Mother/Daughter PK Retreat

The weekend after we returned from Israel (epic blog post from that trip will have to come later), my daughter and I enjoyed another beautiful (albeit cold) weekend at the farm with our mother/daughter Bible study group.  This weekend was especially meaningful, and I had a feeling it would be given all the obstacles that kept delaying us from getting there (my daughter's last basketball game of the season was that Friday, and it was an away game, I passed a kidney stone I think which had me writing in pain and unable to drive, utter exhaustion from two months without more than 3-4 hours of sleep each time and no time to recover after the trip to Israel, jet lag, starting back with my STEM teaching plus new tutoring material plus new projects picking up speed at work, agreeing to teach two session and cook for 24 people, sick kids, etc.).  But even though I was in so much pain and so completely exhausted, irritable, and starting the worst part of my monthly cycle, the lesson I taught that evening went really well...as it was a topic near and dear to my heart...waiting on God's perfect choice for your mate.  I guess I could have just read my blog mini-series on how I met my husband and waited nine years for someone else to come for me who would sweep me off my feet like he did only to have him return into my life nine years later.

The other moms are so encouraging....insisting that teaching is a God given gift, and the more I study the teaching gift in the Bible, the more convinced I am that I am supposed to be teaching even though James 3 should scare everyone away from teaching since teachers are judged more harshly and have the opportunity to lead little ones astray through thoughtless words, and it's better to have a millstone tied around your neck and be cast into the sea than lead anyone astray.  I know I need to give up some good things I'm doing in my life to make room for the best, and I've been trying to give up teaching since it is the biggest time suck and takes so much time away from my ministry to my family, but if I could merely teach God's word and not do all the prep that goes into STEM or Statistics, I would have the right balance. Yet, the Biblical lessons that have flown so naturally out of each and every STEM and Statistic lesson are unlike any teaching I've ever experienced, so the Lord must be working through all that preparation time, for in the end, how well they know Jesus personally and how well they love Him and others is truly all that matters.

But I digress...

The farm was covered in frosted dew the next morning, and looked so peaceful as the sun rose.  The neighbor's horses came out to visit, and the chickens marched right up to the back door and pecked to demand their breakfast.

It was as if they were saying, "Where's our breakfast, ladies? We make you eggs for breakfast, so how about some chicken chow about now?"

That morning we had a fabulous breakfast with biscuits and gravy, fresh fruit, organic yogurt and gourmet organic granola cereals, and all kinds of tea and coffee followed by a Bible study and another craft.  Then we hosted a prayer walk for the girls to summarize all the virtues we've studied over the past two years to help prepare them for adolescence and pursuing Christ's righteousness, not the ways of the world.  One of my ideas was to give each girl a monogrammed charm pillow (handcrafted by my mother in law).  We chose white fabric to represent purity and purple thread for the monograms to symbolize royalty.  The girls have been working through The Princess and the Kiss  study and must constantly remember who and whose they are in Christ to make right choices and to guard their hearts.  The pillows were heart shaped because every virtue is ultimately an issue of the heart, and we desperately desire their hearts will remain steadfastly devoted to Christ and not given away to any foolish prince but saved for the most virtuous prince and given to him as a whole, unbroken, pure heart safely kept in Christ as she waited for the right man.

May your head knowledge become heart knowledge

Our hope is that the girls will keep the pillows on their beds as a daily reminder of all we learned and prayed over as well as any commitments made plus all the friendships formed through which the girls can find accountability, mentors, and support.  During the prayer "walk", each girl met one on one with each of the moms to discuss each virtue as described in God's word and to pray together for that virtue to be developed in each girl's life. For example, I gave each girl a flower charm and talked about inner beauty. We contrasted outer beauty, which like the flower begins as a small seed but grows with nurture into a gorgeous blossom at its peak only to wither and die a short time later, to inner beauty which comes from the Lord and never dies, manifesting itself in love & service for others and the Lord, not vain surface self obsession. 

I'm so thankful for this group and for what it means to my daughter and me. Everyone fears the adolescent years, but I must say they have been great joy so far as I see my girl growing so much in the Lord. I believe this group has been a huge contributor to that joy.