Sometimes the unexpected happens. God is present. This is a picture of common milkweed. It’s a prairie flower and I have them all over my vegetable garden, flowers, prairie and yard. As you probably know, it sustains those beautiful monarch butterflies. They eat the leaves, build a cocoon and lay eggs on milkweed. That’s where we see it the most. Milkweed is the hostess to the monarch butterfly.

But have you ever smelled these flowers? When I first smelled them, I expected too little of the fragrance. They are absolutely fantastic. You can smell them across the yard when they are in full bloom. Who would have guessed?

After I smelled milkweed flowers, I was thinking perfume business, lotion, bath oil fragrance, and on and on and on. Then I stopped…

Thank you God.

Wow, this isn’t about using the fragrance for my own benefit. The beauty of this smell is an unexpected gift to God. Smell is a sense that lingers in our memory. So much of God’s wonderful world is an unexpected gift when we take just a moment. Stop and watch a child. Stop and watch the weather. Stop and watch the traffic. And don’t forget to stop and smell…the milkweed!

I love car trips. I remember well the first time I drove my grand kids somewhere. After 20 years of driving my kids and mission trips and others, I was all of a sudden a nervous wreck driving my own grandkids. I prayed for safety and all the other drivers on the road. I prayed for protection. I prayed for alertness. I felt partnered with God as I journeyed with my precious cargo.

God is with us on our journeys. No matter what the purpose of the trip or the people in the car, each moment of the journey is a blessing and blessed. Do I love bad traffic? NO! Do I love road construction? NO! But I love partnering with God as we tootle along the road headed somewhere together.

And about the car seat picture… They keep our grand kids safe. Those of you that travel with grand kids can answer this for yourselves. Do we love car seats????? While you are praying, pray your knees don’t give out while you are trying to maneuver the clips on the seats. Pray the seats haven’t changed since the last time you put them in your car. Pray your son-in-law will put the car seat in for you!

Blessings on the journey…

When my daughter was on the gymnastic team, I learned what it means to “stick it”. I watched her persevere as she practiced, practiced and practiced some more. When it was perfect and she landed well, that meant she stuck to the mat without any foot movement. It was beautiful to watch.

I often wonder how many times in my life I have actually “stuck” my landing. Most of the time I feel as if I’m still flying around unsure of my landing. Am I going to falter or fall on my face with an audience? What if everyone laughs?

When I saw this little guy sitting on my lawn furniture, I realized, he brings his adhesive with him. Those beautiful feet would be the envy of every human; especially gymnasts.

Maybe my belief in God is like those sticky little feet. Maybe God helps me stick it most of the time and I take it for granted. Maybe I’m still too worried about what others think.

Do you sometimes feel like your faith has an on/off switch? Sunday it’s on. Monday it’s off. Bible Study it’s on. Shopping it’s off. Faith is on/off, on/off all week while we meet our daily life.

Lifelong faith doesn’t have an on/off switch. Lifelong faith looks for faith in every experience. Lifelong faith responds knowing that God is present in our daily life. God is present in the flat tire. God is present in the burned dinner. God is present in the sunrise and sunset.

When the switch is off, it is usually because we are not paying attention OR afraid of what God might say to us. Maybe if we turn the switch off, God won’t notice. Maybe if we try to hide our fear, God won’t know. Hmmm… what do you think?

Read a great children’s book by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso. It’s called Adam and Eve’s First Sunset. This book will challenge your fear about the future and calm you mind. Remember God is our light and the light is always switched on.

Spiritual practices are those daily rituals that bring us closer to God. In our family reading is a spiritual practice. Each of us loves the gift of reading. We read everyday and in every way. It’s fun to watch the grandkids take on this love of reading. Reading is a daily spiritual faith practice.

By reading we are expanding our minds. God wants us to search for more information with which to be part of the world. Sometimes that leads us down a path of wanting to know more. Sometimes reading leads us down the path of how to make choices in this big scary world.

This picture is great grandpa (G’pa) reading a well-worn book at Christmas. The book is second generation as my mother gave it to my daughters when they were little. It’s cover is half gone but the words and story holds the attention of all. Interestingly, after about 3 readings at Christmas, G’pa begged that we lose the book. Several years later, I offered to buy a book for the youngest of these two darlings. The ONLY book he wanted was the How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It was July, but remembering this picture I ordered the book and had it sent to his house.

Reading as families is a sacred spiritual practice.

My experiences with home school are second hand. May families that I worked with in 30 years of parish based ministry, were involved with home school. There were different reasons they chose home schooling. Some were concerned about the special needs of their children. Some worried about the long days, kids with August birthday and meanness of other children. All were passionate about the family being the main source of education for the child.

Most of the home school families I worked with felt that the faith component was missing in public schools. These dedicated families knew that faith was one of the basic building blocks for laying the foundation of a good life. Church was an extension of home faith rather than the only time faith was discussed.

Think about laying the foundation for a strong faith life in your home school. Find ways to bring faith into every lesson. The language of faith can be brought into all subjects, relationships and experiences. You can do it!