Yep, that's school at it's finest around here. Often when my kids complain about school, my reaction is, "Really, what part is bothersome to you? Eating goldfish at your desk, wearing your Star Wars pajamas, taking math breaks to jump on the trampoline, or just the general stress of staying at home for your education?" Of course, naughty behavior is sometimes followed by ranting, crazy mom saying, "You think this is bad? You want to see what real school is like? Well, just put some clothes on and I'll drive you on down there right now! And no, you can't take your stuffed Micky Mouse!" Today, I truly am thankful that I have the blessing of homeschooling my children. This was never something that entered my mind until Emma had completed her kindergarten year at a Christian school. She has a June birthday so I was spending time praying over the direction to either send her on to first grade or have her repeat kindergarten. I also had a three year old and a baby and was rather discouraged by those late night feedings, dirty diapers, harried days and whiny tears. One day as I was in some sort of desperate prayer mode freaking out about making a decision for Emma, the Spirit told me (yes, told me because this was a truly strange thing for me to hear) that as I was struggling to enjoy the blessing of the life He had given me, I needed to homeschool to sacrifice myself on a journey toward enjoying the tremendous gift of my family. I realized that I was merely living for the moments of relief- five o'clock for Jay to return home, nap-time to recuperate, weekends for a little "me" time. Now days with little ones do require help and assistance and definite moments of recuperation, but for me, it went back to that old issue of idolatry. I was preferring my sleep, my comfort, my control, and my time over honoring God with an incredibly blessed life. His solution was to immerse me closely to the blessings while working on my character to relinquish control through the avenue of homeschooling. Some days are incredibly frustrating, sometimes I snap at my children, sometimes my children don't exactly cooperate, but I can truthfully say that as the Lord has called me in this direction, He has supplied His amazing peace and joy in something I would have never fathomed. So tomorrow when Jack whines, "Do we have to do school today?" And Annabeth takes a phenomenally long time to complete a math sheet and Emma escalates to frustration over an in-depth writing assignment, I will remember the blessings and praise my Father for breaking me in order to rest in all the joy that He has poured upon me.
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