One Month Later

Here I am, one month into our public school adventure. How have things changed?

Well, I have a lot less time than I used too. Surprised? Me too! All this time I thought I would have freed up by putting my kids in public school, just isn't there. Don't get me wrong, I obviously don't have little kiddos messing up the house, or hours of discipline and education to administer, but an entire new set of activities have quickly taken its place.

I have been enjoying the gym 3 - 4 times a week. Yeah, I know, that might sound like a benefit, but who really wants to go and sweat for 2 hours, while wearing unflattering Lycra, and huffing to keep up with a 70-year-old man, (he kicks my elliptical butt)? Not my idea of fun, but the jeans are getting quite loose, so there ARE benefits.

I have been helping at the school quite a bit. This has been the MOST rewarding. My kids really don't need any help (honor roll babies thanks to that homeschool edge) but I do get to pour energy into the needy kids in their classes. I have one little boy who doesn't have a mother that loves to follow me around. He asked for my phone number... he he. I've met a five-year-old girl who is an orphan. When she asked me why I help out in class, I told her because G*** is my son, and I love him and want to be near him. She flung her arms around me and said, "Oh, that is so wonderful". This little girl is un bathed and neglected, so when I come into their class, she comes up to me and plants herself on my lap and stares. "I love your pretty hair, and your pretty face. I love that you smell like flowers, and that you wear earrings." It brings tears to my eyes. I want to take her home and clean her up! Let her touch her own soft hair, let her smell sweet lotion on her own skin, give her the confidence to see her own pretty face.

I've been quilting! YES my friends, I am tapping into my inner domestic self! I'm almost finished with an actual quilt. OK, maybe it's more of a wall hanging, but at least it's more than a pillow!

I have been cooking quite a bit more now that I can. Our meals are healthier, and I've been saving some $$$!

The best thing I've been doing with my time is a regular quiet time. Not just a little devotion, but a good hour of prayer and scriptures. It has been wonderful to enter into this much-needed season of spiritual growth.

Now before you think it's all just pure bliss, I should also tell you that my kids are exposed to a whole lot of GARBAGE! Daily, they come home with things I wish they didn't know. From perversion, to faulty science. We are dealing with issues daily. My daughter does not care for her teacher, as he often talks about how great "Hillary" is, calls Huckabee, Huckleberry, and tells the class that the world is ending due to global warming. Only the Holy Spirit has kept me from flying off the handle here, but God has said "wait... wait until the time is right."

My youngest son doesn't like school, and often cries in the morning about going. He told me the other morning that he couldn't go to school because school was from the devil (yeah, he's a manipulative genius like that). No, he doesn't really believe that, but he's tried everything else. One morning while waiting for the bus, I asked him "honey, why do you want to stay home so bad?" I figured he would say "because I miss my mom" or "because I like learning at home". Nope, you know what he said? "I miss my tendo (Nintendo)". Therefore, I kissed his little cheek, zipped up his jacket, and put him on the bus.

Kids are mean. Teachers can be liberals. Recess aids are scary. School is rough! Do I love it? Heck no. Yet as I sometimes desire to yank my kids out, I hear God's gentle reminder "I called you here, remember?"

God is actually revealing a lot about the whys I have been called out of homeschooling. It was my vision. Not my family’s vision. While it may be a great vision, it was time for me to step out of spiritual authority, and let my husband step up. Oh my, does this take faith! As I step out, I wonder, will my shoes be filled? Yet I know God would not have me step down, unless it IS his intention to put my husband in his rightful place.

Can I say it again? It is so hard to let go! My hands could no longer hold onto my vision. While it might fall into ruins at my feet, my husband will undoubtedly be called to pick it up. Will he obey his call?