Monday's Prayer

Lord, may we have the faith to truly depend on You!

Melodye writes:

Last year I began my homeschooling career with two preschoolers. I started teaching my then 4 year old daughter and I thought "What in the WORLD will I do with my 2.5 year old son while I teach her?" My concern was that he would be bored and thus - he would be in our way. I thought he would be disruptive and begging for my attention. I thought it would all fall apart. This was ONE of my many questions! The list of "What do you do if such and such happens?" is too long to list. So back to the fear of my son getting in the way of my teaching time with my daughter....

Week 1 Day 1
- I had my plan together. My school supplies in tow. My teaching manuals open
- Then my daughter rejected EVERY teaching effort while my son repeatedly said (in his 2 year old vocabulary) "I want do school I want do school" My daughter would not sit still for more than 5 minutes, but my son was eager to try this school thing.

Unexpected results indeed! Now what?

Day 2
- see Day 1 results

Day 3 (came after a mini break from any/all teaching efforts)
- I pulled out the play doh. My kids sat quietly for 30 minutes without the slightest disagreement. (Play doh is always handy but a rarely used tool in our home which explains their eagerness to use it.)

Ended day 3 feeling like I had a new agenda. My agenda was to show my daughter that homeschool could be fun AND I was trying to extend her ability to sit still for me.

Day 4
- I pulled out the construction paper, stickers, colors, scissors and a glue stick. I never knew the joy my kids would have with scissors and a glue stick. They made several messes... but they were having fun.

My point of sharing this glimpse into my first ever try at homeschooling is to show that the unexpected glitch is bound to happen. You may have younger kids you are worried about getting in the way to only find your oldest one is the one you should have been concerned with all along. You may make your plan and get stuck with a particular subject that your child just does not understand and is hugely frustrated with. That may cause you to regroup and find another method for teaching that subject.

If all of the above happens - no worries! All is well! This task of teaching our children is a heavy burden when we carry it on ourselves. but.... BUT GOD! Enough said! Stop the fear of what ifs! Stop worrying about 'what would an expert suggest I do in this situation?' If you are unclear as to the way you should go... PRAY!

Stopping for prayer will cause you to stop long enough so you can GIVE this load of worries to the ONE with all the real answers. Prayer may guide you to seek an expert but after prayer you will KNOW when you've found the right expert vs. seeking aimlessly before praying. Little IS much in the hands of God. Knowledge can be power but it can also bring further confusion. There is so much to know... there are so many experts... and a plethora of curriculum's to choose from. There are so many schools of thoughts. There are so many experiences that will discourage you and/or inspire you. There are so many answers but none of that matters!! What does matter is finding THE ANSWER! Little is much! When you have the answer to your need then ALL the other potentially great answers are but noise.

Slow down. Listen. He is leading YOU in the way YOU should go! Your path is narrow, as is mine! Narrow does not mean the same. What works for you may not work for me and although it may be good to know and consider what worked for someone else... what would be best is for me to seek God and let Him show me what my answer is. God has led us all thus far, trust that He will finish what He started. He's never left a job incomplete yet and I know He won't start now!

Melodye - fellow seeker of the Narrow Path