Today was a great example of why I love homeschooling! Marc was scheduled to leave on a business trip late this afternoon, so I decided to scrap the usual morning routine of chores and school and really enjoy our last bit of time with “Daddy” for the week. We had an enjoyable morning–everyone piled into the trailer behind our new (for us) quad and we went for a ride…had a great breakfast of watermelon & toast made with Blueberry Crumble bread (yummy!)…went outside to visit the growing baby chicks and feed all the chickens…and, much later than usual, enjoyed our family devotions (a continuing reading & discussion of Proverbs). Then, since our toddler was falling asleep in her chair, we called an “early nap time” (it was 11:00) and we all went for a little rest. Then Dad got up and went out to the ravine for an adventure with the boys while the girls finished up their nap. We enjoyed a yummy “breakfast for lunch” of french toast and sausage (truly a treat!), read aloud from “The Adventures of Paddy the Beaver” by Thornton Burgess, and then Dad was off, with lots of “good-byes” and “I love you’s!”

After such a blessed morning, I knew the boys wouldn’t want to get back to “school,” so when they did their afternoon jobs and asked to go outside on a scavenger hunt, I figured they might as well enjoy the gorgeous fall day. I thought trouble might be brewing when son #1 expressed his desire to go down to the ravine, but son #2 said to me, “No, we’re not going down to the ravine.” They left the house without reaching a concensus on their destination, in spite of my request that they agree on what they were doing before they got going.

It was no surprise to have to call them back in within about 20 minutes…and to make a long story short, we had a really good conversation–an excellent “teachable moment” in which I was able to share with the boys an object lesson that had recently come to my attention from a friend. I’ll post it here, just FYI (thanks, Tony!):

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Dart Test…

A young lady named Sally, relates an experience she had in a seminary class, given by her teacher, Dr. Smith . She says that Dr. Smith was known for his elaborate object lessons.

One particular day, Sally walked into the seminary and knew they were in for a fun day.
On the wall was a big target and on a nearby table were many darts. Dr. Smith told the students to draw a picture of someone that they disliked or someone who had made them angry, and he would allow them to throw darts at the person’s picture.

Sally’s friend drew a picture of who had stolen her boyfriend. Another friend drew a picture of his little brother. Sally drew a picture of a former friend, putting a great deal of detail into her drawing, even drawing pimples on the face. Sally was pleased with the overall effect she had achieved.

The class lined up and began throwing darts. Some of the students threw their darts with such force that their targets were ripping apart. Sally looked forward to her turn, and was filled with disappointment when Dr. Smith , because of time limits, asked the students to return to their seats. As Sally sat thinking about how angry she was because she didn’t have a chance to throw any darts at her target. Dr. Smith began removing the target from the wall.

Underneath the target was a picture of Jesus. A hush fell over the room as each student viewed the mangled picture of Jesus; holes and jagged marks covered His face and His eyes were pierced.

Dr. Smith said only these words….” In as much as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto Me .”Matthew 25:40.

No other words were necessary; the tears filled eyes of the students focused only on the picture of Christ.

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After talking about the boys’ frustrations with one another, I was able to gently expose to each of them their sin of selfishness–each one wanted his own way, rather than considering the desires of his brother. This led to disagreement, anger, and upset as the fun of the afternoon adventure was spoiled. I shared the “dart” story with the boys and asked them, “If you were playing outside with Jesus, would you have…bossed him in order to try to push him to do things your way?…walked away from him and pretended not to hear him?”, etc. They both admitted that they would have done things differently if they had viewed their actions as having been done to Jesus himself rather than “just” their brother. I asked my oldest son, “Do you KNOW Jesus? Do you KNOW what He did for you?” And I had to admire his honest answer: “I say that I do, but I wasn’t behaving like I do.” I had to respond that we can all say the same thing, more often times than we would care to admit.

I got to coach the boys through some heartfelt apologies and reconciliation, and then they agreed to go back outside to do “whatever my brother wants to do.” 🙂 They ended up spending a really enjoyable hour in the sand box making “adobe houses” of wet dirt and rocks. I wouldn’t have traded this lesson for a week of math workbooks or reading textbooks! And, we did manage to get some math done after the little ones went to bed, anyway–so the day wasn’t a total wash. 🙂 Homeschooling is awesome, children are a blessing, and God is real good.