S P A C E

I need space.  I crave space.  I long for space, in my surroundings, in my heart, in my mind.....  I was created to long for great open spaces to roam.  When my mind starts to get crowded I look for a place to wander.  I can wander about anywhere, the library, Barnes and Noble, Target, the park, my house, a book, music.  My first instinct is to bolt and my next to wander.  I feel this when relationships start crowding, when people are constant, when the house is continually cluttered, when the schedule is too full.

I blame this on my childhood (it always seems to be a good place to start, doesn't everyone blame their childhood).  I grew up with a lot of freedom to roam and be free.  I spent most of my early childhood on my grandparents ranch and my middle childhood in a quaint small town.  On the ranch, I pretended to be surviving the prairie on my own, sometimes as a pioneer girl and sometimes as a Native American.  When my body was tired of wandering, my mind found itself wandering in a book.  My elementary years allowed me the freedom to wander and explore a town.  I would go to my friends, the pool, the butcher (he had grape soda in the fridge), the library, Ben Franklins (who knows when the urge to buy lip gloss will come upon you), my dads office, and the mini mart (once again for soda and candy).

I often wonder, do I love Wyoming because I love space, or do I love space because I grew up in Wyoming.  Wyoming is physically about space but it is also emotionally about space, its probably even intellectually about space and I know its politically about space.  Space is everywhere, the unencumbered sky, the hills, the mountains, the canyons, the prairies.  There's space to be an individual, space to be an intellectual, space to be an artist, space to hide, space to get lost, space to scream at the top of your lungs, space to run, space to be known.  If there isn't space, the wind carves out space, freeing the world of distraction.

I'm trying to curb my spontaneous need to wander by creating space in my life.  Space that allows me to wander, space that protects me from wanting to bolt out the door, space that allows me to be creative, space that allows me to enter deeper into relationship and love, space that clears the cobwebs of my mind. I'm trying to embrace space when it comes and carve it out when its no where to be seen.  Because in the space I am unhindered, uncrowded, unencumbered.  I can think freely, create spontaneously, love extravagantly, sing loudly, serve unhindered.

I create space not only because I need it, but my family needs it.  Benji is so similar to me, extroverted, but needs space from people.  When his space has been invaded he hides, sometimes physically, but always emotionally.  Malaki when he needs space, he bolts and doesn't wander, just bolts.  I can't protect my children if I'm not offering them space.  Mika, she doesn't need quite as much space, probably because she guards her heart a little more closely, but when she needs space and there is none to be found she is like a caged lion.  She paces and roars, until somebody remembers to unlock her cage and let her roam.  She can roam through her sketch book or play with legos for hours, creating and creating and creating.  Space for her always equals being creative.   AND I create space because it is one of the best ways to LOVE my husband.  To give him time to create, to nap, to read, to hike, or to just do nothing, its in these moments that he is the most him, the most connected to his family and his creator.

Today is a day full of space.  I will write for awhile, wander somewhere for awhile,  hang out with my family. Maybe we'll play games, maybe we'll read, maybe we'll create with legos or paint.  Sadly, we will not be exploring the great outdoors, today the Wyoming wind is also using this opportunity to create space.  Who knows what we will do, but at the end of the day, we will feel free of the clutter of this world.

Because You Asked

I was asked by a friend what my top 10 books were, as I thought about it I had to expand the list to my top 25.  I have categorized the books (very loosely) according to the areas of my life that have been affected by these books.  As I thought about this, the dilemma I faced was that lots of these books have had an impact on many areas of my life, but for your benefit, I'm trying to put them into a box.  Also, this is sort of a brainstorming activity for me.  It is possible, that if asked next week, I would have a different list.  :)  Hopefully, you will find a new book by looking at my list and I would love to hear what some of your all time favorite books are.


Education/ Homeschooling
A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille
Leadership Education by Oliver DeMille
Home Education by Charlotte Mason
The Well-Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer
The Everyday Genius by Peter Kline

Parenting & Marriage
Grace-Based Parenting by Tim Kimmel
Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas
Love and War by John and Stasi Eldredge
Sacred Influence by Gary Thomas
Family Driven Faith by Voddie Baucham

Spirituality
The Cloister Walk by Kathleen Norris
Sacred Rhythms by Ruth Haley Barton
Instruments in a Redeemer's Hand by Paul David Tripp
The Sense of the Call by Marva Dawn
A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken

Fiction
Green Dolphin Street by Elizabeth Goudge
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Joy in the Morning by Betty Smith
The Poisonwood bible by Barbara Kingsolver
My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok

Read Alouds (for books to make this list, I had to love it and the kids had to love it)
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic by Jennifer Trafton
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott

For Miss Holly

For three years of our life and education, we had a treasure, Miss Holly.  She taught my kids to appreciate art and she deeply cared for their hearts.  So, its no surprise that art is still a favorite activity, even though we don't live near Miss Holly and we can't be a part of her wonderful art classes.

Today, was Art Friday.  We are choosing projects out of the Usborne Art Treasury and the Usborne Art Skills.  Today, we learned about Van Gogh and  painted a" swirly landscape".

It has to be said, that my 9 year old has referred to him, no less than ten times, as the artist who shot himself.  Who knew that learning about art would lead to a conversation on mental illness?  And yet, that is why we school the way we school, to allow life to intersect education, and allow our kids to make connections on their own.


We also educate with this phrase constantly in our minds, "Inspire, don't Require."  My kids chose art, because they were inspired by a wonderful woman.  They chose to look at art and talk about it, because someone taught them to see.  And they inspire me to get down and dirty with them.  Not only am I inspired by them, but also by watching other "mentors" inspire them.  Whether its been a choir director, a friends, or an art teacher, watching their eyes come alive when they are inspired towards greatness, teaches me how to inspire them.  So, thank you Miss Holly and a whole host of other wonderful mentors my children have had.  By mentoring them, you have mentored me.