It’s EASY to be exceptional!
Proof:
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People in 58 countries read my writing, so join in with what everyone else is doing! (Wait! I meant “Be Uniquely You!”)
The problem with God is that He always has the wrong priorities.
For example, the greatest parenting priority for me is OBVIOUSLY that my kids tidy their messes more often, so I don’t have to run around behind them all day, cleaning up after them! Who wants to be Martha, tidying after others all day? Obviously, she’s the loser of this historical story, and the words Jesus said to her are proof that ME cleaning up is a BAD, unspiritual idea!
People in over 50 countries have read my online writing, so be uniquely you and join in with what everyone else is doing!
So obviously my top parenting priority is that my kids NEED to do a MUCH better job cleaning up!1
But God, in all His wisdom, dares to impress upon my heart that this “kids-learning-to-clean-up-after-themselves” thing is a SMALL problem in the big scheme of things. And the little lie that my adorable 3-year-old told that was super cute, and I tried not to laugh at it? The one that I forgot about, and then I bought her an ice cream after?
A big problem, I sensed Holy Spirit whisper, nudge, remind me, warn.
Jesus said, “I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life.”
Oh come on, really? Who do you think you are . . . God? And then I remember who is bringing the words of the ancient text to life in my heart.
And the weird thing is that when I TRY it God’s way, and keep HIS big things big and MY small things small, for SOME REASON, parenting gets a whole lot easier in the long term.
Spending hours and hours working and sweating to impress upon my kids the NEED to tell the truth literally saved me from self-imploding when other problems cropped up in their teens. The kids were still messy, but I could trust that they were generally truth-tellers and so, well . . .
God was right!
The messy room problem was a lot easier to sidestep by simply closing the door to their bedrooms and pretending our house was smaller.
But the “truth” thing? It was more important than I thought. Try it sometime!
For more proof that God is (a bit) smarter than us, I know a mom who (seriously!) said, “Lying isn’t such a big deal. Stop making a big deal out of little things. We don’t worry about that kind of stuff with my kids.” When her husband was finally caught lying about the fact that he DIDN’T have an affair (he did), I wondered if she finally came round to the conclusion that God is smarter than us?
Probably not.
That’s a hard truth to learn. Not even I2 have learned THAT truth, yet! Anyway, I hope you jump on God’s side and feel that God’s priorities are ACTUALLY best for your joy and happiness.
Even if God is wrong, it seems to work out better for us in the long run when we follow His priorities for our lives, I’ve noticed.
You’re welcome!
Good luck!
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Photo Credit: How Dare He Think He’s So Smart? by Ben White on Unsplash
1 Yes! So I don’t have to!
2 Someone who writes about spiritual stuff (!) online, therefore I am obviously know a lot of stuff!
“No! I’m not going insane. Why do you ask?:
Above was the response I gave all weekend, like hitting a ping-pong ball back to the person who launched it at me, again and again.
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I was at an in-person homeschool Year-End Celebration event this weekend with Logos Online School, and I gave the same response (above) to the same question that all the other homeschooling parents kept asking me.
And then even a stranger not at our event rolled down his car window and asked me a question. “What in the WORLD is going on here? I haven’t ever seen that many people in this park since the County Fair!” he exclaimed. We were elbow to elbow at the outdoor English Country dance at the Year-End event, where kids of every age (AND their parents!) danced together for several hours, everyone smiling unwittingly.
I attempted to explain, “Oh! There are simply people from nearly every state in the US and many provinces in Canada, plus some internationals here, dancing together with people of all ages for fun!” I waved him off with a smile. His eyebrows furrowed deeper.
Homeschooling is hard to explain sometimes.
Even God (!) is surprising us with our collective homeschooling adventure because homeschooling has been growing exponentially.
This growth in homeschooling is a good thing for our culture for many reasons, including those discussed HERE, HERE and even HERE.
Oh, and the part about many people asking me if I’m going insane? Oh, that’s because it’s my last year homeschooling my kids after 20 years at this job, teaching them from Kindergarten to Grade 12 (I know! I’m shocked I lasted that long, too!). It’s a new season for me.
So I may be feeling a bit disoriented.
And my last kid is moving out this year. (I’m advanced at keeping my kids nearby! And we missed a few milestones, such as the one for Kindergarten kids, “Watch at the school bus takes them away!”)
So I desperately asked for advice at this homeschooling event to every parent I knew who had just finished or was about to finish homeschooling their kids, like a drowning person asking (politely!) for a life preserver.
A quick summary of what I heard, through their tears and their joy, is that in this changing season, we need to let three things bubble up:
For example, as the song below sings, “it’s gonna to take some time,” and “be patient with the process,” what do you sense God stirring in your soul, friend? God time for a listen? “If you want a resurrection,” what “dying has to happen” in your life, friend?
In my case, I wonder if maybe my kids can go ahead and save the world while I put my feet up for a few decades to celebrate a homeschooling job well done? (See Point #1 above). OK, maybe God has something new for me, too, in this next season, but that’s a discussion for another time. (I keep forgetting to do Point #2, above.)
Yes! I’m OK! I’m NOT going insane!
Why do you ask?
And I will try to forget about all those martinis I DIDN’T drink on the bad homeschooling days. I’m FINE! (I hope you are, too, friend.)
You’re welcome!
Good luck!
Thanks for liking me! I like you too! – Proven HERE, HERE, and HERE! Let’s journey together!
Photo Credit – FINALLY Leaving Home, Are We? by Mobio Marketing on Unsplash
If you are downcast and wondering how ON EARTH to be a great mother, look no further because I am wearing my cape of excellent motherhood for you!
(I will also write about humility, but that’s not till next week, so we are safe for now!)
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How can I assert myself as a great mother so you will listen to my advice? Good question! As I have recently learned, we have to find a way to convince others that we are experts before we tell them what to do, with enough confidence that they MAY even listen to us!
Well, here is some proof:
My kids drew these pictures for me over ten years ago!
Note the following close-up details:
One child wrote, “I wanna [sic] to be like you when I grow up.” Should I remind you all that perhaps the 10th item on my list of nine reasons to homeschool is that if you keep them at home with the curtains drawn and doors locked all the time1, your children MAY actually find that if there are no other adults in your children’s lives to look up to, so the adult they look up to is surprisingly . . .YOU!
Also, in the details of these pictures my children drew, you can see that one child wrote “Power” on her drawing of me! This comment is proof of my gentle assertiveness, I can assume! I don’t think she is talking about being afraid of me, like she said here, as that would be unhealthy, and the point of these introductory paragraphs is for you to realize that I am an expert.
However, unlike my usual writing, today I DO ACTUALLY have ONE piece of advice that can help you, so before you slam your laptop shut, you may want to stick around for that tasty candy I’ll soon toss your way.
You’re welcome!
Good luck!
Wait for it . . . (Building suspense)
Fifteen years ago, I was at the women’s retreat, and my tears surprised me.
Something a woman said at the conference echoed and clarified something God seemed to be whispering to my soul.
One wise woman figured there was probably a lesson for me in these surprising tears, so she patiently sat down to listen and to help me find the message after handing me the box of Kleenex.
And this message within my tears became one of the important anchors that helped to salvage my parenting from shipwreck.
Sometimes the message within our tears and prayers frees us.
Unfortunately, we’ll have to discuss this next time because this newsletter is getting too long – I think it’s your attention span is too short, by the way, not mine.2
However, you’re in luck because I have no idea what topics I’m even writing about,3 and so I accidentally posted two articles out of order! So this month, I ALREADY posted that amazing advice I found in my tears HERE!
You’re welcome!
Good luck!
Thanks for liking me! I like you too! – Proven HERE, HERE, and HERE! Let’s journey together!
Photo Credits – Woman Weeping Holding Hope by engin akyurt on Unsplash, Drawings And Notes by Two Incredible Children
1 That statement was a trick because homeschoolers are out doing stuff WAY more often than they should be if they were actually serious about meeting every Learning Objective the teachers tell us is essential (They are not essential). For definitive proof that we homeschoolers are home much less than we “should” be, watch this funny video on homeschooling myths.
2 Just sayin’. Wait – What were we talking about?
3 (Or why – But that’s another topic!)
I’m mad at you! At all of you with a child over seventeen years old who left home! I hate you all! Why didn’t you tell me it would be this hard to say goodbye when they left for college!?
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My last post definitely proved that I am a good mother!
If that weren’t enough proof, check out this mug my daughter purchased for me!1
And now that I have established my authority as an excellent mom, let me tell you what I learned about becoming a slightly better Mom!
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Join people in over fifty countries who read this to gain valuable life wisdom! (Or maybe they’re just laughing at me? . . . Whatever!)
So previously I talked about the day that our child received the diagnoses of:
So clearly, the night skies weren’t predicting clear skies and smooth sailing for this child. These diagnoses were the first true storm that woke us up to trouble ahead. Up until that day, we thought our growing feeling of seasickness was due more to our own queasy stomachs than to the ominous, ongoing waves of the sea that were making us feel unwell.
Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.
Join people in over fifty countries who read this to gain valuable life wisdom! (Or maybe they’re just laughing at me? . . . Whatever!)
I was devastated by these diagnoses in all honesty. Our beautiful, kind daughter, the one who tried so hard, loved so completely, and who still had her whole life in front of her, seemed to be in a fog most of the time.
We tried to wake her up with “Enrichment Activities” the experts recommended when she was a baby, but she still slept for 20 hours a day, piling up her milestones behind her while she slept.
It seemed that the horizon of her future would be truncated and shorter than the full expanse that we hope for each of our children.
What now? We were ushered into the new world of “Autism and Special Education” appointments with experts, which were like annoying fire alarms set into our otherwise peaceful homeschooling days. Having fun quietly playing a board game with a sibling?
“TOO BAD! You HAVE to go to X appointment RIGHT Now!”
Sometimes, often, she would scream in protest at these new, unwelcome interruptions, but I would force her into the car, strap her seatbelt so she couldn’t resist, and drive away, my supermom cape trailing behind me as I drove.
“Experts knew best!” I reminded myself as I drove! Except when they don’t. And they usually don’t in these situations.
But that’s for another time.
Got a stomach that can handle some seasickness, friend? Maybe take some Gravol for the seasickness before you read on. There.
Are you feeling better?
And now let’s sit for a bit by the seaside before we decide to board that boat together. The journey I am suggesting will require learning some sailing skills and building our physiques. Up for a challenge?
If so, what challenge or storm has surprised you on your journey?
Let’s sit here by the ocean, friend, and ask God for your next steps.
And so, how do we find the path through your storm?
As the song below plays, imagine that Jesus is right next to you. He is! Smile at this knowledge! Do you feel your soul relax? As you ponder the lyrics, “You are the peace in my troubled sea,” or “Your great love will lead me through,” consider sitting in the quiet for a few minutes and asking Jesus, “How can I stand behind You, and then row this boat ashore, with You guiding and directing, to help us sail through this storm?”
And I pray that God leads you through your storm, friend, as you listen closely to Him guiding you.
The journey is a thing, but you’ve got this, holding the hand of the one who walks with us on raging seas and sometimes even calming the seas raging in our lives. Oh! And our child was healed of the negative challenges associated with all of these diagnoses.
But I’ll have to tell you that story another time.
Thanks for liking me! I like you too! – Proven HERE, HERE, and HERE! Let’s journey together!
Photo Credit – Some Storms May Look Like This by Marcus Woodbridge on Unsplash
This advice could make you feel like a Superhero Mama (like me in the photo below – just sayin’) in Clark Kent clothes (OK – Clark Kent clothes with finger paint on them. Who’s looking THAT closely?) because this article is FILLED to the brim with advice about how to make your homeschooled kids clean up!
(Or at least there SHOULD BE AT LEAST ONE piece of advice in this article! I hope you find it! While you’re looking, have you seen any pencils? We lost all of ours, so it’s becoming harder to do math.)
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Join people in over fifty countries who read this to gain valuable life wisdom! (Or maybe they’re just laughing at me? . . . Whatever!)
We are serving up some previously published articles for you to feast on this week, while our family is on spring break.1
Goodbye, winter!
Hello, flowers in Victoria, Canada! Enjoy some of this site’s top articles from around this time last year.2 And may these articles help you stride confidently through life!
(As usual.)
Yeah, so I might have had a slight touch of fear now and then over my lifetime.
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With desperation, I can ALMOST (!) hear you, then, asking me, “What is this one unknown truth that makes my plant (I.e., life!) flourish?”
Great question! I’m glad you asked (me!)!
It’s the following truth:
Join people in over fifty countries who read this to gain valuable life wisdom! (Or maybe they’re just laughing at me? . . . Whatever!)
God has terrible math skills!
And so, in today’s article, we will:
You’re welcome!
Good luck!
“How can I have the MOST productive, important life?” I asked God over and over.
Not that I am neurotic or anything, but I obviously asked this only so I could best help others thrive!
Well, that part came a bit later (it’s still coming a bit), but the point is that we ALL want to be IMPORTANT and AMAZING, if we push past the clutter of our words that we try to make ourselves believe when people are listening to us.
When I had my first child, I was almost immediately asked by a helpful (?) family member what everyone else was thinking: “Can you earn more money if you get someone else to take care for your baby, versus if you do it?” (I.e., He was basically asking me something like, “Do you have more earning potential than an unskilled nine-year old?”) Yes!
I did!
“Then you’ll put your kid in daycare,” his brain automatically assumed. He was talking without thinking. Makes sense!
The math adds up!
But then it seemed God was asking me to care for and then homeschool our two1 kids for twenty years.
That kind of math does NOT make sense.
God doesn’t seem to care much about math, because there was a LOT of other stuff I could have done during that time. God is not as PRACTICAL as the rest of us. This complaint is actually one of the (many) complaints I have had about God over the years.
Dr. Robertson McQuilkin, a prominent author, educator, and former president of Columbia Bible College and Seminary, famously resigned from his prestigious position in 1990 to become the full-time caregiver for his wife, Muriel, who was suffering from early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
Source: Focus on the Family: Love In The Midst Of Alzheimer’s
And so, how do God’s bad math skills help you to soar in your life?
For one, you can write online (if God is calling you to do this2). And then, you can write online with confidence! And if only ONE person (your mom?) reads your stuff, then you can still trust that your life is amazing!
I can trust that my small life, in the palm of His hand, is stewarded well as I do my best, falling as I go, to walk along the path He chooses for me because God carries the responsibility for what exactly a life well lived consists of!
[God] rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
So you can relax and follow God, and not care so much about what everyone else thinks of you or about boring stuff like whether your life is a good use of time, as valued by something as dumb as math skills! And that is freeing (once you can become socially adjusted enough not to care what others think of you, which took me twenty years3). But the IDEA is freeing once I can finally trust that my life has value as I trust Him to lead me!
And one day, I sensed in the depths of my heart God comforting me by whispering something along the lines of:
I won’t waste your life4.
So keep having a life that makes no sense, friend!
(We know better, regardless of what the math says.)
Thanks for liking me! I like you too! – Proven HERE, HERE, and HERE! Let’s journey together!
Photo Credit: Me (N U) In God’s Hands by Jennifer Delmarre on Unsplash, Me (N U) Soaring by Alfonso Betancourt on Unsplash
1 No! That’s not eight or twelve!
2 If you are a Christian who believes EXACTLY the same stuff as me, then You should be writing online, too! At least that’s what I think: We need more people to spout off and to say things just like I would, and to be exactly like me, is basically what I believe, though I would say that in a more nuanced way, if I were ever to mention that above a whisper.
3 And I’m not there yet!
4 Would I believe Him? Well, that’s for next time. But know that I did (!) start writing online! And then, my Mom even read what I wrote once! And now, even YOU read it! (More on why or if that matters another time.)
Restoring Life 