We are homeschooling now. We are a new homeschooling family that has struggled with many seemingly “easy” issues. When do we do school? Why should we do school? Do we really have to do math? Is reading all those books really that important? On and on over the past month the questions have come and on and one I have purposed to persevere through them all. Yes you have to do school work. Yes math is important, just like Seth says, “Math explains the world”. Yes you have to read. Reading opens the door ways to the imagination and opens your mind to the world. On and on, day after day, week after week with no end in sight, or so Mommy thought.
Finally, here at the end of our 5th week of school, a miracle happened. Well, maybe not a miracle to the millions of other families that are homeschooling, but a miracle nonetheless to me! Yesterday we took the day off. Mommy needed a break, kids needed a break, house needed groceries. We took our monthly food allowance and headed to two different grocery stores, coupons in hand. Just for fun I even splurged and bought candy bars. Something interesting happened when we got home and put everything away, the children still wanted to read. Ummmm, okay, go ahead. Next thing I know out comes their school books. Hmmmm… this is an interesting development.
Now comes my miracle. This morning I was awakened by the youngest member of our family because he had a bad dream. After spending the night tossing and turning with feet, hands, and little knees and elbows in my back I gave up and got up. I was tired and had a headache. I mentioned this to the other two dear children when they awakened. Mommy is tired, can we just take the day off? Their answer:
I want to do math. Aren’t we going to read our books again today? Hey Mom, can I do just a little bit of spelling? Why are we taking today off too, we need to do our school work?
WOW! Talk about making this mother’s heart smile. So like the dutiful mother I am, I showered, took some Tylenol, and tackled the day. Math got done. Spelling got done. Reading got done. And my wonderful son finished reading his first ever “big” chapter book all by himself. He even told me what he liked about the story and all about the main characters! What a great day!
When we brought the children home to school them, our main desire was to create in them a love of learning that will last a lifetime. There have been days that I have prayed and asked God if we were doing the right thing. Yet, in spite of my doubts and insecurities I pushed forward, hoping that the children would decide to love learning. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.”
That has certainly been the case today. Not only did God direct my paths but He gave me a miracle, a reason for this Mommy’s heart to smile. I am not naïve, I know that there will be battles in the future. I know that there will be days when no one wants to do any schooling but we will work to get things done. But today, today was like a bear hug from an awesome God, and it all came from my children who made this Mommy heart smile.
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