Summer Heat, Hosea, and Samwise Gamgee

When the days are hot, we still learn in our little homeschool. Schooling year-round with only one long break at the end of the year eases up the schedule for us. It reduces my stress level and, like toppling dominoes, the children relax and before I know it they are zooming well ahead.

But on those hot days, which are few in our part of the country, I relax things even more.

Yesterday was one of those hot days.

And so we read Hosea and talked about it. I think it may be my new favorite book of the Old Testament as the message is so comforting: love for the sake of loving, not in order to be loved back and the changes and understanding that brings to you. After my kids understood the story, my deep daughter pointed out that Hosea was really a lot like Samwise Gamgee since Sam trekked over hill and dale in an expression of complete love. Samwise did not accompany Frodo on his terrible quest out of friendship, said my child, he did it out of an all-encompassing and total love that was tested throughout the journey until the end of the story when that test of his capacity for love was rewarded with what he wanted most in the world: a wife and a family.

And that was a great lesson for a hot summer day.