Guess what I have learned?
I won't be perfect.
Sorry, that title belongs to one and one only.
Oh, there will be days when I get up early, have it all planned out, AND things actually go according to plans.
Feed the family well, school is a breeze, the house straightened/cleaned (including laundry and dishes), and I am fresh and happy when my husband arrives home. The calm, balanced mother that loves and disciplines well is present. He wife my husband always dreamt of coming home to after work greets him at the door.
Need I go on? It's the "perfect" day that rarely happens, but they do come.
It never fails, in comes those days when all the skeletons fall out of the closet and I'm really just happy no one died or came and took my children from me (or locked me up and left them to do without me).
I needn't go into details in those days.
Most days are in-between days.
And that has been my year so far.
We're 7 weeks into it (yes, we started kinda early) and honestly, I'm super pumped about what my girls have managed to learn. Especially considering I feel like I haven't "done school" near as much as I should.
There's been a few hard weeks. My dad had surgery on his leg that, honestly, did little else but discourage and hurt him physically. I've been dealing with that as much as possible without letting my little girls see their big Papa weak.
We had guests who fled Florence, and while that was an enjoyable time of catching up with old friends, adding four other people to our house a few days made it a bit crazy.
As if everyday potty training isn't enough to stress a momma out.
As if everyday potty training isn't enough to stress a momma out.
But, back to where I started.
Most days are those in-between the good and bad days. Enough school/house work gets done that we might be able to claim progress (3 steps forward, right?) but it isn't a "complete" success.
Then I have to remind myself - who am I trying to be successful for? Who am I pleasing?
In general, I don't have a problem with trying to be supermom. Really. I know where God put me, what He expects of me, and that's more than enough to keep me non-stop busy.
Most of the time I'm content.
Then the little nagging in the back of my mind start.
"You should..."
"What if you did...?"
"Well, Betsy Jean does..."
"Little Suzy is your daughters age and she ...."
Wanna talk about destroying joy? Peace? Those voices will.
So, some reminders when we are either falling short and drowning in bad days, or maybe just feel like we're sloshing around in the puddles of in-between (🙋🏻).
In John 14:27, Jesus says "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you: not as the World giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
- The world gives temporary relief, Jesus gives full-on and whole hearted peace. We just have to accept it.
II Corinthians 12:9 Jesus reminds Paul (and therefore us) that God's strength is perfect in our weakened. When we realize we are weak, His strength can then shine through.
God has given us all a specific task (or set of tasks). He has given us gifts of the Spirit to be able to complete said tasks.
And all we do is supposed to point back to Him.
So, year two of Homeschooling: am I focused on being "perfect", or am I focused on God?
