I didn’t say that I would never homeschool, but I came close.
I’m an introvert. Things I enjoy: peace & quiet, calmness, being alone, personal space.
My daughter is an extrovert. Things she enjoys: being as loud as possible, pretending to be a cat (or various other animals), climbing on me, being with me a large percentage of the time. In addition, she is quite strong-willed and likes things to be done her own way.
For these reasons, and many others, I had often thought I would probably not homeschool.
Then God decided to rock my world and tell me He wanted me to homeschool.
Yes, there were other reasons that played into our decision, but ultimately the only way I knew that I could take this on was if God made it clear that it was His idea.
So after much prayer, and many long conversations with my husband (he loves tolerates long conversations), we came to the decision that we would homeschool our daughter.
I just finished the book “Anything” by Jennie Allen. I highly recommend it.
Right now, I feel that my “anything” is homeschooling. While we had already decided on it prior to reading this book, the book made it clear to me that something as “small” as homeschooling can be step of obedience.
Praying “Anything” opens yourself up to the possibility of, well, anything – even things you feel you are unqualified for, things that are impossible, things that are hard.
[bctt tweet=”Praying ‘Anything’ opens yourself up to the possibility of things you feel unqualified for.”]
The fact is, I am still not in love with the fact that I am now spending every day at home with my daughter. That sounds horrible, I know.
I no longer have 6 hours of free time each day to go run errands, work, or have coffee dates with friends. I am giving up my free time, or at least some of it. And now, I am needing to spend additional time to plan and prepare for teaching her.
In addition to the many other responsibilities I have, this has been feeling somewhat impossible. I look at what I need to do, and it does look like a mountain of tasks.
It is clear to me that ONLY God can help me accomplish this.
But here’s the thing: I am loving it. On Monday, as I sat with my daughter reading a Bible story and a book about dinosaurs, I got to see her eyes light up as she told me all kinds of amazing info that she has inside her head. And I got to hear her say things that were profound and deep, as well as things that were ridiculously silly.
I got to watch her practice her presentation for our community day, and my heart welled up with that mommy pride that is hard to describe but we all know what it feels like if we have a child. (Oh, and she absolutely killed it in class yesterday – eye contact and everything)!
Yes, praying “Anything” may result in things that are hard, impossible, or painful.
But the flip side is the JOY: the abundant and full life that God gives you when you are fully surrendered to Him.
In just a short time on this journey, I am experiencing moments and feelings that I couldn’t have imagined when I first said yes to this idea.
Granted, we are only 1 week into homeschooling. So you may want to ask me again in a month or two. And don’t get me wrong – I have already had moments of challenge and frustration and being told “NO!” by my not-so-cooperative student. Yet I am still at complete peace about this decision, and I am excited to see where God takes us on this journey.
So, I want to know – what is something you thought you’d never do, but God called you to do anyway? And how did it turn out?
