A New Season

I am about 2 months into our first year of homeschooling.   One of the many reasons we started doing it is because in many ways, when you have four children and your youngest is one, it is easier.  I hear my mom friends with kids in local schools laughing at me, but it's true.  Carting four children in and out of the car several times a day gets old...fast.  It is so much easier to stay home and go out when you have the energy to actually take 4 children out of the house. 

I absolutely love homeschooling.  I love everything about it.  There is one thing, though, that I feel like homeschoolers miss talking about in the blogging world sometimes.  We talk about what kind of curriculum we use, what fun activity we did with our kids, how to get them to do their chores...but we miss how isolating it can be.  My kids are 8 and under.  We can go to parks and the library...but they are not at the ages where we can do a lot of plays (no kids under age 3), field trips are the exception (costs, taking 4 kids 8 & under logistics, etc), and activities (also costly) can only include my older 2 boys while my 4 year old wants playmates but has to be 5 to do anything.  I'm schooling while my mom friends are free and they are in carpool when I can talk.  My oldest has autism.  We have therapy twice a week.  We have another therapy for my 4 year old.  I have allergy shots twice a week.  When we aren't running around town for therapy, shots or doctor appointments, I just want to stay home!  Maybe it's just me...autism means you can't do everything in a day that a mom with neurotypical kids often can (too many transitions)...but I doubt it.  I doubt I'm the only homeschooling mom that has a problem remembering the last time she talked to a girlfriend on the phone. 

The beautiful thing about homeschooling is everyone does it different for how it best fits their family.  The hard thing about homeschooling is everyone's schedule is different. 

I miss my friends.  I miss girl time.  I miss girl talk on the phone and the carefree days of preschool.  And yet, I love homeschooling.  I love endless time with my kids.  I still feel at the end of the day, I wished we had more time to do "such and such."  I love the laughter and the team building and talking about Jesus.  I love watching them learn and experiencing it with them.  I love dreaming up new projects or lessons to do with them.  I know this is a season, and I wouldn't trade this time with my kids for anything in the world...I just wish I could share the joys and challenges of homeschooling with my girl friends more often!

So while I am in the midst of this new season, I don't know that I have a ton of great advice.  But I will share what has helped me through this transition.  It has brought me back to spending daily time with Jesus, sharing with him my day instead of everyone else.  It has challenged me to give myself grace when I feel all of the expectations of my family on my shoulders, to take a break during the day that's for me.  It can be drinking a cup of coffee, or reading a book for me for a few minutes while the baby is taking a nap and my older kids are happily playing, or attempting to call a friend even if they can't talk.  Hopefully they'll call back later and I can take another break!  There will always be more school, more dishes, and more laundry.  I am also trying to commit to a weekly Bible study.  My husband works late at night, and morning Bible studies are very difficult with 4 kids!  But so far, God has been gracious, and while I haven't made a night Bible study as often I would like, I have one on a Wednesday morning every 2 weeks that I have been able to attend.  God has kept my older kids content and my 1 year old fairly manageable (although distracting) during the study!  (I had to try both because I wasn't sure which one would actually work out.)

Perseverance has not been my favorite word in recent years.  You know what people say about praying for patience, or not praying for patience in case you get it?  That's perseverance and me.  I feel like there are too many areas in my life that I have to persevere in, even down to chasing down time to talk to my friends!  But in my new Wednesday morning Bible study, we're studying James.  I never noticed before what it said in James 1:4 (NIV, emphasis mine).  "Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."  I will continue to persevere in finding time with Jesus , so that I may return to my family to share the joy that Jesus has shared with me.  I will also pray that He will provide the time and opportunities to meet with my dear friends that also encourage me.  He knows my heart.  He knows your heart.  "Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart."  Psalm 37:4 (NIV)