I am gonna try it one more time ;)!! I think about updating our blog all of the time, but for some reason I can never seem to find the time to sit down and do it! I am sure having three small children close in age has absolutely nothing to do with it!! But, since my little sweeties are all growing so fast, I want to really try and document more of it! Plus, they are super funny little guys! I am always looking for other people in the same boat as me, so maybe by blogging about different things, I can help some one else!
There have been some major changes around our house this past year!! Obviously my sweet boys are all a year older....tear! Wesley just turned SIX yesterday, Davis will be FOUR in a few months, and Johnson is ONE. I love watching my precious babies grow and change every day, but I wish time would SLOW down just a little bit!
Another change we have had, has been a major conviction in how we educate our children. Rhett and I have always planned to send our children to public school. That is what we did growing up, and we turned out just fine. He's a dentist, I'm a nurse, so obviously our education was good. We have known of people that chose to educate their children in different ways, like homeschooling, but knew for certain that would never be our family! I mean, those people are so weird and their kids are just strange.....right?? We actually mumbled under our breath a lot when we heard some one was planning to homeschool...."man those kids are never going to be able to function in society"......we have all said it!! Rhett and I have both learned in the past that God's plan is so much bigger and better than anything we can ever "plan" with our human nature! About a year ago, I started feeling like God might be telling me something different about our education plans. I confess.....I IGNORED it! I knew better, but I was certain I was just imagining it:)! At the time, Wesley was in preschool at a local church. He enjoyed it, and was doing well. I seriously kept putting away this little nudge in the back of mind. The problem is, it was NOT going away, just getting stronger. I prayed and prayed some more, surely God was gonna change His mind! One day, I finally said okay God....but if this is what you want for our family, Rhett has to be led this way too. He in NO WAY has ever been a supporter of homeschooling. One night, in tears I sat down and talked with him.....God had really been working on me. Being the sweet husband he is, he listened intently to the things God had placed on my heart and some of the "research" I had done. We talked for a long time. Rhett did not feel led to homeschool at all, but he promised to pray about it. I remember thinking and praying that if he ever told me we were supposed to homeschool, then I would know it was from God! He was totally against it! Months went by and we would occasionally talk about it, but nothing had really changed. Rhett always reminded me that he was still praying about it, but just didn't feel led. In the meantime I was being more and more convicted that we were supposed to homeschool Wesley for kindergarten.......but Rhett wasn't. That is a problem.......I couldn't be one of those weird-0's alone ;)! One day I was rocking Johnson in the den, and Rhett was in the kitchen. He said he wanted to "talk". I was a little surprised, because he doesn't usually want to "talk"! He told me he had been praying and thinking a lot about homeschooling and was feeling led that way! I think I almost dropped the baby and choked on the water that was in my mouth! Now it was real and very scary! We were going to homeschool and actually be one of those "WEIRDO'S"!! We both had an incredible peace and certainty that we were right where God wanted us to be. There is no better feeling!! The months to follow were filled with lots of prayer, curriculum research, major construction project to transform one of our attics into our school space, major doubt from me (none from Rhett), and excitement as we prepared for our new adventure to begin! One day, while getting haircuts, our sweet friend that has cut all of our hair since Wesley was 6 months old, asked Wesley about starting kindergarten. His response..."My Daddy and Papa, got some boards and put them in the attic, and I'm gonna go to school in the attic". HAHA!!! We feel very blessed for this season of homeschooling and the path God has led us on. We in no way think public or private school is bad or wrong. We truly were just convicted that for OUR family, homeschooling is what we are supposed to do. Public/private school is what is right for many families, but it is not what God has planned for our family, right now. That may change in the future, but for now we are resting in HIS plan for us, and that is the only place we want to be.
I will update with photos of our school space, our curriculum and our first few weeks. I can say that for now, we are all so excited about our new adventure. We ALL love homeschooling! I pray daily that we will stay in God's will and follow HIS plan for our family. The verse that came to my mind the second I heard of our precious Caroline's fatal diagnosis, is the same verse that has been on my mind about our homeschool journey........
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future". Jeremiah 29:11
So thankful God's plans are not my own!!!
