By Shari McMinn
A continual dripping on a rainy day and a quarrelsome wife are alike; to restrain her is to restrain the wind or to grasp oil in one’s right hand. (Proverbs 27:15–16 ESV)
The above Scripture is just as relevant to us today as it was to families in Bible times. I know there were days in my marriage when I was a quarrelsome wife, and my kids would sadly follow my ungodly example. This was especially true when too many consecutive “inside” days from bad weather prevented us from going outside. It was frustrating for all of us, with my unique learners especially “acting out” more than usual. So, how can we deal with the wisdom of these scriptural truths during long winter months that are causing us all to be frustrated, stir-crazy, and no fun to be with each other in our homeschools?
Our farm in rural northeastern Colorado never got much rain, but we sometimes had very heavy snowfall in years when the Lord blessed our pastures with deep, white flakes from November through May. One winter, there was two feet of snow on the ground from mid-December to Valentine’s Day! Our driveway was impassable, so we had to hike up a half mile to the plowed road where we parked our vehicles to get to town just once a week for a grocery run after church. My teens carried their younger siblings on their backs, while my hubby and I hauled empty sleds uphill and later downhill laden with groceries.
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