I’ve been seeing some of the news coverage lately about the flooding in Colorado. I’m saddened to see the loss and destruction and the loss of life. They’ve been showing video of the rushing currents and people and vehicles trying to cross them. The current causes the normal activity of moving forward to be full of difficulty and struggle. Each step has to be intentional and the fear of falling down or getting swept away where they don’t want to go is greatly increased.
I was thinking about how those muddy rushing currents are similar to the pressure that many of you are feeling especially at this time of year toward the sort of schooling you’re observing around you in the homeschool community. Some of you are feeling pressured to get involved in co-ops or other peer group activities in order to join your friends in what they’re doing with their children. Some of you are feeling pressured to run back to curriculum and teacher-driven assignments because that’s what everyone else is doing and recommending. Some of you are feeling pressured to give up the idea of homeschooling all together. This is your first year, and it seemed like a really good idea from the Lord over the summer, but now some around you are pressuring you that it’s not really a good idea after all.
All this pressure is like the rushing current, making it difficult to take steps forward and increasing your fear of getting swept away or going in the wrong direction. Just like with a rushing water current, there are a couple of things you can do to make the going better and easier.
The best thing you can do is stay out of the current! As you’re becoming familiar with the Lifestyle of Learning™ Approach to whole-life education, it is wise for you to be careful and conscious of how you allow yourself to be influenced. Consider where the current is and equally consider avoiding it. Is it within a group of people you’re in regular association with? Where and when do they associate? Do you really need to be there? Is it a social media connection you have? Do you really need to keep reading it and observing the influence that is like a strong current to you, making you feel shaky and unsure?
The next best thing is to know exactly where you’re going. If you must cross a current, keeping your eyes on where you are going helps to make your steps stronger and more sturdy. When you look down at the current, you actually feel like you’re going the wrong way and you get disoriented. Making sure to renew your mind toward natural learning and loving family relationships will help you to be more sure of where you are headed and why you began to head that way. Then the disorientation and confusion of the current’s direction will be less.
The “Bringing It Home” series ebooks and audios are great for giving you very practical help for strategically moving forward so that you know where you’re going and have positive actions to focus on. Especially helpful from these books is Develop Vision for Your Family, and Come Home from Homeschool. We have a free article for you about strategically preparing your family, home, and environment for maximum learning. You can register for the article here.
You might want to consider getting into a current that is going the direction you’re wanting to go. I’m thinking of the way my kids used to jump into the river and ride the current down. They always got there faster and with less effort than those of us who walked down the trail beside the river. The current boosted them along so they moved even faster with less effort. Lifestyle of Learning™ Association of Christian Home Educators (LOLACHE) membership will put you right in the current toward Holy-Spirit-led whole-life education. The many resources available to you as a member will encourage you, and the company of so many moms headed that same direction will be a boost to you instead of struggle you may be experiencing from working against the current of just-like-school methods and the peer focused culture.
I pray for you that you will be able to resist the pull of the just-like-school systems, and press on toward combining growth with learning for whole-life education!
Blessings,
~ Barbie Poling