So today, as usual, I made a to-do list–it had about six things I really wanted to get done today. Writing on this blog wasn’t one of them…I got a grand total of ONE of them done. But the amazing part is that I still had a really fabulous day! Not just a good day, but a really enjoyable day. I’d even go further than that–I had a great weekend. Today marks two weeks since we have been practicing social distancing. This is an attempt at quelling the very mysterious virus infecting much of the world–seeking to escape becoming a statistic of what is classified as a pandemic. We are all well. In fact, as homeschoolers our lives haven’t changed all that much. My husband, thankfully, still has his job and not so thankfully, is not working from home. (I’m one of those unusually blessed wives that cannot get enough of her beloved.) But many are working from home or have lost their jobs. Toilet paper is scarce, even though there is no reason it should be and some parts of the country are staring at empty shelves in the grocery store. Schools and daycares have been dismissed or are being conducted via distance learning. Events canceled, Hotels closed. It is quite the ordeal. We are on spring break next week and so though we will remain at home, there is little lesson planning to be done and even less socializing. But the weather this weekend has been delectable and the company could not be any finer. I love being with my guys.
As an HSP mama, the coronavirus has been somewhat anxiety producing. Now anxiety is a familiar friend to me. But something that can make this unwelcome visitor disappear faster than ice cream sitting on a hot porch in July, is for me to be outside in nature. Whether hiking in the mountains or simply spending the day gardening with the love of my life, I just feel calmer and more grounded when I’m out-of- doors. This afternoon, as I walked past my mountain laurel bush that is struggling to become a tree, I noticed what I thought was a pesky, luminescent blue fly. He was large and he was acting like a bee. And then I realized–he was a bee! A Mason bee– which totally made my day. Mason bees are rare blue insects that have an incredible capacity for hard work. I had never heard of them until our homeschool curriculum publisher began a group for neuroatypical students and called it the Blue Orchard Bees…which is another name for the Mason bee. Since our philosophy of education is based on the work of Charlotte Mason, the bee is an especially fitting mascot. But I never expected to see one in my own backyard! And to capture a picture of it, since he did seem a bit camera shy. It was such a highlight of the day… and it was totally unscripted!
I don’t know about y’all but I tend to need reminding that I can deviate from my list. That my list is a guide, not the master. As a believer in Christ, I am trying to let the true Master direct my days, my teaching, and my homemaking, but I still am all too eager to wrestle for control or to fail to see what is right in front of me. To encounter this bee, who frankly would prefer I not act as the paparazzi as he strove to placidly extract nectar from my mountain laurel, was a gift from my heavenly Daddy. And I noticed it and soaked in the moment. And then I promptly went and wrote it on my list, so I could cross off a second item…(kidding–but I so would do that!)
What unscripted moment in life have you enjoyed lately?
Decidedly Different 