When a New School Year Stares you in the Face and Scares Your Pants Off!

Please, please, please tell me I’m not alone. I’m surrounded by stacks of books and papers trying to fit the jigsaw together to create some sort of picture. Trying to support my children in all the amazing goals they have for their learning this year, all without losing my mindJ

I’ve got four school-age children this year; ages 12, 10, 8, 6. And two sweetly mischievous littles (4 & 2). The task in front of me, to support and encourage and guide their learning, has left me breathless for the last few weeks. I have thought and prayed and sketched – a rough plan, trying to make tangible (and less daunting) the details of educating six children. But the truth is, it is a daunting task – being in relationship with these six amazingly bright and curious people who look to me for guidance and support. There is no way to minimize the enormity of that task, but I have found a way to breathe and quell, even if only one moment at a time, the anxiety that is trying to take hold of me.

What did I do?

I stopped.

I stepped back and remembered…

It’s not my job to make their education perfect.

It is my privilege and responsibility to connect with them through their learning. To learn with them, guide them from my own knowledge and respect their inner knowing.

It is not my job to hand it all to them on a platter and force them to eat. It is my privilege and responsibility to offer them the books and experiences that will meet their needs, and to encourage them when life and learning offer up challenges.

Most importantly, I had to remember that this family, large in size and chaos, is a gift from God. And it is exactly as it is supposed to be. I am not alone in this endeavor. It is not mine alone to shape or manipulate. This family – we learn together, support each other. And when I’m not so busy worrying about how it all depends on me, I remember that my greatest encourager, the One up above, always has my back!