Pure Joy

I dreamt that I was standing at a barn door, and saw a very pregnant mare walk by me out to the field. I followed her,and as I watched, she gave birth to a foal. The foal stood up instantly, and instead of shaky, wobbly legs one would expect, he walked steadily and majestically across the hillside with his mother.

We had our first test of our helicopters the kids made for the state Science Olympiad competition. It flew a full minute longer than our 5th place regional contest copter. Like the foal in my dream, it didn't wobble at all. Well, one of our test copters did catch the breeze from an opening door, flip upside down and drill straight into the carpet...but that minor glitch could not mar the euphoria we all felt knowing we have an awesome helicopter for the state contest. And we still have 6 weeks to go...lots of time to build another one. There is fire in the team's eyes now. I am not sure if it is the incredible performance of the copters, or the increasingly pricey bribes I am offering. When the coach knows less than the team, it is critical that the coach be a master of motivation, which means the coach discerns the team's favorite ice-cream very quickly. I know some kids do academic tasks out of the sheer love of learning, and all they need to be motivated is the connection of new neurons in their sparking brains. I am sure this is true of my team as well, as long as those new neurons are bathed in Rita's Homemade Custard and Ices.

It has been a grueling year. 9th grade is enough to kill the hardiest homeschool mom, especially if you want to throw in an AP class or two. My own year of publishing two books and working on a third while coaching two Science Olympiad teams and running my art classes while homeschooling has not always resulted in the happy smiley face I want to be seen sporting around town. We are currently reading about FDR. While I am not sure how I feel about the enormous expansion of government control he presided over, I have to admire his courage in the face of adversity. He was stricken with polio, before entering politics, and his friends all told him any chance of a political career was over.
"When you spend months trying to wiggle your big toe," he wrote, "Everything else seems easy."
i had Asherel write an essay on that sentence. It is so easy to give up, to blame others, to blame God, to wallow in despair, to grovel in self pity, to beg for handouts, or to just end it all and give up. But if you persevere....sometimes if you persevere, helicopters fly to the sky and hover there as though carried in God's hand and little boys walk by, and gaze up rapturously and cry, "Wow! That is so cool! How do you do that!?"

James 1: 2-4, 12
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

PS- My book signing of God Drives a Tow Truck is this Sunday, 1:30-3:30, at Park Road Books, in Park Road Plaza, off of Park Road. Tell all your friends. It would be so cool to have a line snaking out the door and around the parking lot all the way to the homes of all the agents who rejected me.....


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