First Days

Today was our first day of home school. I wish I had lots of pictures to post, but none of us slept well last night and I was in a fog most of the morning. Thankfully, it wasn't my morning to teach! Lori and I are going to alternate morning academics and work, so that one week, one of us will teach M/W/F and the other will go to work. We'll all get together for lunch, recess, and a couple of hours of work for both of us. Then the one who worked in the morning will take the boys home for special class (art, music, library, etc.), and we will reverse the order on T/Th. At the end of day one, I can say that it was a roaring success!

How did the boys like it? The jury's still out. They thoroughly enjoyed the freedom to go outside and play in the rain and then with the hose, while at regular school, they would have had to watch a video or have some other indoor activity. But they were a bit squirrely this morning. I don't blame them...this is new territory for all of us, and they are having to relate to us in a new role. They will test the boundaries and we will, occasionally, over react. But we'll figure this out.

I'm so excited about this opportunity to really invest in their lives. Sure, I'm going to miss the hours of uninterrupted work, study, and "me" time, but we'll figure that out, too. I just hated sending them off for 8 of the 12 hours of each day that they were awake. For 9 months, 5 days a weeks, we saw them awake for only 4 hours, and during that time, we had to feed them twice, make sure they were dressed for school, had all their homework done, had play time, bathed, and then get them to bed. Not much time left for easy-going interaction. Not that home school is easy-going interaction, but it sure is less stressed than the other schedule, and there is no homework!

We will be able to take them with us on the road...that, in itself, is worth the extra time and trouble. And just imagine the wonderful places they will see! Talk about field trips! This year, we will be in the heart of Ohio during pumpkin season. They are likely to see the biggest pumpkin in Pickaway County, and there is sure to be a corn maze and several festivals to visit. Why, we will even visit the Pumpkin Show in Circleville, if it's going on at the time. In 2010, we have the opportunity to travel to Nigeria, Ghana, Russia, and India, and we may also visit China, Japan, and the Philippines. Our school curriculum next year will be on different countries and cultures...do you suppose our travels will enhance their studies? What a wonderful plan!

A built-in portion of our curriculum is Bible time, with memory verses for each week. History and science are studied from a Biblical worldview, and we can monitor the books they read, the websites they visit, and the video they consume, not just to screen out inappropriate material, but to help them learn how to discern truth and goodness.

This afternoon, during special class time, the boys and I spent 45 minutes drawing together. We worked on drawing straight lines and learned how using simple lines and nothing else can create shadows, distance, perspective, and 3-dimensions. It was fun! I think I learned as much as they did and we talked about all kinds of things while we were sitting there together. Talk to me in a month...I may be pulling my hair out by then. But, truthfully, I think we are going to thoroughly enjoy this change in our life.

In spite of all these good things, there is a sadness in my heart. I had grown really close to their teachers and many of the other parents and children. In fact, we had built true community with those folks, and the knowledge that I won't be rubbing shoulders with them on at least a weekly basis really makes me sad. With every good gift, every positive change, there is always a sense of loss. Something has moved, altered, and will never be the same. We will have to work harder to maintain these ties.

In fact, we will have to work much harder to maintain the ties we have formed with everyone here in Blue Springs, Missouri, since we are soon moving to Mississippi. No, we don't have a move date, yet. Nor any nibbles on the house. The thought of moving was really difficult when it first became an inevitability, but now that we have had time to say goodbyes, and we have begun our new work with the ministry in Mississippi, we are anxious to make the move and get settled so that we can really dig in and get those fields ready for harvest. The joy and the sadness. The new and the old. The constant change.

Today was the first day of home school. Sometime in the near future will be the first day in our new community. Bittersweet. Constant change. I'm grateful we dwell with the One who is the same now and forever, from the beginning to the end, the first and the last, the One who is with us in all our changes but never Himself changes at all. My Rock, my Refuge, my Strong Tower. Thank you, Father.