fruits from the One whose hands ARE big enough

Psalm 23:5--"...my cup runneth over."

I sat down this week to finally sort through the past years papers, reading lists, completed assignments (and half-completed assignments), art work, expressions in writing, and such. Honestly, this was not a time I had looked forward to. The last year brought much joy, but a large dose of chaos, too.
You see, I am not an incredible homemaker or a superb homeschooler. The only reason I even know how to cook was due to a course I needed in junior college. Not everyone learns how to keep home when they're growing up. Sometimes families are struggling to survive so training little ones for future roles may not happen. I've wrestled with my less-than-perfect homemaking ways for years, gleaning from women who I listen intently to either in person, in books, or even via the Internet. But this past year was very difficult. I proved I am no juggler, multitasker, or wonder woman.
We threw a sweet bundle of blue-eyed sunshine into our mix, an unexpected bundle who was named Lily, so lovingly by her daddy. After her arrival, all my juggling balls fell to the floor where they remain even now. I struggled through with little "precious pants" on my hip. Many times offering meals that were quick but lacking nutrients, a home where dust bunnies and cobwebs thrived, and a very short attention span for four other little arrows who sometimes just needed to talk.
But the homeschooling was my big concern. What did I plan to teach the Kindergartner this week? Where did I put the third grader's math book? Have I assigned the seventh grader any writing at all? Is that horrible smell the science experiment high school man has left on the counter for two months now? By the end of the year, I was spent and didn't know why, considering it seemed I had accomplished very little. I realized I could not be a candidate for having our family picture on any home school magazine. I mean no one drew a copy of da Vinci's Mona Lisa on the carport with sidewalk chalk. No one built a replica of the Eiffel Tower with Lego's. Honestly, I was just thrilled that by April our little blue-eyed sunshine decided to stop waking up three or four times a night so Sweet Man and I could experience that phantom--sleep.
The good news came when I finally sat down to evaluate our little arrows. It's just a paper I put in the portfolio, but it has one thing I like to pause and think about. Just a spot to list strengths and weaknesses. As I began pondering the strengths this year, my eyes were open to the overlooked. The thing that is more important to me than their test scores...their character. Especially the two olders, how amazingly they have blessed this somewhat harried mother this year. Showing fruits of the One who they've invited in. Patience carefully targeted at the ones who often bother them. Gentleness poured on little blue eyes whose arrival often cost them their mother's attention. Self-control exercised when they had reason to argue. Joy when they saw this woman with a "sharp nose", as teenage girl calls it, her term for angry me...joy spreading so I would smile back and many times it worked! All summed up, they excelled in love! What more could I have hoped for this year? Memorization of facts, knowledge of scientific theories, awards that will sit atop a shelf? No...I'll take the love. Maybe this next year we'll reach for some of those other achievements, but this was the year that character grew, the year that love infiltrated these little arrows and Sweet Man and I reaped quite a harvest. When the Lord of the harvest touches something His blessing is more than we can hold.....so spills out some of my overflowing cup onto this blog.

Daniel 1:17--"As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom"