A New Chapter In My Life

Next week, on August 18, a new chapter in my life will begin. For almost 10 years I have homeschooled my children. I absolutely love having my children around me every day. They are the joy of my life! There are days that we can get grouchy with one another, but overall we have a great time together. Laughter is a key ingredient in our house and I enjoy my kids so much!

During the year of my paralysis, the “academic” part of school got behind. We did the very best we could, but there were so many doctor and hospital visits, then therapy that took 3 days a week, and so many days that I was very ill and could not do school that it has been very hard to catch back up. We decided that year that our focus just could not be academic. We did school, but we focused on character, our faith in God and house skills. Our world had been turned upside down and we were all trying to learn where to land! The children flourished that year in those areas. I am so proud of my children and the skills they possess that many adults cannot even do! Ever since that year, in school work though, I have felt like I was chasing a moving train and I never quite had caught it. I felt that some of my children were catching up but others were not and it was very hard trying to get all of them caught up together!

This year, my oldest daughter Briley starts high school. My youngest son, Elisha, starts K5. Then, there are those precious 4 in the middle.I don’t know if it has been because of two major moves in the last year or what, but starting school with those dynamics this year seemed completely and absolutely overwhelming and not at all possible. My Jimmy and I sat on our deck for an entire afternoon as I told him that I just could not do it. I like to be a strong woman and I feel I have faced many challenges but this one had me licked. I felt that my kids were not catching up. I felt that high school is so very important for their college days. I felt that all would get some of what they needed, but they would all not get what they needed. I poured my heart out and told Jimmy that I just did not know what else to do and that I was sorry, but I could not do it! I think I sort of resigned. We talked that day about the possibility of him doing high school with Briley and me handling the rest but even that thought alone churned my stomach in fear! We concluded that we would pray about it.

The next morning, I was taking my shower and praying. That is my favorite spot to talk to the Lord about my heartaches! I was a mess!!! I was crying my head off (which is not like me at all!) and telling The Lord that I could not handle it this year and could He please help me. I told Him that I did not want to add to Jimmy’s workload as he is a full-time pastor and I did not want my kids to be mad at me when they tried to get in to college and I needed something because I was a mess…..and on and on I rambled to my Heavenly Father. I love, love, love that I can do that and that He can handle me just fine! I felt better after dumping it all on Him and decided to just pray. I tried pricing local Christian schools that I knew about and they were all so expensive it wasn’t even a close option.

The next morning, something popped up on my newsfeed from a school called The Ridge Christian School. It was right in our town! Actually, it was 4 miles from our house! I had not heard of it so I went to their Facebook page and called them. My first question was how much? All the other schools I had called were expensive so I was not getting my hopes up!

To make a long story short, this school believes in being a ministry first to help families. They are an Abeka video school. They are a small school with about 20 students last year. We met with them to see if we liked them (and them us) and to discuss options to make this happen. They were so precious to work with us and already had wonderful prices! I will be volunteering there 3 days a week WITH my children (who I dearly love being with) to make tuition even more affordable. It will give me 2 days off to do what I need to do to keep up my home since everything takes me twice as long and I wear out pretty quick. We already love the couple that runs the school and the kids are so excited.

God heard my cry!! I know without a doubt that God has helped me! The night we decided that we were going to make this change I struggled with “buyers remorse”. I have always homeschooled my kids and was worrying that this was going to ruin them for life. Then, I felt guilty that I think it is all about me anyway. I know that God has brought a way for us and my pride was rearing its head telling me that if my kids aren’t homeschooled by me, then they may not turn out right. I have to let go and trust The Lord…and others…to help me. I have trouble accepting help and this is just another avenue in my life where God is showing me that I just can’t do everything I want to. I have to accept help. Can I trust The Lord to help my kids like He has me? Can I trust other good Christian people to influence my children? Yes, I can.

This is an exciting chapter for me!! My husband is excited, I am excited and the kids can’t wait! Now, you have my permission to say the word “school” around me without me going into a full blown cardiac arrest! I am so thankful to The Lord for guiding us in our lives and His love and care for me and my family. Please pray for us in this new chapter!