Raising our little ones: Mud and Manners: Day # 3 of “At-Home” Schooling

“When my heart is overwhelmed, led me to the Rock that is higher than I.” I’ve been searching out the Psalms lately for promises from God. He promises often that He is with us...I rejoice in that today!

So, this is only the third day of “at-home” schooling, and it’s truly not the homeschooling thats been hard. It’s been hard watching family and friends go through hard times, and everyone wondering when the change will come towards the “better”. I’ll be honest, I already miss my close friends, our dear church family, our school staff, and it’s only the third day!

What to do when your home ...a lot? First of all, I am busy with my family. This tribe that lives here has not given up laundry for the sake of the Coronavirus! They also haven’t given up eating, squabbling, or using toilet paper! I am soaking up the extra time with our children, but being thrust into five kids homeschooling is a situation that I’m still trying to make heads and tails of! Emma requires the most one-on-one time...obviously! Keeping up with her numbers, sounds, reading, and writing at a kindergarten level is a lot of work. Travis is fairly independent, except school is not his favorite thing. He tends to shout out,”Mom, how do you spell....?” A lot! Wyatt is independent and a quiet worker. I have to seek him out to see if he needs help, and he usually does not. Chandler would rather hurry up and get the work done than to take the time to make sure its all done correctly! And Garett ....well, he disappeared outside for over three hours today just tromping around outside and collecting things for the journal he is working on. I had him make cookies for part of his math lessons, and he quickly realized that ingredients were not something to make estimates on! Wyatt and Travis have added a bit of online learning to their additional school work. Emma’s cousin, Charity, called her today via FaceTime, so that was a fun experience for Emma. The girls colored pictures via long distance, and seemed to have a great conversation together. I think I need to see up a Face Time phone call with a friend too!

The weather was dreary today...colder, and no sunshine. That totally does not make the situation any better. But, our staff devotional word today was “Joy”! Joy is not found in my circumstances, but rather in Jesus. Sometimes the chaos and situations can threaten to steal my joy, but I don’t have to let my joy be stolen! God is still God, and He’s on the throne where He’s always been. For part of our family devotions as of late, we’ve been singing all the old children’s Bible choruses. The truths found in these children’s Bible songs is still relevant many year later. “Jesus is the Rock of my salvation, His banner over me is Love.” “Jesus Loves Me”. “The Wordless Book Chorus” and so many more. I love to hear my children sing, and although none of them would admit it, I’m sure its comforting to them also.

March always seems like a long month, but I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks that this is like the longest month EVER! I’ve even started marking off the days on the calendar, just so I can remember what day of the week and what the date is for today! We spend a lot of time outside when the weather is nice, but I’m not a huge fan of tromping around in the cold and mud. However, the boys took down the ice skating rink today, and set up the trampoline instead. They were wet, but they definitely seem to get along better in the great outdoors rather than all in the floor of the living room!

My dad was supposed to go on a missions trip to the Dominican Republic, but the Dominican is closed until 4/3. While it’s disappointing, I’m thankful that my dad is not in the Dominican for the next three weeks because he cant come back to the States. My mom and dad had driven to North Carolina to catch a flight, but then the flight was cancelled to the missions trip. My parents have decided to come up to Maine for a few days. Thankfully, my dad likes the outdoors because that’s what we have to offer right now! My kids are excited to see my parents, and I’m sure that we can find plenty to do outside.

Americans are all in a tough spot, but not just Americans, all over the globe lives have been changed and impacted. Faith, love, joy, peace, oh, those are not just words to fly off the tip of our tongues. Those are life-changing words for us as believers. It means that we don’t have to have fear while the world is overrun with fear. We can love those around us, even while selfishness runs rampant. We can find joy in Jesus because we do not depend on our circumstances to bring us joy. And peace, oh what wonderful peace. I’m clinging to that tonight. Ive enjoyed my prayer time with one of our staff ladies the past few days, and its refreshing to bring those burdens to the feet of the cross.