Keep On Keepin' On

As we continue our 20th year of homeschooling, one thing is abundantly clear: this journey is a marathon of epic proportions. 


So much has been learned, not just by the children. For, besides educating our children, the Lord continues to sanctify me through this process. In fact, I sometimes wonder if that is not the more critical variable in this equation:

1 mother + 7 children + 20 years of 24/7 intense interaction

=

the inability to ignore areas in me that still are not completely submitted

Not only is homeschooling intense, but my "pupils" are intense. I have often wondered why He entrusted me with multiple children who are EXTREMELY strong-willed. I believe, in His most loving Mercy, that the answer is two fold: First, He desires them to bring Him great Glory through their passionate personalities submitted to His Will and Purpose through extensive parenting/training. And second, because I, too, am so very strong-willed and passionate about things. Having all of them home with me all day/every day is the best way for Him to also work on me. 

From that context, the extreme intensity of this season of schooling in which we find ourselves is directly related (if we yield to His Purpose) to the type and quantity of fruit He desires to bear in us. That is serious business. 

How do we keep the main thing the main thing? It is so easy to become distracted by the actual nuts and bolts of math and logic and Greek & Latin roots.

If the goal is to see Him more clearly and be always pressing further into His Heart, then the exercises in dictation or grammar are simply tools to be used to accomplish those goals. They are not an end in themselves. They are a means to a higher end. 

I'm sure I'm "preaching to the choir" here, but it helps me to, once again, "flesh" it all out and remind myself of the real reasons why we are still here after 20 years. 

For all you other homeschoolers out there: I'm proud of you!! Keep on keepin' on! It is worth all the work. They are worth all the work. :)