I'm just going to come out and say it. Some of you already know. And I'm so excited that I can't stand it any longer.
We are homeschooling this year.
HOMESCHOOLING!!
I have to say that this was one of the toughest decisions we've had to make in a while. I mean, we LOVED our school. We loved the teachers, we loved the other students. We love that our kids are both awesome readers. We loved that the school was only a couple blocks away. We loved that our kids made close friends with all types of other kids, from all types of backgrounds. The list could go on and on.
So why in the WORLD are we homeschooling?
It all comes down to one thing. TIME.
Every year I get really antsy around the beginning of August, because I hate the idea of giving my kids back. As soon as school, homework, and earlier bedtime starts up, I get about 1 1/2 hours per day with them. And that's on a good day. For Donnie, time with them gets even more rare. As a youth pastor, he works several nights a week, many weekends, and takes Thursdays as his day off. Any time he has at home is precious, and for much of it, our school-age children are away from home. That just doesn't work for us anymore.
So, homeschooling seems to be the answer.
And I am FREAKING OUT with excitement. I'm sure that if any of you are still reading, you've noticed that I took some time off from the blog this year. I talked about it a little bit here. I had felt a nagging in my spirit that things were off-balance in my life. That I was looking for fulfillment in places that didn't work with the rest of my life. I felt the Lord continually calling me back to the home, and I noticed that He kept closing doors to things (even GOOD things) that didn't directly benefit my home, children, or husband. To tell you the truth, I didn't like it. I felt confined, felt my talents were left unused, felt almost without purpose. But still, I could not shake the feeling that God wanted me to cut off any endeavor that did not directly relate to my family.
I think this might be why.
Suddenly, I find myself completely free from outside influences--completely free to devote all of my energy, talents, and resources to teaching my kids. All of those assets that I thought were going to waste? They are about to be used up on my kids. My hands shake and my eyes well up at the thought of it. That God has been gently nudging me to this point, even though I had no idea where we were going.
So, what does that mean for the blog??
Well, I think it means I'm back. It might look a little different than before, but I'm so excited to share the journey that we're taking on this year.
And I'm a little bit scared to death!