Awwww shucks....

This past week I received the following "Awww shucks" email from a charming reader. My first thought upon reading it - honestly - is "Wow, do I have this lady fooled!" What I mean by that is... well, read it for yourself before I explain:
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Dear Mrs. Lewis,

Just wanted to let you know how much I love reading your writings- as yet I have mostly been reading your articles on WND, but I plan to start reading your blog too. I am a 40 something stay at home mother of 2 boys, ages 17 and 11. My boys are my heart! All 3 of them... counting my hubby! I have been homeschooling for the last 3 years and we enjoy it, but I feel like such a failure compared to you! You are so efficient- homeschooling- crafting- canning and freezing food, gardening, and EVERYTHING else that goes along with 40 acres! Plus your writing! Please help me! I used to be so good at it- so efficient- I got everything done (and more) every single day, but now I wonder how I will get dinner done each evening. I feel like I am treading water and I can't seem to catch up or get ahead ever. Maybe you have gone through a period like this..? Probably not. You are very blessed with many gifts- you're good at all you do! Hopefully I will someday figure out exactly what gifts the good Lord has given me. I know the abundant blessings He has given me!

Anyways, keep up the wonderful work writing. You write what a lot of us are thinking. This country has become unrecognizable and just knowing that there are you and others out there who feel as I (and so many others) do- gives me hope. I fear for my boys' future, but I continue to hold out HOPE. Thank you for helping me do that!

Thank you so much for your time!
God bless you and yours,
Enjoy your day!
Kellie
Just a small town Minnesota mom
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First of all, Kellie dear, please remove the idea from your head that I'm efficient, organized, talented, or any other misguided goddess-like notions you have about me. Seriously! You are so kind to think so, but perhaps I've managed to mislead all my readers into thinking I'm more impressive than I actually am. Please believe me when I say I'm just an ordinary north Idaho housewife! If you passed me on the street you wouldn't even notice me.

But I'm blessed with a few things that help foster these misconceptions (smile) about my mythical efficiency, etc. Here are some of them:

1. I have the world's most terrific husband. He's my best friend, the best dad, my editor, my household handyman, my I'm-hormonal-can-you-cook-dinner guy, and altogether my other/better half. There is no possible way I could do half the stuff I do without his staunch help and support.

2. Said world's most terrific husband works at home. I always knew how much I loved that, but I came to appreciate it even more when he took a temporary job in town last year and was actually (gasp) gone for a good part of the day. The girls hated it. I hated it. He hated it. We are so used to always being together that it was tougher than nails to have him gone. (But, I might add, he took that job because he's a Real Man who provided for his family during a time when we needed some outside income.) Thankfully he's back in our nest and everyone, especially him, is glad to get back to normal.

3. We homeschool. The older my girls get, the more I realized just what an unbelievable blessing this is. It's not just what they're learning; almost more important, it's what they're NOT learning. They're not learning to be sassy, or snarky, or boy-crazy, or irreverent, or mouthy, or any other deficiency normally associated with adolescence. Because we have decent, wholesome, respectable girls, our house is a place of peace. It takes only a short visit to a home with snarky teens to understand what a true blessing that is. Not, I'm not suggesting that ALL publicly-schooled kids are snarky, but it sure doesn't help.

4. We don't have television reception. Ditto the above thoughts.

5. We have faith. When I have a bad day that snarls me into knots of anger or frustration or whatever, I can take a deep breath and lay it all in the lap of God. Ahhhh, that makes me feel better.

Now Kellie, it sounds to me like you have most or all of this Blessings list yourself, so you're already ahead of the pack.

Recently I listened in awe, mouth agape, to a friend's description of her homeschooling day with her children. Talk about a paragon of efficiency and academic rigorousness! Oh my goodness! By contrast, our school days are pretty relaxed and don't take more than three hours max and usually a great deal less. While I'm awestruck by her schedule and planning abilities, we're a little too relaxed for that. Everyone's homeschool techniques are different, and you can only do what works for your lifestyle and personality. Don't ever ever ever be intimidated by someone else's techniques. Chances are you're doing just fine.

As for the skills you listed, namely my interest in canning, food preservation, etc.,... - well, I'm only good at those things because they're hobbies I enjoy. I could list a million and a half skills I'm NOT good at because I DON'T enjoy them. (Sewing!!!) Doubtless you have a laundry list of skills and hobbies that dwarf my puny accomplishments.

As for barely getting dinner on the table... oh Kellie, I laughed out loud at that because many's the time, at 4 pm, I'll say "What should I make for dinner?" and more often than not it's boxed macaroni-and-cheese or quesadillas. Me, efficient? NOT!!!

About the only thing in your email that sets me a little bit apart from any other housewife is my writing. I'm 48 years old, I've always wanted to write, and now in my middle age I've suddenly been blessed by the opportunity to do so. Have you any idea how grateful I am to WorldNetDaily for giving me an opportunity and a platform to air my views? I'm quite serious when I say they took a chance on a true Nobody when they offered me a column. God clearly had a hand in this and to Him I give all credit, but it was the WND folks who acted on His guidance. What else can I say? It was Divine Providence for sure.

So Kellie, rather than worry about what you can't do, please consider the things you can do. One of those things is to make a blogger's day, because it's a rare thing in today's society to take the time to drop a kind note to someone. You have no idea how much it means to me. So add "kindness" to the top of your list of skills and qualities.

You clearly have your priorities in the right place, namely your husband, your boys, your faith, your homeschooling, and other attributes. To paraphrase an old saying, at the end of your life you'll be glad you put your priorities into your home life rather than a career or other distinctions. So those are more things to add to your list of skills and qualities.

I don't know, Kellie - it sounds to me like you're loaded with blessings. Including the boxed macaroni-and-cheese dinners. Hey, at least you're there to make them!

So truly, the only distinction between me and millions of other dedicated housewives out there is I write about our life. I've said it before and I'll say it again: what makes you a perceived expert in something is writing about it. I'm no better than anyone else, I just write about stuff. But I stand in awe of my friend Enola Gay's skills and abilities, and we both stand in awe of our friend Lady Day whose domestic accomplishments are legendary in these parts.

So I guess the bottom line is this: While I appreciate your kind words more than I can ever say, I hope you don't have the impression I'm some kind of super-woman because I'm not. I'm an ordinary housewife just like zillions of other ordinary housewives. God gave me the talent to write, but He's given you talents as well. And I'll bet if you asked your closest friends what they are, they could rattle off a laundry list that would make you blush with pleasure and say "Awwww shucks."

And thank you for your email. It really did make my day.