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Thursday, August 18, 2011

Too Good Not To Share

A dear friend recently made a comment to me. She said “being a homeschooling mom must put you on the fast track to sanctification."

Of course she said this jokingly – but I tell you there’s some truth in that statement. Nothing in my life has made me more aware of my own sin, my own deep need for Christ and the pure ugliness in my own heart, quite like homeschooling my children.

All of that stuff I thought I’d already dealt with and conquered? Apparently, not so much. A rough day of homeschool will bring it all right to the surface.

Maybe it’s the non-stop days and the late nights spent prepping. Maybe it’s the various ages, the almost terrible-two-year-old and the challenges unique to each child. Maybe it’s just being home all day everyday with such little adult interaction… but believe me, I’ve had some days where I’ve felt exactly as I imagine Noah must have felt.

Not Noah the righteous dude who was saved from the floods. But Noah the crazy guy who sat in a finished ark, filled with stinky animals, in the middle of an open field, without a cloud in the sky – for SEVEN days before the floods actually came (see Genesis 7:10).

How many times in that seven day period do you think Noah cried out to the Lord in confusion and frustration and asked… “um, Lord? Did I really hear you correctly on this one? This is getting kind of weird.”

I’m right there with you Noah. This is all getting kind of weird.

And yet, I know I heard my calling correctly. So did Noah. Just because it’s hard (or weird) doesn’t mean you’re not called. In fact, I doubt God calls anyone to anything because it’s easy. Easy is not how He shapes our character and makes us into His likeness. Homeschool is hard. Adoption is hard. At the moment, life in general feels hard.

But all is not lost.

Over the next few weeks, I want to share with y’all about some of the things that have saved my life and preserved my sanity through this difficult parenting season. And this stuff isn’t just for homeschoolers or adoptive families – so much of it could apply to any challenging parenting situation.

These are gems – the best of the best that I’ve picked up from wise friends, amazing books and from some serious and desperate time spent with the Lord over the last few months. It’s stuff that’s too good not to share.

So stick with me. I’ll do the first installment on this little "Too Good..." series tomorrow (maybe… depending on how our school day goes).

Also -- I've not forgotten to write the next post on Living Simply, that one's coming too. Stay tuned.

5 comments:

Christy said...

oooooooooh leaving us hanging, huh? Can't wait to hear more! I can't even imagine how hard it is, but you are doing a GREAT job, Shelly!

cshows said...

Shelly, I'm in tears reading this post because I feel crazy like Noah. Right now, I want to abandon my "construction site" for the easy road. In January, God really called us to adoption, but the process even starting has been rough, all my friends are having babies, and I just want to throw in the towel on the adoption because maybe it just feels too hard, I feel too stinkin' crazy, and nothing is happening.

So thanks for the reminder that easy isn't how God works.

SallyP said...

Dr. Robert Smith, Jr. was a guest speaker at our church this past Wednesday night and one line in his message stuck in my mind. "God's delays are not necessarily denials, after all, God's timing is perfect."

Anonymous said...

What a great post! Thanks so much for your words and faith and example.

Susan

http://moreholinessgive.blogspot.com/2011/08/i-was-always-going-to-adopt.html

MKMT said...

I thought you might enjoy one of my favorite quotes: “I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails.
I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp.
I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbors children.
I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden.
I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder.
I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived.”
― Marjorie Pay Hinckley