Do you ever have times in your life when you feel like you’ve made the wrong decision?  As a mom, I have spent so much unnecessary time worrying about whether or not I am making the right decisions for my children.  As a homeschool mom, I feel even more pressure at times (totally induced by me alone) to make sure that I am choosing the right curriculum, finding the right activities for them to be involved in, etc.  And every single year for the past 16 years, I have spent hundreds of hours looking at different curriculum and praying about each school year as September approaches.  Well, last year at this time, a huge decision was made regarding our homeschooling for the 2011-2012 school year.  Since 1999, I had been packing up my kids and driving over an hour each way once a week to attend either Valley Academy of Learning or Wenatchee Homeschool Co-op and also would fit in piano and harmonica lessons as well as other activities.  And one year, we drove 90 minutes each way just so they could have Latin and English with an amazing tutor. We had this routine for eleven years, so the thought of not going to Wenatchee worried me. I stressed and went back and forth for weeks.  My main concern was that Isaac would miss art and harmonica lessons. . .those are two things that I couldn’t help him with if I tried! :) And I truly felt that his art teacher and harmonica teacher were irreplaceable.  Especially when the closest Starbucks is 25 minutes away. . .

Well, I prayed and listened and we made the decision that we would take a year off.  That we’d do school four full days, one half day at home and then go to piano lessons in Chelan (25 minutes away) on Friday afternoons.  I started off in September feeling sad, but relieved at the same time. With starting a photography business and juggling the demands of homeschooling, it was a very wise choice for our entire family.  The reason I am writing this post is as an encouragement to those of you trying to schedule your upcoming school year. . .pray, trust and relax.  God cares about your children even more than you do.  He really does!  And He will open and close doors.  He knows their gifting and their talents. . .HE gave them those gifts and HE wants to use those gifts to glorify him.  As I have been doing my devotions in the morning, I keep feeling like I need to share how important it is to look for those things which inspire your children. . .what makes them click. . .what excites them. . .what do they excel at??  Those are the things that you need to focus on whether you homeschool or not.  I feel strongly when it says “Train up a child in the way he should go. . .” that it means finding their natural bent and helping them find what God intends for them to do with their lives.  I feel more confident in sharing now that we have our oldest graduating from college next May at the age of 20.  I have made many mistakes along the way and don’t claim to know a lot, but I do know that I want to encourage moms to spend time looking at what makes your child unique and special. . .what gifts and talents God has created inside of each child.

Fast forward to present day and I am going to show you why all my worrying was worthless. Why don’t I just remember that we serve a faithful God who loves us and desires the best for us and our children?  Isaac has had an amazing year!  He had online classes through Potter’s School and LOVED them!!  The best part was that God provided Isaac with the best art teacher ever!!!  And she lives three minutes away!!!! :)  Isaac spends every Monday from 3:00-6:45 with Johnye, an 82 year old artist.  It brings tears to my eyes as I write this as I know that God had this orchestrated not only for Isaac’s life, but for Johnye’s as well.  I know that Isaac has brought joy to her life as she told us that she had lost her enthusiasm for painting when she lost her husband.  What an unlikely, but beautiful friendship between an 82 year old lady and a 12 year old boy.  I am blown away by his paintings and pray that God will continue to allow Isaac to see creation through God’s eyes.  On a side note, it never ceases to amaze me that Isaac is legally blind in one eye and able to paint the way he does. . .it is truly a gift and he loves it.  And as for harmonica, we have The Wicks coming tonight for dinner and a practice session as Isaac will be joining their band this summer for a few sessions! :)

Thank you, Jesus, for providing beyond my wildest imagination and for caring about the smallest most intimate details of our lives!!