As this year comes to a close in the not so distant future, and I reflect on what has been accomplished or remains yet undone, I find it somewhat difficult to begin anew. How much should I really change, both figuratively and literally?
This soon to be past year has presented us with many more challenges than triumphs. Some I have shared here openly, like a heart worn on a sleeve, while others remain secrets shared only among me, my husband and our God. that's ok. that's real life.
I love how Erwin Raphael McManus puts it in his book Seizing Your Divine Moment ~ Dare to Live a Life of Adventure.
Moments are as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sands in the sea, and any of them could prove to be your most significant divine moments. Within those moments, a handful will become the defining moments in your life. However mundane a moment may appear, the miraculous may wait to be unwrapped within it. You rarely know up front the eternal significance of a moment. When a moment is missed, you have a glimpse at an opportunity lost. When you dream, (and please tell me you haven't stopped dreaming) you look to a moment still to come. Yet the only moment that you must take responsibility for right now is the one in front of you.
In my homeschooling, I can choose to season each lesson with the same grace many of my teachers offered me in abundance. when a concept is particularly challenging, or someone simply, seemingly, got up on the wrong side of the bed I can choose to stay in it, and I can choose to have a happy heart, leading by example. grace instead of grouch. I can choose to be more patient in my responses to others; I can choose to simply say less.
As my oldest turns into an official teenager in a few weeks, I am compelled to take another look at the advice of Max Lucado (A Love Worth Giving).
How about adolescence? Remember the torrent of the teenage years? Remember the hormones and hemlines? The puberty and pimples? Those were tough times. Yeah, you're thinking, but you get through them. That's exactly what teenagers need to hear you say. They need an olive leaf from a survivor.
they need us laying it down and living it out.
In some ways, homeschooling is a frightening place to wander. I have not seen the outcome of a life lived radically yet, I am only in my seventh year and my children have not graduated. I can only predict with a foggy sense of clarity what I hope will be and what I trust God to bring forth. No one can tell me with absolute certainty that this "experiment" will be 100% successful and fruitful. Likewise, no one can tell me that what I am doing is destined for failure, doomed from the outset. I can choose. I can chance.
I can Dare to Live a Life of Adventure.
