As a new fall season is upon us it comes with a touch of bittersweetness. My youngest is starting kindergarten. My youngest! How did that happen?! For so many years my household was up to its elbows in kids and slowly but surely it is becoming quieter each year as children grow up and leave home. Over the last five years I’ve been going through *first* celebrations with my youngest child which now will include the first official day of school for her.

It’s amazing how clear the memory is of the beginning of our homeschool journey which began with our first child twenty-one years ago. I’ve read that the clearest memories come from experiences that stimulate the most senses. Looking back I’m not certain this memory is from that factor but perhaps from the greatest emotion ever experienced by myself most commonly known as SCARED TO DEATH. My racing heart was distinct as we made the final call the week before the public school was starting since he was expected to begin first grade there. We were going out on a very small thin limb while questioners were under the tree watching and waiting.

Yet as we took our first steps, we clung to our vision with our key verses:

“Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” ~ Deuteronomy 6:4-7

The first year was definitely the toughest as we learned the ropes of homeschooling and tending the younger children at the same time.. We kept our vision steady as we went one year at a time with some years going quite well and others much more difficult. Difficult not because of the materials we were using, but due to life’s circumstances such as new babies arriving and grandparents whose health was failing. Perhaps my children didn’t receive incredible academics those years, yet they did learn valuable lessons about loving and caring for others. And lessons about God which have shaped them into the individuals they are today.

Through the years of homeschooling perhaps one of the biggest lessons I’ve learn is that God takes all our mistakes and blunders as parents and covers them with this huge thing called GRACE. What we see as failures, He is able to develop into triumphs and our trust in who He is strengthens each day as we walk in growing faith.

So as my littlest begins her official studies this fall, I can easily say I am no longer scared to death. Nope! My heart is filled with peace knowing that I can completely trust Him. After all, doesn’t His word say:

“Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” ~ Proverbs 16:3

And isn’t that really the heart of the matter as we all begin a fresh new season of schooling?

Married in 1980 and still living in the same house in a woodsy rural setting, Tammy’s homeschooling journey began in the fall of 1987 when her oldest turned six years old. As rather new believers professing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, homeschooling was a way to live out the principles found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9. Through all the challenges of life Tammy has stayed the course growing to a family with nine children who presently range from preschool age to college graduates married with children. Her role has transitioned from learning everything she could about homeschooling to becoming an encourager to others coming along the way. Please visit Tammy at Garden Glimpses.