Brothers

Sometimes I think it is no coincidence that the word ‘boisterous’ sounds like ‘boys’ at the beginning. A house full of boys is going to have moments that are filled with all types of noises. Sometimes the noises are happy-laughter ringing through the halls, singing, the rat-a-tap of feet dancing across the floor… that sort of thing. Then there are times where the sounds do not bring happiness-whining, arguing, stomping… etc. I rue the day it was discovered that gassy sounds could be made with armpits.

One thing I do love about my boys is that regardless how much they get on one another’s nerves, they always love each other, especially in times where things are going tough.Recently, for example, Samuel cut himself. At first it was no big deal to his brothers. I go to bandage up Samuel’s finger and that’s when it happens: He looked at it. Apparently when it happened and while washing his hands, Samuel did not actually look at his finger. Looking at it, he saw blood. Seeing blood made him think about the fact of that was his blood coming out of his body. He does not like the thought of his blood coming out of his body. He went pale. He started getting limp. Mark picked him up and carried him to our room to stretch out. Seeing as how the cut was very near to a joint, we decided that even though it was not a deep cut, he need to be seen by a doctor to determine if stitches were needed. I called our pediatrician, but they said they did not do stitches in the office.  So we started getting ready to head to the Emergency Room. My mother was at our house, so Nathaniel and Benjamin did not have to go with us, thankfully. I told Nathaniel that we were about to go and he was shocked that Samuel was cut that badly. I told him it was not too bad, but we wanted it seen about anyway. When I went in Benjamin’s room to tell him, he was rocking back and forth on his bed. Before I even said anything he burst out, “Is Samuel going to be alright?” I explained that Samuel was fine, but we were going to go to the hospital to see if he needed stitches.  Benjamin’s reaction? His little face went pale and he asked in a trembling voice if it was really that serious. I explained to him that it was not serious, but with the cut being in a bendy place we thought it would be best to let the doctor look at it and decide if it needed help in healing.He asked me if I was sure it wasn’t serious and I told him yes I was sure and he could look at it himself if he wanted. He didn’t want to.

To sum it up, Samuel is fine. He got some glue on his finger (no stitches woo-hoo!!!), a banana split, and a chicken, bean, and rice burrito to boot. He gets out of his turn at doing the dishes for several days. While cutting himself was not exactly fun, he did enjoy the benefits.

When we got home, Benjamin was at he door. He was extra-nice to Samuel the entire night. This is the same kid who will make noises at Samuel just to get on his nerves, or jump out from behind something to scare him.  Those things are done are normal days. On days when things are not going so well, he’s there to help and take care.

I hope they always have that sweetness of of being there in bad times. As they grow up, they might not always be near each other on a regular basis. In times of crisis, I do hope they remain close and loving.

Proverbs 17:17- A friend loves at all times and a brother is born for adversity.

 

 

Benjamin’s Report

Benjamin turned in his first rough draft of the year. Let me just say, boy was it EVER rough.

This is a report on Benedictine Monks. Benedictine Monks wrote by hand! They were so good at that, that you could barely their handwriting apart! And, they were not allowed to talk. And the weirdest thing of all, they could not go outside of the monistary.

Hmm… where to begin? The odd use of italics for no apparent reason? Leaving out words?  Misspelling? Awkwardly strung together sentences???? So, I replied with this:

Your sentences do not flow smoothly. This report is very choppy! And, you need to check your spelling. And, most important of all, never start a sentence with and.

(okay, maybe that is not the MOST important thing. It just seemed funny at the time) So then I went through with the dreaded red pen and marked what need correcting. I love my crazy kiddos!

**** On a totally unrelated note, yesterday I was feeling bad so Mark stepped in to teach. Like any good class, they took advantage of their kind substitute teacher’s lack of knowing what gets done. They conveniently “forgot” to tell him that after the devotion that goes with the catechism lesson  they are supposed to write the question and answer.  Little sneaks!!!

Who Me, Patient? You Really Don’t Me Very Well.

I met a new hairdresser this week. She was really fabulous! We chatted a bit about families. She got married at the same age as me and has two boys. The subject of schooling came up. Ugh. I braced myself for the usual onslaught of, “Why on Earth would you want to do that?” when I told her I homeschool. I didn’t get that. She said, “Wow. That is really great. You must be so patient!”

(I can hear people who know me in real life laughing all the way through their computers.) Ah, no. That is something I really have to work on.  Every. single. day.  Schooling, not schooling-it doesn’t matter. I have to really try not to lose it on people, electronics, inanimate objects- you name it.  I realized the depths of my impatience one day as I was loading some books into Library Thing.  It took a whole 1.3 seconds to find a book on there. I was in the process of telling Mark how I was getting frustrated with this thing taking “forever” and I looked at the result time. Ouch. (maybe that is why I never actually finished cataloging our books.)

While it may sometimes add some comedy to our day when I am getting impatient with stuff-the boys remind sometimes that yelling at the computer will not make it load any faster- it is not so good with people. I sometimes run out of patience by telling a certain son a million gazillion kabillion times that putting his clean clothes in the closet floor is NOT putting them away.  I get impatient when I say bring me the sheets off your bed and am asked, “Does that mean the pillowcase, too?” (((slaps forehead and replies YES)))

Do you know how many times patience is referred to in the Bible? I don’t know an exact amount, but let me just say its a lot. Some of the most toe-stomping ones to me are:

Ecclesiastes 7:8
Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. (Hmm…. makes me feel self conscience about not finishing cataloging books…. and not finishing so many books I start)

Romans 12:12
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. (really toe-stomping because I tend to be more of the “why me wahhh” type than patient in tough stuff)

1 Corinthians 13:4
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant (Wow, Christians are told that we will be known by our love.  {see John 13:34-35}Love is patient. That is a hard pill to swallow)

2 Timothy 2:24
And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, (Yes, I know that this directed to pastors, but aren’t all Christians called servants of the Lord?)

1 Thessalonians 5:14
And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. (This is probably where I have personally dropped the ball the most. I have high standards and somehow expect others to follow my rules. I would never make a good therapist. I tend to want to tell people to stop their sniveling and get a life.)

The verse about patience that stands out to me the most is this one:

2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

God is patient with us. Even me and my rudeness. It is through His power that I am often able not to stick my foot in my mouth. It is His Spirit that keeps me from saying things that I know I am going to regret later. When I am talking to someone who has bad theology He reminds me that I have sometimes believed things that are not doctrinally sound. (My husband would tell you that I still cling a bit too close to Rome on something, but that is a whole ‘nother can of worms) When teaching my children God reminds that there once was a time where I did not know my multiplication tables or the differences in declarative and imperative sentences.

I often hear people saying not to pray for patience because it will result in God sending things, people, and situations into your life that make you exercise patience.  I think  that is ridiculous reasoning. If we want to improve something, we HAVE to exercise it more.  If you want to improve your strength on bench-pressing what do you do? You do bench presses. You add more weight on your bar so that you get more strength in your arms. So, shouldn’t we pray for patience if we truly want to be a patient person striving to be more like God? There are going to be things in life that stink, whether you pray for patience or not. I feel that by praying for patience, God is faithful to answer that prayer so that when difficult or whiny people (other than myself 🙂 ) are in my life I have the grace to be patient with them, rather than telling them off.

Keep a Poem in Your Heart

Several years my mother gave the boys all the Random House Book of Poetry for Children for Christmas. It has been one of those gifts that has been used over and over. Benjamin especially loves it. Two of his favorites are written by the same person. Dorothy Aldis either is the female version of Benjamin or has a child just like him. If you do not believe me, read these poems:

Wasps

Wasps like coffee.

Syrup.

Tea.

Coca-Cola.

Butter.

Me.

My Nose

It doesn’t breathe;

It doesn’t smell;

It doesn’t feel So very well.

I am discouraged

With my nose:

The only thing it

Does is blows.

Benjamin’s assignment was to create a poem of all verbs. He decided to write one about school.

School

Writing…………….reading……………………..listening…………….arguing……

………………….spanking……………………………sulking

(I promise not all days are like this! :))