Discovery

The last couple months of quarantine have been a time of great discovery in our house.  We live back in the woods, and therefore have a lot of wildlife in the yard frequently.  (a) has discovered that he LOVES to watch for the deer, wild turkeys, squirrels, rabbits, all the various birds especially hummingbirds, coyotes, and occasional turtle.  When watching them he expects everyone to be quiet, and his tiptoe sneaking and discovery faces make me giggle every time.  He also discovered the creek that runs through the front of our property and now spends hours a week playing there.  (b) has discovered how to crawl and is now into EVERYTHING.  He has also discovered his “voice” and is not about to be out-talked by his big brother.  He seems to have a new word or trick every single day.  I have discovered that in the three years since we were last in the stage of “learning to self-feed” I had forgotten just how insanely messy it is. 

We have made some discoveries together as (A) and I have been introducing (a) to some of our favorite childhood movies made in the 60’s and 70’s (he is especially fond of Swiss Family Robinson and Bedknobs & Broomsticks).  We have discovered some of the “hacks” to taking care of parts of our property, and have discovered ways to repurpose some of the spaces and items we inherited when we bought the property 2 years ago.  (A) and I have also been discovering the lengths of mess and mud we will go to if it brings joy to our kids. 

I have discovered that (a) prefers when I am dressed up with hair fixed and make-up on as “Pretty Mommy” as opposed to hair in a bun when he says I “just look like plain old girl.”  I have discovered that the two little boys in our house consume more food a day than either of us adults and they DEFINITELY make more messes and laundry.  I have discovered that nap time is the most productive hour and a half of my day, but playtime is the most fun.  In these 9 weeks I also discovered that a 12volt John Deere Gator and a joggling stroller were some of the wisest investments we have made as parents. 

We have discovered that online church can be a huge blessing as it has allowed family and friends who are not local to join us, and it has also given us a chance to be a part of services in other churches that we could not normally attend.  I discovered that as an educator, I could “pivot” on less than 24 hours notice, and I could find ways to show students my love and attention that I had never used before. 

While I am very anxious to get back among our friends and family, and I would love to sit down in a restaurant or snag some new summer clothes, we have discovered some things during this time that I don’t want to forget.  The awe and wonder of discovery has brought a lot of joy and purpose to our days.  I pray that as our lives slowly open back up, we would carry with us the discoveries of this unique time.

“The spiritually hungry are always ready to learn more, for their hearts are eager to discover new truths.” Proverbs 18:15