This week we started listening to the audible version of the Wingfeather saga again. It’s been about 18 months since we first read them, although my eldest daughter has read and listened to them almost non-stop.
If you haven’t read my review of this book series, here is a link. At our house, we think this four-book series is epic, on par with the Narnia books. Andrew Peterson, the author, is a Christian, and he has woven into these books such amazing biblical truth without making them feel overtly Christian.
We loved these books, in fact, I read them ahead of time to check them out and ended up reading the whole series just for my own enjoyment. We then listened to the whole series on audible!
As we listen the second time, we are noticing things that we hadn’t before. And even though we know the outcome, those little details that we didn’t previously catch are adding so much depth to this listen.
Whether it is school learning or faith at home, I think we all benefit from this concept of circling round and repetition. If we create habits, rituals or celebrations or other things that we repeat, whether it be every day, week, month, or year, it allows us to come back with fresh eyes. Returning to something gives us the opportunity to learn it in a different stage of life, frame of mind, or perhaps it’s just a different time of day.
In my younger days, I would have considered this to be unnecessary and boring. But as I’ve watched my children, I’ve seen that coming back to the same thing allows us to go deeper and grow in our understanding and appreciation of things.
A couple of examples of this in our home:
We have an annual Passover meal as well as annual baptism birthdays. Each year we come back around to telling the same stories. On the baptism birthdays, we look at the story of Jesus’ baptism.
There is also our Shabbat meal that we do every Friday. We do the same readings and prayers, and yet, each time there is something deeper or richer to receive.
Is there something that is precious to your family that you could turn into a ritual? Take the time to experience the learning, not just go through the motions?