Thursday, April 28, 2011

The Paper Mess

Whenever I tell someone I am homeschooling our 3 children they respond in these ways: "oh, you must be very organized," and "you must have sooo much patience" or something of the sort. The honest answer is no and nope. But I believe God has a plan. I think that sometimes (often) He calls us to do things that we cannot do on our own strength so that we fully depend on HIM to do it through us. In this way, when things go well, God is glorified all around, because we know that it is nothing other than a miracle that we accomplished something only God could do!
Yesterday I had a blistering homeschooling "moment." On the way out to read our history book in the refreshing spring weather, I (and my full binder of history curriculum) was soaked by a bucket of water. An accident. I understand. But huge bummer. Huge setback. Instead of reading our History, we were blow-drying and ironing our work. HMMM? God has a plan in THIS? Yep. I would bet on it. And sometimes I wonder if God and my children are homeschooling me more than I am homeschooling them? Its a daily test of my trust in God's power and presence and peace. And He is strong. And He is here. And all is well. Wet papers don't matter for eternity. Relationships do. So mommy said she was sorry for her tantrum over wet History, and we moved on with drying our curriculum; and I spent some time putting them in page protectors (what a novel idea!), as the kids happily moved on to working on their science projects, researching sea animals, building volcano's, and designing paper airplanes. A reminder that forgiveness heals and the sooner the better. Isn't it true that the one who does not forgive is the one who suffers most? I am glad I am re-learning that lesson. So all is good with the paper mess. The crinkly papers will stand as a reminder to remember people over task. And they shall stand the test of time (page protected) and I can use them again in 4 years when we repeat this era of history in our homeschooling, when I am a much-more-organized and super-patient mother!

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