My sister and I were talking the other day about the tricky balance between pushing kids to love what you think is so important for them to love, and just loving it enough that they gravitate to it too. Do you know what I mean? I think my parents did such a great job at just loving things so much that we all love them.

They took us to the symphony and you could just FEEL the love they had for the beauty of all those instruments working together just oozing out of them.

We all have a deep appreciation for the symphony.

They talked to us about the breathtakingly unique colors of Bear Lake with such excitement, and were so full of enthusiasm for that place every time we arrived.

We are all die-hard Bear Lake Lovers.

They traveled with us and showed us parts of the world that they were fascinated with.

We all love traveling (sometimes to a fault!).

Oh, I’m sure there are lots of things they love that we haven’t all caught the fire on, but there are so many things we all adore because they fed us that “first taste.” They planted the seeds of so many things in our hearts.

So my question is this: Did we roll our eyes at all those things in the beginning? Ha! I’m sure we did to a certain extent.

But I’m so glad they “fed” us those things.

One of the things I adore because of my parents is poetry. I’m sure I’ve talked before about the poetry tutor they had come to our house when I was young. It may have been two lessons, maybe five, but I remember that teacher encouraging me to see the world in a different way. To look a trees or sunsets or freshly fallen snow as poems. That doesn’t mean I’m a poet (sadly far from it), but it taught me to appreciate the beauty poems can convey.

So I’m so glad for an opportunity not only to “feed” my kids a little extra poetry but also “feed” them the beauty of memorization since my amazing neighbor has started hosting “memorization nights.” I talked about the last one back HERE (and LOVED all the comments filled with different poetry/quote/memorization source ideas).

Last week was our second Memorization night. I somehow wrangled my girls to memorize “Good Timber” with me.

(I’ve always loved that poem.)

It was hard work, but there’s something about having an event where you have to stand up in front of a bunch of people and recite something looming right in front of you to whip you into shape! Lucy and I happened to have a trip to Wisconsin for our doctor visits the day before, and got back in town hours before the gathering, and you can bet that we worked our tails off as we drove those endless hours in the car, and flew more hours on the plane.

At first she didn’t want to do it. But by the time we were en route home she was dying to do the whole thing (we were each going to memorize a portion since we got going a little later than we probably should have). Claire had worked hard on it as well, so we stood together and recited every other line.

Claire’s face tells the story a little bit:

You can’t see Lucy’s as well, but she was pretty happy too. They knew that thing and glowed as they recited it. We definitely weren’t perfect, and had to check our notes a time or two. But we did it.

And there’s something beautiful about that little accomplishment.

Hoping that pushing a little “wind” into our own “timber” makes us stronger like the trees. I know it made us happy to have that goal and finish it off!

Now onto the next memorization project…need to figure that out.

Thanks, mom and dad, for loving things enough to push and “plant” them in our hearts. And thanks, Brynne (my neighbor), for chances like this to watch those seeds I’m working to plant start to grow in my girls!

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3 Comments

  1. I love this! My kids and I have been memorizing “Good Timber” the last few weeks as well, it’s a wonderful poem. Can you tell me more about the memorization night? It sounds like a neat idea!

    1. My neighbor just invited a bunch of families over and we all had a chance to stand and recite anything we really wanted to memorize. Pretty simple but such a great way to create a venue to push for a little more memorization!

  2. You always inspire me! I am absolutely going to pray and think more on ways to infiltrate my children with what I love. What a special evening for you girls, too!

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