Here comes the sun

The start of homeschool highschool has been treacherous. At times,it seemed likely that critical factors in any school would be lost, things like sanity. Our schedule is overfull, and there has not been nearly enough time to do anything at the depth that I think we should go. Meanwhile, Asherel has a plethora of extracurricular activities. (PS- an editorial in our paper which was about how to write winning college essays suggested the student never use the word plethora. No one can use plethora without evoking eye rolling in the reader. It reminded me that I had not used plethora in a while, and it is a word I have always liked.)

But my point is, we are too busy and yet, Asherel does not want to give up any of her extras- horseback, dog agility, guitar, art, snowboarding, mindless computer gaming....

However, I knew she had her once a year guitar recital this weekend and I had not heard her practice the song. Not once. I find it very very hard to let my children fail, so resort to the time honored parenting technique of nagging. My family requested that instead of nagging, I hang a whiteboard on the wall, and write the things that I might feel impelled otherwise to nag about. I did so. Asherel erased them.
"I know that already," she said.
So, we went to guitar lesson, with the recital 2 days away, and Lenny said, "Are you ready for the recital?"
I snickered.
"Yes," said Asherel.
"What will you be playing?" he asked.
What indeedy, I thought.
"Here Comes the Sun," she answered.
"Really!" said Lenny, "I had you down on the program for 8 Days a Week since that is all we have practiced...but I can change that. You can do Here Comes the Sun."
"I just can't decide whether to use a pick or not," she said, as though that were a more serious problem than not having practiced, not even once, as far as I knew.
"George used a pick," said Lenny gently.
Asherel had been very sad three days ago as it was the tenth anniversary of George's death from cancer. George had written Here Comes the Sun, one of the few songs he composed for the Beatles. This sealed the deal for her regarding the pick.
"Do you want me to play it with you at the recital?" he asked.
She said, "That might be good."
Yes, I thought, that surely might be good, as Asherel has not practiced and we may as well let the audience hear something other than her mother wailing.
Asherel pulled out her capo and put it on the guitar neck.
"Oh, you are playing it in the key the Beatles played it!" said Lenny, surprised.
Of course!!! This is the girl who wants to pursue a graduate degree in Beatles Studies. She just nodded.
"I'll do the lower register then," said Lenny.
They began to play. As soon as Asherel began picking the melody that I love so much it is my phone ringtone, I knew that she had misled me. She had been practicing...it sounded like she had been practicing a lot. Lenny messed up half way through but promised he would practice and be ready for the recital.
Meanwhile, I learned a little lesson about trust and the miracle of my remarkable daughter.

I wonder if I ever surprise God. Do I ever give Him more than He expects? Does He ever suddenly want to weep because He has misjudged me and I am better than He thought I could be? I doubt it. But as a parent, I know it would give Him infinite joy to see that in me just once.

Colossians 1:9-11

 ⁹ For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,¹⁰ so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹ being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience,