Learning the Easy Yoke

 

I sat at the table staring at our lesson plans, completely exhausted. The math books were open. The science lesson waited. The checklist for the day still had far too many boxes unchecked. I remember thinking, How did homeschooling become this heavy? As a Christian, I know the verse well: “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” I believe it with my whole heart. But putting it into practice in the middle of daily homeschooling life—especially with high schoolers and three post-graduates still living at home—can feel much harder. What were the things making me feel so weary and burdened? I began to realize the load I was carrying was heavier than it needed to be. I had picked up things I was never meant to carry. Academic Expectations & Fear I had picked up numerous academic expectations along the homeschooling path about what I “had” to do. You know the ridiculous, but common, expectations that we have to do all the subjects, follow a specific scope and sequence, and excel at everything. These expectations created imagined “requirements” that the invisible they would be looking for on the prized golden transcript—my child’s supposed ticket to success. Algebra. Foreign language. Extracurriculars. Volunteer hours. Tests. College credits. The checklists. (Actually – I kinda hate to admit this, I LOVE a good checklist –what a feeling of accomplishment there is to gleefully check something off! True confession: I may have even, once or twice, written something down just so I could check it off. I think I may be a list-checking addict!) Every box had to be checked. Every standard had to be met. Somewhere along the way, fear had become the driver of our days.  The rest of the verse in Matthew 11 intrigued me, “Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me…and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light.” Our school days had become anything but “easy and light.” I realized I needed to learn more from the Lord and to understand better what His easy yoke and light load was for us. What a gift it was to trade all those burdensome expectations and fears in exchange for His light and easy yoke! It brought freedom. It brought peace. It brought us rest. Instead of hurrying through all the things we had to do, we started noticing all the things we get to do. We get to read together. We get to learn things that fascinate us. We get to shape our days around the people God entrusted to us. The Lord’s invitation to learn from Him helped me see the freedom He had already given us from those endless demands. I get to set a more relaxed schedule. We get to skip a difficult lesson and save it for another day when we have more energy. We get to customize our studies to our unique needs and callings. We get to push the textbook aside sometimes and experience real-life learning together. As I relinquished some of my pseudo-academic expectations for my children, the Lord showed up - as He always does. Instead of a frantic pace created by trying to check all the boxes, I am learning to capture the moments, eliminate the unnecessary, and prioritize what the Lord is showing me to do. Peace-filled days, better real learning, and rest followed.  And surprisingly, at least to me, none of my children have stopped learning and growing and excelling. In fact, the Lord provided many opportunities to learn in very creative ways that we had been missing! Comparisons & Lies Along my journey, the weight of comparison started to weigh me down. I’d like to think of myself as strongly independent, my own person who likes to do her own thing. But, comparisons started sneaking into my heart and my home. I would imagine what the “perfect” family looks like, and then look around at what my family looked like and feel discouraged or defeated. I picked up more -–“I’ll try harder - do more” ideas for my schooling, my home, and what I should be doing and weighed myself down to the point of exhaustion believing the lies. I started believing thoughts like these: Maybe I just need a shiny new curriculum. Maybe joining the right co-op would finally make us love learning. If I just spend the money and follow someone else’s plan, everything will fall into place. Surely someone else knows better what my children need. Or maybe the problem was our home. Everyone else’s homes looked perfectly coordinated and peaceful while their children sat eagerly around the fireplace waiting for wisdom to drip from their mother’s lips as they sipped homemade hot chocolate and ate fresh sourdough bread. Meanwhile, my house looked… like a real family lived there. What we needed was a complete reinvention of who we were. Maybe we should sell everything and homeschool from an RV while traveling the country. Maybe we should become someone else entirely.  But, the Lord intervened. He said “Come to me… learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Could it really be that easy? He said He will give me the desires of my heart, He will supply all my needs, He has good plans for me, He will give me the strength to do all He has called me to do, and He is enough. All this helped me enormously. I learned to focus daily on Him and those comparisons and lies started to lose their attraction. Refocusing my heart and home on Him gave us all a lighter and far easier yoke to carry. Doing It All & Pride Along with those pesky comparisons, I had picked up habits of doing everything myself. A sort of misplaced pride– thoughts of “It is all my responsibility. If I don’t do it, who will?” and “It rests on me” filled my heavy sack. I discovered something about myself: I am very good at this. I can balance multiple responsibilities at once like a professional plate-spinner. Caring for little ones, running the household, planning meals, shopping, cooking, cleaning…the list goes on and on. I got so efficient and so good at managing everything I barely even noticed that my “little ones” are fully capable of carrying their own loads. Meanwhile, nearly fully-grown adults were living care-free in the shadow of my endless labors. It was time to share some of the fun! Here’s a tip - take a moment, look around your home. What things are you doing that they could be doing? Unload some of that. Let them reap the rewards of learning how to plan, shop, & cook meals for the family (that could be another entire article.) Expect them to take care of the home you share - by cleaning, repairing, and LEARNING how to! This will serve them all of their grown-up lives, and you may have been inadvertently preventing them from doing it, by doing it all yourself. I had taken on the burden of sitting in the driver’s seat of their future. I was the one who worried through the transcript formation (are we doing enough?) and scheduled the tests (and sweated while they took them) and planned the college visits (of course arranging the schedules) and, monitored and compared their progress on all the checklists I could find! Instead, I realized my responsibility was to teach them to learn from the Lord and let them start directing their own path. Could it be possible that you need to do that as well? I needed to stop doing it all for them. I’m not saying to abandon your post as their guide and cheerleader. I’m saying the responsibility for determining their life path ultimately belongs to them and the Lord—not you. Remember, in just a few short years they will no longer be students. They will be adults. Start letting them flex their muscles so that they are strong and wise enough to carry their own loads. Point them in the right direction and cheer them on! All these changes helped me lay down the heavy load I had been carrying and trade it for His lighter, easier yoke. I thought my job was to manage every detail of my children’s education. But slowly, the Lord showed me something else. While I was trying so hard to shape their futures…He was shaping my heart. I was raising them. And all along, He was remaking me. Blessings, Renita “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  - Matthew 11:28-30

Who Plays with Dandelions Anymore?

 

Sometimes I feel this yearning for something I can’t quite define… It’s a shadow feeling of something I used to know, but can’t quite remember. 

My husband and I were taking a hike (one of my favorite pastimes!). As we walked along, we passed a lush green field spotted everywhere with yellow dandelion flowers. Instantly, I grabbed one, and an old childhood rhyme came flooding back to me…”Momma had a baby, and its head popped off…” (don’t teach this one to your kids - I grew up in public school in the ‘70s!) and I playfully flicked the yellow blossom’s head with my thumb and sent it sailing toward my husband. I reached down and grabbed a handful of the long-stemmed fuzzy beauties and began to braid them into a new adornment for my hair as we continued our walk. 

It suddenly hit me–no one plays with dandelions anymore! And if I’m honest, neither did I. Not really. Not for a long time. Somewhere between lesson plans, transcripts, and keeping everyone on schedule, I had forgotten how. The memories of sitting outside surrounded by natural beauty and being entertained by the simple act of plucking dandelions and marveling at them has almost disappeared from our over-scheduled, over-stimulated, over-hurried, over-burdened lives! I have a deep yearning to return to a simpler time, don’t you?

Can we undo this frenzied pace and intentionally slow down to play with the dandelions again? Oh, I hear your objections (because they echo at times in my heart too) – What if my children aren’t prepared? What if they don’t learn all that they need to get scholarships or go to college? What if they are “behind”? (That’s a whole new post!) What if I fail them? (Do you sometimes feel it all depends on you?) Those questions weren’t really about my children. They were about me. About my fear. About my need to prove I was doing this right. So, we would pick up the pace and kept pressing forward. 

Stop for a minute– does this sound like the Lord’s voice to you? The the still small voice that tells you “His yoke is easy and His burden is light?” I can imagine that Jesus probably played with dandelions– flicking them playfully at his disciples or tucking one behind his ear to display it in all its buttery yellow glory. I doubt He was worried that his disciples wouldn’t get high enough scores on any standardized tests or win coveted free rides to prestigious colleges. I’m sure He didn’t compare them to other saints and worry that they were “behind”. I know He knew that He would never fail them, or leave them behind.

Can we really be bold enough to step off this hurried path and take the more scenic route with our family? I think we can intentionally chose to hit the brakes, really we can– we are in the driver’s seat! Here are a few changes our family has made to slow down and enjoy the journey:

WE TOSSED OUT TESTS AND ARBITRARY MEASUREMENTS AND TRADED THEM FOR TIME SPENT DISCUSSING WHAT WE WERE LEARNING AND FINDING FASCINATING.

So much of my early homeschool journey consisted of making sure we were not “missing anything”. I was constantly on the lookout for the perfect curriculum– the one that would ensure that my children didn’t have gaps and could test their way into success. We were moderately successful at being great test-takers but not necessarily great at discovering what we found fascinating or interesting. I realized that this path leads to a somewhat flat and one-dimensional sort of learning. We knew facts, we could exercise our memories, and we could enjoy the small rewards of good grades. But, we didn’t have time to really think and dream and connect to what we were learning–especially as we sped through high school.

Lately, we have enjoyed a slower pace for our learning. Yes, even with high schoolers (I have 2 of the OG left - all in high school). I have ruthlessly eliminated many “good” pursuits, like dual college credit and ACT/SAT testing, and intentionally focused on less academics. As I loosened my grip on transcripts and test scores, I felt something loosen in me too. I began to trust them more — and I began to trust the Lord more. I have even enlisted my children in choosing subjects they want to learn about. (Of course, I’m too much of a control freak to let them skip essentials like science and math!) 

Instead of proving that they could memorize, I’ve spent time discussing what they have discovered. The results have been refreshing! I’m seeing them start to make meaningful connections, and offer creative insights. Their learning has become much more dimensional as the measurement tools have changed.

WE DITCHED THE ENDLESS OPTIONS OF OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES AND PUT PRIORITY ON FAMILY ACTIVITIES.

This was a hard one to give up. Outside activities are good, right? Socialization is necessary, right? I had to confront something uncomfortable: I liked being busy. Busy made me feel productive. Important. Successful. Slowing down exposed the quiet places in my heart I had been avoiding. 

We used to have an overfull schedule with kids being carted off to activities every night of the week. Dinner was always an on-the-go affair, and evenings home together a rare event. 

Our new schedule is quite different! Dinners at home, together, around the table, are more the norm. Our calendar usually has activities that are shared with multiple members of the family. The conversations at dinner and the shared experiences are creating a positive socialization that far outweighs our old way! 

Time is precious, don’t be quick to sacrifice it.

WE REVISED OUR BUDGET AND PRIORITIZED OUR SPENDING FOR THINGS THAT BRING OUR FAMILY TOGETHER.

I’m about to get a bit personal here if you don’t mind. Our spending habits were contributing to our hurry and disconnection. We were investing in outside activities, the perfect curriculum, and the bells and whistles of keeping up with others. 

Once we started making intentional decisions to simplify, we actually had more money to invest in things that moved us toward our goals. Take a hard look at where you are spending your money. A quick glance at ours let me know that streaming services were eating up a huge amount every month. Eating out and convenience-style cooking were also adding up. Kids’ activities carried a hefty price tag as well. And, we don’t even want to talk about the curriculum costs incurred while searching out the best and most promising. Simplifying our spending forced me to admit that sometimes I was buying convenience because I was too tired to say no. Or too hurried to sit still. Reordering our budget reordered my heart.

Remember, I said you are sitting in the driver’s seat? Push the financial brakes.

Disconnect a streaming service (or two) and pick up a book to read aloud together instead. You’ll be making family memories, encouraging imagination and I promise you’ll love it! 

Start making dinner together–you’ll save money and teach them important skills they will enjoy for the rest of their lives. 

Selectively choose the outside activities, and invest in things that bring your favorite people home. For us, it was skipping some much-wanted home updates to invest in an awesome deck for our above-ground pool, with the added benefit of acquiring some much-needed practical building skills!

I can’t tell you exactly what your priorities need to be. But I’m encouraging you to take an honest look and make bold moves. You won’t regret it!

With the ever-increasing pace of life right speeding past our doors, let’s be the kind of people who stop to play with dandelions and have our homes be places filled with rest and peace.

I thought I was raising children who needed less hurry. Instead, the Lord was raising a mother who needed more rest.

I thought I was teaching them how to live deliberately. He was teaching me how to breathe again.

Raising them… was remaking me.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

Blessings,

Renita

Are You Measuring the Right Things?

 

Measuring Sticks Are you measuring the right things?

We have a fun “first day of school” tradition at our house.  I print out a little “Beginning & Ending” worksheet I picked up along the journey of homeschooling.  It has spaces for the all the usual - like how tall you are, what you weigh, some goals for the year, etc.  Then, we mark everyone’s height on the wall with painter’s tape. The tape marks usually stick around (no pun intended!) for a couple of days until I take them down.  We repeat this activity around the end of our school year, if we remember. Please tell me…I can’t be the only one who suddenly realizes that the school year ended, or um… fizzled out. We compare the measurements, and marvel at how many inches each of them grew in such a short time!  This got me to wondering, what are the measuring sticks I am using in our homeschool adventures?   Do different measuring tools show you different results?  Am I measuring their growth with the correct measuring sticks?  Very early in my journey, my measuring sticks included ridiculous measurements like - Did we finish all the pages in the workbook?  Did we check all the boxes on the lesson plan?  How did they score on a standardized, end-of-the year test - were they at “grade level” or better yet… above grade level for reading skills? Silly, now that I look back.  My measuring sticks were measuring the wrong things! They were measuring my children against some arbitrary standards set up by those who had never even met them. Or, worse they were comparing them to other children (that they didn’t even know).  The measurements were useless, really.  What they measured were things that didn’t matter in the long run.  Could they take a test? Could they check the boxes?  Not one of these measured what they really knew, or how much they had grown that year. I’d like to think I learned the lesson right away, don’t we all?  But as they grew I continued to use the wrong measuring sticks at times.  High school measurements included more boxes to check, more tests to take, and counting dual college credits or ACT scores to determine their growth.

The Lord has been gracious to teach me along this path.  The realization that my measuring sticks were measuring the wrong things has come gradually with experience.  (Thankfully, the Lord gave me multiple children to practice on…). In this season, I’ve had my eyes opened to new, and more effective, measuring tools.  I’m starting to see the shortcomings of superficial measurements that don’t address their hearts, minds, souls, and strength. Here’s a few of my new measuring sticks, some questions I’m asking to determine if they are growing: How is their time spent learning to invest in their personal soul growth in the Lord?  Are our days so jam-packed with curriculum and content that they have no time to spend with the Lord or with us as a family?  Do they know and love the Word more this year than last?  I know high schoolers can carry a heavy academic load, but the Lord promises an easy burden and a light yoke.  Have I modeled that to them, or made the focus of our time together only about academic growth? Am I earnestly investing in activities and plans that encourage growth in their hearts?  Did their compassion for others grow this year?  Are they learning to value people around them more and more?  Can they set aside their personal desires to help another family member get closer to one of theirs?  Do they have time to do activities they enjoy–just for the enjoyment, and not for credit on the transcript?  Is there enough quiet to listen to whispers in their hearts and freedom to chase their dreams? How about physically?  Am I putting priorities in front of them that neglect their need to have strong bodies and make healthy habits?  Am I encouraging them to take the time to move and build those muscles with practical, hands-on opportunities (sometimes at the expense of book or computer work).  Are they learning the extent of their physical capabilities?  Are they stretching to reach new goals? When measuring the growth of their minds, am I relying on a “find the right answer” approach, or using a score on a test to determine if they have learned or am I guiding them to really think deeply?  I’ve discovered that the “fill-in-the-blank” and “answer the quiz correctly” approach was really just an early step in the process of growing their minds.  Am I continuing to challenge them to look at things from different perspectives?  Can they make connections between ideas and come to conclusions? Am I teaching them to think and question, or merely memorize information?  Does it change the way they see the world? Can they confidently communicate what they believe and why? It can leave me with more questions than answers.  But I do know that it changes the way I use my measuring sticks to determine if they are growing well.  And it requires constant reliance on the One that knows them best to help me guide them along the path! I encourage you to reexamine the measuring sticks you are using.  Don’t be afraid to throw them away and go a new direction, it’s never too late to begin again. I’m praying for you, and I believe this is going to be a great year, full of growth! Blessings, Renita

There is no greater or higher measure of success than the praise of our Savior, saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant”  - Matthew 25:23

Awakening Wonder

 

Awakening Wonder

Think back with me to the very first steps of your homeschooling journey. What were those BIG dreams you had for your children?  I remember saying, “I want my children to love learning and to know and love God.”   But, along this 20+ year journey, I’ve discovered I have repeatedly made choices that have actually been the exact opposite of that deep desire I had.  I’ve missed some precious opportunities to show my children WHO God is and help them fall in love with Him, and I’ve actually been guilty of boring them to tears instead of helping them be lifelong lovers of learning. So where did I take some wrong turns?  I’ve pondered this on more than one occasion– and I’ve come to some conclusions.  I hope some of this helps you too. The Same Old Approach  I’ve bored my kids with continuing to fall back on the same old approach…trying to find the “perfect curriculum” over and over and over.  Yet I kept repeating the same pattern, hoping the result would somehow change. I’ve gotten distracted from my goals for my children by some very dull, predictable, and ineffective approaches. One of the biggest distractions came from those big—but often empty—textbooks. This default approach of relying on textbooks to teach, especially for our high schoolers, is that they simply cannot deliver on their promises.  Those hefty-sized books are limited to only telling students (usually in black and white text) and never can really show them the wonder of God in living color!  Those endless pages of seemingly important information are actually filled with boring minutia that we all know we don’t really need to learn!   Furthermore, we further demean their love of learning by reducing the learning process to one of looking for a “right answer” and taking a test to prove that we learned the lesson over thrilling and amazing them with who God is and what He does and what that means for their lives.   Wonder-less Information Think about the information we were forced to memorize that never captured our imagination or changed the way we saw the world. I have a long list… I have never once used an upper-level math equation in my real grown-up life, nor have I ever diagrammed another sentence or found the knowledge of things like prokaryotic vs. eukaryotic cells to be a valuable, life-changing pieces of information that I’m glad I stored up. The truth is, we are boring them to tears while heaping a heavy burden and load of meaningless school work for them to simply endure.  And, along this path we destroy their wonder, curiosity, and admiration for their Creator.  We miss the golden opportunity to be their “tour guides” and really show (not just tell) them the reality of who God is! Long Dull Lessons Another way I was boring my students was with long, dull lessons.  Why is it that someone decided that the best way to learn something is to spend endless hours listening to someone else’s opinion on a subject?  When do we really practice that in our daily lives?  And when, is only ONE writer’s opinion the only correct one?   For instance, a textbook curriculum writer becomes the definitive expert on a subject just because they wrote it– and we accept their information as rock-solid truth in a subject area.   When do we make adult decisions that way? We don’t.  We seek out a variety of counselors for a subject of importance; we research, we interview, and we analyze.  I realized I was giving my children a very limited viewpoint by utilizing a single source for curriculum. I realized I was boring them, dulling their discernment, and working against my goals for them to be lifelong learners with sharp, questioning minds. Avoiding “One Size Fits All” There are much better tools and resources to learn from than the same old approach, and we get to choose for ourselves which is most appealing and useful.  What a blessing to be freed from the “one-size-fits-all” approach and to pursue a path laid out for us by a good God who loves us!  I have learned to stop looking for the “perfect curriculum” and to listen to the Lord for the perfect plan He has for each child.  Segregating the Family From Itself Along the way, I also discovered that as my children have gotten older and more capable of learning on their own that I’ve disengaged sometimes from the learning process.  I’ve realized this is a huge mistake many of us make!  Our homeschool endeavor begins at home…together, and it should continue that way all the way through high school.  We have been given a gift—and a responsibility—to participate in the work God is doing to shape our children into the people He designed them to become. As my children grew older, we  also increasingly encountered philosophies that attempted to segregate our children into age or grade compartments.  This may actually be a not-so-subtle attack by the enemy to weaken the family structure that Satan hates so much.  We began joyfully, all around the kitchen table together– learning together, but by high school– everyone was beginning to be banished to their own age-leveled corner to continue on solo or, maybe worse, with only same-age peers.   Does it have to be this way? NO! I have discovered that you can completely disregard age/grade levels and teach your family together (with a minimal division for age-appropriate skills), even in those daunting subjects like science!  Our children need to be inspired by God’s greater vision for them, not just separated to “figure it out” alone. By staying engaged, we can inoculate them from becoming “a companion of fools.” Getting Back on God’s Course  I want to encourage you: The face-to-face, daily interactions you are having with your children are working toward your educational goals for them faster and more effectively than you realize.  You are the ONE that the Lord has chosen, in advance, to be your child’s teacher.  You have everything you need when you keep your focus on His direction for your family and your unique children.  Don’t let fear or comparison take that away from you.  And  don’t reduce your efforts to small achievements like getting them to college (with bonus points for scholarships).  Keep building precious shared memories together, stay engaged in the process, and enjoy the journey together! And eventually I had to ask myself a hard question.  The greatest obstacle to my children's love of learning wasn't the curriculum. It was my fear. Fear of doing it wrong. Fear of them falling behind. Fear of not measuring up. But when I began trusting the Lord to guide our path, something beautiful happened. Learning came alive again — for all of us. In trying to awaken their curiosity, He was awakening mine. And the beautiful truth is this: it’s never too late for a course correction. The Lord is always ready to guide us back to the path He has for our families. Blessings, Renita

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;  I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.”   Psalm 32:8

Leaving the Well-Worn Path

I have a sign hanging in my dining room. (I love words on my walls).

It reads:
“Do not go where the path may lead, but go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

When I first saw it, I knew I needed it.
It has hung there ever since—a quiet reminder for my homeschooling journey.

However, those well-worn paths before us can be so hard not to follow…

I started homeschooling 20 years ago (we’re about to graduate number 7 ❤️) with excitement and fear. EXCITEMENT at the idea of getting to be with my little darlings and not put them on the bright yellow school bus to be taken away from me for hours and hours… but complete FEAR at the weight of responsibility I had just put on my shoulders to carry. I was going to have to teach them… well, everything!


So, I stood surveying the beginning of several paths before me, trying to find my way. I packed my bags with well-sharpened pencils, new crayons, construction paper and all the educational toys and trinkets I could find and started out.


This path wasn’t so bad. My eyes were being opened to see all the learning opportunities around us and the beauty of the journey. We played, we created, we learned! Sometimes it was from a video, sometimes a field trip, sometimes a pile of picture books. This was our “trial year” – you know, the year that you tell everyone “We’re just trying this homeschool thing; if it doesn’t work – we’ll send them to school next year!”

The Curriculum Path

But, this delightful preschool path came to fork in the road… called First Grade. Which path should I take now? I was beginning to discover this new homeschool travel necessity called “curriculum”. Should we continue to follow our own winding path of learning, or get a curriculum to guide us expertly along? But the options were endless. How could we possibly find our way through this forest of choices?

I jumped in with enthusiasm and tried them all! I even signed up to be a homeschool Curriculum Reviewer (yes, it’s a thing!) and share my finds with others. This was a fun-filled journey, at least for me. I could always justify trying something new when what we were doing was getting old, or when we wanted the thrill of a new direction, or when my child didn’t seem to “get it”.

I do think this path was good for us, for a season. But, this “Curriculum Path” – the one that promised us success if only we could unlock the perfect curriculum combination for our child–leads to a dead end.

Curriculum can’t deliver on the promise; it’s only a tool to be used, not a formula to be followed. It’s still up to us to lead our children to the paths the Lord has planned for them, and standardized lesson plans can never meet the needs our un-standardized, unique children!

Co-op Corner

As we traveled through the early school years, another homeschooling bend in the road came into view. The “Co-op Corner”. More decisions to make. Should we jump on this path and learn with others, or keep going at our own rhythm and pace? More twists and turns appeared on this way.

We discovered that there were some fun new directions in this journey, like exciting classes, making friends, group activities, and even the small joys of packing backpacks and lunch bags for days spent away from the house. We made some incredible relationships and enjoyed discovering each new bend in the road, for a season. But, once again…we ran into dead ends.

We learned that not all co-ops are alike! We discovered that once we were in some co-op paths, it was hard (if not impossible) to take a different direction. We sacrificed some of our freedom for the security and expectations of others. Co-ops became “the best of times, and the worst of times” along our homeschool journey. I learned to proceed with caution when entering and to stay alert. I learned to not be afraid to jump out and continue on my own way when things veered away from our desired destinations.

The College Prep Freeway

As we neared high school, we came face-to-face with the freeway called “College Prep”. This was not a gentle, winding path through peaceful places. Instead it took us straight into gridlocked traffic and at other times way too much speed! It was fast years of transcript building, entrance exams, dual credit classes, part-time jobs, sports, rehearsals, activities, volunteering… go, go, go.

Once again, I felt the fear of nagging questions… Is this the right path for us, for this child, for this season? There was not a single correct answer that fit every child or every situation. There were times when an exciting and ever-expanding journey was great and other times when our days felt overcrowded, frenzied and filled with unnecessary requirements and stress.

You will have to decide when you should hit the accelerator, or when you may need to slam on the brakes. It’s all about finding God’s balance for us where we are at. I admit, I am enjoying our present detour off the freeway during this current season. We’re discovering new paths we never noticed before and loving a slower pace of life again.

Don’t get stuck in the fast lane of “how everyone is doing it.” Be brave enough to make lane changes to a more manageable pace for your family. Be courageous enough to take an exit ahead and create new directions for your journey! It’s never too late.

The truth is we have to repeatedly go to the Lord as our divine GPS to get the answers for which path we need to take! Those well-worn paths are hard to avoid, but they are not always the direction planned by the Lord that we should travel. I believe the Lord has new, untraveled paths for each one of us–ones that are uniquely suited to our families, and His growing purposes for us . We just have to trust His leading and be brave enough to journey into all His new plans for us.

Over the years I’ve realized something I didn’t understand when we first started this journey.I thought my job was to find the perfect path for my children.

But the Lord was doing something deeper.

He wasn’t just guiding our homeschool.

He was teaching me to trust Him more than my plans.

To follow Him instead of the well-worn paths everyone else was taking.

I was raising them…

and all along, He was remaking me.

When we follow His leading, we leave beautiful trails for others to follow.

Have a wonderful journey.

Blessings,

Renita





“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Isaiah 30:21

What Will They Remember?

What Will They Remember?

I had a realization one day while furiously scrubbing my kitchen grout. (Yes… I mean furiously. I can be like that sometimes.)

The memories my children were making were of me being angry while cleaning—not the sweet memories I dreamed of.  You know the ones… the memories we imagine where all the children sit quietly around the rocking chair, hanging on our every word as we read aloud classic literature and train their hearts for eternity.  Nope… my kids were running for cover as I furiously threw the toys out of the “toy closet” and had emotional breakdowns over the dirt in our grouted tile counters.  

What do we want our children to remember years from now? I wanted my children to remember warmth, laughter, Scripture, and presence. Not a mother unraveling over tile counters. In that moment I realized I was cleaning my counters more carefully than I was tending the atmosphere of my home.

I thought I was building a beautiful life for my children, but my anger was revealing the places in me that still needed God’s gentler work.

So I made an intentional vow to try harder, do better, and create sweeter memories for them to carry into adulthood. I failed. Over and over.  BUT, I kept trying!  Let me encourage you - don’t give up on this quest, just keep getting back up and trying again.

Today, four of my children have flown the nest, and four to six more are still in it—depending on the day—eating everything in sight. (Yes, they do tend to come back). And, I’ve learned a few lessons along the way.

One big lesson that keeps coming back is that the memories of the ordinary daily moments we share matter more than we realize.  Here’s a challenge that helped me: Put away the cleaning supplies and let go of some of those perfectionist ideals.  Instead, just plop down on the couch together (ignore the mess), pull out your Bibles and show them all the cool tools a Study Bible has to offer and have them take turns reading it aloud.  It changes the atmosphere of your home… really.  While you’re at it, pick a fun book to read aloud together, and add some snacks from exotic locations 

(shop in the back aisles of your grocery store, or order a subscription snack box) and just be present with them in the moment. 

Go Big In Celebrating Them

When it comes to celebrating each other, I’m not talking about cheering them on in every activity you can sign them up for…and drive them to…and pay for. That leads to exhaustion. I’m talking about making family celebrations into memories they can carry with them.  

For instance, long ago, I got frustrated with the endless purchases of impersonal greeting cards.  They never say what I want them to, and they cost a fortune – only to be thrown away.  So,  the “Birthday Journal” was born.  Each member of our family has a journal, and on their birthday - we celebrate them by writing to them in it and reading aloud to them what we wrote over a special breakfast.  These journals are a precious memory–and a record of their lives, and how much they are loved.  The birthday journals would be the first thing I would grab if we had a house fire!

Quests for Adventure

Don’t miss the chance to do something out-of-your-ordinary!  Field trips are my favorite—when was the last time you took one? (They’re not just for the littles, either.) Nothing beats ditching the lesson plan for the day, and heading to the zoo with your high schoolers to marvel at the creativity of our God.  How about a hike? Make it even more adventurous by jumping in the stream (bonus points if you are fully clothed!) Can’t afford a trip?…make up an adventure.  Just getting outside is almost an immediate adventure.  

Create a challenge for them– it can be as simple as finding new flowers or leaves, or as thrilling as finding a new trail or building a make-shift raft to float down a river. Pack a lunch, a blanket and eat your picnic together: Adventure has a way of stitching itself into family memory.

I suppose all of this can be summed up in two words: Be intentional. Be willing to step off the well-worn path.

You have been divinely assigned the task of passing your faith and heritage to your children so they can carry it to the next generation. You are building a bridge from one generation to the next.

Never give up.

Make all the life-changing memories God has waiting for you.

 

Blessings,

Renita

“We will not hide these truths from our children;
    we will tell the next generation
about the glorious deeds of the Lord,
    about His power and His mighty wonders.” 

Psalm 78:4

 

The Desire of My Heart

Long ago, I was sitting on the sofa surrounded by miniature versions of myself when I had a revelation. I know it’s silly, but, in my early twenties I thought the “desires of my heart” were to have a successful career, to be self-sufficient, and to be able to direct my own destiny. What I discovered that day, as I looked at the faces of my children gathered around me reading picture book after picture book, day after day, was that they were my delight—and being with them was the desire of my heart. Motherhood, with all the glamour, big paychecks, and public accolades (who am I kidding?) had become the deepest desire of my heart, not my career.

I was filled with DELIGHT! In that moment I realized something profound: the Lord had already given me the desires of my heart… before I even understood what they were.

That realization quietly reshaped the direction of my life. It changed how I saw motherhood, our home, and even our homeschool days.

This has many practical applications in the life of the homeschooling mom. Delight is equal parts gratitude and wonder. It turns the ordinary and mundane into worship and time spent on holy ground. Instead of longingly looking outside my four walls for the fulfillment of my dreams, I have the opportunity to pour my delight into the precious gifts gathered around my table.

I used to dread cooking. I didn’t arrive in motherhood well-prepared. I could whip up a box of powdered mashed potatoes and call it a meal. (True story – I even microwaved a turkey once… to impress my soon-to-be-husband!) But when I chose to trade my dread of cooking for the delight of preparing fun, healthy, creative meals for my family, the Lord began changing me from the inside and gave me the desire I had lacked before.

Maybe we need to apply this “delight principle” to more areas of our lives. Do we really delight in our children? How about our husbands? Can we delight in our homes, our friendships, even our finances? The perspective from which we see all of these “desires of our hearts” really does have an effect on us and those around us.

So, how do I “delight in the Lord”? I find myself praying to have new “eyes to see” all the touches of His hand around me every day and turning them into prayers of gratitude. Laundry… means I have clothing (and an abundance of it!) Cleaning… means I have a home, and a beautiful one to boot! Teaching… means the Lord has given me a meaningful and important work to do, (and a second, or third, or fourth… chance to finally master Algebra!) Dishes are a reminder of meals gathered together, and of God’s gracious provision of all we need. And on and on. Delighting is an intentional choice you make.

It also means slowing down and truly savoring these precious moments with the children that the Lord has given us. Children grow up so very fast (I know everyone says it… It’s because it’s true!). You will only have those sweet, chubby little hands for a short time. So slow down and enjoy the feel of your toddler’s chubby little hand in yours as you take a walk together. Find the wonder in those elementary years and every stage beyond. Get down on their level and try to see the world like they do. Remember, it’s all fresh, new, wonderful and filled with delight at every turn!

Enjoy the school years spent together and the discoveries you make while homeschooling… You get another chance to learn alongside of your children. What a gift to explore God’s world together! I frequently have said that homeschooling my children was more for my own education than theirs. Embrace the freedom to let the Lord direct your desires … you can choose to follow a set path but there are many delights to discover as you blaze your own trail!

Embrace those late night conversations with your night-owlish teenagers. Brew the cups of hot chocolate and the coffee (make mine a double espresso, please), pull out the snacks and really listen to them tell you how they see the world. Be their biggest cheerleader as they take those first solo flights into God’s adventures for them. Delight that you have been given the opportunity to shape these hearts and minds—and catch a glimpse of the world through their eyes. Never stop delighting!

Explore outside; seriously, when was the last time you simply sat down on the grass, or laid on your back and looked up into the sky and really noticed the wonder of what is going on around you? How could you not be filled with gratitude to the Creator that carefully orchestrated all of this…just for you? Look at the flowers, take long walks and see the stars. Feel the breeze. Listen to the birds. Hear the crickets and frogs. These are gifts from your Lord for you and your family to find delight in!

Energize with time in the Word every day. Keep getting to know this God you follow deeper and deeper. When you take time each day to meet with God, you’ll delight even more in Him. I know it by experience! You’ll feel awakened again to the beauty of His desires for you and experience this much more deeply. You’ll have new eyes to see the wonders around you.

We grow in delight as we focus on gratitude and wonder—and we become more delightful people. The more I learn to walk in His ways, the more I realize we were created to be this way. Our delight brings joy to those around us as well and turns ordinary moments into opportunities to show God’s desires to our spouses, our children, our friends and others!

Over the years I have learned that delight is a choice.
A choice to notice the goodness of God in the ordinary moments of our days. As I chose to delight in the Lord, something unexpected happened.

The life I once thought I was giving up… became the life I would never trade.

I was raising my children.

And all along, the Lord was remaking me.

“Delight yourself in the Lord

and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

Psalm 37:4

What a profound promise from God Himself to us!

Blessings,

Renita