I love rain storms. Rain storms are the pause button to my schedule. Maybe it’s baseball or football that keeps you busy – it’s soccer for me. When the rain comes, my schedule comes to a grinding halt.
“I’m bored. What can we do?” the boys always ask
“Fill the emptiness,” I answer.
“With what?” they persist.
“With big and little thoughts,” I think. “Press in to the quietness. Let its peace be like a soothing balm rubbed into the cracked and worn feet of my soul, soothing my walk, giving me rest.”
“It is important to learn how to handle nothing-ness,” I answer. I go into a great story about back in the day when I was their age, only 3 TV channels existed. On a rainy day we built card houses, watched NASCAR races, played cards or board games. . . read books. On sunny days, porch wall jump-offs, sidewalk roller skating, tree climbing, daisy chain construction, bee catching.
We never uttered the words, “I am bored.” If we gave them a mouth-full of whine, they gave us an afternoon full of chores. We wisely kept our complaints to ourselves.
Where do you go when nothing-ness comes? Where is your Pausing Place? Pausing Places – a place to sit and let nothingness wash through, like clear water in a rushing stream – clearing away the debris of my soul, clearing away for freshness and new growth.
My back porch, during a rain storm – that is one of my pausing places. Sometimes it is my kitchen when no one is home – and I can throw myself into the cooking and think about life without interruptions – while making something wonderful for my boys.
Other times, it is wrapping myself in a blanket, curling up with a good book and my knitting. I would read a bit, knit a bit. That happened the other day. My son flung himself across the end of my bed – and just looked at me.
“There’s nothing to do,” he said, baleful eyes woefully wooing me to create “something” for him out of nothing.
“I’m having a great time,” I said. “I’m loving this. I’m sorry there is nothing you want to do – but there is plenty you can do. But – I am not going to let your frustration mar my nothing-to-do-time.
He sighed.
“One of the most important things you need to learn is how to find peace and joy in the nothingness of a day,” I gently coaxed.
He wallowed a bit more, making sure I knew he was frustrated. I wouldn’t be baited. I sent him on his way.
Filling each moment with him-centered activities does not prepare him to live a fully enriched life. If they do not learn to embrace the quiet times, the stopping times, then later, they might fill those moments with harmful activities – just to fill the nothingness.
One of the most important skills in life is to learn how to embrace those pauses. My boys, well, they need to learn how to make something out of nothing. Their day is so chocked full of activities they become bewildered when they face, what they think, is the Great Monster Nothingness – which I have discovered to be a great friend.
Learning to turn nothing into blessing – what a great life-skill. Bring on those rainy days!
You have so blessed my first official week in my new old home! Your invitation was like a welcome hom! Hoping I have the opportunity to use some of my Pausing Places this week!
This was just lovely. For all the toys and diversions available to our children, they may be most impoverished by not knowing how to receive the gift of nothingness.
Blue Cotton Memory: She is so wonderful.
From my first visit to her blog, I loved her tranquility.
She writes for us, for herself, for her family:
I love how she is just who she is.
Learn to turn nothing into blessing…I loved that. And I love solitude. ‘Boredom’ in my book is a four letter word.
Thanks for your comment on my blog. Your blog is so cute! I am glad that I found it! It has been so fun to find new blogs to follow.
What a wonderful post! This is a wonderful reminder for me… my kids are often complaining of being bored and I’m always trying to think of ideas of things for them to do, but I think you’re right. They need to fill these times themselves. My 4 year old is doing precisely this at this very moment and it blesses my heart. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for sharing. I’ve never visited her blog think i’ll stop over there.
I love this post! I was hearing a lot of “I’m bored” at my house this summer. Now he’s enrolled in 5 different summer camps. Not so much time to be bored. Your way seems cheaper and easier!
how lovely. there’s always a gift… it just needs to be unwrapped. : ) God gives us such grace upon grace! i just noticed you live in sc, too.
Well said! Thanks for stopping by my blog! I am really loving this commenting challenge thing! I look forward to hearing from you again!!!
Hi there! Thanks for dropping by yesterday. 🙂
I love the colors and look of your blog. I am fixing to make mine over again (I do my own design) and I may borrow some of your colors for inspiration…navy and green are my favorite colors and the touch of pink is great. 🙂
How I love Maryleigh. I wish I could hear her calm words in those moments when my boys are driving me totally bonkers.
I truly can’t imagine if computers, video games, everything else are taken away from the current generation…
Reading your beautiful post, I am imagining though that in nothingness, that’s where God’s invitation comes for us to be still and know more of Him. God bless.
Thanks for the comment on my blog. Your blog is great…I also live in SC 🙂
I love this!!! I was just thinking today how lucky my children are to be able to relish their rainy days now that we educate at home!
Love it. Glad I saw her post title on the SITS girl page and hopped over here to finish reading it!
Hi! Thanks for visiting my blog. I LOVE your blog and plan to come back often. I’ve just read a few posts but so much of it is educational and fun I’m sure I can find ideas for my classroom too.
I saw your post below about kid movies. Ones that my students and my nephews love are: The Arthur movies (ok I love these too), Magic School Bus (not sure if this would be appropriate depending on your child’s age), Everyone’s Hero (it’s a cartoon/baseball movie and my students LOVE it). My husband is into movies so I’m sure if I actually asked him, he could add a whole list. Hope this helps!
-Jessica
So prescious! …. Time!
I love this. It is so easy for me to say “okay” to cartoons, but when I resist, five minutes later the boys of mine are doing something so ridiculously creative it knocks my socks off. Plus I’m pretty sure they fight less when they’ve been busy “filling the emptiness” all day.
beautiful post!!
Nice post, I really like it! My boys are good at imaginary play, making up things with just a few toys. It amazes me the stuff they come up with.
I remember building houses with decks of cards on rainy days. Thanks for the flash back. Stopping by from #commenthour.
Thank you for commenting on my blog! I’m so glad you found me and now I’ve found you 🙂 I noticed on your blog profile you must live around Simpsonville. I grew up in Anderson!! Looking forward to stopping back by.
I love how you answer your boys. I am not so eloquent! My girls give me the “I’m so bored line a lot. “
Thanks for stopping by my blog – this really is beautiful. It is a fantastic thing to remember that we want our children to be able to fill quiet time by themselves!
I love her writing too. I hopped over from her blog and now you have a new follower as well. I pray you’ll come over and keep up with me too. Blessings to you! Nice to meet you!
Beth
How beautiful! Turn nothing into a blessing, such powerful words!
Hi, I just wanted to say how much i enjoy reading your blog!
What a wonderful post! In our household, we have two hours of quiet time every afternoon, and I LOVE how my boys have developed the skill of “entertaining” (for lack of a better word) themselves. Not that I don’t occasionally hear the “I’m bored” comment at other times of the day, but I have found that the afternoon quiet time is a sanity-saver for all of us…and has prepared them in an area that is sadly lacking in our culture.
Thanks for sharing so much wisdom in this post!
I love coming back to this blog and seeing great posts like this! 🙂
When one has a book, one always has something wonderful to do and a place to visit when nothingness beckons. I loved this post!!