There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home…..

In “The Wizard of Oz” when Dorothy wants to run away, yet when she lands in Oz and encounters adventures, she wants to go home. Sometimes the mundane tasks of every day life overtake my schedule, all I want to do escape as Dorothy wished to. I have however, sometimes awaken to find myself in an Oz-like land where things are upside down and backwards, witches are good and bad, monkeys fly and Scarecrows have brains. Some days all things just seem to go wrong, the schedule is off, kids are fighting, the house is a mess and satan is whispering in my ear, ‘you are no good, you can’t do this, it’s just too hard, what do you think you are doing giving others advice about homeschooling and childrearing, you don’t know a thing, your kids are the worst, you have failed…” and the dialog continues to resound in my ears.
Lately, I have gone through an especially difficult time-my husband has been working out of town, which has reawakened some insecurities in some of my children. There have been issues resurfacing, anger abounding and some outbreaks that I haven’t felt equipped to handle- FELT being the key word in that sentence. My feelings are not the true measure of my abilities to cope or conquer, only the outpouring of my emotional reactions.
When going through periods of trial with my family, I can focus on the moment or the larger, eternal picture.

“We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.”- Romans 8:28

When recent trials have been enveloped me, this scripture has resounded in my head. ALL things, not some things, not a few things, but ALL things. When I have had the right perspective in mind, I have been able to enjoy whatever time I have with my whole family, knowing that ALL things are working together, and fitting into a plan, whether I understand it or not.

No matter what is happening in my life, there is no place like home and home is where my family is. It is where children call me ‘mamusa, momma, mother, mom,” or any name that signifies the safety and security of a family. It is the Mother’s day celebration when the most meaningful and eternal accomplishments of my life gather to call me “Mom’. It is the cookout that got rained out and everyone crowds in the kitchen and family room to converse about youtube videos, babies, books, music and the nothings becomes the everythings of life! It is the walk in the rain with the grandkids, the seemingly mundane every day acts of life are the joy of living. There is no place like home……