I did catch the sale at Walmart on spiral notebooks. Got a whole box of those bad boys! Felt like a small victory.
Like I said, 187 years. That’s a long time. I’m tired. I know, I know. “You chose this,” you say. Just like we chose to have a big family. I know, I know.
“Hey, this is unschooling!” I laughed out loud. Fifteen years ago I would not have counted that. That was before I knew the value of letting my kids be bored.
They’ve been bored a lot this summer, because I’ve been writing a book… for a year. Today, I turned in the final manuscript. After I emailed it to my publisher and agent, I went downstairs to see how the kids were faring. Our thirteen year old was making her first ever batch of gluten-free pretzels. They were good—warm and salty and pull-apart soft. I suggested she hide them—you know—from me. She’s getting really good at this baking thing.
“Maybe I’m not failing,” I thought. “Looks like someone is figuring out ratios’n stuff.”
My son, now going into his junior year, is finishing up Biology after ditching it for my speaking season. Poor kid. Instead of finishing Biology with his class, he was with our family, lugging books around the country and helping us sell books while taking in cities like Dallas, New York, Chattanooga, Nashville, Orlando, Topeka and Denver.
“This is American History/Geography/Consumer Math/Psychology,” I mused. “I’m pretty sure I’ve read articles about unschoolers getting into Harvard.”
“Maybe I’m overthinking this again,” I thought.
Because in all my years of homeschooling, for every year of changing schedules, curriculum and stress levels, one thing has remained the same: the equipping grace of God. Really, it’s all Him. Even if I don’t start school for two more weeks (and we probably won’t, because sane mom is better than stressed mom) His grace is there. I don’t have to do papier-mâché globes and salt-maps of the State of Washington by mid-October to find the grace I need.
Maybe, just maybe, God is reminding me that if I’ll do my part—He’ll do His.
So, if this is you tonight (and if it’s not, that’s okay too) I thought maybe, just maybe, you could use the same reminder that the Spirit spoke to my heart tonight.
Don’t make it harder than it needs to be. <3
Pray. Ask God for His specific instructions. His yoke is easy.
Make a {simple} list.
Make a {simple} menu. Cereal can be a meal. You’re welcome.
Remember God’s faithfulness. God will finish what He has started.
Enjoy the kids. Enjoy them. Take walks. Take field trips.
You don’t have to be ready right now. You just have to be listening.
