encouragement

Proverbs 11:25, 30  A generous man will prosper, he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. . . The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.

I’ve been reading the Proverbs lately, and these verses struck me. I had to stop and ponder them for a while. I, all too often, worry about getting enough sleep, having time for me, reserving my energy for the things I have to do in a day. But if I really want to have enough energy and strength for the tasks before me, my mind needs to be set on refreshing others.

As I was standing over the changing table, changing my baby’s diaper, listening to her coo and watching her smile, I had this thought: “I have been in this exact same spot, doing this exact same thing so many times.”

At first it was a bit disheartening. I felt a bout of sadness at how mundane my life is. Almost every day looks exactly the same, with some slight variations here and there. Only very rarely do my days change enough to make a statement, like when we take a vacation. I thought to myself, this is not what I thought my life would be like.

I’m sure you’ve heard this phrase before. I thought of it this last week as I vamped up our school day routine to almost full speed. I like to start slowly with just a couple subjects and add two or three subjects each week until we are full speed. We’re not quite there yet but close.

I’m sitting in a college computer cluster observing a CAD (Computer Aided Design) class that my nineteen year old son, Dustin, is teaching to homeschool students. I am in awe of God’s work! This young man is living proof that home education works well.

A few of our nine children loved their workbooks and whipped through the pages assigned for each day, but the others could hardly make themselves sit still that long. The son who is teaching this class was a child full of wiggle.  I’m thrilled to see where God has taken him!