Starting over...again

It's a new school year now...time for new ideas, new schedules, new subjects, new responsibilities. It might be deceptive of me to say that I haven't been feeling apprehensive about this for a while, but I'm also excited. Homeschooling has never really been easy, but there is nothing more thrilling to me than to watch my children learn and grow over the years. I never know if they are learning in spite of my best efforts or because of them, but the real credit all goes to God. I know that on my own, I'd never make it. I'm not any of those things most people think of when they picture a homeschool mom. I'm not terribly creative, organized, or patient. Also lacking in my life are, evidently, persistence and stability. I never seem to be able to stick to anything through a whole year (that is a major goal for me this year).

But, with the Lord's help, I have found the courage and motivation to keep on trekking. I used to see homeschooling merely as a specific calling on my life. Now, I just can't imagine doing things differently. There are things that children learn year after year at home that just can't be learned in a brick and mortar school setting. And there are unforgiving lessons that are learned in these other institutions that just cannot be unlearned, no matter how good a parent's intentions may be.

So, not looking back at what else I could have done with my life, I press forward. My fulfillment will not lie, for now, in what I could possess or where I could go. It will lie in starting over, again...making a renewed effort to become the mother and teacher that I would love to be. If I can grow and learn half what my children will this year, then it will have been a great success for me.

Goodbye, sweet summer!