Naptime Silence, Fruitfulness and Books...Oh my!

Silence is usually only found here around naptime...and usually only for 45 minutes at the most, however, today is a beautifully gray, rainy day...perfect for books, tickling and naptime! The summer has officially begun for us, and the homeschool routine has quieted down, however, what do I do with my crazy kiddos? We READ!! We are in a fortunate place to have 2 summer library programs that we are able to attend where the kids earn prizes for reading. Awesome positive reinforcement to get their imaginations going and whet their appetite for reading! Our days are filled with reading, doing activities related to our books (just like we do in our Five in a Row curriculum during the school year) and playing outside (especially in the sprinkler). One of the pieces of advice (from Dr. Susan Wise Bauer's book "The Well Trained Mind") that has worked out wonderfully in our family is listening to books on CD while playing at home, or driving in the car. This helps children develop a sense of "the rhythm of language." Plus, it keeps my 5 year old's mind occupied and engaged while I am trying to concentrate on traffic. We have listened to over 15 books this year, and even when I think my children aren't listening, they will ask questions later about the story. As I mentioned above, one of the best things about gray, rainy days, besides going to the library and books, is naptime. For some reason, these spring showers cause sleepiness! However, Hadley, my independent 2 year old, has just switched from her crib to a toddler bed a few days ago. The independence and curiosities for life outside of her bed are endless and keep her up for most of naptime! Everyday, inevitably, after laying her down she will place her blanket over her head, slowly open her door, and tip toe into the front room...where she runs in to the couch or table (luckily it has rounded corners!). As she runs in to something, she removes the blanket from her head, looks around, promptly puts it back over her head and continues on her fruitless mission! In the end, the outcome is always the same--discipline and then back to her bedroom. I actually can't help but laugh at this every day! It is so funny...and yet, it's also so much like me in my struggle of independence and fruitlessness. I enjoy naptime because it is my time to regroup...reading, journaling, studying and reflecting. Like Hadley, my "need" for independence often drives me away from God. I think that my skills are enough to do this mothering gig and I pride myself on my self-reliance. However, each and every day I am reminded of my need to be refined and pruned of my pride and self-reliance. Recently, I have been using a wonderful tool that Ann Voskamp provides to memorize the Beautitudes and Matthew 5. As I have been memorizing, meditating and studying, Matthew 5:8 has just stuck with me for a few weeks, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." This is my heart's desire, yet what does this mean? As I finally sat down to dig deeper and look up the roots for "pure" and "shall see" I was struck over the head with a 2x4 of my need for refining and pruning. "Shall see" is one word: optanomai. It is a verb that means "to look at, behold; to allow one's self to be seen, to appear." If I am pure in heart, then I can see God, in all His glory and majesty and awe. His character will be revealed to me. How amazing is our God that He has given us this blessing and opportunity? But what does it mean to be pure in heart? Pure is "katnaros" which is an adjective and means, "clean, pure," and can refer to levitical cleanliness or physical cleanliness. Physically, it refers to being "purified by fire, in a similitude like a vine cleansed by pruning and so fitted to bear fruit." These bring to mind so many passages of scripture, but two in particular: Malachi 3:3 and Galations 5:22. However, naptime silence has ended and I know what I'll be studying more this week! I have some pruning and refining to pray for!!