A downpour recently showed me how my life has been enriched by the addition of nature. Standing at the checkout counter at a store, I heard infuriated rain hitting the roof. I looked towards the doors and saw a huddle of people standing and waiting. They waited for weather more pleasant. Less abrasive.

What to do? I wondered, though only for a moment. I whispered encouraging words to myself ( "Suck it up, Buttercup,") and I left the comforting shelter of the store to face the sensation of sheet-like rain.

Head down, I raced to my car, splashing through puddles and probably looking a fool to those who chose shelter over showers. I plopped into the seat of my car dripping wet, and you probably won't guess what I did next--

I took a selfie.

In that moment, I was so surprised by the person I had become in contrast to the person that I had been. I remember, at 20 years old, waiting inside a campus building for 30 minutes during a rainstorm so that I wouldn't have to walk home. The time I waited was at least a round-trip walk there and back, but the wasted time was worth dry hair and unsmudged makeup.

Nature was a foreign place to me. But I see now how my spiritual life is connected to my nature life. The farther away my body gets from the earth, the bigger the distance between my heart and God's. There's correlation, and most definitely causation. As He draws me nearer, I want to spend more time in His creation. Romans 1:20 says,

"For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse."

We Were Created to be in Nature

In the garden, humans were created. They lived in the land under the shelter of trees and ate straight from the earth. And as a result, humans continue to reap the benefits of nature, even after the fall.

We feel less stressed.

Our anger and stress are reduced.

Heart rates and blood pressure go down.

Our eyesight improves.

We can clearly see, and clearly see Him.

And yet, collectively, we are spending less time in nature. Children today spend half as much time outside as their parents, some research suggests. We see increased obesity and increased mental health problems, while faith in God is becoming an unmentionable in some communities. We were created to be in nature, and separation from it is not without consequence.

In July, I will work on giving my children the habit of nature through books and ideas in Idea Nest. Sign up to have Idea Nest sent to your inbox.

Humans like easy.

This is scientifically proven, and I believe it's why God created us to be creatures of habit: habits make things easy and take decision making away.

For those same reasons, so many homeschool moms look for what will be easiest for them: the open-and-go curriculum, the habit-training advice, or the blog or business that can tell them just what to do. Whatever makes it easy.

But, is it possible that in the quest for easy, we overlook our biggest Homeschooling Advocate: the Holy Spirit?

Habits for the Early Years: A Mother's Journal

Charlotte Mason's 20th Principle

Charlotte Mason's 20th principle is probably my favorite. She said:

"We allow no separation to grow up between the intellectual and 'spiritual' life of children, but teach them that the Divine Spirit has constant access to their spirits, and is their Continual Helper in all the interests, duties and joys of life."

For the Christian mom, this principle brings comfort and peace of mind. We no longer have to agonize over our decisions, over the books we choose to read with our children, and whether or not we are qualified to homeschool.

Charlotte Mason believed so strongly in this principle, that she called it the "mothers' key" to education:

"In the things of science, in the things of art, in the things of practical everyday life, his God doth instruct him and doth teach him, her God doth instruct her and doth teach her. Let this be the mother's key to the whole of the education of each boy and each girl; not of her children; the Divine Spirit does not work with nouns of multitude, but with each single child." School Education, page 273

But many of us stand with this key in hand, refusing to use it to unlock the door. We know that we can turn to the Holy Spirit for help, but instead we turn to social media, we hesitate, and we don't trust.

What if all Christian homeschooling moms decided to tune out some of the loud voices shouting their dissent, and instead tuned into the Holy Spirit?

Can you imagine the transformation we'd see in our own hearts and others? I've been thinking about this topic for years, and I truly believe that if we let the Holy Spirit guide out homeschools, we'd find peace in many areas.

Charlotte Mason's First Principle: Children are Born Persons

1. Making Decisions

I try not to get too caught up in the question of what Charlotte Mason would have us do in certain situations. I don't agonize over decisions about what books we should read or at what age to include copywork. Instead, I pray about what the Holy Spirit would have me do. Sometimes, what I do is not directly in line with what Charlotte Mason would say, but in the end, I'm answering to God and not to Charlotte Mason.

When I taught my daughter to read at the age of 5.5, I knew some people would disagree with my decision. But thankfully, it wasn't about them. It was about seeking guidance from the Holy Spirit and doing what I felt called to do. Teaching H to read slightly earlier than Charlotte Mason recommended ended up being a blessing to our entire family. My little girl was thrilled with her new knowledge, and her little siblings loved having a new person in the home to read to them.

Why My Kids are Out of Control

2. Feeling Qualified

Many of us don't feel qualified to homeschool our children, maybe academically or spiritually. But, if we hang onto this: "her God doth instruct her and teacher her" from the quote above, we can feel confidently qualified. As I said in a recent Thinking Love podcast episode, it isn't a matter of how qualified we are, but who qualifies us to homeschool.

If we understand that the Holy Spirit is on our side, that the knowledge given by him is infinite and more complete than any college degree, then we can rest in our Qualifier.

3. Learning and Teaching Hard Things

We all have areas that we've struggled with in the past. Math never clicked for me as a child, and I carried that unsettling, "I am a math failure" feeling through the first few years of my teaching career. We can either let these feelings overwhelm us and outsource these subjects to other people, or we can hold the key in our hand, and use it to give us God-confidence, knowing that we can learn and grow just as our children do.

Understanding that the Holy Spirit is the Divine Teacher also allows us to mess up. If we don't relate a subject perfectly, your child's understanding of it doesn't entirely rest on your efforts. The Divine Teacher can, and will, use you, books, other people, and your child's own mind to deepen their knowledge.

20 Principles Study Guide

4. Getting Along

I will touch on this final area gently. It's no secret that there's tension in the homeschooling community. When someone makes a decision that's different than ours, sometimes our defenses go up. We sometimes feel that it diminishes our own decisions if someone else chooses another path. But why?

I love how Charlotte Mason said, in the passage above, that the Holy Spirit works with individuals, not with multiples, and this applies to mothers as well as children. If we believe that the Holy Spirit can guide different people in different directions, then there is no reason to view others' decisions in a negative light.

He is carving out a unique path for your homeschooling journey, and it is yours if you are willing to accept it.

We Were Created To Be In Nature

We Were Created to be in Nature

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