Things I'm Thinking About . . .

In A Charlotte Mason Companion: Personal Reflections on the Gentle Art of Learning, Karen Andreola suggest that each day a child should have:

    ~ something or someone to love

    ~ something to do

    ~ something to think about 

I agree with that! But now that I am no longer in the business of directing a child's learning through homeschooling, I also believe that those are good principles for anyone . . . throughout life! 

Here are a few of the things that I have been thinking about recently . . . 

💡THE MERLIN APP 

I suppose this is not so much "something to think about" as it is an aid to knowledge, but it certainly spawned some thinking this week. Mom, my sister Linda, Bekah, and I went to the cemetery to put a wreath on Daddy's grave for Father's Day. While we were there, we heard a bird chirping over and over and we weren't sure what kind of bird it was. I remembered that I had downloaded the Merlin app a few weeks ago after a few recommendations on Instagram, so I decided to give it a try. The app quickly identified the singer as a Northern Cardinal, a common bird in our area. I should have recognized  call, its but I didn't and I realize that I don't know many birds by their sounds. Over the next few minutes, Merlin also identified a Carolina Wren, a Brown-Headed Cowbird, a Chipping Sparrow, and a Great Crested Flycatcher. Their calls were not as loud as the cardinal's, but the app picked them up and we noticed the sound when it did. How much I have missed! Now I am inspired to listen more attentively and to learn to recognize the calls of the birds in my area. 

💡GIVING A CHILD SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

Even though I no longer homeschool my own children, I find it fascinating to watch my grandchildren learn. I use the word "watch" because sometimes it seems exactly that . . . as if you can see that lightbulb turn on as something grabs their imagination and they start thinking about it. 

We have a weekly video call with our daughter Kati's family. (Rabbit trail here: I am so thankful that, as much as I love Little House on the Prairie, I do not live in a time before such things as video calls! I am grateful to see those grandbabies across the miles every week!) 

Back to my story. On a recent video call, Caleb (5) and Ellie (almost 4) were telling us about seeing a bear in the movie Balto. We proceeded to talk more about bears, including the fact that Ellie was a bit of a grumpy bear that day because she hadn't slept well the previous night. Then I remembered the poem about Fuzzy Wuzzy and recited it for the children. As soon as I began, Caleb stopped wiggling and gave me his full attention. (I was "watching" him learn right then.) 

A few minutes later, Caleb surprised us by saying the poem himself . . . after hearing it one time! Ellie was saying some of the lines too. So I have decided to read or recite a poem for them each week while interest lasts. This week's was "The Purple Cow" by Gelett Burgess. 

💡A QUOTE ABOUT REMEMBERING

My Bekah is an old soul. Of course, she has always been around people older than herself. Ron and I were ages 44 and 40 when she was born. She has three older siblings and the oldest is 20.5 years older than she. Also, Ron is the fifth of eight children, so her aunts and uncles are also older and she has grown up hearing about Social Security and retirement and colonoscopies and the like. On the flip side, she has always been around babies too since her first nephew was born when she was 20 months old and she now has fifteen nieces and nephews. All of that to say that Bekah has had exposure to a broader scope of thoughts and culture and ideas. 

Since Bekah started college, we have had many conversations about "common knowledge." It is surprising that many students have not read, watched, or even heard of books, movies, historical figures and events that we consider "common knowledge." We have discussed the fact that if you only know what has happened in your own lifetime, and if you are only familiar with modern thought, then you have missed a vast amount of knowledge! Are you truly educated? 

I came across this quote yesterday as I was reading Beyond Mere Motherhood: Moms Are People Too by Cindy Rollins. 

Remembering is one of the most important things we can do for our present and our future. Remembering is not looking back only, it is carrying those things past into the future for the preservation of culture.

I love that, and it gives me something to think about!

💡THIS VERSE

Our ladies' Sunday School class has committed to memorizing one Bible verse each month. I made a phone wallpaper for this month's verse so I see it (and think about it) multiple times a day.

Thanks for joining me on this meander through my random thoughts! I'd love to know what you have been thinking about! 

In an attempt to catch up on my Gathering the Moments posts, I just posted 
Gathering the Moments | March 2025
Gathering the Moments | April 2025 

I hope to "gather" May soon! We'll see . . . 🙃

Gathering the Moments | April 2025

April was a busy month for us! There were three events on three consecutive Sundays, requiring a whole lot of thinking and a whole lot of planning and lists galore. Menus . . . decorations . . . entertainment/games . . . set up . . . details, details, details. Fortunately for me, we began with the biggest event and each one got easier. 

🌷 The first Sunday, there was a family reunion for Ron's side of the family.

The week leading up to it was full of activity. Ron was off for a couple of days, and we took a day trip on one of those. I filled in as the main teacher of our ESL class, We went to two theater performances: one on Friday night to see a family friend and another on Saturday night to see our daughter Kristin and our grandchildren Owen and Maddie.

I wasn't sure I would get it all together for the reunion, but somehow we pulled it off! One of the highlights of the day was singing karaoke . . . and laughing like crazy! 

🌷 The second Sunday of April was Bekah's birthday.  

It was a joyful day of celebrating our "baby" on the 24th anniversary of her birth. I shared more party details and photos ~ here ~. 

I have told Bekah's story several times over the years, but if you're new here at Thinking About Home, you can read it ~ here ~. It is a story of hope and rejoicing! 


🌷 The third celebration was Resurrection Sunday.

As I said, each gathering was easier to plan, so Resurrection Sunday felt like a breeze! We had a wonderful day . . . from Easter breakfast to our church service to a holiday meal with Kristin and family and my Mom. (Bonus: all new Lindt lamb foil creations!) 

So if April had a theme, it could be . . . 

GATHERING

for there were many

or . . . 

RESURRECTION DAY MUSIC

because I played this playlist all. month. long. 

or . . . 

PINK

because those grocery store tulips lingered awhile and showed up in many photos 

and because the Judas tree (that was a descendent of a tree that Ron's grandmother once had) was in full bloom, 
and the bleeding heart bloomed,

as did the pretty circle of azaleas that were planted by our house's former owner.

as did the redbud tree that we planted last fall, a memorial gift in honor of my Daddy, gifted to me by a dear friend 

or could the theme be simply (and profoundly)  . . .  

GRACE

because that explains every gift and every good thing.
Grace. Free and undeserved favor. 

Gathering the Moments | March 2025

 

~ EARLY SPRING BLOOMS ~

here, there and everywhere

(They are so welcome!)

some inside, some outside

some real, some faux

~ AN AFTERNOON WITH JUDAH ~

~ CONTINUATION OF A PROJECT ~

that we started in January
(I gave you a peek in February.)

 ~ CORNED BEEF & CABBAGE ~

~ FRESH EGGS ~

gifted from a friend
(Love those colors!)

~ DISHES ~
added a few spring-y dishes to the plate rack

~ A SMALL PARTY ~

to prepare for a big party
(a family reunion for Ron's side of the family)

~ MY MONTHLY CAT PHOTO ~
We take oodles of photos of Manzy.
(Is he photogenic or is he our "baby"?)

~ A COUPLE OF DAY TRIPS ~

one with my friend Barbara

(antiquing; lunch at an old inn)

and one with Ron
(shopping and lunch in a seaside town)

~ A SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY ~

They celebrated by biking the 184.5-mile C&O Canal towpath!

~ AND A SWEET GIRL'S BIRTHDAY ~

   And that was our March! 

Make Someone's Day

It was Mother's Day and it had been a full day. We had gone to church and then hosted a family gathering and now it was evening. The four of us (it was before Kati was married) got in the van and went to visit Ron's mom. Ron was the last of her eight children to pay her a Mother's Day visit that year, and when we walked in, she said that we had "made her day." 

"Well, that is a pretty easy way to make someone's day," I said, but she insisted that it did. 

Thinking it over later, I pondered that perhaps it can be just that easy to make someone's day. 

* * * 

I spend several days each week with Mom, running errands, going to appointments, etc. I usually have music playing in my van as we drive to and fro, and I'll put on one of my Spotify playlists. But yesterday, Mom mentioned a song that she had been watching on repeat on YouTube ("Beulah Land" by Squire Parsons), so I went to Spotify and found a Silver Anniversary Collection and that was our music for the day. 

Last night, Mom called to say thank you to Ron for mowing her lawn and to me for taking her out yesterday and then she said, "I especially thank you for the Squire Parsons concert!" 

My mind went back to that little interchange with Ron's mom on that Mother's Day seven years ago, and again I thought that it can be just that simple to make someone's day. 

* * * 

NOTE TO SELF: 

Every day, look for ways to make someone's day! 

Do you want to join me? When is the last time that you made someone's day? When is the last time that someone made your day? 

Mother's Day Thoughts

I have shared this quote before, but I think it bears repeating here on this Mother's Day weekend...

"How can it be a large career to tell other people's children about the Rule of Three, and a small career to tell one's own children about the universe? How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone, and narrow to be everything to someone? No; a woman's function is laborious, but because it is gigantic, not because it is minute. I will pity Mrs. Jones for the hugeness of her task; I will never pity her for its smallness."

~G. K. Chesterton

Mom and me, circa 1961

I have been so blessed in my life to have known many women who saw their task as a mother as a "huge" one, a serious one, a vital one. My own mother took her mothering job very seriously. She herself grew up in a dysfunctional home, but as a mother, she prayed about decisions (big and small) that affected us, and she taught us His Word every single day. My daughter Kristin, my daughter-in-law Sarah, and my daughter Kati are also mothers who see the seriousness of their task. How grateful I am! A grandmother's heart is comforted when she knows that her beloved grandchildren are being raised by such mothers.

Three generations, 1982

Four generations, 2023

Mother's Day 2021

If you are a mother, may I encourage you to recognize the enormity of your task? And may I direct you to the One who equips you for this task?

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

Isaiah 40:11