Both moms who educate their children at home and moms who drop their little ones off at the front door of the public school ask me the same question, "Why do you homeschool?"
I have never really voiced my reasoning for homeschooling my kids...Until now.
The reason I homeschool is because my mom showed me the importance of family. The importance of sitting close on the couch with someone who cares about every aspect of your future to become rooted and grounded and receive a greater calling outside of ourselves.
The truth is...when I am teaching my kids it washes over me daily like she just dropped by for a visit. As long as I have homeschooling, along with its piles of books and an imperfectly clean home, I will feel like she is a part of my life still. She invested time into me...and I want to pass that to my own kids. She really taught us...and if she couldn't she would find someone who could.
I received roses today from someone anonymous that is celebrating her life with me today. She touched so many lives.
In order to make a difference you have to take the time. In order to take the time, something else may go undone, but it is the eternal perspective that leads to a full life.
It is seeing the bigger picture and jumping in the middle of every big mud puddle just to laugh at it's shocking, cold, and wet discomfort that brings TRUE JOY even if it leaves you a little dirty in the end. Life is not found sitting inside looking out through a sparkling window pane... It is running out and smelling the rain and feeling it hit your face even though you're getting drenched.
I homeschool because I can see my boys grow up. They sit next to me and we work through the details in their learning together. They are challenged and feel love on a daily basis. I am not saying homeschooling is for everyone, but for me...it is everything.
I may wake up one day and be ready for a change, but for now I soak it all in. By all, I mean the cries, the whining, the constant mess and strain of keeping up...the fatigue, the planning, the shuffling to soccer, dentist appointments, and learning the whole time from whatever life throws at us by embracing it all and finding joy in the journey.
It has been my children and homeschooling that have helped me in the grieving of losing mom. It was their smiles and the time I have had with them that has brought me through heartache.
Sometimes our kids bring enough JOY
to fight the battle for you!
Dear Lord,
Open our eyes to see the blessings in our loss and the joy in our journey. Help us to make a difference by equipping us with insight into the needs of others. Strengthen our minds to know when to say yes and when to say no in order to pour into the opportunities that really matter. Help us to set the example for our children. We pray for the wives of our sons and the husbands of our daughters. Go before us and make a way when we feel confused or need your direction. Thank you for your peace that passes understanding even when we find ourselves trying to get a foothold. Shed light on our imperfections to keep us humble and turn our ashes into beauty for your glory.
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