Keep Singing

We stood in Walmart’s school supply aisle today, checking things off my daughter’s shopping list for her first year of university. As she and I debated the merits of loose leaf in a binder with divider tabs versus single subject notebooks, I suddenly recognized a familiar tune playing on the speakers overhead. It was an instrumental version of “The Wellerman” — one of the many, many folk songs we learned together during what we called “Morning Time” throughout our years of homeschooling. 

I certainly was not expecting a surge of Morning Time memories in that moment. And it left me wondering how in the world we got here so fast? How did we go from phonics to freshman year so quickly? Listening to that folk song today, I realized that we sang our way here. One song at a time, one month at a time, one year at a time. Our folk song playlist on Spotify is hours and hours long.

And it wasn’t just folk songs. We spent time over the years signing hymns too, learning about artists and composers, and reading poetry. Some days I would wonder if the “riches” were worth it. It was hard enough to find time every day for math and language arts and history and all sorts of other pressing subjects.

But I believed that familiarity with art and beauty would be important for my children, in terms of cultural connections. This was often confirmed when our family would travel. Inevitably, we’d come across a piece of art we had studied, and I could see the joy of recognition in my kids, as if they were bumping into an old friend. So we stayed faithful to the riches, because I knew they were enriching our lives, both in the moment and in the future.

I think what hit me today at Walmart though is how these riches not only connect us to culture and the world around us, but they also connect us to one another. It was as if I could see a day in the future, when we as a family are far-flung. I imagined one of us hearing a song like “The Wellerman” and being blessed with a tidal wave of togetherness we would never have known otherwise.

I am feeling grateful today for every crumb of the feast we have enjoyed as a family, for all the mites that have made for a rich education. I know my daughter is ready for what comes next. As a mom, I’m trying my best to be ready too. I just need to remember to keep singing, trusting in the strength of our faithful God.

But I will sing of your strength and will joyfully proclaim your faithful love in the morning. For you have been a stronghold for me, a refuge in my day of trouble. To you, my strength, I sing praises, because God is my stronghold — my faithful God.

Psalm 59:16-17 CSB