It's June! Already!?!
This year has really flown by.
June marks the end of my 4th year of homeschooling. In some ways I still feel like a 'newbie'- like I'm just starting out, wondering how it all is going to work out and if I'm going to mess up my kids' education!
In other ways, I'm almost feeling like a seasoned veteran. I even have the occasional mom who is newer at this home schooling gig asking me, 'How do you do it?'.
Oh my! If they only knew!
Anyway, it's a question that even I have asked others MANY times before, but I'm wondering if maybe it's the wrong question to ask.
When I ask 'How do YOU do it?', quite often it's because I'm listening to the inner monologue that says that I'm NOT doing it right (whether I actually am or not). So, therefore, I should ask someone else who CLEARLY has it all together and maybe then I can get it together too.
Honestly, I don't think that's what we're supposed to be doing.
Please don't misunderstand me here. I'm not saying that we can't lean on other people for help and advice. God knows that we can't do life alone- that's why He gave us the community of believers (however it looks in your life). To spur one another on to love and good deeds (Heb. 10:24) and for the older women to train up younger women (Titus 2:4).
Clearly God intended for each of us to be mentored and to mentor others. That isn't what I'm referring to here.
If you're anything like me, you've spent at least a few minutes at some point in your life comparing yourself to others. Some of us will spend hours each day in the comparison snare. We look at our lives and discount what IS happening and focus instead on what we (usually mistakenly) believe ISN'T happening.
Let's see if we can recognize any of these inner monologues:
I haven't figured it all out yet, so there is no formula that I can give to help you out- except this: PRAY! PRAY! PRAY! And when you think you're done, PRAY SOME MORE!
Keeping it real, by the grace of God...
Tammy
This year has really flown by.
June marks the end of my 4th year of homeschooling. In some ways I still feel like a 'newbie'- like I'm just starting out, wondering how it all is going to work out and if I'm going to mess up my kids' education!
 |
| When we first started out, our home school area was a corner of our playroom. Needless to say they were more interested in playing than school work. |
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| Just to make life more interesting (besides being pregnant with baby #5 when we started), we decided to close in the covered sundeck and create a bedroom & home school room. I did okay until we hit the drywall stage- I gave up doing any 'formal' schooling till it was finished. |
In other ways, I'm almost feeling like a seasoned veteran. I even have the occasional mom who is newer at this home schooling gig asking me, 'How do you do it?'.
Oh my! If they only knew!
Anyway, it's a question that even I have asked others MANY times before, but I'm wondering if maybe it's the wrong question to ask.
When I ask 'How do YOU do it?', quite often it's because I'm listening to the inner monologue that says that I'm NOT doing it right (whether I actually am or not). So, therefore, I should ask someone else who CLEARLY has it all together and maybe then I can get it together too.
Honestly, I don't think that's what we're supposed to be doing.
Please don't misunderstand me here. I'm not saying that we can't lean on other people for help and advice. God knows that we can't do life alone- that's why He gave us the community of believers (however it looks in your life). To spur one another on to love and good deeds (Heb. 10:24) and for the older women to train up younger women (Titus 2:4).
Clearly God intended for each of us to be mentored and to mentor others. That isn't what I'm referring to here.
If you're anything like me, you've spent at least a few minutes at some point in your life comparing yourself to others. Some of us will spend hours each day in the comparison snare. We look at our lives and discount what IS happening and focus instead on what we (usually mistakenly) believe ISN'T happening.
Let's see if we can recognize any of these inner monologues:
- Wow, your kids are so well behaved! (Please, I'm desperate- tell me your secret so that my kids will behave and others won't judge me the way I think they are.)
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| Big brother Elijah showed the rest of them how to make duct tape weapons and then they went out into the backyard for hours (literally) of fun. It even took quite a while for it to descend into chaos! |
- You're looking great! (I don't like how I look and if there is a magic potion or pill I would do anything to get it.)
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| A rare family photo (I'm usually hiding behind the camera). |
- Nice van! (Your husband must make more money than mine, or is a better money manager or I wish I could have that too but we can't seem to control our spending.)
I could go on, and in fact, I have. Many more times than I care to count. The problem with comparisons is that we have no idea what the other person is going through- I'm only seeing the 'postcard' moment, not the 'trenches' moments that came before.
Confession time.
I have actually tried blogging before. I had these grand ideas of chronicling my new journey into the world of home schooling. All the wonderful things that we did and learned. Ah, yes- the naive optimism!
Unfortunately, what ended up happening was more of a 'whine' blog- without the cheese!
It's a good thing that nobody ever found that blog, because to think about all the grumbling and complaining that I did on it- I'm embarrassed.
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| Noah pouting because he didn't want to leave the hike we were on. |
So rather than go back and try to fix what was broken, I decided to start something new.
Something that was rooted in an 'Attitude of Gratitude'.
Which brings me back to the end of the school year.
It's so easy to think we're not doing things right and that everyone else is doing it better. Or that I haven't done enough school work with my kids or whatever.
But if I look back over the past four years, we've come a long way. We've all grown and matured (at least some days) and I think, grown closer to each other and to God. We have our really, really good days and we have our hideously BAAAD days.
And that makes it real and it makes it life.
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| Elijah, Jeremiah, Samuel & Noah Fall 2009 |
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| Elijah, Jeremiah, Samuel, Noah & Rebekah Spring 2013 |
I haven't figured it all out yet, so there is no formula that I can give to help you out- except this: PRAY! PRAY! PRAY! And when you think you're done, PRAY SOME MORE!
Keeping it real, by the grace of God...
Tammy
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