State of Being

The girls and I have been studying verbs in First Language Lessons. Most recently we have been learning the state of being verbs. As I explained to them, these are words that simply show that something exists. No action, these words just show that you are! Some days we need to simply exist.

Yesterday was a wonderful Sunday of no action. It was the day following Ink for Africa. I stayed in my pajamas all day! Poor Danny had to be at work at 6:30am. But the rest of us slept til 10am and ate cinnamon rolls on the back porch. The sun cast that perfect autumn goldness that keeps you warm but not hot. So we stayed outside most of the day til 9pm.

Kids need time to just be. That is when they create and imagine, when they think and talk. And if we want to hear what is on their hearts, we have to protect their time and pencil 'nothing' into the schedule. Noah and I talked for two hours after breakfast. We talked about life and people and differences and God's grace. Periodically, I would say, "Are we dragging this out too long?" His response was, "No, this is helpful." I love listening to his heart and understanding his take on his experiences.

I invited the girls to come out separately and asked what they wanted to talk about. Dove talked about differences she notices in friends. That led to talking about your inner circle, the people we allow to influence our lives and the outer circle of people we occasionally spend time with. She is not too young to practice making wise decisions! Then she wanted to talk about how babies get from the inside to the outside! I think this stemmed from us talking about how women are better at handling physical pain.

When it was PJ's turn to talk, she wanted to talk about beads and crafts and art. She showed me her very organized collection and the seasonal necklaces she is making. When I tried to talk about life, she steered me right back to which kinds of beads represent spring and how she sees bird eggs in the tiny dots of her favorite button. PJ has an uncanny knack for color and creativity. She sees life as art. That is a gift!

Of course Jett, wanted his turn. But all he wanted was a back scratch and a popsicle! As the baby of the family, he gets the lion's share of my attention so often. It was really nice that he played quietly and I had uninterrupted time with my other kids. The rest of the day they played outside, I sat on the deck and read and wrote yesterday's monster post. I am thankful for our state of being day!