If You Don't Homeschool....

This is a link to a blog I saw on a friend's Facebook page about a month or so ago. It isn't a bash against those who don't homeschool. Actually, it's a bit of information for those who don't to help you understand those of us who do. Take a few minutes to read this; hey, it's helpful for those of us who DO homeschool our kids! :)


http://www.fromdatestodiapers.com/what-non-homeschoolers-may-not-know

Enjoy the article!

"Buckets of Grace"

Well, it has been over a year since I have written anything here. How time flies!

First, let's start with the changes that have taken place during the last year. We became a homeschool family and joined our local Classical Conversations co-op. We love homeschooling! Abby had a very successful Kindergarten year and is now in the first grade. We also bought a house last year! We finally closed on the house on the Wednesday in the week before Thanksgiving and moved in--with the help of family and friends--that Saturday. Since I was expecting at that time, Ben would not allow me to paint; he, his sister and her husband, and their mom painted the interior of the house in two days and did a great job. It was a whirlwind weekend with the closing, the packing of the truck, the painting, the unpacking of the truck, and the placement of furniture, but we all survived it and settled in to our new house quite nicely.

The biggest--and best--change of the last year is the birth of our third child. Ruth Elizabeth was born on March 10, 2010, at 11:28 a.m. She weighed in at 9 lbs, 3 oz, and was 21 inches long. (Before you ask, she was born via c-section! Perhaps that will be another post.) And she had the most hair of the three children! Ruth has been such a blessing to our family; she's always happy, always has a smile, and has such a beautiful laugh. She's on the way to becoming a mobile baby. Currently, at 7 months old, she scoots on her bottom and goes backward when she's on her tummy. When she gets those knees up under her and figures out how to go forward, I have a feeling that she'll be a tough one to stop!

Now that we are well into our second year of homeschooling, I have been trying to find a new balance in everyday life. Summer was a little easier because there wasn't any formal schooling to be done during the day. We still did school, but it was at a very relaxed pace. There was plenty of time for play, for naps, for errands, for housework, for devotions... but lately I have found myself struggling because I haven't been accomplishing what I've felt needed to be accomplished, especially in my personal devotional time. I have put my devotional time right up there with my gym time (not necessarily in that order); it seems that no matter how early I get up to try to fit it into my day, one or more of the kids intrinsically knows that I am either about to get up or am up and also gets up, thus leaving me with no quiet time in the morning for Bible study. Nap time, you say? Ruth takes a morning nap and an afternoon nap, and Hayden takes an afternoon nap. During the time that both Hayden and Ruth are sleeping, Abby and I work on phonics so that she can better hear and understand and can succeed with that subject. How about after the kids are put to bed? By the time we get all three kiddos in the bed, the dishes washed and put away, and any laundry folded, I am so tired that I could easily fall into bed.

This has actually been a point of great stress for me, so much so that I recently posed a question to my Facebook friends on this very subject. A couple of friends from college who have children who are the same ages or older than my own gave very wise advice, which I have tried to heed. One said that when her children were babies and young children, she "settled in [her] spirit that the season wasn't going to be a time of much study, so [she] tried to keep her heart sensitive to [God's] leading." Another friend said, "I adhere more to the 'pray without ceasing' philosophy... I don't formally start or end a prayer, but pray whenever I get two seconds to rub together throughout the day (or night)." Wow! Do you know how freeing their advice has been? I wasn't looking for an excuse or a "hall pass" to slack off on my Bible study, but I think that I had set the bar impossibly high for me during this season of life. Infancy doesn't last forever, and I want to enjoy every minute of it. Believe it or not, because I have relaxed about this, I have actually been able to fit in some time for Bible study--even if it's just 5 minutes. I've begun to see this season as one of grace.

Which leads me to the title of this post: "Buckets of Grace." At our co-op today, I had the pleasure of being the room mother in a class of girls who are older than Abby. The tutor, by way of a rabbit trail, was talking to the girls about being nice to their siblings and extending them grace--"buckets of grace"--because that is what God does for us daily. Each day He has "buckets of grace" for us--grace for all of our sins, all of our mess-ups, all of our bad attitudes. As parents, we need to have "buckets of grace" for our children because He shows us grace; in doing so, we will teach our children about God's love. Does that mean that we don't correct them when they do something wrong or that we just sit idly by and let them do whatever they want? No, but it does mean that we offer them loving correction, just as our Heavenly Father does to us, and show them how to live in grace: "unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification." (Merriam-Webster)

So, in this particular season of life, I want to live so that I offer "buckets of grace" to my family and those around me, and I want to live in the realization that God also has "buckets of grace" for me.

Changes!

Wow! When I saw that the last time I wrote anything down here was in May, I could hardly believe it. The summer flew by faster than I thought it would. It's amazing how much faster things go the older your children become...

As the title of this posting says, we've had some changes in our family recently. All of them are good changes, though. Just a couple of days after running the Waynesboro Extravaganza 5K race in July, we learned that we are expecting our third child! That really explained a lot of things... why I was tiring more quickly than usual, why my morning coffee suddenly became very unappealing, and why my appetite had dwindled. We are very excited to welcome the newest addition to our family--baby's arrival is estimated to be March 16, 2010.

Before Ben and I had children, we said that we would homeschool. Then, once we had kids, we toyed with the idea of sending our kids to a private, Christian school. After checking out all of our options and giving it a lot of prayer, we have chosen to homeschool our children after all! We are members of our local Classical Conversations co-op, and Abby really looks forward to each Monday, which is our co-op day. Interestingly enough, it is held in the same church where she attended preschool. God really orchestrated that for us! When Abby was three, we weren't sure which preschool to send her to and learned that this particular preschool was one of the best--and one of the least expensive--in our area. It was through conversations with the preschool director that I met the local Classical Conversations director and found out more about this method of homeschooling. After attending an informational meeting in February, Ben and I prayed and agreed that this was the way we should homeschool our kids. So here it is, the end of August, and we have two weeks of homeschool under our belts and we really love it!

For several months, Ben and I have been looking at different houses that would meet the needs of our family. (This was before we realized that we would soon be adding another member!) There was one house, in particular, that we really fell in love with. It even had a fenced-in back yard, perfect for the kids to romp and play! But, after seeing it 4 or 5 times, we just didn't have any peace about that house. We really thought it was the one, too. Thankfully, God opened our eyes to the shortcomings in that house, the things that would not meet our needs and would end up being frustrations in the long run. So, we said goodbye to that house and continued the hunt.

Then, just about two weeks ago, we found another house that we both just loved. Ben saw it first, without the kids and me, because Abby was sick. He came home with nothing but good things to say about this house. So we scheduled a time for all of us to see the house together, and it was an almost instant knowing that this was our house. This house really would meet our needs--in the short term and in the long run. This is a house that we can stay in for a few years before having to buy something bigger.

After telling my mom about this house over this past weekend, we came home and decided that we would like to see it one more time before submitting an offer. We saw the house again on Tuesday and knew for certain that this was our house. So we called our agent again Tuesday evening to tell him how much we wanted to offer, then we went in Wednesday morning to sign the contract. Our agent submitted the contract to the other agent before noon, and by dinner time Wednesday, we learned that our offer had been accepted! Praise the Lord! We both had a genuine peace about the amount we should offer for the house, and we both knew that we would hear something by the end of the day.

Just when we were starting to become a little discouraged in our house hunt, God gave us peace about the one He had for us all along.

God is always faithful, and He always has a plan for us. It's just a matter of us actually stopping to listen to what He has to say and then taking the appropriate action.

I think back to our Bible reading this morning. We read Genesis 12-13, about the call of Abram. Abram stopped to listen to what God had to say. God said, "Go to the land I will show you," and he packed up and went. Talk about a change! He didn't even know where he was going! How willing would you or I be to go someplace if we didn't have a map to follow, if we had no GPS directions, or if we had absolutely no idea where we were going? Honestly, I'm not sure how willing I would be at first. It might take some poking and prodding. :) But Abram did it. He made a change--a dramatic change that affected the life of his family. This was bigger than moving to a new home or even taking a new job, and he did it. He was obedient to the call of God on his life.

Amid all of the changes that happen in your life, remain obedient to the call of God on your life. No matter how crazy it might look on the outside, if you choose to follow God, you will be blessed. He will not fail you. God is always faithful, and He never changes!

What will God do with you in 2009?

I've got to admit that I've never been a New Year's resolution kind of person. Never. But this year, I'm taking a little different approach.

In my last post, I mentioned goals. Yes, I do have a few goals for this year. My first goal is to run a race. I have never in my life participated in a race, but that is something that I want to do this year. I actually have a particular race in mind, and as the time for that race approaches I'll give more information about it. Believe it or not, this crazy idea that I--Megan--can run a race came up before Christmas. I go to the gym in the early mornings, before everyone else in our home gets up for the day, and have used that time--especially the travel time to and from the gym--for prayer and fellowship with God. It's the quietest part of my day, the time of day when there is no one else and nothing else to distract me, so I use this time for fellowship with my Father. It was during one of those early morning prayer times that the idea of a race came up. During prayer, the particular race was given to me...when I looked it up on the Internet, I was surprised to find that it is a longer race than I anticipated! Boy, is there ever some work ahead! I don't think I ever ran an entire Field Test at ORU... and this is twice the distance!

Another personal goal is to become more organized in different areas of my life. So, my first step in organization may seem really basic to a lot of others, but it is essential: I need to make a schedule of things to do each day of the week. I'm not talking about preschool field trips and doctor's appointments and hair cuts. I'm talking about household chores. Oh, they get done now, but with a lot of disorganization and stress. I'll get started with the dishes and the dryer will stop, so I'll take the clothes out of the dryer and put another load in to dry, take the dry clothes into the living room to fold them, see that there are toys that need to be picked up and put away, and then remember that the upstairs bathroom garbage needs to be emptied.... when I finally make it back to the kitchen, I see a sink full of lukewarm, soapy water and dirty dishes on the counter and wonder how I ever got that far off track. So, the daily "to do" list is being formed--a realistic list of things that can be done on a given day, not a supermom list of cleaning, laundry, and a gourmet, five-course meal for dinner.

The Lord has really been speaking to me during the last several months about getting the stress out of my life. I want my children to remember their growing up years as a fun time, not a stressful time. We do have a lot of fun--even more so now that some stress has already been eliminated--but there are still the moments of self-induced stress that really could be avoided if there were more organization.

My husband and I have prayed about our children's education and really believe that we are to embark on the grand adventure of home schooling. So, I have spent some time during the last several months exploring options and learning about the laws surrounding home schooling in our state. There is so much more to learn! Our sweet Abby will be five on her birthday in a few months, so Kindergarten is right around the corner. So, I guess you could say that one of our family "goals" is to start the home schooling process. We are excited to take this next step with her!

I don't have goals, per se, set in stone for 2009. But I do seek God daily for His agenda for my day. Some days--like today--it's as simple as sitting at the kitchen table and playing several hands of "Go Fish" with Abby or letting Hayden "help" while I sweep the kitchen floor. Other days, the agenda is to make a phone call or write a note to someone.

What will God do with you in 2009? Have you dared to ask Him?

Before you step away from your computer, I want to invite you to read a college friend's blog on this very thing. Take a look at Glenn's blog post entitled "Why Resolutions Miss the Mark." Let what Glenn shares challenge your thinking. And then take this challenge: Step into your prayer closet and ask God what He wants for you in 2009. Too much for you to start with? Then ask Him what He has on the agenda for you today. Then do your part and follow through with His plan for your day, your week, your month, your year. At the end of 2009, you will be able to look back and see all that God has done with you, in you, and through you because you dared to ask Him what He had planned for you. When we stop putting our own goals and desires first and move God to that number one spot, we will find out that life will be much richer and much more fulfilling than we ever dreamed it could be.