The Beauty of Learning

I wrote this for the Carnival of Beauty, but see that I’m a little late, but I posted anyway.:)

I’ve always been a fan of history. I can remember my very first historical fiction story I wrote in grade school. I guess I must have been intrigued by the surrender at Yorktown and how the continental army and French forces trapped Cornwallis in the bay.

With that little bit of information I crafted a story about young girl whose brother went off to war. In the course of the story she magically travels to different battle sites looking for her brother, and then over hears Cornwallis’ plan. I titled the story, “How We Won the War.”

I need to pull that story back out and read it to my children. We are finishing up our studies of the Revolutionary War, and I’m still intrigued with the people and stories, and how God had his hand in our country’s leaders’ lives.

As a man over 6 feet tall, George Washington should have been shot, and most likely killed in the French and Indian war, yet he was spared over and over again. The closest he got to being shot was a bullet grazing his coat.

I’m fascinated by Benedict Arnold who was considered just as great a man as Washington, yet with a self-serving character which started on his demise.

And women like Deborah Sampson who dressed as a man to fight in this brutal war for liberty have me in awe.

I think I’m learning more now as I homeschool my children then I ever did in school. We can learn so much from history if we only take the time to study it. The challenge for me as a homeschooling mom is to mix the facts with the fun. I think I’ve already found the first step in doing that, loving what I’m learning!