Reflections- 2020 Edition

The first leg of my homeschool journey started as a student 35 years ago.

That first leg ended when I was 16, nearly 25 years ago.



Now as our own family, we start again.

The second leg started in 2013 when our daughter was 5.

11 years a student, 7 years a teacher. It's been an ever changing, ever developing process.

2 changes of curriculum, 5 different homes.

The teaching journey looks different than the student journey.

And it won't look the same in 5 years when we have 3 more children in school and our oldest is in 10 grade.



So many things were unplanned.

Never planned for a special needs child.

Never knew someone who was non verbal or with a limited ability to speak. Or limited motor skills.

Never knew we would have to create a wheel that works for him and the other 7 children.



So much we didn't expect.

I didn't anticipate I would be 40 and still not have a teenager.

Or that I would be 40 with 2 toddlers.

I didn't plan on many things.

But God did. Nothing about my life surprises Him.

And nothing about your life surprises Him either.

Reflections

A friend whose two sweet babies live in heaven, was asking for help finding something to fill the silence while she cleaned house. It took me back to my pre-children days when the silence was so loud, I had to fill it with something. A part of me was jealous of my old self. Oh, the silence! I could think of a million ways to fill that time. So much wasted and I was wishing I had to to do over. Then it hit me, someday I will look back to now and as impossible as it may seem, I will think the same thing. So much wasted...if only I’d done more, enjoyed more, been more present.

They say hindsight is 20/20 but I think it’s also rose colored. We forget the pain or sadness of the past and compared to the present suffering, it seems light and but a moment, just as scripture says. Eternity needs to be part of the present. We are living in time, while investing for eternity.

So today Lord, show me how to make the most of now. So in the future, I won’t look back jealous. It will be a beautiful memory of time well spent.

The Whiny Two Year Old Syndrome

This morning as I was getting ready for the day, I hear my two year old screaming from downstairs. It wasn’t the hurt cry that sends a mother hurrying to rescue her child. Nope, it was the whiny someone-is-bothering-me cry. As I opened the door to investigate, I’m met by one of my older girls. 

“Send her upstairs.” I said

“She took her clothes and diaper off, Mom. She won’t let us dress her.”

(She’s now old enough to take off all her clothes, but can’t manage to get them back on again, hence the screaming.)

“Send her up anyway. I’ll take care of it.”

I put her diaper on, dressed her, and sent her off smiling to eat her morning banana. Crisis #1 of the day done.

As I finished brushing my hair, the thought hit me that this is exactly how we are with God. We’re big enough to get ourselves into a mess but we can’t seem to get ourselves out. And instead of crying out to God for help, we cry and kick and scream from downstairs, even when others try to help us. We’re frustrated that we can’t fix it ourselves and in the end, we look like a whiny two year old, yelling because we don’t like the results of our own actions. 

I pray that we learn to lean into Jesus, even when we have caused the mess and instead of wasting time crying about it. 

Blessings, dear ones,

Momma H.

Is Waiting Time Wasting Time?

With a nursing baby, I find myself waiting...a lot. Waiting for him to finish nursing so I can get the next chore done. Waiting for him to wake up so I can nurse him again. Waiting for the older kiddos to finish something, anything so we can move on. And always, I feel like I’m wasting time. I do this a lot; I spend my time waiting for something I want to happen instead of using the time I have, albeit may only be 5 minutes, to accomplish something that needs to be done. 

Does this ever happen to you? And what about life in the broader sense? Are we spending so much time waiting for a husband? Children? School to finish? Jesus’ return? that we are missing the chance to do the work God has planned for us to do. Do we tell him with our actions, “Lord, we’d love to serve you, but we have to wait for A, B, or C before we can?” Let it not be so, sisters! Let him find us serving whenever he calls; let us be the faithful servants he desires us to be. Not at the expense of listening to him speak to our hearts but working that he will find us “good and faithful servants” when our time here is done.

Blessings, 

Momma H.

A Story Without an Ending...Yet

I’ve always known I needed to write. I love to tell stories, just as much as I love to read them. Since I was young, stories have swirled in my head, begging for a moment in the spotlight. I love to encourage, exhort, build up and help other formulate their world view with a well told story, a humorous anecdote or a thought provoking idea. But I have let my fears keep me from it for a long time; fear that no one will read it (and they might not); fear that what I have to say isn’t important (it’s always important to share what God has shown you); and my biggest fear...the fear that I don’t have it all together, that the story isn’t finished and if I don’t know the ending, I can’t tell it. What good is a story if the pay off isn’t good?

Recently I read two books that made me realize something so very important for life in general, but also for my writing...

I don’t need to know the ending when I start the story. I know the Writer and He knows the end. I just have to write. 

Can you hear those keys clicking?

Blessings,

Momma H.

(In case you are a killing cats...curiosity, you know...the two books are When God Doesn’t

Fix It by Laura Story and It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way by Lysa TerKeurst. Both highly recommended!)

The 2017-2018 School Year

"I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils, if I knew your name and address."

Last Monday was our official first day of school. The first day always has a special place in my heart. Even the most reluctant child is excited the first day. Who could help being excited about fresh pencils, new crayons and the books? Some of the best smells in the world are old books and newly sharpened pencils. Glorious! (I know, can you say nerd?)

Getting an early start this year, has a dual purpose. One we are moving, probably at the end of this month. For anyone who has ever moved, you know this is a serious disruption of your normal everyday lives. Add 7 kids and homeschooling and you can say bye-bye to mommy’s sanity! But since school must go on, we must find ways to make it work. One of those is to start early so when we take a break to do last minute packing, cleaning and unpacking, we won’t get behind.

The other reason we are starting early is that we are moving to a year-round schooling schedule.

For those of you who didn’t grow up as a homeschooler, you may never have experienced the benefits of not taking a huge break in the middle of the year. Growing up, we always did school year-round and I loved it. We took vacations when everyone else was busy with school so things were cooler and quieter...much quieter. We basically had places to ourselves. Let me tell you, that's the way to vacation!

There are an endless number of ways to do it. Some take breaks throughout the year as it suits their families. Some will do school for 3 weeks and then take a week off. We combined the two. We took a month off for Christmas and enjoyed baking for our neighbors and creating gifts for each other. It allowed us to be in the true spirit of Christmas and to enjoy sharing with others, without all the crazy rush part. We also took one week off a month to take advantage of other educational opportunities; field trips, community service projects, church activities. Not all school happens in a classroom. 

For our family, we plan to take a month off for Christmas (as long as the moving schedule change doesn’t disrupt us too much) and still have time for those sick days that will come no matter how hard we try NOT to get sick. We will also be open to times we all just need a day to reboot. Those are what I call our flex days and that allows us to be malleable without losing out on time we need to learn. I even have plans for those times we need a low-key week. (More on that later…)

So this is our 2017-2018 school year in a nutshell. What are your plans for this year? I’d love to hear them!

Blessings,

Momma H.

The Journey Begins

As I'm sure anyone reading this will know, the title and address of my blog refers to Deuteronomy 6:7 which says, "You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise." (ESV) This is what we strive to do every day in our home. We want everything we do to be a lesson, a chance to study, a chance to grow and become who God created them to be.

I started this blog to do several things. I want to encourage other moms who are teaching their children at home, especially those, who like me, have a special needs child. Having a child with special needs can be very isolating. You often feel disconnected and worse, you don't have the ability and time to connect with other moms. Being a homeschool mom is time consuming and even more so when you add a child who needs more of your attention. You start to feel like you are stranded on a deserted island; utterly alone and unable to reach anyone, no matter how many SOS signals you send. I hope this blog will be a place where you can connect with others who are in the trenches, just like you. Others who feels just as alone and isolated sometimes, but who keep trying anyway.

The other reason is to share what I have learned and what I am learning as I walk this road. I was homeschooled all the way myself and this year we will start our fifth year of homeschooling our own children. I know a lot about being a homeschool student but I am still relatively new to the homeschooling mom role. Along the way, I have been encouraged by other homeschooling moms and bloggers and now I hope to add my own encouragement and tips as I grow.

Won't you join me in this new adventure?

I can't wait to get started with you!

Blessings,

Momma H.