Summary
Christ sets a deep and profound role model for the Kelly family, this life and the next. He is their exemplar and guiding light! Care to join them?“Tee-yooo!” “Tee-yooo!” At last, the first singing bird gets his answer. “Tee-yooo”, replies another in the gray half-light down the trail. I am on my morning run. Well, it is a shuffle really, for I am an older homeschooling Dad of three boys. It is a fine morning on our small family farm. As the cardinals have their own territory and duty, so do I have mine.
I look up, surprised to see someone suddenly coming towards me. It is my tall, lanky 14-year-old, James. I forgot he had asked if he could run with me this morning. I didn’t take him seriously then.
“So, you were serious?” I shout. I smile and give him a thumbs up as long legs and arms pass me. We’ll be working on form and endurance later, but for now, I am just glad he is here. I had let him know that this early exercise counts as part of his Seton homeschool grade. He liked that, and all of our outdoor activities really do count. It is a holistic family approach that my wife and I try to make fun.
The Morning Call
I continue on the trail, amused. I am thinking to myself how quickly James has grown when I come around a wooded corner and almost run into James’s five-year-old brother on his bicycle. He rides very well for his age. Up and down the hillocks, dodging the fallen branches as he fearlessly swoops down a dry creek drain and up the other side. Little Conrad has a serious, strained look on his face as he chases his older role model sibling. “I go get James”, is all he mutters as he flashes by.
And I go on thinking.
Small Steps, Real Progress
Only last week, I was fretting about the empty spaces on the Seton website for music grades. It looked hopeless. We had tried recorders, but that hadn’t worked very well, and the screeching still reverberates through our country home. What to do? It had been years since I last played the piano, but we needed a music grade, so that was the next instrument to try.
“I don’t want this. It’s boring.”
“No. It is not. Try. Here is middle C. The thumbs are always #1. The pinkies are #5. This fancy p is for piano. Play softly.”
And then just yesterday, before James had asked about running, I had heard and recognized a melody. It was from our church missalette.
Come back to me with all your heart.
Don’t let fear keep us apart.
He was reading the notes! This counts for our Seton music grade! Now we can start on the We Sing of Our Land music book and the beautiful tunes that help us celebrate our Catholic faith. I remind the boys, ‘he who sings prays twice’ and ‘practice makes perfect’ …or permanent. I can never remember which, but now we are starting on music!
Following the Older Brother
As James was practicing, Ambrosio, my middle son, had walked into the room. “ ‘Brosio, have you finished Charlotte’s Web yet? It’s book report time!” A dark cloud and a frown appeared as he silently left the room. Ambrosio does not like reading as much as his brothers.
It will be another challenge. Today, we will go over the Book Report Handbook again, and I will review with him the first steps. I slow down there as I will ask him if he knows what the next step is, and then lead him through. It is guided practice. That’s what teachers call it.
The Home as a School of Love
At last, I finish my morning run. James and his little brother are already back at the house. The boys are setting the table as I serve up the oatmeal, cinnamon, and sugar. My wonderful wife has already milked the goats. She does this before she signs in to her online job. Our family has its own places and times for doing things, though it is not always perfect.
Thankfully, the boys worked together this morning. No squabbling. I don’t have to remind them this time what Christ taught us, to be in service one to another. And what a rich and beautiful example do we have in Christ! He sets a deep and profound role model for our family, this life and the next. He is our exemplar and our guiding light!
As we say grace before our meal, it is truly with deep gratitude I pray. We are blessed to have this meal, to have our health, to have each other, and most importantly, to have our faith. It is here, with family, where we learn these lessons. It is Seton Homeschooling that gives us the opportunity. We are blessed.
And the song still echoes through the kitchen and down the hall:
Trees do bend, though straight and tall.
So must we, to others’ call.
