I stayed inside the truck and watched through the windows, which was a nice option for a child with sensory issues.  So, for the first time, she was able to experience a fireworks show...very fun for her!  The rest of the crew set up camping chairs and blankets in the back of the truck.  We had a good time, but we keenly missed our small-town 4th of July in Dahlonega, with its parade, fireworks and of course the always-memorable cookout with our good friends.  This is a time of transition, and the 4th of July was a day that brought both happiness and sadness this year.

Okay, just had to take a picture of my hands wrapped around this crazy huge burrito I had at Chipotle!

We made a trip to Toys R Us to spend a gift card, and the boys were most excited about this Lego fire fighter.

And we finally made it to one of San Antonio's landmark restaurants.  Awesome queso and tortillas, by the way.

My oldest daughter and I headed out for a girl day.  We played for several hours...having lunch, getting our hair cut and styled, and browsing through nearly every aisle of Hobby Lobby.  This was a wonderful treat for us, as we rarely pamper ourselves like that.  After we got our hair cut, she wanted to take a selfie.  For those of you who knew me in Georgia, you'll find my curls are nowhere to be found in this photo.  With lower humidity in Texas, straightening curls is not as difficult, so yay for me...I have some options again.  :)

We're thinking of our friends in Georgia and missing y'all.  This has been a rough time of transition, so for those who have been sweetly faithful to keep reaching out in email and texts, I do thank you.  That is speaking my love language!

Hearing God's Voice

This blog post has been a long time in the making.  It's been sitting in my mind for a long, long time, but it seems to be a hot button of sorts.  So, I sat on it.  Until now.   

See...I never had anyone teach me how to hear God's voice.  I grew up knowing that I was supposed to follow God's voice...that His sheep know the sound of His voice...that I should heed the "still, small voice."  But, truly, I wasn't sure what all that meant.  I don't blame anyone for my ignorance in this area, because time has shown me that it's not a skill to be taught but rather one that comes by practice and by getting to know the One speaking.  It is similar to how a mom can identify her child's cry, even in a room with 1000 other children making noise.  This cannot be taught by a book or sermon or college degree.  It comes only by daily, even moment-by-moment contact.  It is in practicing the presence of another.

And here is the problem that I've seen.  I've listened to sermons, been in Bible study discussions, and heard experts saying that God does not speak in such-and-such a way.  For example, I was in a Bible study last year when everyone got onto the subject of hearing God's voice.  And my attention was grabbed by an unanimous conclusion that we should only read the Bible in absolute context.  In other words, if God was speaking about the wall of Jerusalem being rebuilt, then that's all it means.  Reading it out of context and thinking, "God is telling me that he is going to rebuild me" was deemed out-of-context and not-how-God-speaks.  This sounded right.  It sounded churchy and good.

But the problem is that over the past several years as I had grown closer and closer to God, I had heard His voice in multiple ways, some of which would have been considered out-of-context.  So, with a roomful of well-meaning people agreeing that God indeed does not speak in those ways, I began to doubt my spiritual ears.  Am I making this up?  Am I taking things out of context to suit my own desires?

At that point of doubt, my spiritual hearing flatlined.  Yes, I could still read direct passages, such as "Love one another as I have loved you," and I could apply that to my life, knowing full well that God Himself had spoken it.  And there is absolute merit in that.  Really...if we all would simply read passages like this and DO them, we'd be far beyond where we now are.  But there was more, and I was missing it...because I had begun to doubt my own spiritual hearing.

Sometimes God has to remove every prop in your life in order to get the company down to just Him and you.  If you've ever gone through a stripping like this, you know how excruciatingly painful it is at the time.  I once read a missionary biography, where she talked about God taking out all other human props in order to place her in the arena alone.  Really, can you think of a better way to multiply our dependence on Him??  And this He did with me over the past 2 months.  And in the hollow, in the extreme silence of being alone in that arena, He fine-tuned my spiritual hearing...teaching me again the sound of His voice (after all, if He's the only other person left in the arena with us, it's just plain clear-as-a-bell whose voice we are hearing).  I practiced listening...learning His voice with bold assurance.

And I came out the other side with his strength pulsating in my weakness.  And His voice was unmistakable.  And nothing...truly NOTHING comes close to the down-in-the-depths joy that bursts upon hearing His voice.  To then convey it to others and say, "God told me such and such" is like translating a 4D movie into a primitive stick figure drawing.

So, I sat on this and turned it over in my mind.  I so badly want others to experience this hidden layer...the place where the treasure is only found by those searching desperately for it.  And yet translating it all from the multi-colored, multi-faceted spiritual experience into flat human words is enough to make me put it off.

Until now.  Because now I am 1000% sure.  I no longer doubt my spiritual hearing.  And this I want to share as best as I can for those wanting more.

So back to the comment about not taking anything out of context...  In one aspect, I do agree.  We are sinful creatures by nature, and we can very easily justify just about anything.  We are good at this, right?  We could, no doubt, read a Scripture and twist it to fit our situation and be completely wrong in that.  We could read about God telling Noah to build the ark, and we can take that out of context to mean we are supposed to own a big boat.  You know I could write out thousands of such things that would be out of context.  But, that is not at all what I'm talking about.

Hear me out on this one.  Was God not out of context when He spoke to Moses in a burning bush?  Seriously.  Think about that.  A bush is burning but not burning up, and Moses said He heard God speaking in it.  Let's apply some "context" here...  Is this how God usually speaks?  Have you ever heard God speak through a burning bush?  Has anyone ever before or since heard God speaking through a burning bush?  And why did He choose to speak in a burning bush, when He could have just spoken in an audible voice without the fanfare?  And what about the guy who heard the donkey speak...or the king who saw fingers appear and write on the wall...or Saul being blinded by a light and hearing the voice of God while going about his usual business?  What about the missionary who didn't know whether or not to leave China during a war crisis, and she prayed for wisdom, opened her Bible and read, "Flee Egypt," and off she went?  All of this sounds strangely unusual and hopelessly out of context, no?

And yet God did it.
 

Why is it that we put God in our human boxes?  Why is it that we limit Him to our own understanding?  No wonder many of us don't hear His still, small voice.  We have so limited Him in our minds that we miss Him.  And, as my friend Kerry said in a nationwide conference, "If you don't believe God still speaks, then don't expect Him to speak to you."  I believe many of us completely miss Him due to either being so busy that we cannot hear amid all the other noises or simply confining Him to our own painfully tiny boxes.

He said in James that if we want wisdom, we only need to ask Him.  BUT (and He puts a condition on it), we must EXPECT Him to answer.  If you don't expect Him to answer, then why ask?  Seriously, is it just talking to the ceiling?  It is just some wishful thinking that we throw a prayer up and hope that maybe He throws some good luck our way?  The power of prayer is grossly, and I mean GROSSLY, underestimated.  He says for us to expect Him to answer.  When this truth hit me, it changed my praying, and really, it changed my life.  I began to get very bold with God (He does say that with a clean conscience, we can absolutely come boldly to Him...where in the world is our boldness??).  I'd pray for Him to give me wisdom and direction in something specific, and then I'd say, "Now, You tell me to expect You to answer.  And I'm expecting...seriously, I'm expecting You to give me clear, without-a-doubt direction here."  And I learned that God LOVES when we take Him at His word.  He shows up when we expect Him to.  It's like a delightful game of hide-and-seek.  He says that when we seek, we WILL find.  I think He loves to tuck treasures into hidden places that will only be found by those who expect to find.  He seems to get pure joy from seeing His children discover hidden treasures, and I can tell you that being on the seeking-and-finding side of things, it is phenomenal and will forever ruin regular boring life for you.  There is thrill in this seeking and finding.  And most of us miss it entirely.
 

He sends answers to me in all kinds of ways.  Just recently, on a day when I felt gutted and asked Him to remind me that He really was still there and that I really was still loved, He sent me a heart-shaped leaf on my back porch (the only leaf that strangely wasn't blowing away on that breezeway on our hill).  Yesterday when I was deep in thought over some issues, He spoke to me through my oldest daughter as she was telling me a lesson she learned about paper mache.  Right in the middle of my contemplating, she walked in with, "Mama, guess what I learned?"  She went on to explain how she learned to do something better on her umpteenth time to make something.  And as she was speaking, the Holy Spirit was inside me, saying quietly, "Listen...this lesson she is telling you about is applying right now to the very thing you are struggling with inside."  He really will and DOES carry on an ongoing conversation with us if we are simply tuned into that frequency.  If we are seeking, we really WILL find.  And his voice is truly clear when we have learned what it sounds like.
 

When we were getting serious about our move to Texas, we were contemplating three areas...El Paso, Dallas and Hill Country.  We were needed in El Paso to help with some needs of extended family.  The Dallas area held other family and friends.  And we were also drawn to the beauty of Hill Country.  So I began to really pray for God to open the door where He wanted us to be.  I prayed boldly, telling Him that I expected Him to show us which area of Texas He wanted to place us.  In the weeks following that, over and over I read Scriptures about the hill country in Israel.  Now, if I were to simply keep that in context, believing that it was ONLY talking about the hill country of Israel, then I would have missed the hidden treasure in those verses.  Yes, it was about Israel, but during those weeks of sincerely seeking God about where He wanted us to move, He used those verses to pop off the page and be seen as a treasure-hunter finds clues to the whereabouts of his treasure.  He continued to repeat this in other verses, other books of the Bible.  And one day he showed my husband and myself the exact same Scripture on the same day, completely independently of each other.  So, we pointed our feet toward Texas Hill Country.  Once we stepped in faith, other doors began to open in miraculous ways.  And when people asked if we were sure we were supposed to move to Texas hill country, we could say without a shadow of any doubt that yes we knew.  Ever wonder where boldness in following God comes from?  It comes from knowing His voice.  

So, if I were sitting in a Bible study about listening to God's voice, I would have to respectfully disagree with the majority on this one.  Because I've heard His voice, and I know it.  And if He chooses to speak through Scripture about Israel's hill country
or a beautiful bird's feather
or a breath-taking sunrise after a night of storms
or a long-awaited rain on dry ground
or the growth or lack of growth in tomato plants
or a child talking about paper mache
or a gorgeous cerulean blue piece of yarn that is tied together in 20 knots
or a cat blissfully sleeping next to an allegory of the hardships of following God...
He IS speaking.  It is our ears that need to be attuned to His voice.

Then we need to boldly cling to what He has spoken and walk it out in simple faith, but that will be another blog post for an other day.

Clearing our Land

I find it intriguing how what is going on around me is often a reflection of what is also going on inside of me.  It seems as if oftentimes the spiritual is expressed in the physical.  For example, when we spent 5 years living in the desert, I went through a spiritual desert experience...dry, thirsty, weathered.  Then we moved to our little house in the woods, which was situated down in a little hole of sorts, and it was there that I went through a long valley experience.  It's hard to tell from the outside what is going on on the inside, so this valley was known only by me.  Then God began to bring to my attention many verses about moving me, and then He led us straight to Texas Hill Country.  And this time, it's not a desert, and it isn't a valley.  Our home sits atop a hill overlooking Hill Country.  It's beautiful, and a constant light breeze rises up the hill and across our property.  

I stand at a new place in my life, and I look out across this breath-taking land, and I wonder what God has in store for me here and what this season will hold.  And, I find it intriguing how once again the goings on in my spiritual life are reflected in what is happening around me.  For the past year, I have made notes of the many Scriptures God has brought to my attention, and a running theme is obvious.  (If you aren't in the habit of writing down what God brings to your mind and what Scriptures He gives you, you really need to get a notebook and keep track.  It will amaze you as you see it repeating certain things.)  And for the past year, in Scriptures He's shown me, books I've read, and sermons I've heard, He continues to bring the theme of rebuilding the ruins, replanting the desolate places, setting the captive free.  

     

We needed to bring in people to clear our land here on the hill.  And for one long day, they worked.
On the upper part of our property, they uprooted trees and removed brush and anything that wasn't useful.  I stood on the back deck and watched, and that still voice of my Shepherd spoke of the uprooting in my own life...the many years of knocking down.  The desert and the valley were both seasons of knocking down, clearing out, dropping me to my knees, grating to the bare ground.

The following day after the land was cleared, an off-and-on gentle rain created the perfect conditions for burning the piles of brush and trees.  I watched those flames, and I remembered the prayer I had prayed several years ago, asking God to knock me down to nothing and then build me back the way He chose to.  I had no idea then how long that process would take and how intense it would be.  And it all was pictured right there in that fire on our hill.

It smoldered for what seemed like forever, often reigniting even in the rain.  Some things just don't go down easily.  To be utterly consumed takes time.

When the landscapers came back, they were able to bring in a Bobcat to level a huge section of land.  You may see ugly dirt, but my eyes of faith see a fertile Back-to-Eden garden overflowing with homegrown goodness.  It's there, though I cannot yet see it.  Because...understand this: the deserts appear, and we stumble through them...and the valleys come, and we walk through shadows.  And then our Shepherd places us in a place filled with brush and bleak dirt but whispers into our spirits that the desolate one will have a new name...she will be called Care For and Not Deserted.  And He knocks down the brush, burns the briers, consumes to ashes.  And then He levels the desolate land and breathes into us the hope of the future replanting.  It IS coming.  He's faithful.

And simultaneous to our land-clearing was also our dog situation.  Our 2 labs moved onto our new property only to find no fence.  So, weeks of waiting on a fencing company to get around to us meant that our dogs spent much time in their kennel.  Though we walked them several times each day, the confinement of their small kennel was difficult.  I leaned down to speak to them quite often about their future fenced yard, but they lost much pep and spunk while being in their kennel.  Again, this was such a reflection of things going on inside myself.

But God is good, and one day the fencing people showed up, and the fence I had been promising our dogs soon took shape.  And it happened quickly.

On the day that we could finally let them run loose in their new fenced area, the younger dog ran and ran with such spirit that the children and I couldn't help but to laugh.  My daughter said, "I hadn't realized how sad Macy had become until I saw her so very happy in her new yard."  It's words like these that hit me sometimes.  Sometimes we too are imprisoned somehow.  Cells come in all shapes.  But God is a Deliverer.  He sets the prisoner free.  And when He brings that release, our hearts thrill, for freedom is indeed a powerful force.

 I'll close this with a handful of photos from the most recent birthday celebration.  Here's my Asian princess discovering crepe paper to help decorate.

Birthday boy chose his meal to be grilled steaks, mashed potatoes, garlic tomatoes, homemade rolls and a fruit salad with mangoes, kiwi and strawberries.  The birthday person is always given the choice to have whatever meal they want...at any restaurant or at home.  I find it interesting that not one child has ever chosen a restaurant meal for their birthday.  They always want something at home.  Home has a strong pull on the heart.

Big sister surprised him with a spider-themed treat.

And look at his reaction to the cake that big sister baked and decorated for him!  Seriously priceless.

Lovin' how the sports mode on the camera will get great action shots like this one...

And this, my friends, has been just a slice of what is going on in our world.