Back to school {my top tip for home schooling mothers}

Today's the day.

We started back school.

Quite frankly, I don't even feel we've had a summer. The joys of pregnancy nausea, and a pretty busy schedule, had meant we haven't done much. (well, the children took days on end to tidy their rooms - their choice, their loss...)

Such is life, however.

Our life involves a lot of children and a new pregnancy, right now.

Our LIFE.

Our HOME.

We HOME school, ergo, what our life is like at home is how our school is shaped, NOT the other way around.

It's taken me YEARS to get to this point. Years, I say. If my words of wisdom just help ONE other worn out and devastated mother, whose first day plans have gone awry, then it will be worth it.

Plans are good.

Plans are GREAT.

I have a whole post planned on planning for school.

In fact, as planning goes, I have been best prepared on the planning front, EVER.

All the best planning in the world - all the best intentions in the world - all the best intelligence and wisdom in the world - does not mean TUPPENCE when "home" life happens.

Not tuppence, I say.

Did you, for example, end up way busier than you thought, resulting in your workbooks not being bound when you hoped?

Nope?

I did.

Did you, per chance, get woken up at 6.30am with a daughter announcing she'd been ill in the night, and vomit covered sheets were your lot?

No?

Shame.

I did.

Did you, maybe, have great plans to have everyone start full pitch the same day, only to realise you hadn't been as organised as you hoped, and older children needing help pushed your youngest child into the sidelines?

No?

That was me.

What I realised, or what I guess I had to REMIND myself, pretty quickly, was that we HOME educate. Being at home means that life happens, and you get the proverbial spanner thrown into the wheel on a fairly regular basis. You just simply CAN'T let it get you down, or feel like a failure.

I had a crazy summer, filled with nausea and exhaustion. That was simply life in my home, so it shaped our HOME school.

A child was ill - TOTALLY out of my control (which is why I hate children being ill!) - but it was more important to deal with that, and not stress about how it affected our first day of school.

Half of my children's knowledge had clean DROPPED OUT THEIR HEADS over the summer (please tell me that's not just me that experiences that phenomenon?), which meant a lot more one-on-one with them than normal. My oldest needed guidance in doing more self-led planning of his week. We needed to get that established today, as a priority. Will my sweet little 5 year old, who is already learning faster than light just from HOME surroundings, be bothered that we don't start "formal" schooling today? I know he won't! He didn't know he was SUPPOSED to do anything today!

The home part of "home schooling" is what matters most. We have our children at home for them to learn more than literacy, numeracy and everything else under the sun. They need to learn kindness, flexibility, patience, diligence, helpfulness, and numerous other things that don't come with having your nose in a book.

Today, we had "home" happening, as well as school, and that's ok!

My top tip? Don't forget that HOME happens in homeschooling.

I was able to implement my "second from top" tip, too - adapt, change, and don't worry about it!

Flexibility is your friend. Inflexibility is your enemy.

We still did "school". It just wasn't how I envisioned it. Instead, we had home life that happened, and changes we had to make, but we still learned a whole lot at the same time.

I knew my day was going to work out, no matter what, in any case.

I have a verse that I have claimed as my "home ed Mum" verse.

The visiting preacher on Sunday morning read the whole of James 1.

My devotional in my Homeschool Moms Bible came from James 1, so I  then carried on and read all of James 1.

I needed wisdom for today. I need wisdom for EVERY day. And, God never disappoints. He gives to all men LIBERALLY, and doesn't hold back.

So, whenever you start back after summer on your home ed journey-  or even as you meet EACH NEW DAY - remember that the home part of homeschooling matters as much as the schooling part.

God - the only life-giver {when things look dead}

I have been back out into my garden again.  For those who are relatively new to the blog, I LOVE my garden.  I used to think I didn't like gardening, but that was when I had no garden to work with!  Now?  I love it! I am no expert, and I don't spend every waking hour in there, but I love seeing colour appear, and the satisfaction of encouraging life into my little corner of God's creation.

Another thing you will quickly observe, is how my garden is God's lesson book for me.  Time after time, He teaches me valuable lessons from what I see in my garden.

This week has been no exception.

Always - ALWAYS - it's perfect timing.

I have always LOVED clematis.  (How do YOU say it? CLEM-a-tis? clem-AH-tis? clem-AY-tis?....)

I already had one growing up the side of the house, intertwined as it grows, with the scents mingling together, with wisteria and jasmine. The thing is, it grew at the SIDE of my house.  The only thing that is there is a path and the BINS! So, I decided we needed one somewhere more obvious.  By the front door.  I went to the garden centre and carefully examined all the pictures and descriptions, and chose the one I liked the most.  It was purple (no surprise to those who know me well!), with  pretty, double-headed flower.

The first summer I got ONE flower.

ONE!

I was a bit disappointed, but it was a start.

Then, winter came.

And, my clematis looked like it had died.

It was brown, withered, and dried up.  It spanned the space it had grown, but any signs of life had GONE!

I consulted my more experienced mother, and she reassured me that clematis DOES that! It looks dead, but life will return.

Sure enough, spring came, and life returned.  It didn't require me to prune, water, or feed.  The life came back with no input from me at all, whatsoever.

This spring, the same thing is happening again, but as it starts to send out flowers, there is also growth, and MORE FLOWERS are appearing! I can't wait to see how it turns out this year, with more blooms to cheer up the wall it grows along.

I have had a challenging week, in many ways.  Life can be like that - did you know?

Yep, you know, don't you?  Those weeks when the challenges pull you into a sense of despair, and you need to call out to the Holy Spirit to renew you and give you the strength you need.

That plant, and the re-emergence of "life", drew my mind to my children.  I have struggles with them, as they exhibit challenging behaviour. They push all the wrong buttons, and stretch me to the very limit of my patience and grace.  They sin.  They "fail".  Sometimes, there just seems to be so little life, in a spiritual sense.

Then it dawned on me, as I gazed at my clematis.  I lovingly planted it.  I watered it as it grew. I made sure it had a trellis to grow up, and I gently encouraged it to grow up in the right direction.  I learnt about how it grows and  I covered its roots to protect them, as I knew it needed. I did all I could, but ultimately, I can't give that plant any life.  Only GOD gives life.  Only He can give "the increase".

"So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase."

I Corinthians 3:7

Oh, how I needed to remember that, with my children.  God, so very kindly, and graciously, has entrusted my children into my care.  I have to look after them, nourish them, and train them up. I, however, cannot breathe spiritual life into their souls.

ONLY GOD CAN.

They may look "dead", as I go through different seasons.  The evidence of spiritual life may be absent, or very faint, but I can't create it in their hearts and souls.  God can.  He is able, and I just need to trust Him, and wait for the "spring-time" to come, in their lives.  I need to keep training, watering and caring for them, and patiently wait for the signs of life to come, in HIS time.

"It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD."

Lamentations 3:26

We need to keep our hope in the Lord, and quietly wait for Him to do the work in their hearts.

It's so easy to become "weary in well doing".  We keep labouring, and pouring our energy into the lives of our precious children.  Growth and development may seem scarce. But, the promise is there..

"for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not"

Galatians 6:9

It's hard to wait for the blooming to happen, but the patience is worth it.  We WILL reap, if we don't give up, and keep on sowing in faith.

Blogging Through the Alphabet {Oh the joy, as Patience I learn}

I missed my "O".

Did ya' notice?

I had been doing SO well.  I was keeping up, and getting my blog posts out, albeit right at the end of the time I had to link up with Marcy, over at Ben & Me. *aherm*

I had things that I managed to fit in with the letter for each week.

Then last week happened.

We had a tummy bug in our house, and my week kind of turned upside down.  All my plans, for our first week "off" in the summer, were scuppered. Well and truly.

If you know me at all, you know how I loathe tummy bugs.

However, the Lord must be moulding me and shaping me, because I dealt with this one with FAR more patience and FAR less stress, than previously! I didn't get all wazzed up when I realised what had hit the household.  I just patiently got on with it, and it wasn't as bad as I expected!

This week, I have had more opportunities to both learn, and teach, patience.

It breaks my heart that I am such a bad example of being patient.

I often hear the words "You have EIGHT children? You must be so patient!", and CRINGE inwardly, under the conviction that I am *SO* not as patient as I should be.  Patient in the "dealing with things calmly and with a level-head" way, and patient in the "long-suffering" way.

The word "patience", as it is often translated in certain Bible versions, is more accurately "long suffering".  The emphasis there is on the fact that the situation is causing suffering to you - mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually - and that you bear it over time - "long".

In James, it says that "the trial of your faith worketh patience".

If you look at the Greek, it translates as "cheerful endurance"!

THAT is how we are supposed to deal with the trials of life.  To CHEERFULLY endure.

Now, don't let me fool you.  It's NOT easy peasy.  It takes effort.  I certainly haven't mastered it yet - not sure if I ever will! But, it's expected of us, as godly women, nonetheless.

Romans 5 tells us

 "And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 

And patience, experience; and experience, hope:"

All of our circumstances shape us, and the Lord intends it to be for our GOOD! So good that we can GLORY in our tribulations and trials (and I've had quite a few of late, in various forms!), because it turns into patience, which becomes experience, which becomes hope.  Not in the vague, "I hope it works out"  kind of way.  Hope, as in "confident in the knowledge that God's ways are perfect, and I am content to be in the centre of God's Will, not matter how humanly "trying" it is", kind of way.

What's more, James tells us that if we

"let patience have her perfect work"

that we will be

"perfect and entire, wanting nothing"

Really!

Patience makes me complete, in every part, and teaches me to be content in every circumstance.

If that's the case, we should eagerly be shouting, every day

"BRING IT ON"!!

I *WANT* to be content and complete.  If it takes some trials, to learn patience, it's all worth it.

"Oh the joy", spoken tongue in cheek, becomes JOY, as I learn to patiently accept the circumstances in life, which God, in His grace, love and mercy, allows.

I trust that you will learn alongside me, to turn your "OH NO" into patience!

Moving....

No, not my blog.

Our family!  From one house, to another house.  I mentioned it in this post.  YES....over 3 months ago.  The joys of selling and buying a home.

We have never been involved in a house sale before, so it was new to me.

I mentioned patience before...yep, that has been well and truly tried! *grins*

I also mentioned about the home we hoped to purchase.  Well, we are nearly there!  We have signed everything, the sellers have signed everything, and we should exchange contracts at the start of next week.  We then hope to move on the 12th of December.  That date has already been changed several times - we started off with the 22nd November, then the 2nd of December and now, hopefully, the 12th of December.  Someone said it's Christmas soon - REALLY?  Because I have virtually NOTHING done for it!

However, it is undeniable that God;s hand has been in it all.  The house we are buying is an amazing provision.

We are going from 3 smallish bedrooms, to FIVE bedrooms!

We are going from a smallish kitchen, to a MUCH bigger one WITH A UTILITY ROOM!  *whoops and jumps up and down*

We will have a bigger lounge.  A study.  A separate dining room.  A double, attached garage.  A bigger garden.   At the end of a quiet cul-de-sac.

TRULY - an amazing provision!

The man we are buying from met one of our former Church members, at their mutual place of work.  Got chatting, over a year ago, about where this man lived.  Our member realised it was the same village as us, and, indeed, that he was movning into a house that we had liked...but as our house was notyet on the market, we couldn't pursue.  Fast forward nearly a year.  The man had put his house on the market, due to personal circumstances, despite not being there for long.  He came and found our friend at work, again - but he had moved to a different department, nowhere near the previous one.  He found him, however, and enquired as to whether we were still interested, as he was selling the house!  He was told "yes" and that now we, too, were selling. However, he had it on for more than our budget was stretching to, and as they were using the same Esatate Agents, we knew what offers they had already refused.  (although they took it back off the market, before he approached us)  So, it was a private sale in the end, with no estate agents fees for them, resulting in them willing to take a lower offer, which we (the Church) could afford!!  The whole time we have been going through the buying process, there have been NO other houses on the market that would be suitable to buy!

The Lord has truly answered our prayers beyond our expectations! We are thrilled, and excited, especially as everything is nearly tied up, and it gets a bit more "real"!

It's been crazy - trying to pack, do school and feel energised, whilst pregnant!  Thankfully, I am well past that grotty, nauseous stage, and feel more able to move house now!  Had it been very quick, I would still have been feeling rough!  Had it been much later, then I would have no energy at the end of the preganancy.  The Lord truly supplies ALL our needs, on so many levels.

Just to add, before I go to bed (it's late!!)....people ask if we are moving far.  I have created a "Google map", to show you how close it is!


View Moving house in a larger map


If you can't see the blue and pink marker, zoom out a bit! If you zoom out even more, you will see where our Church building is.   So, as you can see - not far!  Shorter as the crow flies, but you have to go around the edge of the village as the road does not connect in the middle! If you zoom right in, you can find the street view - our new house has a "for sale" sign outside.  It is from a couple of years ago, as it was before the current occupants bought is.  It now has a green front door (which I am thinking would sport a nice, red berry wreath on it! :-) ).

So, there you have it.  Just over a week until "M" day!  Please pray that it all exchanges, as hoped, and we still move on the 12th.  Pray it all goes smoothly on the day, and I will update with some pictures once we are in!