By Heather Hansen
One night I had a dream.
In my dream, I saw a figure skater with her fluid and graceful movements in an unusual costume that mirrored the quintessential 50’s housewife.
She was performing her routine in an over-sized kitchen on a floor of ice.
I woke up thinking it was comical and unusual.
I had been watching the 2010 Winter Olympics and each night, in addition to the competitions, there were also montages that chronicled the day-to-day life of various athletes.
These vignettes often showed young men and women who lived normal lives outside of their intense training.
I was in awe at the amount of hard work and dedication that these athletes had given to their chosen sport.
They had sacrificed time and outside interests to excel in their fields.
My dream of the housewife figure skater made me think more deeply about the time and effort given by mothers in obtaining and sharing their own education.
I have recently joined the ranks of “scholar moms” who, through sacrifice and persistence, are beginning to pursue their own world-class education–not only for themselves but, to share it with their children.
Each page read and each book finished takes us one step closer to our goal.
Rolling out of bed before the normal wake-up time to catch a few extra minutes of reading is difficult.
Eyelids are drooping from late nights with children who need help with assignments, who are sick or who just need to talk.
Often our foggy brains can’t process the words on the page.
The unfamiliar writings of Plutarch, Plato and Aristotle make us want to go back to bed and pull the covers up over our heads.
Even reading the thoughts of Noebel and Skousen can at times make us want to give up and quit trying to remember why understanding is so important.
However, with practice, we slowly begin to comprehend the language of freedom.
This is our sport, to recognize the ideas held so dear by our founding fathers and to perpetuate them by teaching our children the importance of the liberal arts.
As mothers, we have normal lives outside our “training.”
The line between the two is so blurred we can’t tell where one begins and the other ends.
We have homes to create and husbands who need us to be present.
We have children who need love, attention, schooling and life skills.
We have houses that need to be cleaned, clothes to be washed and meals to prepare.
We volunteer in our churches and communities. Yet, every day we read, some days a little, others a lot.
We are on the long-term plan for Scholar Phase.
There will come a time when we as “scholar moms” will be in positions to create additional impact beyond our immediate families.
We will be successful because of our perseverance, our commitment to family and our enthusiasm for learning.
We might not feel ready and opportunities might come when we least expect them.
In the meantime, however, we can focus on our own training and preparation.
Winston Churchill has been quoted to say:
“To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for that which could have been their finest hour.”
Will you join with us?
The world needs a host of mothers who yearn to inspire those around them.
As we study and grow, together we will be ready to make a difference…with our aprons on.
Heather Hansen is a wife and mother of 5 on a scholar’s journey.
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle Rules the World…
Well said, Heather.
Beautifully put… how honored we should feel with the opportunities we are afforded to participate in and the lives we can bless through our learning.
Thanks for the inspiration!