Delighting in God's Plan

A dear friend of mine just shared with me an article on the state of California's adoption of a policy to incorporate immoral ideas of "family" and "relationship" into their schools. Reading the article caused me to pause a moment and reflect on how we came about our decision to home school-- the journey God has brought us on thus far to get us to where we are now. I must admit, I have wavered a lot this year in our decision to home school the children. Feelings of fear, anxiousness, even some laziness has prompted me to consider putting them in the "little, quiet, country school down the road." God showed me that much of my fear was due to the fact that I haven't been diligent in pursuing His heart on the matter. I was trying to do it all in my own strength and we all know how far we can get in our own strength-- not very. Also, somehow, I had become very unorganized. By asking God to help me learn to manage my household according to His desires has made a world of difference in my attitude. Deep down, I WANT to home school but I also long to enjoy it and have the children enjoy it. I am beginning to see that by daily depending on Him and Him alone, it is such a joy! In fact, I have known no greater joy! I was remembering that all I ever wanted to be growing up was a Mommy OR a teacher and was amazed at how God, who planted those seeds in me from the very beginning, is showing me how I am both. He has truly given me the desires of my heart and then given me the desires of my heart!! Here is the first entry in my home school journal dated May 2006:

How I long to KNOW my children well enough to KNOW the way God made each of them and understand or begin to understand how to train them in the way they should go. To know how to love them, train them, discipline them, each according to his or her own bent. It is my full responsibility (along with their father of course), as I take on this endeavor to educate them. If all I do is impart information to them, I may as well send them to public school. There is something greater God has called me to.

The Lord has inspired me to begin gathering any material I can on what real education of my children is. This includes writing down thoughts I have, observing my blessed charges, and of course studying what God's word has to say on KNOWLEDGE, LEARNING, TEACHING, WISDOM, etc. I want this notebook, in time, to reflect my own desire to learn about the things that I am passionate about: my God, truth found only in His word, the children He has given me, and my desire to lift my children to the heights of wisdom as only God can show me how.

The Lord knows my desire to not only educate my children but to impart to them an enthusiastic passion for HIM! He has created a huge world for us to discover and I pray we would delight in discovering it together! I long to grasp hold of the everyday opportunities the Lord will provide for learning. I pray He would teach me to be taught by His Holy Spirit so that I may teach them to always allow Him to be their teacher. I pray He would teach me to teach the children to run home to Him. My heart's desire is for my time with our children to have eternal value. I want it to go beyond ABCs and 123s and focus instead on the things only He can teach them in an environment conducive to this kind of teaching that He will teach me how to provide for them. May I never compare myself or my own little lambs to others. God has called our family to be something special and unique for His glory. I long to be pleasing in His sight alone. How I need the peace of having a mind filled with the things above.

I desire for each of our children to go looking for their heart's desire by first asking the Lord to place in them the desire He has for them. That they would delight in Him, in knowing their Lord fully and discovering things about Him daily. I desire for our children to look different from the world but know they will need an added amount of strength to look different. Each day, each moment with the children God has given us is a blessing. I rejoice in the fact that He has shown me His desires for me and taught me to embrace the calling He has on my life and on our family. May I learn to see things as God would have me see them, to sit still and embrace Him, to listen with all my listening, and understand with all my understanding. God's ways are greater than the heights of the sky and deeper than the depths of the ocean.

I praise Him that I have a part in His awesome plan!
"For the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." Proverbs 1:7

Peace for the Journey

For all my homeschooling buddies out there, I thought I would write a quick up-date of what we are doing in that arena of life right now--
While most families are winding down school right now and getting ready for a break, we have just started our Sonlight Core program for the new year! (why not-- it's my school, I can schedule how I want to!) After several MAJOR distractions during the 1997-1998 school year (including but not limited to: 3 moves, 2 surgeries for Annette each requiring extensive recovery time, and adjusting to Ryan's new schedule) I came to the conclusion that school could just as well be done during the summer months as the winter (why not, we LOVE it anyway!) and am hoping to be "caught up" by Christmas. Here is what we will be doing this summer/fall:
We will all complete the Sonlight Core together and an art program I bought "just for fun"-- we will learn about shading, lines, colors, etc.-- we also have a daily bible study and scripture memory but this goes on whether we are "having school" or not
Maya is also working through " Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons"
Benjamin is doing a "Developing the Early Learner" program also purchased through Sonlight
Sarah is reading everything she can get her hands on (makes my Mommy heart and my teacher heart so proud!)
In the fall, I am going to start a math program I bought for each of them (Math U See) as well as a handwriting and language arts.

The scheduling and routine of things is still a pretty hard adjustment for me. Ryan works 6 week shifts, with rotating days off-- this means his shift changes every six weeks and we never know when his days off will be until about 2 weeks before. If anyone has ever dealt with this and learned to adjust please HELP! I have been praying about this for several months and I know God is slowly teaching me to LISTEN TO HIM! I want to just get a routine set in stone and then, by golly, do it everyday! But, this is not possible and I am having to be flexible but also more diligent with my time. Which means, I have to go to the Lord and then LISTEN much more often then when I was just "living life". Isn't God good to give us struggles so that we will turn to Him? Oh boy, does he love us! I love the days when Ryan is off-- not only because we get to spend our days together as a family but because he has picked up his guitar again and we have some awesome time of worship together! Some days we will have a late breakfast, then bible study and worship and by the time we are done it is almost lunch time! I would NEVER trade this precious time with him in order to keep to a schedule. (This is also an example of one of the really great reasons we home school!) But, sometimes not having a routine can be frustrating too! I want to manage our household well. I know this is a God-given desire so I know He will guide the way! (And bring me peace during the journey!)

A Rare Treasure

Our children are so blessed to have 2 sets of grandparents and 4 sets of great-grandparents who are still living! We lost Ryan's grandmother in 1997 (or 98?) but all of the other grandparents on both our sides are still living. What a blessing to be able to know and serve our grandparents in their older years! I love looking down at my children and then up at my grandparents and thinking of what a gift it is that they get to know each other. I am so thankful we live close enough to each of them to be able to spend quality time with them frequently. My grandparents were all born in 1928. What a different world they lived in! I love that God has given us the opportunity to hug and kiss and pick-on and look for ways to honor the older generation. Their memories and stories are better than any novel because they are so close to home. They are a precious part of who we are!

For several years I have longed to be able to spend quality time with each one of them and write down their life stories. I want to know who they were as a child, a mother, a wife. What they have learned from the Lord and from life. What their dreams and prayers were through the years. Struggles they had and how God has shown Himself faithful without fail. They have so much to give...I have so much to learn! I guess I feel like my time on this earth with them is running short and I don't want to waste a second of it! They are a rare and beautiful treasure.