Focus: Five Minute Friday (three days late!)

FOCUS

A lens comes to mind.

I am not much of a photographer, but I enjoy the IDEA of the way that photography helps you to focus on seeing differently.

My mind is a place that could do with some focus!  One of the things I struggle with in maintaining my blog is that I read many other blogs, love their entries and the way their view the world, and then when I sit down to write my own entry, to share my own heart and mind, my words seem in adequate as I compare them to the others I have read.

I need to help my mind focus as I come to my computer.  Perhaps that means I write first then read.  Or I only write at a separate time than the time when I read, so there is a clear delineation between my words and the words of others.

As a homeschooling teacher, I have been using shorter lesson times for my kids and it really helps them focus!  For example, instead of trying to get through the bulk of an Apologia lesson in one sitting, I am taking small chunks instead.  The girls are able to really focus during our learning time, and their recall is exponentially better because I am not cramming their heads with too many facts at once.

Sometimes what I need to focus on is the quiet, or the beautiful face in front of my who needs my attention, or a task in the kitchen and NOT trying to do three things at once, but really being in the moment as I cook or clean or engage with a loved one. 

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Visit other 5-Minute Friday posts at Gypsy Mama. 

Family Chore Day

For the past five years of homeschooling three kids, chores were just a part of our school day, our “Life Skills” time.  Since my workforce has dwindled to two this year, I needed to come up with another system: enter Family Chore Day. 

The way it works is this: Saturday morning, after a nice leisurely breakfast, I write everyone’s name on our white board, along with their chores.  When someone finishes, I erase their whole chore list and put one more item under their name: go play and have fun!

I appreciate many things about this new system.  First of all, we are all working together which brings a nice sense of community.  Secondly, we can really knock out a lot of work in a short amount of time!  This Saturday we cleaned up after our dogs, mowed both lawns, swept our patio, sorted and washed the family laundry, cleaned both bathrooms, vacuumed, cleaned our French doors, dusted the living room and entry way, swept and mopped floors, did a big clean of the guinea pig hutch and all three kids practiced piano!  We started work at 10:30am and were done and eating lunch by 1:30pm.

The longer I am a Mama, the more I appreciate the different seasons in this parenting journey.  So far, the Family Chore Day is a positive part of this new and different season.    

Five Minute Friday: Graceful

(I know the prompt is graceful...grace is what stuck in my head)
Grace:

A perfect prompt for today because I am needing much grace!  Grace to let go and trust in the area of parenting a pre-teen.  Grace to trust that God made me just as He intended, and to gracefully accept that and live confidently as the woman He made me to be, not as I THINK I should be as I compare myself to others.  Oh, I need such grace for this…

This is also a perfect prompt for today because I have been pondering the gospel lately, trying to think often how the truth of it connects with every area of my life. 

Isn’t it interesting how God will get a theme going in your life?  Lately mine is the gospel of grace.  I am reading Elyse Fitzpatrick’s book, Give Them Grace.  Our church is studying Galatians and during our first home fellowship, we talked about the gospel, where we first heard it, what is IS anyway.

I listened the song Grace by U2 this morning during my workout.  My favorite line: “Grace….it’s a name for a girl; it’s also a thought that, can change the world.”

Visit Lisa Jo at Gypsy Mama for more Five Minute Friday posts!

the drop off

Today, for the first time in five years, I was in the line of cars snaking their way onto a school campus with a child beside me holding tight to a bulging backpack, ready to open the car door and step out into a new adventure.  I pulled up to the curb, smiled into the sea blue eyes of my son, and watched him open the door and go on his way.  Then I drove on out of the parking lot, down the road, and back home, wiping a few tears as I went.

and the winner is...

On Apri 17th, 2012 we won the lottery.

Or I should say, my son did.  A few weeks earlier, I filled out an online application for him to attend a new school in our local district.  The school is a STEM Academy, which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.  The process for entering the school made me think it might not even be a possibility since we had to enter a lottery and I tend to win those kinds of things, oh, NEVER.

That day in April my husband went to the drawing, Stephen's number was called, and I got this text: He's in!

For the past five years, Stephen has been homeschooled.  We made the decision after much thought and prayers to bring him home from public school at the end of the second month of first grade.  Our decision was based primarily on academics.  The school he attended was struggling and the instruction in his class was going to be focused on bringing up test scores, not inspiring learning.  I had observed a friend's homeschooling journey and liked both the academic possibilities of teaching my children at home and the more flexible lifestyle it opened up.

I entered into homeschooling with a first grader, a preschooler and a toddler.  The years have passed swiftly, full of reading, math, field trips, and all of the ups and downs of normal family life.  Like most homeschooling moms, I struggle with balancing all of my different roles, but honestly, as hard as it can be sometimes, I am grateful for the character building refining fire that is homeschooling.  I am a different person in a deep way because of this journey.

Our homeschooling road had taken quite  downturn last Spring and I was plain burned out.  I had struggled all year to meet the needs of my son both academically and socially.  Parenting dynamics with another child were causing strife and lending a flavor to our learning days that was not pleasant.  I felt the third child was getting the short end of the stick on many days.  The homeschool charter school we are a part of has a program where you can send your kids to school three days a week and only school them at home for two days.  I seriously considered this option.

One afternoon during coffee with a friend who is a public school teacher, I learned about the STEM Academy.  The focus of the school intrigued me for Stephen because of his interest in the sciences.  The application deadline was imminent.  I decided it wouldn't hurt to put in the application, so I did.  My husband and I researched the school, talked to an acquaintance who teaches there, and decided we would enter the lottery.

And his number was called.

After a real break this summer, our family is entering this year in an entirely different place from this past Spring!  God graciously took me though this summer, putting His healing balm on my burned out places, speaking truth into my heart about His plans for my kids this next year, reminding me to put my confidence in Him in all things, including my children, their character, their schooling, all of it.

I'm off to soak in this last weekend before school starts for Stephen on Monday!

Gift after Gift...

Continuing the list of gifts from His hand...

~ last day of summer before school starts!
~hot coffee with half and half
~a boy's room, completely purged, rearranged, fitted with a new bed and made ready for his transition to middle school (yikes!)
~tired muscles after the gym
~a husband who is my best friend
~the mercy of a new day
~cooler temperatures at nights so we can turn of the A/C and open the windows

Today is officially our last day of summer.  Tomorrow the girls go back to school, spending the day taking classes at our homeschool learning center.  Wednesday will be my first day of homeschool teaching for this school year.  I am excited to begin this adventure again, which feels like a miracle to say because at the end of last year I was burned out and so glad for the break.  God has been gracious over this summer to renew my energy and enthusiasm for homeschooling.

The biggest change of this school year is that I will only be teaching two children here at home.  Our oldest child, who is entering sixth grade, has the opportunity to attend a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Academy in our local school district this year.  We are all excited about this opportunity, although I admit to also feeling a bit anxious about how this transition will go.  He starts a week from today, so this will be an interesting week with the girls starting school and him still on vacation.  We'll see how it goes.

No fear

My morning bible study focused on this verse:

Genesis 15:1

After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid Abram.  I am your shield, your very great reward."

The first words out of God's mouth, or the mouths of His messengers, are so often, "Don't be afraid."  God knows us well, doesn't He?  

As I pondered these words, I realized that, fear is an emotion that drives much of what I do:

Fear of not being liked by others causes me to adjust myself to their expectations of me.

Fear of becoming overweight in middle age pushes me out of bed at 5:15am to head to the gym.

Fear of my kids growing up lacking in some way causes me to obsess about their activities, homeschooling curriculum, friends, opportunities.

Acting in fear is not really acting at all, but REacting.  I am not authentically living when I let fear drive my actions in so many areas.  

My fearful soul is comforted and encouraged by dwelling on God's words: Do not be afraid...I am your shield, your very great reward.

Focusing on God's work in my life, the everyday blessings He freely bestows, allows me to shed the bonds of fear and live in freedom.

My prayer, "Lord, help me to live fearlessly, knowing You are my shield and my very great reward."