I love that I can pass on my knowledge to my children.  Sometimes though, I am teaching what I don’t really know much about myself.  That happened with Emma this last month.  I have always been a sewing wanna-be.  I want to learn to sew clothes and other fun things.  Several years ago, I bought a sewing machine in hopes of learning.  However, over the years, the machine has mostly been used for straight sewing – like pillows or curtains.  That is the limit to my sewing expertise.

Well, Emma said she wanted to learn to sew.  We had bought new fabric for some curtains in Emma’s room.  I was working on hemming them up.  She asked to learn.  So … curtains it is.  She sat with me and ran the fabric through the machine.  I am glad that I was able to share this with her.  Maybe one day, we can advance to clothes.  Maybe…

Sew, sew, sew!

Threading the needle

So this week was challenging in a different way for our school.  We were having some MAJOR electricity problems.  Some towers were destroyed and it was taking quite a while to get to them to have them fixed.  We were having electricity for only about one hour each day.  Makes online schooling more difficult.  Thankfully, last year we were gifted some money with which we purchased a battery backup system.  So we were able to maintain our school schedules, charge our computers and print and scan the things we needed to.

During my quiet time on one of these non-electricity day (maybe day 3 or 4), I was praying that we would be able to get school done well in spite of the electricity problems.  I was praying that we would not be frustrated or grouchy with each other because of the more challenging situation.  And God brought this verse to mind:

God was reminding me that even in difficult circumstances and frustrating times, I must be joyful.  I must pray continually.  And above all, give thanks – even for those days upon days without electricity days.  I am thankful for our battery backup system.  I am thankful for our generator.  I am thankful for that one hour of electricity.  I am thankful for a bit cooler days since we had no coolers or fans.  Thank you God that even in the storm, there are little blessings.

So I have many jobs as a mother.  The one that seems to keep me most busy is homeschool teacher.  Most of our day is spent in school time.  I enjoy teaching my children.  I have so enjoyed seeing them grow and develop over the years.  I love seeing their strengths and working with them in their weaknesses.

But I’m not going to lie.  Some days are just hard.  They are grouchy.  I am grouchy.  We get frustrated at the work or at each other.  We sometimes just don’t have good days.  Well, last week seemed to be one of those weeks.  A stressful week with super long school days as we tried to finish everything out.  We are doing new online classes for some of our subjects, and we are still getting used to our new teachers, our new computer systems, and our new schedules.  We were all a bit frustrated last week.

I love how God brings us just the encouragement we need at the moment we need it.  So it was during this frustrating week that I was listening to a podcast on the Thankful Homemaker website.  She was giving encouragement to tired moms from Titus.  Well, near the end of the podcast, she said a quote from Elisabeth Elliot.  It was this:

“This job has been given to me to do.  Therefore, it is a gift.  Therefore, it is a privilege.  Therefore, it is an offering I may make to God.  Therefore, it is to be done gladly, if it is done for Him.  Here, not somewhere else, I may learn God’s way.  In this job, not in some other, God looks for faithfulness.”

What a great reminder that – even on those bad days – it is a privilege to spend this special time with my children.  It is a gift to walk them through difficult times.  It is an honor to pour into them.  God has blessed me generously with three lovely blessings.  I don’t have to be a perfect teacher.  They don’t have to be perfect students.  I am just to serve in the role of mother/teacher that God has put me in.  I am to do that gladly.  I am to be faithful in what he has given me and leave the rest up to him.  Thank you God, even for those not-so-hot days.  Help me be faithful.

So I just realized that we are almost two weeks into school, and I have not posted the first day of school pics on our blog.  What am I thinking??  Well, maybe I am just thinking too much about school itself.  With new subjects, new internet classes, trying to find a workable schedule to get everything done in a timely manner – well, I guess it just slipped my mind.  So … here they are.

Pretty handsome and beautiful kids (if I do say so myself!!)