Homeschool Kick-off

Somehow this year, God decided it was time for me to lead a homeschool support group. Our existing director was stepping down after many years of loyal (and wonderful!) service. I never thought I would be fit to be the director, but after many days of prayer, God revealed just enough to me to let me know it was time to answer a call.

So, here I am! We're kicking off our new year, and yesterday was our Open House/Kick-off Party.

Turn out was small, but it was so fun. A wonderful, dear friend arranged for us to borrow her church's bounce houses for the event, and the kids (both young and old) had a B-L-A-S-T!

I came home and quickly fell asleep on my couch! I think you can call a party a success if you are completely wiped out when it's done!

Although I'm excited about the new year, I find myself watching a cloud of doubt loom overhead. Thoughts of:

• Should I really be doing this?
• What's the point?
• What if only a couple of people come? Doesn't that make me a failure?
• No one is interested, anyway

...so on and so forth...keep entering my mind. I know where those thoughts are coming from, and I know they are very deceptive.

Fortunately for me, I recently attending our state-wide homeschool conference (By the way, if your state hosts one of these...GO TO IT!), and there was a leader's meeting scheduled. I couldn't make the meeting, but I was able to download the seminars online. I treasure these mp3's. They are wonderful. I plan to listen to them many times.

One of the speakers made a comment that has stayed with me. He said (paraphrasing) that God will never give you enough help to allow you to accomplish something without Him.

Read that again. God will never give you enough help to allow you to accomplish something without Him. The first time I heard that idea, I was not very happy. I thought "Why would God short-change me like that?" Then I understood why.

If God gave us enough to where we didn't need Him, soon enough, we'd start ignoring Him. And then..well, you know where that leads. I can't think of a catchy phrase to describe it that doesn't use profanity...but you get the picture.

God gives us just enough to get it done with HIS help!

What did that mean to me? 

Well, when very few people volunteer for an event (or very few even show up), I need to remember that this is the EXACT number God intended for me to have. He sees a much bigger picture than I do, and I need to keep that in mind and t-r-u-s-t Him.

I don't necessarily get to know the whys about it. Maybe there is going to be a planned outing, and only a couple of families show up. One mom may be needing to talk something out, but if there was a large group of people present she may feel too intimidated to speak.

Or maybe having just a couple of people around will allow me to forge a new friendship that will prove extraordinarily wonderful in the future - a friendship that may have never come to fruition if the setting wasn't right that one day.

Who knows. I don't. God does.

And that's all I need to know.

With that being said, I look forward to all the wonderful things my Lord has planned for me this year, the good and bad. Because, frankly, I know He's there for it all with me.

Here's to an unforgettable year!

Simplifying Schedules...

As our summer nears it's end, I'm reminded of just how hectic our life is going to be once September rolls around. ALL of our activities start back.

When I started planning out this year, I made it a point not to over-schedule. Simplification was KEY to my planning efforts. And then....

Then all the ideas and opportunities popped up. My son is active in sports, so my daughter must be, right? I can't have her skimping out on physical activity, can I? I mean, we take walks and such, and she's active, but I'll be neglecting her if she's not in a sport.

Never mind the fact that she takes two separate music classes. SHE MUST HAVE SPORTS!!!!

Why do I do this to myself? Now, I look at September, and I start to hyperventilate. What do I do? Do I drop an activity? Or, do we dredge through it for 10 weeks.

How painful will that be?

I know what I need to do, especially since the sport my daughter is taking changed what day and time she will be participating to a time period where I would have to be in two places at one time. It's pretty obvious.

I just can't stand that I fell for it again. You know, the "in order to be the best homeschooling mom in the world, I must have my children in everything!!!!

Now, I'm not sure when I decided I had to be the best in the world. Actually, I'll be happy with my children learning how to not kill one another. Reading would be nice, too, but I'm not picky.

So...My thought to you:
As you go along planning your child's year, ask yourself "Does he/she really NEED this?"
Or, could they benefit from an evening (or a few extra hours) of peace in your home?

I'm going for peace!