I'm out to whet your appetite for a trip to Arkansas next fall! So here's the view from my favorite spot on the hill at Brookhill Ranch, where I had lunch with Jesus on Saturday afternoon.    I'll write more about that later. 

I guess I'll start at the beginning.  Well, almost the beginning.  I've determined that explaining about Popeye and Olive Oyl at this point might be too confusing.  So I'll just start with a statement Hettie made on Friday night.

"Live an intentional life."

I must say, I love this concept and was thrilled to get the reminder from Hettie Lue about how important it is.  It is a message I first heard from another homeschool heroine of mine, Sally Clarkson.  So many live their lives as if on accident, just going with the flow of whatever happens moment by moment. ]

 The kids are banging on the bedroom door--well, it must be time to get up.  "What's for breakfast?"--guess I should make something (or better yet, send them to the pantry to get their own cereal.)  Doorbell's ringing--whoops, guess I'd better get dressed.  "Hit the TV remote button and let's see what's on."  Friday we have to turn in reports of what we've done in homeschool this year, so we'd better look through everyone's workbooks today (have we done anything?)  Husband's almost home--better pick up the house, quick!  Mother-in-law is coming for dinner, so we should drag out the cookbook and make something--have to run to the store first, though, since the fridge is practically empty . . .

sound familiar?  I resemble some of these sentences!  Yikes.  It's a recipe for exhaustion, frustration, and disaster.  We have no purpose, no goals, so we accomplish nothing of real use.  We lose track of our dreams and the gifts God gave us and wonder why we become depressed.  We don't read our Bible/forgive those who offend us/attend church/practice hospitality, and wonder why our children don't obey US.  (Ouch!)  STOP!  Don't live another day like this.  You are training your children to be just like you--or perhaps, to want to be as un-like you as possible, if they see how miserable you are! 

Hettie told us that one reason we'd come to the ranch was to get rid of crankiness, and that our families would appreciate it.  That was definitely true for me!  God doesn't want us to be cranky!  We blame it on our circumstances and the people around us.  Nope.  Responsibility lies squarely in our own laps for how we act and react to our lives.  Take it!

When we arrived at Brookhill we found the pavilion decorated with . . . clotheslines.  Yup, you heard me; clotheslines. 

There were dishtowels and little kids' clothes and diapers and husband's jeans hanging from the ceilings.  There was an area set up to look like a garden with gloves and trowels and hoes and pots; one corner looked like your own kitchen sink with dishes needing washing, cookbooks and skillets.  There was an area of children's toys.  And in the front of the room was this beautiful wooden representation of an elegant lady.  She was about 12 feet tall, and wearing a beautiful, tulle-wrapped white hat; a gorgeous, long, white dress; leaning on a white parasol trimmed in marabou, and having a most serene expression.  Picture Mary Poppins, only taller. 

  I looked around and thought, "This is my life!  Dishes and laundry and toys!  Only, that's the life I want--that dressed-in-white (clean white!), serene lady-life!" 

And that's exactly what Hettie talked about.  She said that we truly are that beautiful lady--the "elect lady" as she's called in the triple books of John toward the end of the New Testament--in the spirit.  She's refined, high-class, wealthy, not worried or frazzled.  She's our potential; she's what's usually referred to as the "spirit man" inside us.  And we need to learn to be that in the midst of our everyday lives.  I thought later that so often I feel exhausted because I run my home as if I were a slave driver or some sort of drill sargeant, and that is so far from my true personality that it's extremely tiring.  I need to be more like Mary Poppins!  A spoonful of sugar, you know . . . lets go to the park and ride the carousel . . . remembering that the people in our lives are the most important thing.  We can only sail through the reality of our lives with serenity when we are full of the Spirit; when we've taken time to be with Jesus and let His life flow into us.  I was challenged to spend more time praying in the Spirit first thing in the mornings, especially since one of the purposes of our prayer language is to edify us--to build us up.  And to remember that my family is both a precious gift and an incredibly costly stewardship. 

God wants us to be obedient to His purposes.  He doesn't want the circumstances of our lives to reduce us to nothing.  When we know who we are in Christ, the beauty of that "elect lady" will be evident in our lives as we go about the humble activities that make up our days, and people will be drawn to us because they will see a difference.  The world is starving for joy!  People are starving for serenity in the midst of chaos.  Who better to display both of those qualities than a homeschooling mom who has every reason in the world's eyes to be a frustrated wreck?    A change of perspective can make all the difference in our worlds!  We *are* filled with God's spirit.  We *are* full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control--are we letting them out?  Are we living in obedience to all we know God to be asking of us, so that the life of God can flow through us?  God has given us His grace.  It's an amazing, precious gift.  It is not a license to do whatever we want--or to obey God when we feel like getting around to it!  Grace is much like freedom--the ability to do right.  Are we walking in grace?  We are responsible for ourselves before God.  I would challenge you . . . in areas of discontent, frustration, boredom . . . I believe that if you'd ask God (or just look into your own heart, where you probably already know the answer) you'd find some area of disobedience which needs to be addressed.

Will you do it?

Do you want your kids to do it?  Or will you pass on a heritage of self-willed disobedience to them? 

Ask God . . ."What is it that I'm supposed to be doing?"  It might be some area of sin--you need to stop doing something.  Or it may be some area of neglect--something God told you to do that you are not doing.  Volunteering for VBS.  Homeschooling.  Calling that neighbor and inviting her for tea.  Cleaning out that closet.  Going overseas for a missions trip.  Making a date with your husband.

Ask Him, and wait for the answer.  Then DO IT!