Doing the Next Thing

I've been here before. I'm sure that as long as I'm on this side of Glory, I'll be here again. Burnout. Frustration. Overwhelmed. But "a bruised reed He will not break." The Lord has given me counsel through His word, through re-reading a good book , through a convicting blog post , and through good, godly friends. (you know who you are! thanks!) The truth of the matter is this: I've got toddlers to teens; high school to preschool - with everything in between. Faithfully mothering young children is a full-time job. Faithfully mentoring teens as they become young adults is a full-time job. Homeschooling is a full-time job. I think somehow I assumed that since I'd been at this for 15 years that I was somehow coming to the easy part. You know, the part where I get to workout whenever I want, attend book clubs, shop in the middle of the day, and get lunch with friends. And oh, yes -- blog and read others' blogs! Not that I can never do those things. Bu...

I am using Jo hn Piper's fantastic book A Godward Life as a devotional with my older children. The portion we read today was very fitting for our family as we adjust to the stress of a new school schedule, but I suspect we all can identify in one way or another, so I share the first part here. (Meditation on Matthew 6:34 "Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." Piper says: Part of saving faith is the assurance that you will have faith tomorrow. Trusting Christ today includes trusting him to give you tomorrow's trust when tomorrow comes. Often we feel today like our reservoir of strength is not going to last for another day. The fact is, it won't. Today's resources are for today, and part of those resources is the confidence that new resources will be given tomorrow. A Godward Life, (Multnomah Books, 1997) p.25

Today is my "easy" homeschool day. The Big Boys go to Veritas, and I will start attending a ladies' Bible study at church in a couple of weeks. So I've not scheduled Tuesdays as a big workday for M (10) and A (5). Today I decided I would try to get in some kind of run on a local Greenway after dropping S (14) and C (12) off at school. Operative phrase being " some kind." Here's how it goes: Drive around aimlessly for 20 min, unable to find Greenway until helpful bro-in-law gives directions to a park with easy access. Ok. Now, get out the clunky, old Gra*co single stroller for K (3), as well as scooter & helmet for A. Think to self: "why do I not own a jogging stroller?" Decide that training for a half-marathon requires some actual time running, and this is the best I'm gonna get today. Load K in the stroller and set off. (M leaves her scooter in the car, saying she'd rather run like me. I'm concerned about this, but I'm als...

I'm going to try the weekly reporting thing again this year, mainly for my own accountability and record, but also on the chance that someone out there is mildly interested! We had a rough week, to be honest! I posted the picture at right (taken at Cloudland Canyon while on our anniversary trip last month) because it reminds me that in our school year there will be times we are on the mountain-top and times we are in the valley. And times in between where we, with firm resolve, struggle to climb back to the top! Monday was spent organizing last-minute details for the boys' first day at Veritas Classical School, as well as getting books ready for M & A to study here at home. I hadn't run errands - or run my feet - in a while, so I ended up doing both Monday afternoon and evening, and was a little scattered and tired Tuesday as a result. The boys liked their classes and teachers, but it's going to take some time for them to adjust to the workload. S (almost 15) did a ...

Today was the first day we had a full school workload. We officially started Monday, but that day was mostly organizing and preparing for Tuesday - the boys' first day of classes at Veritas. So today was day 1 with assignment sheets from Veritas, plus our work at home (math & science for the big boys; all subjects for M (10yo 5th grade) & A (5yo, kindergarten.) To be honest, it wasn't really even "full" - M is taking science at an enrichment program and classes there have not officially started, though she does have some taxonomy cards and reading to work through before the first day; C's (12 yo 7th gr) math books haven't arrived (mainly b/c his mother forgot to go pick them up from the homeschool store -- oops!); and we didn't get to phonics or math with A. But still -- it was a full workday. I had a conference with each of the boys and we mapped out which assignements need to be done each day. (In the future, I hope to do that on Tuesday evening...

In case you're interested: S – 9th Grade Curriculum Plan, 2009-2010 (S will be attending Veritas Classical School one day per week for humanities instruction. Their book list is copyrighted and is only available to registered students. So I can't list the books here, but trust me, they're good!) Veritas Curriculum Bible - New Testament Survey History -U . S. History American Literature English - grammar, writing, vocabulary Rhetoric / Debate Greek I (S. will also be taking an apologetics elective at a local a la carte homeschool enrichment program) Apologetics - The Quest for Truth Chris Sherrod At Home Algebra I - Elementary Algebra Harold Jacobs Physical Science - Exploring Creation with Physical Science Dr. Jay Wile Fine Arts - Appreciation: Annotated Mona Lisa Carol Strickland Young Persons Guide to Music Neil Ardley The Story of Classical Music CD by Darren Henley Various composer studies Studio arts: Various drawing exercises Guitar - weekly lesson & practice...

... Shannon ! Congratulations - you are the proud new owner of Exploring God's Creation! This was a fun giveaway , and I wish I had something to mail to all of you! Thanks for visiting and commenting. If I can ever find time to blog again (with the craziness of illness, last-minute end-of-summer trips, and school starting) I look forward to making some new homeschool bloggy friends! Have a great week!