Looking back, my last post on this blog was October 2012. Given that it is now June 2014, that has been a loooong time! I'm pretty good about posting regularly on Facebook, so that is pretty much my updates during this missing period. A lot has happened in these 19 months. I'm hoping to get back to posting more frequently, but I want a space to post more of my reflections during my quiet times and Bible studies. In the meantime, a friend asked me to write a guest blog post reflecting on my year as a homeschool mom. I thought I would copy it here since it is a mini-summary of the past school year and some other thoughts on homeschooling...
Recently my 9 year old asked me,
"Do you like being in charge of us? Are we fun to take care of? Are you living your dream?"
When you are in the day to day grind, that isn’t something you ask yourself every day, is it?
So many people are curious about homeschooling and ask me how we do it and what we do all day. Here is a peak into our year through a few of my
journal Facebook post excerpts.
Everyone is full of joy and excitement and love at the beginning of the year. Year two, bring it…
Homeschooling provides so many great opportunities for the kids to grow and advance academically…
Graduate at 12 or skip school to watch the Gators last practice before the season starts? It is a toss-up, but we have chosen our priorities…we are simple people…
A lot of people worry about socialization with homeschooling and my fellow homeschool moms and I take this very seriously…
A huge homeschool plus is that bad hair days are no big deal at all…
Another advantage of homeschooling is being able to stay up late for important things like the FSU national championship game…
And by the way, I was texting Annie – who was at the game in CA with her family – the entire game. We are a mixed family, with Sam going to FSU and me to UF. My fellow Gator fan, Maddie, even Tebowed for her buddy, Winnie…
The possibilities are endless on where you can do school…the floor, the dining room table, the beach, Panera, Starbucks, a park, a candy store….the world is your classroom…
Being a homeschool mom is helping me learn so much about my kids and what their future might look like…
And after 2 years of homeschooling, Maddie is so into it and ready to homeschool her own kids…
So, I’m doing pretty good, right?
All kidding aside, is hard not to recognize how amazing God is when we see how He sustains us and gets us through hard things. And sometimes not only merely getting us through them, but turning them into something very good. While I had always thought the idea of homeschool was interesting, it was a scary thing to jump into. I am the mom who said I would give the kids each $100 if they could make it through the summer without fighting (fyi, it lasted a day…and it was like a billion dollars in their eyes, so that was the best they had in them). Then Maddie was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes on Mother’s day while she was in 4th grade. We had a few weeks left to navigate school days with our new normal of testing blood sugars, counting carbs and taking shots with meals. I wanted my baby home. Suddenly I had another reason for wanting to homeschool. We discussed it A LOT as a family and decided to go for it. Then on Valentine’s day of our first homeschool year, Jake was also diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Having him home to learn the ropes and even start his new insulin pump was a blessing.
It was one example where I could experience Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” For me it was taking the leap into homeschooling, which I know isn’t for everyone, but it was good for us in this season of our lives. I respect and admire the moms of public school kids, private school kids and homeschool kids. We all rock and we are doing our best and praying like crazy for them.
I want to be a good steward of the time our family has together homeschooling. One of the big things I wanted to do this year was getting the kids more involved in serving others, and we have had some great opportunities to do that this year…
Ringing the Salvation Army Bell was amazing…
My absolute favorite was Maundy Thursday where we went downtown thinking we would be serving others and instead I cried my eyes out as this amazing gentlemen washed Jake’s feet and prayer over him the ENTIRE time. And not just prayers, but PRAYERS! (I was on a Lent Facebook hiatus, so this is from my other journal Instagram.)
While we recognize our blessings living in this country, we also know what a hindrance these blessings can be to us being in this world and not of this world. I think this is especially hard for our blessed kids. We want them to have fun, but we want them to know true joy comes in serving. We want them to have nice things, but we want them to know they are not what it is all about and there is a risk of things becoming more important to us than God. We want them to have great friends, but we want them to recognize what true friendship looks like. We want them to fit in, but more with God’s plans than with their peers. We want them to have role models, but we want them to recognize Jesus as the one true role model.
Since I am responsible for my kids’ education, I pray a lot about picking the right curriculum and focusing on the right things...in my quiet time and aloud with them. “God, help us do and learn the things we need to in order to grow into the people you created us to be, to do the things you put us here to do. Help us find our unique gifts from you and unleash the passions you uniquely planted within each of us. “
For me personally, this year has been a year of evaluating surrender. I mean really peeling away at what that means and if I can do it. I am a type A planner and lover of control. As such, my go-to verse has been, "I believe, help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24). I came to challenge myself regularly with surrender, which ultimately came down to belief/faith for me. If I really believed, I wouldn't be afraid. If I really believed, my time allocation would be different. If I really believed, my priorities for my kids would look different. This is really hard stuff.
Are you living your dream? FULL surrender is the first step. And believe me, I know it is hard. I’m not there yet, but I’m at wanting to want to want it. That is a start.
As CS Lewis said, “Aim at Heaven and you will get earth ‘thrown in’; aim at earth and you will get neither.” God, let your dreams for us become our dreams for ourselves.
What specific prayers do you pray with and for your family? How do you maintain important priorities as your kids experience life? What new things have you embarked on or glimpses of God’s hand have you seen in looking back over your school year? We would love to hear your thoughts!
I am such a big fan of Annie’s ministry, Thou Art Exalted, and the amazing studies she creates for us moms (like PLANTED) and our kids (like JOURNAL WITH ME and all of the Art Camps). I pray daily for this ministry, and I am praying today for all of you. We need each other… for laughs, for support, for encouragement, as a sounding board, as a prayer warrior, as a friend to remind us it is okay when we mess up big time, and as seekers to deepen our faith together. “A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.” Ecclesiastes 4:23 (NLT)
.
No comments:
Post a Comment