Summer Sundae 4 – August 2022

I love the family picture above, drawn by Dancing Toes. The respective heights of the boys dates it; Rhythm Dude is our gentle giant and towers over us all, closely followed by Lanky Dude and both HWH and myself now look up to our boys. However, they are boys no longer. They are young men of stature in both character and faith and my respect for them grows daily. They are each going through times of challenge and uncertainty, disappointments and frustrations. My heart as a mother aches for them. I so want to make it all better, like I could when they were little. But I can’t; all I can do, and the best thing I can do, is pray for them. Continually; like the persistent widow in one of Jesus’ parables. I’m thankful they are at home, while they go through some of these faith building lessons, so I can try to ease the way with food and encouragement. I sense God is preparing many of us for times to come when our faith will be tested and we will need to have our roots deep in God’s word and our ears sensitive to the calling of the Spirit. So while I’m grateful that He is training us, it’s hard to watch our children going through these seasons.

However, despite these very real underlying challenges, the last few weeks have had some great highlights and blessings.

Philippa @exitsupermum and her gorgeous family came to stay a few week ends ago. I’ve got to know her online over the past couple of years, as we’ve attended home ed conferences together and more recently as we’ve worked on the book. She’s written a chapter sharing her perspective as a second generation “homeschooler”. It’s a fascinating and very encouraging read. It was also the chapter which had the least grammatical or other errors and so was the easiest to edit; a box ticked for home ed! She has just about single handedly planned and implemented our launch campaign with vision, creativity and IT skills I dream of! But, most importantly she’s a woman of God, who humbly and faithfully serves in the small things as well as in larger projects. Her family are fabulous and we had such fun chatting, laughing, and sharing ideas; a true kindred spirit.

HWH was involved in leading a youth camp for which the boys’ band played, and we all had a few days down at Creation Fest in Cornwall. Rhythm Dude qualified as a lifeguard which will help get him through Uni, and we’ve all been rehearsing for our town’s historic pageant. We’ve had some other fun days out too, as well as some much needed home days. I’ve still not managed to spend much time lying in the garden reading, but maybe this week or next….

Enjoy the pics and have a good week! X