A Beautiful Mess

BY JESSICA PRUKNER

There is always so much excitement and anticipation in the spring months for a homeschool family. The year is beginning to wrap up, the curriculum week count is drawing close to the end, and life is teeming outside. I live in Florida now, where almost every day is a beautiful day. But back when we lived in Michigan, I remember the excitement of some of those first warm days after a long, frigid winter. The kids would run outside barefoot and in shorts, without a jacket, on a sunny but mere 55° day. You could smell life, the green buds were abundant, the flowers were starting to bloom, and the bugs were flying around again, buzzing joyfully; it was the perfect time to take science outdoors! And all the parents who were cleaning up science experiments in their kitchens all winter long could now rejoice!

There is something unique I have always loved about science and homeschooling. It is very different from my middle school science class experience when I attended public school and respectfully argued with my teacher that I didn’t come from a bang. I was created! Creation is everywhere.

My favorite thing as a homeschooling mom is to allow my kids to experience God’s creation all around us. The life in the trees, the grass, the butterflies, and bees. The ocean, the sunrise, and the sunsets. Recently, we have started field trips again and have taken the kids out and about for hands-on experiences. We have bathed African and Asian elephants, getting to hear them purr and feel their tusks and skin in our hands; getting so close we could see their gorgeous eyelashes. We traveled to Costa Rica and played with white-faced monkeys for over an hour in the wild, in awe of their intelligence and sweet behavior. We held their little hands and played games to see if they could get the peanut out of my son’s hand each time he switched and hid it. We visited wolves and wolf dogs and learned the difference in their DNA and how it all affects their behavior. We got to pet them, respect them, and howl with them. We recently came in close contact with dolphins on our beach and caught a bonnethead shark and stingray that were safely released. In all these experiences, there is nature, creation, and God, the Creator.

Don’t let the spring season only be filled with the hustle and bustle of the ending of the school year. Make time to take your kids outside to explore creation; be still, look, listen and learn. Use the little moments, with acorns and flower buds, sunsets and sunrises, to exemplify the wonderful Creator who made it all for us to enjoy - a message of love to His children. Allow yourself to be in awe with your kids and have childlike wonder as you take in how absolutely amazing our Heavenly Father, the Creator of the world, is. After all, He designed not only all the beautiful animals and landscapes, but He also created man and woman. He created you and each one of your kids - fearfully and wonderfully made! And when He was finished, He called it good. Let these moments be stamped in your kids’ hearts for a lifetime.