Wisdom for Wednesday

Get out your posty- notes!  Wisdom for Wednesday is back!  

I woke to a hazy, slate dawn.  I rolled over and thought, Why do I have to get up?  My throat burned raw and sore, my muscles throbbed.   Oh yeah, school.

The lazy, hazy days of summer seem a humid memory.  All of the long summer days, sitting at swim meets, family reunions, cook-outs, hiking, it seemed such a busy season.  I wondered, how will I ever homeschool again?  My plate is full. 

I think many homeschool Moms get caught in the summer trap.  Other kinds of activities eat up the day. Gardening, Play dates. Vacations. Company. Outdoor work and sports.   

The first day.

The first day back to school rocks.  Kids examine new books and notebooks.  I give a stunning overview of our future academic endeavors.  Smiles.   Energy.  I dress in my- where-are-you-going-mom clothing.  The second day has a few glitches.

Day three.

Oh yeah, school, is my first thought.  It’s not that I am no longer excited about school or my plans.  I don’t have the I-want-to-quit-mentality.  I just forgot how taxing on the brain, body and emotions schooling is.  As soon as the thought entered my mind, I lassoed the thought, captured that thought like a first rate cowboy. Slung the little-calf half-thought to the ground and branded it ‘REJECTED’. 

Lord, I need YOU, replaced it.  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (our memory verse this week) and I got up.  

Homeschooling is not a sprint, though sometimes I plan in a flurry of bright sticky-notes and tabs like it is.  I have been known to rush through Bible study first thing in the morning while cooking dinner in my mind.Math gets overwhelmed with thoughts of science and what I may need for the next experiment.  Read-aloud can drone on instead of being filled with wonder, I run other errands while my rear occupies the couch and my mind reads words I don’t hear.  

I didn’t start homeschooling yesterday.  I have hiked around the sludgey-drudgery mountain enough times to know better.  Sometimes, I just need a reminder.  So, let me pass my reminder on to you.  The word that came to me in my albeit short prayer time?  REST.  This is the word I chose in January for the year.  REST. Still learning.  Haven’t achieved.  I knew the Lord didn’t mean for me to go back to bed-although I wished it.  I need to rest in Him.  When I am heavy laden, not feeling well- I need to count on Him, not my well-planned days to get me through.  REST is deep.  It settles down in the moment.  It doesn’t do two things at once.  It does one.  

The past few days of school have gone by in academic over-drive.  I know.  I get feedback -“Why can’t we stay longer at the library?”  “Do we have to shop and do library on the same day?”  “When can we do art?”

I need to listen to the natives pleas to slow down and REST.  My handsome schedule seduces me with busyness, but it doesn’t always lead to life.  

I am in the harvest season of homeschooling.  Enrollment is down.  Only two Guires left for me to school. The rest have graduated- three college boys, one married mama of three, one married, pregnant mama.  I see the fruit.  The Lord has done great things in their lives and my children continue to grow in the grace of the Lord.  One more or less worksheet wouldn’t have made the difference.  It was the time spent resting in the moment together that made the difference.  Twenty-two year old Amerey texted me that she put up a calendar white board (like her mama) and she missed read-alouds.  Eldest daughter showed me lesson plans for the twins for nature walks, science and crafts.Fun stuff!  Three college boys came home in the middle of the day and sat down at the dining room table for forty-five minutes to tell me about classes and work.  So thankful that I RESTED with them instead of getting up to vacuum or some other redundant task.

Write: REST!

Put it where you can see it throughout the school day.  When you feel tempted to rush through, look up and remember.  Rest in the middle of that math problem.  Settle down.  Look at your child.  Memorize the arch of his eye brow, the twinge of a smile when he gets it.  Don’t cook dinner in your brain while reading aloud. Settle down.  REST.  If you are weary, He will give you strength.  

Homeschooling is not a sprint.  It’s not a marathon either.  It is a slow walk down a country road that winds around for miles.  It is ‘the road less traveled’.  Take time to stop and look at the wildflowers, examine the mushrooms, talk to the natives.  The destination is important, but the most important subject?  The journey itself.