Flood Waters

We are a busy people.  As I type...not at home...my laundry is piled, dishes unwashed, and a mile-long list of things to accomplish.  Pressures of life seem to crush us.

Charlotte Mason, in her wisdom, advised all of us to purposely schedule time to be.  Her students did their studies in the mornings, leaving afternoons for leisure, meditating, ruminating, handicrafts, projects and growing. 

Many times we homeschool moms feel pressure to keep up with academic demands that push our children beyond their means of accomplishment.  I've been guilty of trying to work in just one more subject...then just one more.  Before I know it, the day is gone and I have a list of things we have accomplished, but no real learning, no life-changing ideas.

Even the books we read can become a stumbling block to the ideas we are to savor.  We are thrilled when our children love to read.  However, could it be that always having a nose in a book could stand in the way of gleaning ideas from those books?  Where is the time to just think on these things? 

I think when we consider what a Charlotte Mason education is, we assume we are to always be engaged in some subject in a living way.  However, Charlotte intentionally cautioned against over-extending ourselves and planning every moment.  Leisure time and time spend outdoors is critical to our physical, emotional and spritual well being.

We are to seek after knowledge and wisdom.  Knowledge comes from the books we read, the things we see and do.  Wisdom comes from meditating and pondering on what the books are things are teaching us.   Often mindless tasks such as washing dishes are my thinking times.  I use those snippets of the clock to let God's Spirit bring those ideas together in my heart and mind to make them part of me. 

Flooding our schedules with activities and studies, even good ones, is not beneficial.  I'm speaking to myself when I say, "Slow down.  Erase the events on the calendar.  Put down the book.  Be."