Harry Potter Fever

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am a big Harry Potter fan. Like many other people, I am eagerly anticipating the month of July, when the 5th movie will be released and, more importantly, the 7th and final book will finally be published. In preparation for these events, I have been rereading the first six books and am currently working on The Order of the Phoenix (#5 for those who are less familiar with HP). My husband thinks I am crazy for trying to read them again, but I find it very interesting. JK Rowling leaves many clues along the way that I missed the first time around. Even though I've read each book more than once, I always pick up more details with each perusal.

Naturally, along with the knowledge of what is waiting for Harry and his friends comes the desire for them to do some things differently. I find myself wanting to yell to the book, "No, Harry! Stop! It's a trap!" I can see the other side of the coin, though. I understand that some unfortunate and even tragic things have to happen in order for other, necessary events to transpire.

That is true, of course, in our real lives as well. The Christian walk is full of trials because of the fall. When I'm going through a difficult time, I often find myself saying, "If only I had done this or that differently." It can be so hard to see goodness in times of trouble, but later I see what God has brought out of the ordeal. Even while we endure tribulation, we have the promise that God is always present to help us. Poor Harry just has to slog through on his own.

Summer Musings

I am not surprised that the majority of people do not undertake their children's educations themselves. While I firmly believe that homeschooling is the right choice for us (at least for my oldest daughter), the pressures of that choice have really been weighing on me of late. Jessica is startlingly bright, but she is also shockingly lazy. I really feel the need of some external force to motivate her, to drive her, to make her realize that she's not the only child in the world who does lessons.

It is unfortunate, of course, that we are still finishing her math book, but lately, she has become very melodramatic about it. I'm only requiring her to do one lesson a day, which takes less than 30 minutes, but I found her writing in a letter that the summer was going to be "awful" because of having to do school. She told me that summertime was "for going new and exciting places, like Europe." Maybe I shouldn't let her read so much....

I am trying to do lots of fun things with them, though. I bought one of those little wading pools at Wal-Mart, and all of the girls had a wonderful time "swimming" this afternoon. We've also been having friends over to play about once a week. Next month will be filled with houseguests and trips to a violin workshop and to my in-laws' house. I do hope that my girls have an enjoyable time this summer. I also hope I better prepare myself for the coming schoolyear, so we can have more of a break next summer.