Break out the party hats.

We are officially on summer break! Yes, the boy has a short story to finish up and the major girl has a research project that needs to be completed but for the most part we are taking our summer break now. Yesterday the kids spent the whole day outside. They played in the backyard pool and exhausted themselves. It was beautiful! I did not go out due to a sunburn I recieved when riding horses earlier in the week, so it felt kinda weird to have the whole house to myself with no kids running in and out. I managed to fix them a picnic lunch and brought it to them, but no one came inside for anything the whole day. When they finally straggled in, Daniel to go mow with his Dad and the girls to take baths, they were exhausted. I am not sure anyone said anything to me for the remainder of the day. My house has never been so quiet with all three home, ever. I think they needed the time away from responsibilites as much as I did. It looks to be a good summer, or at least I hope so!

Horsing around

We had a perfect day for horseback riding yesterday. The weather was uncharacteristically cool for May in South Louisiana. The girls are part of a homeschool girl scout troop and it was this group that we were riding with. All three kids got to ride, because the "brother scouts", as Mallory has fondly dubbed them, were invited to ride as well. The facility, Frazier Homestead, near the Comite River, was very family oriented and the staff friendly. I was allowed and encouraged to ride with the troop and was the only parent who wanted to. The troop was broken into two groups and taken on trail rides. There were a few moments of anticipation as one girl kept dropping her reins and her horse would wander off, but for the most part all of the girls and horses did great.

My three kids did really well and loved the day. Of course Mallory has had 2 years of lessons prior to this. She is currently not taking lessons so the day was all excitement for her. The staff noticed her ability on the horse and were very encouraging to her. They offered her extra time on one of the horses and encouraged her to continue as she could to ride, as she shows some natural ability and affinity for the animals. I knew that, but God isn't providing for her at this time to continue now so she'll have to leave that in His hands.

Daniel did very well also, he's had a handful of lessons himself and remembered the "ropes" quickly. Sarah was my biggest concern. She tends to be more hesitant in these type of situations and she did have a few issues with not being aggressive enough in kicking and leading the horse, but once she overcame that she did great.

We left very tired but content. There is just something about spending the day outside, with God's creation and creatures that is satisfying in the extreme.

What is our time really worth?

I am asking tonight, this veritable question: What is our time worth. I mean, if you are spending time on a project... let's say the "project" is of long duration. You seem to be making headway at one time or another. Sometimes you wonder, but you at least are marching forward, for the most part. And then something happens to make you realize that all your work, be it words of encouragement to someone, ministry to someone, tangible project, ect, have been for naught. You realize that you have been blowing in the wind. Even as you thought you were making headway. Was that time wasted? Is there remnants of your work left in that project. Have there been differences made? Or was it all really for nothing. Even if the end result is not the expected result, is there some progress that can be claimed by the worker? Is the time we spend doing something only worth the effort if we get possitive results?