Fabulous Five Friday.... Rhythm

Last night after dinner, I asked each of the kids to choose one song they were working on and play it for all of us.  One of the kids started playing and I cringed inwardly.  I have been teaching piano out of these books since I was a freshman in college and I know this stuff.  So, my tricky little child that thought he could pull off his own re-write was suddenly disappointed.  Under my breath I mumbled to Paul, can you help him? and Paul said, I already tried and so I walked over to the piano and asked him if we could play the song together.  I sat next to him and I started playing with him and suddenly he was playing it perfectly.  I played a little accompaniment and he was sounding great, perfect in fact.... he was back in sync, his rhythm instantly improved.

For the last couple of months my rhythm has been completely off.  I have been piling more than I can handle onto my plate all because "it has to be done" or "if I don't do it who will" or "they won't like me if I say no" or "I don't want them to be disappointed in me".  All of this led to a mess, a tired, emotional, sick mess. But I think Jesus was a little like me with my son, he walked next to me and said, "why don't you play this with me, it'll sound AWESOME".  Jesus and I are working on this completely out of rhythm mess I have been living the last couple of months.  We have been trying to figure out what rhythms are important to my life and I've come up with FIVE that are my favorite. To be completely honest, I sorta think my whole life could totally rotate around reading and learning but I do have a few other faves that have nothing to do with either one of those.

1) Getting up in the quiet and pushing this little tiny button on a black machine which then produces a fabulous black liquid, pouring it into a cup and holding a steaming cup while I sit in my big brown recliner and read my Bible..... this equals an absolutely perfect quiet morning

2) Going for a run with Paul or a walk with a friend, this generally tops off my fabulous early mornings

3) Wednesday Mornings Paul gets doughnuts for the fam and leads our family in an amazingly fabulous time of worship... our kids love this ritual.

4) After the sun goes to bed, the kids and I snuggle onto the couch with an assortment of picture books and whichever chapter book we are currently reading.  Our series of choice for our bedtime reading is the Knights of Arethtrae series by Chuck Black, this series is totally worth checking out.

5) I have come to love the rhythm of school.  love doesn't say it..... LOVE comes closer.  I love the way we do school.  I love discussing history and reading the classics.  I love drawing atoms and reminding kids of those stinking phonics rules.  I love that one of my kids added to our Thanksgiving tree this morning that he is thankful for the Reformation and knows what happened 495 years and 2 days ago.  I love that he knows that that event had an impact on his life.  I love that my kids know which candidates they would vote for on Nov 6 and why.  One is undecided and the other two are very decided.  For all you fellow classical education freaks, it is my logic stage kid that is undecided... too many questions and not enough answers.

I'm learning remembering that my rhythm has to have space.  How many years of teaching piano have I said.... it is the silence surrounding the sound that makes the sound make sense.  Its the same for me, it is the silence around the noise that creates an awe inspiring melody.