If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and teach my children Latin conjugations, Chinese and Portuguese, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal, and no matter what I say, they will not hear me.
If I have the gift of prophecy, and know my children’s bents and God’s plan for their lives, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and am the keeper of the teacher’s editions and solutions manuals, and if I have all faith, so as to move mountains, and even keep up with my giant piles of laundry and dishes, but do not have love, I am nothing, even if all the people at church think I’m Supermom.
And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and my formal dining room gets turned into a schoolroom and our family vacations look more like educational fieldtrips, and if I surrender my body to be burned, never having time to get my nails done, put makeup on or even take a bath, but do not have love, it profits me nothing, because all my family cares about is the expression on my face, anyway.
Love is patient with the child who still can’t get double-digit subtraction with borrowing, and kind to the one who hasn’t turned in his research paper. It is not jealous of moms with more, fewer, neater, more self-directed, better-behaved or smarter children. Love does not brag about homemade bread, book lists, or scholarships and is not arrogant about her lifestyle or curriculum choices. It does not act unbecomingly or correct the children in front of their friends. It does not seek its own, trying to squeeze in alone time when someone still needs help; it is not provoked when interrupted for the nineteenth time by a child, the phone, the doorbell or the dog; does not take into account a wrong suffered, even when no one compliments the dinner that took hours to make or the house that took so long to clean.
Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness or pointing out everyone else’s flaws, but rejoices with the truth and with every small step her children take in becoming more like Jesus, knowing it’s only by the grace of God when that occurs.
Love bears all things even while running on no sleep; believes all things, especially God’s promise to indwell and empower her; hopes all things, such as that she’ll actually complete the English curriculum this year and the kids will eventually graduate; endures all things, even questioning from strangers, worried relatives, and most of all, herself.
Love never fails. And neither will she. As long as she never, never, never gives up.
Misty Krasawski is the overly-blessed mom of eight children whom she homeschools in sunshine-y Florida. She has been clinging ferociously to the hand of her Lord since she was knee-high to a grasshopper, homeschooling for the past thirteen years, and has eighteen more years ahead of her with the children who are glad she will have done most of her experimenting on those who went before. Her wonderful husband Rob has much treasure laid up for him in heaven for having been called to such a daunting task. After the house goes to sleep she can sometimes be found gathering her thoughts at http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/MistyKrasawski.
I needed this today. Thank you. It has blessed me beyond measure.
LaShawn´s last blog ..Swallowed by my life..
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Thank you so much – I really needed to read that this morning!
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I love it! What a creative reminder to make sure our hearts are in the right place. Thanks for sharing.
Bethany L.´s last blog ..More Molly–Less Money (review)
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You are so right. Thank you for sharing the insight God gave you on this. I think I will copy it off so that I can see it often. God bless you.
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Such wonderful and inspiring words! Bless you for sharing them other homeschool moms!
Diana´s last blog ..Good Humor
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Thank you for sharing this, it is a great reminder to all. God Bless
AmyF´s last blog ..City Market Cart Buster Event: {3/10-3/16/10}
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This is really wonderful and should be posted on every fridge! We need to be reminded to see motherhood and homeschooling from the Lord’s perspective and you have done this beautifully!
Nadene Esterhuizen´s last blog ..Seurat’s “Sunday Afternoon on the Island” Art Appreciation
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You’re all very sweet. I need to re-print it and post it myself; in the midst of a very difficult season I need the reminder. The Lord is good! Thank you for your kind words!
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AMEN Sister! I just memorized 1 COR 13:3 with my boys last week! I too will 1. pass this on to fellow Homeschooling Sisters and 2. print it and post it where I will READ it…not just skim! Probably across from my toilet! Love to you!
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ROTFL!! That was great!!! Totally sharing this! Thanks for the giggles tonight.
Sisterlisa´s last blog ..Hey Walmart
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Love this! Going to pass it onto all my homeschool friends. Thanks for creatively sharing!
Melissa´s last blog ..St. Patrick’s Day Plans
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That was beautiful and encouraging! Thanks for that!
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A friend posted this on FB and I just had to tell you what a blessing it was. I would hate to be nothing more than a noisy gong. Thanks for the gentle reminder. :O)
Nancy´s last blog ..Comparing Yourself to Public School (As In – Don’t)
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Thank you- I needed this! Can I copy and paste it on my blog?
Brodie´s last blog ..Buried Alive by Roy Hallums- Book Review
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Great post Misty!!
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I was very encouraged by this and glad for the reminder to keep my focus on really loving my child and not getting distracted by what other people may think. Gently, I wwould like to suggest a red flag in ‘It does not seek its own, trying to squeeze in alone time when someone still needs help;’ We need to have time to rest and refresh often, this is consistant with Jesus going off to be by himself. When I am chronically exhausted I lose perspective and focus and that makes me impatient and easily overwhelmed, no one benefits from that. I do appreciate the overall paraphrase and value the reminder.Thank you.
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Thanks for these wonderful reminders and truths. I’m printing it out and linking over to it from my blog. Every homeschool Mom should read this.
Shannon´s last blog ..Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival: St. Patrick’s Day Edition
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Feel free to share this with friends you feel would be encouraged by it– I would appreciate if you kept my name “tag” with it!
And I do hear your concern, Laura, about “me time” and you’re absolutely right; we all do need to take time to recharge, just as Jesus, our Example, did. That’s why I phrased it as “trying to squeeze in alone time when someone still needs help”– when I’m trying to squeeze in me time in the fire rather than having it planned in advance, that’s when I find myself in trouble in one way or another! 
Have a wonderful day, everyone!
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Were you reading my mind?? This is fabulous! Thank you for the encouragement . . . and reminding us of what is truly important. May God grant you some much need “alone time” soon along with adequate rest! :*)
-Noble
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