The past three years have brought a range of encouragements,
challenges, experiences and adventures. God has answered prayers and directed
us step by step. And as a family, I believe we have grown and continue to grow.
Here are a few examples:
1)
Embarking on home education. Three years ago,
our eldest was nearly three years old and our youngest two months old. In the
UK, all three year olds are offered 15 hours of free nursery education – many people
accept this happily as the default position, and even consider that it must be
beneficial because it is pushed by the government. I was under pressure from
some directions to put my eldest two into nursery, and yet we were convinced as
a family this was not the route we felt was right. There was a certain amount
of misunderstanding and at times well-meaning friends and relatives would try
and ‘reason’ with us; the main reason why people seemed to suggest it was to
allow me some ‘me time’, a concept which I find contradicts our God-given roles
as parents. Others would feel criticised by the fact our decisions were different
to theirs. But over time, people have come to accept that home education is something
we do. It becomes easier with time, as people become used to the idea, and also
as we start to see fruit in the boys lives from the choices we have made.
2)
Three years ago, we did not know where God was
leading us as a family. We had spent four wonderful (I need to beware of rose coloured spectacles here, as there were also hardships) years in sub-Saharan Africa,
but were now back in the UK without a specific leading or calling. When the
baby was three weeks old, an opportunity arose to spend 10 weeks as a
missionary doctor family in rural West Africa. This was an amazing blessing –
we were inspired particularly to see how God could use a young family and an
open home for His glory. Since then, we have lived in two UK cities, and also
spent a month in East Africa; now the doors have opened for us to move there
for three or four years in several months time. Our testimony has been that ‘Your
word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.’ Psalm 119:105. God has given
us enough clarity to take the next step. We often have not known what would lie
beyond that, but little by little He leads and guides us. And never ever fails
to provide abundantly.
3)
When we first decided to home educate, I was
concerned about which curriculum or materials to use, making sure we were
covering the full range of topics, working out what the learning styles of my
children were and ensuring there were no gaps. I still spend a lot of time
considering these things, and reflecting on whether changes are needed at any
point. However I have increasingly seen that a lot of it (remember that my
eldest is not yet six) is intuitive – children are born to learn, and to a
certain extent we just need to provide them with the right resources and point
them in the right directions. Rather than proactively setting out a timetable,
I have come to realise that we have naturally formed a routine of Bible and
reading first thing, leading onto drawing, writing, numbers, colouring and
sometimes craft, painting and baking later on before going out to a nearby park
for a run around (and sometimes more focussed nature study). The afternoons
tend to be more variable, perhaps more reading, going on an outing, meeting
friends, doing group activities with a local home education co-op, swimming lessons,
gymnastics etc. And when I consider all that we do each day, I realise that for
now, we are covering a fairly broad range of disciplines (having said that I am
also aware we need to make a specific effort to include a language and things
like coding). We also have been impressed by the ethos and range of materials
provided by Sonlight, and plan to start using their resources in a more
structured way come September.
4)
I had been ill – hyperemesis and eight
admissions during my pregnancy, but then continued vomiting for two years
afterwards. There was a lot of frustration because I knew what was wrong, but
had to wait months for unnecessary tests before going to surgery. I had the
surgery to my stomach just over a year ago now, and am back to better health
than I had been for a while. This taught me lots of lessons about patience,
about trusting God to give you enough strength for each day, and about valuing
what you have (I still have aches and pains here and there, but am thankful I
have the health and strength to do everything I feel God is calling me to).
5)
Generally just three years of boys growing, developing
unique personalities, different strengths and interests, working through
challenges and moving on to new ones, and often not quite having enough time to
really take stock
These are just a few examples of how God has led and
provided for our family over the past three years.
Challenge: When you look at your life and your family, do
you feel overwhelmed by what you have ahead of you, or can you look back with thankfulness
for God’s provision and guidance? Take time today to give thanks.
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