Homeschooling with His Sufficiency

Posted by Hannah | 0 comments

I’m a list maker. And a list cross-off-er. Before the homeschool year began, I had our bookshelves organized, a daily planner set for each day of the year for each child, daily circle time planned, printables printed, charts laminated and plenty of room in our ”schedule” for pursuing rabbit trails and personal interests!

Yes! I was set! Ready to go!

Then God sent us a wonderful blessing in the form of a foster daughter and all my planning and anticipated quiet mornings at home nurturing my children’s interests shot like a cannon into Timbuktu.

I’ve slowly begun to realize that God wants my dependence solely on Him, not on scheduling and carefully laid plans.

Twice a week we drive fifty four miles to bring Natalie for her court ordered visitation. That gives us at least an hour in the van and can potentially suck the life out of three hours of our day.

Shortly before Natalie came to stay with us, I stood in our dining room and slowly washed down the chalkboard, praying about what scripture to write on it next. It is more a decorative chalkboard than schoolish and the verse God brought to my heart was II Corinthians 12:9. It says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  I transcribed it out and two months later it is still there because I need the daily reminder. I daily feel weak and inadequate.

Our family has experienced a lot of changes in schedules, a lot of heartache and a lot of relying on God this fall.

On the practical side of things, we’ve found wonderful ways to make use of our missing three hours twice a week.

The relaxed homeschooler in me found brilliance in books on CD. We’ve listened to Wind in the Willows, Titanic, James Herriot, and many others. We’ve discussed topics ranging from race to moral character to biology that have been prompted by the different stories.

We’ve explored a new city, found that not all libraries lend children’s books for a month (ouch!), and walked trails at a state park discussing flora and fauna.

The biggest learning experience for my kids? Well, that would be a hearty dose of compassion for their foster sister, learning what sacrificing on the behalf of another is, and loving the unlovely. Those lessons, I hope my kids keep with them always. They outshine a missed worksheet or coloring page any day.

Hannah is a relaxed homeschooling mama of five. Her and her family are big on the outdoors, big on family days, and big on making memories in everyday small ways. She loves handcrafts, iced lattes, re-arranging furniture and counts falling into bed exhausted a sign of a really great day. She and her husband make a home in upstate New York with their energetic children and a menagerie of animals.  Hannah blogs at Cultivating Home.