Homeschool is About More Than School
Don't you love when God does His thing?
God is so brilliant, and His plan is perfect. His ways are higher than my ways. And I'm thankful.
All of these things have been happening separately, and today, I had a huge a-ha moment as they all came together:
I don't dwell on it, but it's not a secret either - Kara is ahead in school. With a smart child who loves to learn and has had one-on-one teaching since 2nd grade, that's bound to happen. I am starting to wonder what we will do when she is graduating from high school at like 14 years old. I have no idea if it will really be that young, but it just might be. I have been trying to not form my own plan so that I can hear from God. I want to make a solid plan and know for a fact what we are going to do, but I am letting it be a fuzzy future as I let God decide instead.
We have had our heads down and have been hitting the books pretty hard for years now. As Kara reaches puberty, more is changing than just the obvious. She is having more struggles with certain friends, she is maturing and growing so much, and her spiritual life is getting so much deeper. She has always loved God and enjoyed learning about Him. Things are different now though. She is learning how to turn to God when she is frustrated, afraid, sad, happy, mad, or curious.
The church is going through a lull in our finances and money is tight. Like super tight. So, instead of spending money on curriculum, our children's leader has to write her own. That sort of thing is happening everywhere. Not to mention we opened a third campus, but still only have one person on staff to manage all finances, and only one person on staff to do all office things. In general, the church needs a lot of volunteers. A lot.
Kara felt called to serve in church over a year ago. Maybe it's been more than two years now. She was crying and elated and surprised and just overwhelmed with emotion when she was called. Since then, she has gone to church early every Wednesday, so she can help the children's leader get everything together for the night. She also is an aide in the children's Sunday School class every other Sunday. She has felt lately like she wants to do more than she has been.
Michael and I not only want to instill a love of learning in Kara, but also a good work ethic. He and I were both taught a good work ethic from all of our parents - mostly by watching them work hard all these years, and love it. Also by having worked since we were as young as possible - chores, babysitting, mowing lawns, then "real" jobs earning paychecks the minute we were legally old enough. He and I both really enjoy work and don't resent it. I have tried a few places to see if they were interested in letting Kara be a volunteer (and she is up for that too), but no where has space/time for her. She is so young, after all.
I read everything I can - homeschool articles, devotion articles, Bible study, blogs, non-fiction books about God, families, relationships. I have been in serious absorption mode lately. I wasn't seeking a specific answer, just praying, praying, praying fervently for His will. I want to ABIDE in Him. I want to be so close with Him, that we are holding hands - one hand is always intertwined with His - I can never go too far because I am attached. He is the vine and I am the branches. Today He spoke. And it is precious.
Today, everything came together. It was amazing. Today Kara served at church after school. Every week, the secretary spends an hour (time she doesn't have) organizing the tithe envelopes (and pens and contact cards) on the backs of the chairs in the sanctuary. This is a great place for Kara to start! She has OCD (which is sometimes hard for her to deal with), but is perfect for straightening all the envelopes! She is also going to start helping the children's leader make copies and things like that. Because she will be helping one or two days a week (in addition to coming early on Wednesdays), I decided to pull back on Spanish class. Instead of 5 lessons a week, I want her to do 3 or 4. That way she is still learning, but her schedule isn't overloaded. After all, isn't my primary goal in raising her to grow her spirit, character? And don't we homeschool so we have flexibility to do that? So, since she is 11 years old, taking 10th grade Spanish, I'm fine with letting her take two years to complete the course.
Kara had a blast. I went with her and got a head start on the work I have to do this weekend anyway. Win, win.
It was such a good day.
And God has a perfect plan.
"For those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28
God is so brilliant, and His plan is perfect. His ways are higher than my ways. And I'm thankful.
All of these things have been happening separately, and today, I had a huge a-ha moment as they all came together:
I don't dwell on it, but it's not a secret either - Kara is ahead in school. With a smart child who loves to learn and has had one-on-one teaching since 2nd grade, that's bound to happen. I am starting to wonder what we will do when she is graduating from high school at like 14 years old. I have no idea if it will really be that young, but it just might be. I have been trying to not form my own plan so that I can hear from God. I want to make a solid plan and know for a fact what we are going to do, but I am letting it be a fuzzy future as I let God decide instead.
We have had our heads down and have been hitting the books pretty hard for years now. As Kara reaches puberty, more is changing than just the obvious. She is having more struggles with certain friends, she is maturing and growing so much, and her spiritual life is getting so much deeper. She has always loved God and enjoyed learning about Him. Things are different now though. She is learning how to turn to God when she is frustrated, afraid, sad, happy, mad, or curious.
The church is going through a lull in our finances and money is tight. Like super tight. So, instead of spending money on curriculum, our children's leader has to write her own. That sort of thing is happening everywhere. Not to mention we opened a third campus, but still only have one person on staff to manage all finances, and only one person on staff to do all office things. In general, the church needs a lot of volunteers. A lot.
Kara felt called to serve in church over a year ago. Maybe it's been more than two years now. She was crying and elated and surprised and just overwhelmed with emotion when she was called. Since then, she has gone to church early every Wednesday, so she can help the children's leader get everything together for the night. She also is an aide in the children's Sunday School class every other Sunday. She has felt lately like she wants to do more than she has been.
Michael and I not only want to instill a love of learning in Kara, but also a good work ethic. He and I were both taught a good work ethic from all of our parents - mostly by watching them work hard all these years, and love it. Also by having worked since we were as young as possible - chores, babysitting, mowing lawns, then "real" jobs earning paychecks the minute we were legally old enough. He and I both really enjoy work and don't resent it. I have tried a few places to see if they were interested in letting Kara be a volunteer (and she is up for that too), but no where has space/time for her. She is so young, after all.
I read everything I can - homeschool articles, devotion articles, Bible study, blogs, non-fiction books about God, families, relationships. I have been in serious absorption mode lately. I wasn't seeking a specific answer, just praying, praying, praying fervently for His will. I want to ABIDE in Him. I want to be so close with Him, that we are holding hands - one hand is always intertwined with His - I can never go too far because I am attached. He is the vine and I am the branches. Today He spoke. And it is precious.
Today, everything came together. It was amazing. Today Kara served at church after school. Every week, the secretary spends an hour (time she doesn't have) organizing the tithe envelopes (and pens and contact cards) on the backs of the chairs in the sanctuary. This is a great place for Kara to start! She has OCD (which is sometimes hard for her to deal with), but is perfect for straightening all the envelopes! She is also going to start helping the children's leader make copies and things like that. Because she will be helping one or two days a week (in addition to coming early on Wednesdays), I decided to pull back on Spanish class. Instead of 5 lessons a week, I want her to do 3 or 4. That way she is still learning, but her schedule isn't overloaded. After all, isn't my primary goal in raising her to grow her spirit, character? And don't we homeschool so we have flexibility to do that? So, since she is 11 years old, taking 10th grade Spanish, I'm fine with letting her take two years to complete the course.
Kara had a blast. I went with her and got a head start on the work I have to do this weekend anyway. Win, win.
It was such a good day.
And God has a perfect plan.
"For those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28
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