Homeschooling and I, let me tell you that we have a history....some good, some bad. I homeschooled for the most part until Grade 11, and truthfully it was not something I ever saw myself doing with my own kids. I never saw myself as a capable candidate. I didn't have a secondary degree in anything and let's not get into the topic of my patience level.... Just a BIG no all round for me. The last thing I wanted to do was bugger up my kids' chances with their futures.
Homeschooling was one of the things, early in my relationship with my husband, I said I would never be able to do. So, as He often has, God showed up and is stretching me in a way I thought I would never be. Due to Covid, this summer, I had to make a choice on what would happen with my kids come the fall. I was filled with SO much anxiety over it all. Torn, do I send my kids out into possible contact with an unseen illness, or keep them home and dare to enter a way of living I had not intended. (Well, I am here writing this, so you probably guessed where I have ended up.) The moment I made the decision with my family to homeschool I was at peace. I was freaking out about the WHO, WHAT, HOW, but the actual decision's anxiety was over. It was laid to rest. It is now November and honestly, we have had great days, horrid days and everything in between. It has been an adjustment for us all, but that is okay.
Now, onto this amazing book that was brought my way after making this decision. Homeschool Bravely, the cover says it all really, "How to SQUASH DOUBT, TRUST GOD, and TEACH YOUR CHILD with CONFIDENCE". It's write up on Amazon was right on the nose. The doubt in myself that I felt in the carrying out of this decision was HUGE and actually a bit debilitating. So many options, choices, ways, curriculums, etc....(It's awesome how many resources there are, but also super overwhelming!) Jamie Erickson, a mom and homeschooler herself knows it all and speaks from the trenches and heart. God has blessed her in her sharing of her experiences and what life has brought her in the homeschool journey, because that my friends is what it is, a journey. My biggest takeaway from this book was that God is steering this homeschool ship. He will provide because He has brought me here to this place. It will be HIM not me that carries our home through this time of unknown territory. He has every time before now and He will again. I can say that with utmost certainty.
Quotes from many wonderful people appear through out this read, but this one has stuck with me. "She who feels smart enough, organized enough, equipped enough to homeschool is delusional and puffed up. This job demands love, patience, and kindness that are not of this world, but are fruits of the Holy Spirit"-Linda Lacour Hobar. I tend to be the person who wants all her ducks lined up and I don't fly well by the seat of my pants. But I am trying to rely less in my plans and putting the Lord at the helm of the daily take away in each of us.
"In His kindness to me, God's shown me that in trying to do everything perfectly, I end up doing a lot of things with mediocrity. In His kindness, He's revealed the idol I've molded out of my mothering. In His kindness, He's encouraged me to stop wondering if I'm doing enough and has given me the courage to ask, "Am I doing what's mine to do?" This, right there, out of the whole book, if I remember nothing else, I want to cling to this truth. I have done and continue to revert back to being in control of my story. Of my journey. But the thing is, it's not mine. It is His. And I want to be where He needs me to be.
Over the past years of my motherhood, I have been through more than most in the North American standard of living. God has brought and carried me through. I honestly cannot entrust the fact that I am still here, still standing and still moving forward to anything else, to anyone else. God has been my ROCK. And no matter how much a mess up or fumble the ball, He has had me, had my husband and had my kids.
Jamie Erickson has been granted a gift and I feel so blessed to have had her share it with me. I feel that this is what books are really all about. Living other's lives and experiences so that we can gain some of their journey's wisdom. Sharing God's giftings, God's blessings, so that we too can glean from them.
I feel blessed and more prepared for this journey ahead than I did before reading it. I feel firm in the choice I made and firm that God will grow us all in the exact way He needs us to during this time.
If you have embarked on the journey of homeschooling this year, I would highly recommend this Read.
