after settling down to the home school decision...the question became what curriculum...my word...talk about overwhelming...i mean...there are thousands of options out there...and everyone you meet has their favorite...of course...three favorites never match...and no family is ever exactly alike...so...the thoughts continued to whirl...
i stumbled across this poem in a Bible Study curriculum a friend gave me...
My Opportunity
Dear Lord, I do not ask
That Thou shouldst give me some high work of Thine,
Some noble calling, or some wondrous task;
Give me a little hand to hold in mine;
Give me a little child to point the way
Over the strange, sweet path that leads to Thee;
Give me a little voice to teach to pray;
Give me two shining eyes Thy face to see.
The only crown I ask, dear Lord, to wear is this:
That I may lead a little child.
I do not ask that I may ever stand
Among the wise, the worthy or the great;
I only ask that softly, hand in hand,
A child and I may enter at the gate.
Author Unknown
how amazingly convicting is that?? for me at least...just last night i was asking the OA: what is my purpose in life...and then i followed it up with: why can't i be satisfied that my purpose is to be a mother?? he responded: exactly, just think of where jay-bob would be without you...
(he gives me too much credit, but i always appreciate his respect!)...
is it today's society that does it? it being...selling us on the idea that motherhood is no longer enough? and if it is society...why in the world am i listening?? i am the granola...the mom who doesn't care if you don't wash your hands more than twice a day...the mom who sleeps in her clothes...and then wears the same shirt again...(cuts down on the mountains of laundry!)...who truly doesn't care if my t-shirt doesn't match my skirt...just as long as i am comfortable...who would much rather be playing red-light-green-light with the kids than sitting and pretending interest in adult-politically-correct-conversation...sigh...since when did i start caring what society dictated????
this poem...that's all i want...i want my kiddos to know His Love, His Mercy, His Faithfulness...
the kiddos are talking about Jesus non-stop these days...not because i am the great spiritual mom who spends hours studying scripture and so forth...i believe that they talk about Him, because i am the mom who falls down...often...and explains that the only way i can get back up...often...is by His Mercy...we keep it simple...as i believe Jesus did...to get to hear my children talk about God...in the most amazing and unpredictable ways...it helps to understand why God wants us to come to Him as a child...it also explains why Jesus would spend time with the kids...leaving the adults to their theological debates...
so as i am cleaning the house...meditating on my real purpose...i catch myself...snapping at my three year old for whining for the 50th time in a row: JUST GIVE ME ONE MINUTE...GOSH...STOP WHINING...
wow...i think Jesus just slapped me in the face...b/c my heart stopped at my own impatience...i prayed...(finished sweeping...i still have alot to learn)...and scooped the mermaid up in my arms: mommy is so incredibly sorry...we don't yell...and i yelled...and i was very very wrong...will you please forgive me?
mermaid's whimpered reply: you did yell mommy...that huwrt my feewings...but i fowrgive you...
sigh...man...so this is how it feels to lead a child softly hand in hand...humbled...by Him...or rather my own inadequacies...maybe this is why i question my purpose...as this is much more difficult...but oh...how rewarding...how fulfilling to have your three year old truly give her hurt "feewings" over to a God she only knows through a child's faith and love...
sigh...
6 comments:
Granola ~ you are so sweet. I love your heart and desire to do the right things. I can see you homeschooling and doing a great job. I can also see you fulfilling other desires of your heart...in the future. You can have both, just maybe not at this time while your kids are so young. You could homeschool until mermaid is ready for school and then decide they are both ready for school outside your home...who knows what God will lead you to do. My point is...you can do all those things that are desires of yours..God put those desires in your heart and not all of them have to do with being a mom. But while the kids are young and even need some extra special education, that is your focus now. And you can look forward to the other things...
I'm inspired by you.... have a wonderful day, bloggie friend! xxoo
Okay girl.. we have a lot in common. I use the same laundry reduction technique and I also tend to overuse ellipses when I write! :-)
May I offer a little comment about curriculum? We're starting our 7th year of homeschooling, and had I to do it again I would have purchased less curriculum. A lot less! My son has a neurological disorder and dyslexia, and 99% of what we tried was just an exercise in frustration for us both. He's entering 7th grade now, and we only use curriculum for math and spelling. He listens to tons of audio books (both fiction and non-fiction), watches a lot of educational DVDs and TV shows, plays tons of science, history, and math board games, and goes on frequent field trips.
I'm not saying that this would be the right way either. My point is that flexiblity it key: being willing to discard what isn't working and trying something new.
Good luck and have fun :D
I love the poem! The thought of homeschooling is usually more overwhelming then actually doing it. Pocket full of Pinecones is a wonderful encouraging homeschool book. You might want to check it out.
Hi Granolachic! Thanks for visiting my blog and for your nice comments. I have enjoyed reading through your blog too. I'm going to share a website and another blog with you: this blog (maybe you have seen it) is by a mom who I greatly admire who has been homeschooling her autistic daughter for a long time. She is awesome and is much more organized than I am. I got some good ideas regarding RDI and the Charlotte Mason method from her, both things I am interested in but will implement very slowly with my son (mainly because I am just so darned busy!). http://aut2bhomeincarolina.blogspot.com/ This next site is for an educational consultant who just helped me evaluate my son's first year of homeschooling. Her site is just packed full of lots of good tips for teaching a special needs child. I know I'll be looking at this site for a long time, it's too much to read in one sitting! If you are going to make up a plan with goals and objectives for your son this site has a link to an excellent "bank" of IEP goals to choose from.
I hope you can enjoy the journey of homeschooling! My first year of it was a real adventure! (And you thought your comment on my blog was long!)
Oops, I forgot the second link!
http://www.hishelpinschool.com/index.html
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