Martha, Martha, Martha!

I grew up watching reruns of "The Brady Bunch," and anytime I hear the name Marsha, I can hear the voice of Jan Brady whining in my head: "Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!"

"Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!"

While this makes me chuckle--and cringe a little at the whining--I think about the story of Mary and Martha in the Gospel of Luke. Jesus and His disciples were travelling from Jerusalem and they stopped at the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Martha set about to preparing a meal--and maybe even some last-minute cleaning--while Mary sat at Jesus' feet and listened to what He had to say. Here is how Luke gives his account of the events:

"As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed them into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord's feet, listening to what He taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, 'Lord, doesn't it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.' "  (Luke 10:38-40 NLT, emphasis mine.)

Let's pause here for a minute.

What do we learn about Martha? The New Living Translation says that she was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. The New International Readers Version says, "But Martha was busy with all the things that had to be done." In the Amplified version, it says, "But Martha [overly occupied and too busy] was distracted with much serving..."

Well now! I'm not sure about you, but I certainly fall into the Martha category. I am too easily distracted by the things that need to be done: cleaning, laundry, preparing meals, taking kids here and there, providing for my family, homeschooling... this isn't an exhaustive list, but it certainly is exhausting! If you, like me, are also a single homeschooling parent, then it is easy to succumb to the trap of busyness. Whether you are in a good coparenting relationship with your children's other parent or not, the bulk of the everyday responsibilities surrounding your children's needs may fall on you. You may not have someone to help shuttle your kids places or to help fold laundry or wash dishes after a meal or to even give you an hour to go grab a cup of coffee and sit in silence. Your "to do" list may be miles long, and your calendar is full through the end of the year, and if one more kid wants to add one more activity...

But wait!

Pause.

Take a breath.

Now, let's look at Jesus' response to Martha's whining.

"But the Lord said to her, 'My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.' " (Luke 10:41-42 NLT, emphasis mine.)

Did you catch that? Can you hear the love and the gentleness with which our Lord spoke to Martha? He didn't chastise her or tell her to knock it off. He said, "My dear Martha..." Do you think that phrase alone may have had a calming effect on her? Jesus had a relationship with her, and instead of getting agitated by her distraction and busyness and whining, He spoke to her in a loving and gentle manner.

"My dear (insert your name)..."

Instead of being worried and upset over the details of your life and the lives of your children, listen as the Lord gently calls your name. Pause. Take a breath. He is telling you what is most important. Spend time at His feet. "Seek first the Kingdom of Heaven..." (Matthew 6:33) That's what Mary was doing while Martha was scurrying around, trying to make everything just so. Mary sat at Jesus' feet.

Now, does this mean that you need to spend hours every morning in Bible study and prayer? Not necessarily. Yes, read your Bible. Yes, pray. Sometimes, it may mean that you pray while you're in the shower because no one else can interrupt you there. It may mean that you read your Bible for 10 minutes while your kids are outside playing. The how isn't important; there isn't a set formula. Mary set an example for us--she simply sat at Jesus' feet. We don't even know how long she sat there. Maybe it was just for five minutes, or maybe it was for an hour. What we do see is that she was intentional about spending time with the Lord. She chose what held eternal importance, and it wasn't dusting or washing dishes or running kids all around the county for activities and being so stressed that she couldn't see straight.

As I read this passage in my Bible on Sunday morning before church, this is what ministered to me: Busyness is a trap. I need to be intentional about the time that I spend with the Lord, because seeking first His Kingdom is what will cause everything else to fall into place. Yes, I will still have work to do. There will still be responsibilities. But if I seek Him first, I will be modeling for my children how to do that and the importance that it carries, and then they will grow up to be adults who seek God daily and rely on Him for their every need.

If you find yourself caught up in the trap of "Martha, Martha, Martha..."

Pause.

Take a breath.

And hear the Lord saying to you, "My dear (insert your name)..."

Sit at His feet today. Listen to what He has to say to you. And know that you are loved.

Seven Years of Classical Conversations

My bunch at the beginning of the school year.

Seven. That is the number of years that we have been with our Classical Conversations community. We started with Classical Conversations when my oldest was ready to begin Kindergarten, and we haven't looked back.

We have learned so much in our seven years with Classical Conversations. My oldest daughter will achieve the title of Memory Master for the fourth year in a row, and my oldest son is gearing up to try for Memory Master next year. We have learned so many different things! Here is just a sampling of what we have learned over the past seven years:

• A timeline of historical events, beginning with Creation and going through the present day.
• All of the Presidents of the United States.
• Multiplication facts, math laws, conversions, and geometry facts.
• Latin noun declensions, verbs, and then finally translating John 1:1-7 from English into Latin (yes, in the Elementary grades!).
• Rocks and minerals, the parts of the earth, the classification of living things, weather systems, volcanoes, plants, human anatomy.
• History sentences from ancient history up through United States history. (My kids can tell you about the Mound Builders, the liberation of South America, the Crusades, and WWII!)
• The definitions of a preposition, a helping verb, and a linking verb and a listing of each category, as well as how to conjugate different infinitives (my daughter can tell you the difference between "to lay" and "to lie").
• They can point out many different places on the map, from ancient civilizations to knowing where Constantinople/Istanbul is located, from European countries to the states and capitals of the United States.

All of that is a sampling of what they have learned in the Foundations program. My oldest daughter also spent two years in Essentials, which is an intensive grammar and writing program for kids in the 4th-6th grades. She memorized adverbs and adjectives and the questions that they answer, she can tell you what an Object Complement Noun is and show you how to diagram it correctly, she even know the difference between a gerund and an infinitive. How many of you learned those things in the 5th and 6th grades? I certainly didn't! Not only that, she has already written two major research papers and had to present them before an audience of her peers and adults.

So, why Classical Conversations? Classical Conversation is a Christian classical community. For us, the classical model of learning is the best fit. I love how it utilizes repetition and memorization and how as the children get older they naturally start to fit things together and want to search out things for themselves. When my daughter was in Kindergarten, she didn't know why she was memorizing skip counting songs. When she started learning her multiplication tables, though, she got it! That was one of her lightbulb moments! She looked at e and said, "Mommy, multiplication is easy! It's just skip counting." When she gets into Algebra, she will put these different laws that she has memorized for seven years into use and may well have yet another lightbulb moment. 

I said that Classical Conversations is a Christian community. I love that we put God at the center of all that we learn and we show how all of the different things that we are learning are connected to each other and to God.

My family has also loved the community aspect of Classical Conversations. We have built some amazing friendships through Classical Conversations. We have walked with each other through sicknesses, births, deaths, and family crises. We have laughed and cried together. We have sent a family out on the mission field and welcomed them home with loving arms when their time overseas was over. We are preparing to send them out again! We eat together and play together, and we have spent time studying the Word of God and praying together.

Are we going to call it quits now that we have seven years under our belts? No way! This is just the beginning for us! My oldest daughter is excited to enter the Challenge program in the fall and will take a Latin class over the summer, which is taught by an older Challenge student, to help her prepare for Challenge. My oldest son and I are tossing around the idea of him taking Essentials next year. My youngest daughter will begin her second year of Classical Conversations, and my youngest son still isn't old enough for school. We love Classical Conversations and all that we have learned so far. Yes, we. Even this mama has learned a lot while homeschooling. I enjoy learning right alongside my kids, learning things that are new to me and rediscovering things that I "dumped" after a test. Perhaps one year soon, I will even try to make Memory Master with my kids!

What kinds of things have you learned while homeschooling your children? Are you part of a loving and supportive community?  What has your homeschooling journey been like so far? I would love to hear from you in the comments!