IF YOU HAVEN'T READ EITHER GREATER LOVE OR A STRONG FAITH THEN DONT READ THIS UNTIL YOU HAVE. :D

As Christmas draws nearer and the weather gets colder, I contemplate on what the season means. To some people it means presents from Santa, reading "T'was the Night Before Christmas", singing "carols" like "Baby it's Cold Outside" "Winter Wonderland" "Jingle Bells" "Grandma Got Ran Over By A Raindeer" "Rocking Around The Christmas Tree" "Have A Holly Jolly Christmas" and many more. To others it means flying to Grandma and Grandpa's place for some homemade pumpkin pie, roasted turkey, stuffing, ham, and mashed potatoes.

Edit: I wrote this to practice telling a story starting at the present and telling what happened in the past through the characters.
It also happens to be from a dream that I had a week or two ago. :) me and dreams...

Blessings come in many sizes,
Often they are big surprises:
Sometimes large but mostly small,
They are perfect for us all.
Lil' Blessings is waiting near,
For the time when it's to appear;
It will be done in God's perfect timing,
Please forgive our impatient whining.
Don't be worried, frazzled, or stressed;
With Lil' Blessings we'll still be blessed.

I was only eighteen years old when I first met Jonathan, and He was twenty-one. I met him at my house where he had come to dinner. I had already heard a lot about him from my older brother, David, because they were co-workers. They worked at a lumber yard together. David says they hit off right when they first met because their personalities were so much alike, and he was right.
When Jonathan came that first evening I was the one that opened the door for him, and right away I knew that I was going to like him. He smiled at me and said, "You must be Laura."

I. Happy
A couple got engaged
on top of the rock where I
celebrated my birthday.
They picked up the rose petals
that he had laid down for her,
and when I walked by I saw them
looking at each other as if
no one else had ever existed,
and I have never seen
a person look at another person
quite like that.
It made me want to
build something beautiful
like they did.

Sixty-five roses in a vase by a bed,
The thirtieth birthday of a loved father-head.
A foster dad, a favorite big brother, 
A good Christian man, a true and faithful warrior. 

With Cystic Fibrosis his lungs slave away, 
The Doc said he might live to his eighteenth birthday. 
His cheerful countenance is loved by all,
Many memories are made with him to recall. 

May 3rd, 185-
My dear Lydia,
It feels as if ages have passed since I moved away from you, and oh! how my heart still aches with missing you. But God knows best, and I am sure that this will be a better job for Papa than the last one was. He is already busy building the new school for the neighborhood, and drawing out the plans for our new home. Right now we are renting a small house in the middle of town, but Papa has bought about 25 acres five miles out of town.

Life keeps running on and on,
Will it ever stop?
I keep singing random songs;
I'm spinning like a top!

Dishes here, and laundry there,
Children crying everywhere!
Never peace and never quiet,
Life is running in a riot!

I feel I'm juggling like a clown,
Science and History going down.
Math and Spanish twirling;
Oh! My brain is whirling!

Tommy, Dick, and Harry,
Amy Sue and Carrie,
I think I'm down to the wire,
My! But I'm getting tired!

Is homeschooling a form of legalism? How about counter-cultural practices like courtship (i) and big families, which are common in homeschooling circles? Questions like these have caused me no small degree of confusion. I turn to my own family and many families that I have known, and confidently answer, "no." But then I find blog articles, comments of friends, and even reports on television which seem to credibly contradict my personal experiences. However, as I have repeatedly encountered these contradictions, I have also come across a probable explanation.