"O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?" declared the Lord. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel." ~Jerimiah 18:6.  This verse reminds me that G-d is constantly molding and shaping each of my kids into what He intends for them to be. He puts in them the passions, interests, skills, and personality that they will need in the future. Through the years, I have learned that what seem like useless, annoying quirks and hobbies to me, are often the hand of G-d molding the shape of my children.

I saw His powerful hands at work (again) in our 15yo daughter this year as we watched a skill develop that, looking back, had always been in her.  Katherine loves arts & crafts: crocheting, sewing, drawing, painting; you name it.  Last year I signed her up for a basic ceramic/pottery class and she enjoyed it, just like all the other classes.  Then she took a wheel-throwing potter class, but this one she loved. Her teacher said she was a natural and Katherine never tired of being in class.

I asked her one day what it was that she loved about the pottery. Her eyes lit up and she said, "I just love the feel of the mud in my hands."  This set off all the lights and bells in my brain. You see, there hasn't been a summer when my porch railing wasn't lined with mud pots, mud pies, mud cups, etc. drying in the summer sun.  Kather could spend entire days just playing in the mud, even when she was 13! She also has a quirk that alway annoyed me,  but now makes sense: she carries an egg of Silly Putty in her purse. It drove me nuts; I saw no need for it.  Then one day I noticed that everytime we were somewhere and she was bored, out came the Silly Putty. She would build bowls, cups, fruit, sculptures, ....

Well, you don't have to hit me over the head wit a 2x4.  I began to think that just maybe this pottery thing was a G-d given interest. Studio fees were $10/hr and we couldn't get her back and forth to the studio to practice more than once a week. So we thought about bringing a studio home to her. We looked around and found a potter's wheel for a reasonable price (thank you Lord for e-bay).  Katherine offered up $100 from her savings, and on a leap of faith, we coughed up the rest (actually it was more like hacking up a fur ball).

Today Katherine has a small pottery studio in a corner of the laundry room and continues to take classes. She is still a novice potter with much to learn, but she loves it and dreams of one day opening her own studio.  Once again, my chrysanthemum is finally blooming.  The clay pots on the shelf have replaced the mud bowls on my porch, and that little egg of Silly Putty...well, she still carries it in her purse. I just don't find it so annoying any more.

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I am the happy homeschooling mom of two very different children. I have tended and nutured them like the flowers in a garden, providing each with what they needed to be able to mature and bloom. Through my 10 years of homeschooling, I have learned many things about teaching different kids in different ways. But the most important thing that I have learned is to trust: Trust that they will learn what they need to learn to become what G-d intended them to become from the time He created them. 

The Almighty created millions of different flowers. Each blooms at it's own appointed time and nothing I can do can slow the process down or speed it up.  Crocuses are usually the first flowers to bloom in the spring. They are small but everyone notices them because they are the only flowers in bloom. Then come the daffodils and tulips, still early bloomers but not like the crocuses.  Summer is when most of the flowers bloom; so much so that few stand out because everything is in bloom. Then there are the chrysanthymums; they just sit there, without so much as a bud, while everything else is blooming.  But in the fall, when everything is done blooming, out burst the chrysanthymums. The crocuses are not better or more advanced because they bloom first, nor are chrysanthymums delayed because they bloom in October. They are just what they are.  Both are beautiful in their own right and, with the proper environment and distinct care needed, each will mature and bloom at their appointed times.

I have two different flowers in my homeschooling garden. Adam (19) is my crocus. He burst out in the spring with all that deep, majestic purple. Adam was early on everything! Reading his alphabet and sight words by the age of two, loosing teeth just after his 4th birthday, breaking the academic bell curve by the age of 8, standing 5'11" and shaving when he was 14.  He was advanced in math, writing, reading, and world politics.  Everyone noticed him and praised him because he was always blooming before the other flowers. Everyone (even I) thought he was "advanced", but he was just a crocus. He's still a crocus, even in college. He is bright and bold; he blooms early -- even through the snow, and his maturity and depth of knowledge is still far ahead of his peers.

Katherine on the other hand is my chrysanthemum (sometimes she borderlines on poinsettia). While she is a very intelligent builder and problem solver and figured out how to scramble eggs at the age of four (another blog), she didn't really speak in sentences until age 3; she didn't read until she was 11 and still doesn't spell well,  she didn't pay attention to documentaries until age 13, and has just started playing the flute at 15.  From very early on, people (relatives, friends, us) wondered what was wrong. Was there some developmental delays or learning disabilities?

When she was about 9 (and still not reading), I began to understand that there wasn't really anything wrong with her; she was just a chrysanthemum and I had to trust that she would bloom at the time appointed for her. Oh, it was frustrating, especially for me.  I was used to growing crocuses; I knew how to feed and water them and here I was I was with a flower that was wilting and just wouldn't bloom. Once I stopped feeding my chrysanthemum like a crocus, she began to grow strong and healthy. Now it is fall and all the other flowers are done blooming. But my chrysanthemum;  well, it's finally her appointed time and she's starting to blossom; and oh, how beautiful she is.

My garden will be empty of flowers in a few years.  They will have matured and, prayerfully, gone to seed. Both children plan to homeschool their children and will be tending their own gardens. I will be there to give them love, support, and advice.  I will tell them: Tend your flower garden wisely. Give sun to those who love it and shade those that don't. Learn the type of soil each loves to grow in and give them each the right amount of water.  Enjoy your spring crocuses, don't forget to see your daisies in summer, and most importantly, wait for your chrysanthemums  -- they will bloom. I promise.

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