{"id":825,"date":"2014-12-29T17:48:51","date_gmt":"2014-12-30T00:48:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/?page_id=825"},"modified":"2015-07-08T17:00:02","modified_gmt":"2015-07-08T23:00:02","slug":"soak-in-the-joy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/soak-in-the-joy\/","title":{"rendered":"Soak in the Joy!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"archeskids\"We just went to Arches National Park for a quick sight-seeing trip. At the last minute, some of our grown kids jumped in too, so our 7 passenger van was full to the brim and scraped bottom if we went over a big bump. What fun we had, singing as we drove along! The joy in each other’s presence was wonderful! The scenery was majestic! All felt right with the world.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As I lay in bed that night, my soul just filled up with such joy at the blessing of having my family around me! I found myself whispering, “Thank you, God”. My 7 children are growing (or have grown) into wonderful people who I love and respect, who are caring and good. My husband is constant and considerate. I couldn’t hold any more joy than I felt at that moment. I wanted to pack it away, preserve it somehow for an uncertain future day when loneliness threatens, or sadness prevails. I wanted to just freeze that moment in time, when so much love surrounded me, and soak in the joy of it!<\/strong><\/p>\n

I wonder if we pause enough, as mothers, to “soak in the joy”\u2014to realize how loved and blessed we are! We marry and have our children and life gets busier and busier as we try to care for them. It can seem overwhelming and hectic. \"climbingcliff\"We don’t often stop and realize what a coveted position we are in as the “most wanted” person in the house, as the center to our children and to our husband. We are engaged in the most important work\u2014nurturing human beings\u2014and the love that surrounds us just becomes second nature. Perhaps we don’t even realize that we have bathed in it, until it is missed.<\/p>\n

Crayon-scrawled love notes, a husband to talk to, baby’s wet kisses, someone to share our day with . . . share our life with<\/em><\/strong> . . . these are the evidences of the love that surrounds us every day.<\/p>\n

Pause.<\/p>\n

Soak, soak in the joy of it!
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

May I recommend:<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n

\"samuelhears\"
\nWho God Trusts
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\"emily\"
\nMagic Words
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\"12802\"
\nA House United
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We just went to Arches National Park for a quick sight-seeing trip. At the last minute, some of our grown kids jumped in too, so our 7 passenger van was full to the brim and scraped bottom if we went over a big bump. What fun we had, singing as we drove along! The joy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4234,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,10],"tags":[317,316,181],"class_list":["post-825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homeschooling-parenting","category-why-homeschool","tag-fulfillment","tag-joy","tag-motherhood","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/archeskids.jpg?fit=320%2C240&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6IrRN-dj","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":423,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/my-cantaloupe-man\/","url_meta":{"origin":825,"position":0},"title":"My Cantaloupe Man","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"Ammon (15) loves plants. He cherishes them, in fact. He can spend hours supervising and nurturing his garden. When he was a little boy, I always made sure he had his own large bed in our family garden that he could plant with whatever he wanted. This year, Ammon wanted\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "How to Homeschool"","block_context":{"text":"How to Homeschool","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/how-to-homeschool\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"ammonscanteloupe","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/ammonscanteloupe.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1735,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/spoonful-of-sugar\/","url_meta":{"origin":825,"position":1},"title":"A Spoonful of Sugar: My Philosophy of Homeschooling","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"I am often asked about my philosophy of homeschooling. 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But it turns out that toys are just toys\u2014and not Mommy. No surprise. Mommy is what children really\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nurturing"","block_context":{"text":"Nurturing","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/why-homeschool\/nurturing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/lego-615239_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/lego-615239_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/lego-615239_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/lego-615239_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/lego-615239_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":809,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wonderful-wonderful-chores\/","url_meta":{"origin":825,"position":3},"title":"Wonderful, Wonderful Chores!","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"Not too many people like the word \"chores\", but oh, they can be wonderful! 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No children in the house to play\u2014 It must be hard to live that way! I wonder what the people do When night comes on and the work is through, With no glad little folks to shout, No eager feet to race about, No youthful tongues\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Parenting"","block_context":{"text":"Parenting","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/why-homeschool\/homeschooling-parenting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/spoonful_of_sugar.jpg?fit=368%2C276&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":573,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/the-silent-work-of-women\/","url_meta":{"origin":825,"position":5},"title":"The Silent Work of Women","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"Nothing can compare in beauty, and wonder, and admirableness, and divinity itself, to the silent work in obscure dwellings of faithful women bringing their children to honor and virtue and piety. 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