Wednesdays with Words: To Those Ends

Welcome to the one-year anniversary edition of  the Wednesdays with Words linkup here at ladydusk! I can’t believe it’s been a year.  I know this summer has been a bit scattered, but I’m so pleased that I’ve had the opportunity to get to know you and your reading and your books over the last 52 weeks, and am excited to see what the coming year will bring!  Once again, a huge thanks to Cindy Rollins who created and hosted Wednesdays With Words and allowed me to step into her place like a toddler stepping into mama’s shoes.

Now, to our regularly scheduled posting:

I pre-ordered Sarah Mackenzie‘s book from Classical Academic Press Teaching from Rest: A Homeschooer’s Guide to UNSHAKEABLE PEACE.  I had previously purchased the e-version, but it got lost in the electronic shuffle as it wasn’t in my Kinde queue.  I did listen to the wonderful audio portions, though.  Time to relisten.

Anyway, the book arrived in my mailbox while we were on our vacation, so I started it last week after we returned.

I’ve only read the introductory materials – Dr. Perrin’s forward, Sarah’s preface and introduction.  They’re well crafted.  Nothing you or I haven’t heard before, but they make the reader start turning their mental wheels and considering teaching from rest and what it means in real, everyday, homeschool life.

There’s a paragraph in the Introduction, that really resonates with me, and probably to many of us. It isn’t new, it isn’t practical advice, Sarah is simply giving us a clear statement of what this calling is and ought to be. I find it lovely:

The photo in the graphic is from an annual brunch held in my church. Different ladies decorate and host a table to welcome newcomers to our congregation. Sarah talked about a feast, but I love the idea that truth, goodness, and beauty are the serving platters on which we serve the nourishment – the ideas – that enculturate the souls of our children bringing them to a place of wisdom and eloquence.

The china in the picture has a story. My great-grandmother bought the pieces as blanks and had them hand painted, eight different place settings. I inherited the china set from my mother who inherited it from my great-grandmother.  When it came into my possession, my grandmother (who is still with us) told me she didn’t think the china had ever been used.  What a travesty! I haven’t used it often, but it has been used and will be used again (Lord willing).  I’m recovering its purpose.  We, in the Christian Classical Education community, are also recovering purposes.  I’m excited to read the rest of Sarah’s book which is a step in that direction.

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