Long Time No See

It’s been more than a year since I’ve spent time to write out my thoughts about homeschooling. At this rate I’m averaging about two posts a year.

But believe me there have been many hours spent listening, talking, mulling, daydreaming, reading, searching, trying, failing, succeeding, and sweating over this thing we are working through in our home. This record of my meandering and digging in various potholes is enlightening. It reveals an intense desire to do this thing right. And really the core issue is searching for the best method to ensure peaceful days. When I imagined marriage I imagined perfection since we were both going to be nice and peaceful people. I imagined perfect parenting and perfect children because we were going to be kind and endearing. I imagined there was a particular path we could walk to guarantee successful relationships, education, and a lucrative lifestyle.

So I tried listening to many voices that seemed to call to me with a guaranteed approach to living perfectly. Sure they did not actually guarantee perfection but it all did sound heavenly. We tried our hand at a co-op which was beneficial in many ways but really left myself and my creative middle daughter in tears. I even scolded my youngest out of anger – in front of everyone – gasp! So humbling and horrifying.  I took the wheel many times in my oldest son’s lessons to ensure success. Wow this is all so hard to write.

This year it was decided to be independent and study topics of individual interest while also using a reading/history curriculum that helped me to feel as though we would be exposing ourselves to general topics we might not simply stumble upon on our own. The summer season of planning was rather frenetic. I attended a homeschool convention which was hosted by two vastly different schools of thought. A classical homeschool founder presented her ideas to a thirsty crowd of parents while Todd Wilson known as The Smiling Homeschooler has his own homeschool ministry also offered his insight. What I noticed about the two experiences was one presenter seemed quite stoic and might I add stressed, while the other looked genuinely happy. At this point I knew I needed genuinely peaceful and happy. But there I go again looking to people to point out the right path for my family and judging hearts that I don’t even know.

So I’ve come full circle again to my initial mantras of loving my kids where they are, not putting pressure in academics but building relationships, and looking for opportunities to smile. My children are growing up quickly. It feels there are not many more days left to make memories while we are a full house. 

GRATITUDE

I’m so pleased that we purchased that old RV and drove all over the state for our son’s golf tournaments, we finally camped in Homer, we booked that introductory flight for our son to actually fly a small plane, we helped our middle daughter realize her dream of getting her parrolet from a breeder in Florida, we enrolled our youngest back into gymnastics but at the recreation level, we dropped the honors level of Biology class for our son and are doing the basic level with me studying alongside him so he can learn good notetaking and study skills, and we accommodated our middle daughter’s desire to change math curriculum and encourage her to be a mermaid.

There is no magic formula. There is no perfect curriculum. There is no guaranteed system. There is the masterpiece of my child.

Psalm 138:8 The LORD will work out His plans for my life – for your faithful love, O LORD, endures forever.

 

 

 

Feeling Small?

There have been days on this homeschooling journey that I’ve been reduced to feeling very small. Too small to undertake this epic ride. Too insignificant to lead these “image-bearers” of God toward true understanding of life. Too inconsistent. Too impatient. Too quiet. And too loud.

I hear the mantra of lies that whisper from the dark shadows: “You’re not good enough.” This is a core lie that has unsettled me from the days of my childhood. I noticed at the tender age of 4 that I was different – an undesirable different by being Eurasian. I remember looking at all the “white kids” and wishing I could be like them. I felt that way until deep into my 30s when a significant event gave me the outside affirmation I was seeking. Sadly, looking for validation from people is intoxicating and ultimately unfulfilling. When the praise and platform is gone, so is the belief of adequacy.

However, when I look into the faces of my “blended” children I think they are incredibly lovely – sprinkled with hints of coloring and features from multiple ethnicities.  Nevertheless, living out of my own insecurities and hearing the lies of insufficiency I turn around and want to control and fix not my children’s physical appearance, but their very nature. Because I am ever trying to fix and affirm myself, I turn that into a project of fixing my children by securitizing their athleticism, cringing at their visible self-doubt, and feeling disturbed by their choices.

So my meditations have been spent looking for truth that illuminates our transcendent position and inheritance in the Divine nature. I am continually reminded that we are COMPLETE IN CHRIST. The kingdom has come and the battle is over.

If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing Himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else He wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? Romans 8:32

I want you to realize that you are woven into a tapestry of love, in touch with everything there is to know of God, that your minds will be confident and at rest, focused on Christ – God’s great mystery. All the richest treasures of wisdom and knowledge are embedded in that mystery and nowhere else. And we’ve been shown the mystery! Colossians 2:2-3

Each day of the journey I want to live fully:

AWAKE

A new understanding of the thrills of life and riding the

Wave of an unfolding day

Another opportunity to rest and soften

Keep seeking perspective from a higher 

Elevation.

Where can we change our mindset to absorb the richness in which we are called and release the illusion of insufficiency?

You are His dear one. There is nothing to prove and no one to impress.

God’s Glory Radiates Through His Creation and YOU are His Dearest Creation.