Trees, Animals, and Baseball—Hear God Laughing?

While some of you might already know, let me bring the rest of you up to speed. I’ve learned through homeschooling that God does, indeed, have a sense of humor. Of the many things that I was not gifted with at birth, there are three that stand out.

First, I am not a huge indoor-animal lover. Animals are great if they are outdoors, and I love going to the zoo or seeing a wolf running along outside of the van when the windows are closed. So it should come as no surprise that the Lord gave us a child who loved animals of all types, indoors and outdoors, and we homeschooled through it all. At the height of her veterinary college years, we had five dogs, all indoors. What was I thinking? See, I told you that God has a sense of humor. Today, she is a gifted emergency veterinarian! 

 Second, I grew up in a football household. My dad was a quarterback for two different college teams during his college career, and that was the only real sport at our house. All three daughters and one son had to learn how to throw a proper spiral! Any other sport wasn't considered a real sport, particularly baseball. So why was it so surprising when our youngest son ONLY wanted to learn more about baseball and spent hours upon hours throwing a baseball at the brick wall outside? You guessed it—he is a 6' 4" baseball player, and he is just about to begin his college career as a pitcher. Humor, once again. 

 Third, and this one really touches my heart, (and I'm sure God is laughing AND smiling with me) I have a brown thumb when it comes to trees and outdoor landscaping, totally. On the other hand, my husband's degree is in agriculture and he can grow anything. Our oldest son inherited that gift from his dad; he loves all things landscaping-oriented, and he and his dad manage our TREE farm! :) Our tree farm has touched many lives; our trees are shipped all over the country as gifts for all kinds of events: new babies, marriages, memorials, and so on. This was our son's idea, which has enabled us to brighten up lives with our trees. Imagine—they grow trees, while I can kill a silk plant! :) 

 God DOES have a sense of humor. If I can homeschool three kids whose strengths are my weakest points, and they can go on to excel at these specialties in spite of my limits, then I know He can do anything. :) Stay with Him and you will not go wrong. Life will never be boring, I can guarantee that! 

-Amanda