The Small Branch

I feel the need to answer this question.  Homeschooling is not only doing what you would do in a classroom at home.  Many people say they are "homeschooling" right now because schools have had to move to an online format.  While there are some homeschoolers who use online schooling to "homeschool", in my limited experience, most families who homeschool exclusively using online schooling don't last at home very long.  Online schooling can be frustrating and can circumvent real learning.  The beauty of homeschooling is that it doesn't have to follow any kind of pattern.  There are as many ways to homeschool as there are homeschool families.  Some families totally unschool - just learning through life and rich experiences.  Some families spend all morning sitting at the dining room table doing workbooks and using textbooks.  Most fit somewhere in between.  The thing is, as homeschoolers, we can remember that the goal is LEARNING, not grades...

     We are doing a study called Job: A Story of Unlikely Joy  by Lisa Harper (Lifeway Press 2018) in our Bible study at church.  Job is a book about suffering.  It tells us that the "health and wealth" gospel has been around for a long time and was just as much a lie then as it is now.  This week, we have been looking at "wound care" using Elihu's discourses from chapters 32-37.      I have been struggling with one main thing this week - what is suffering?  Job suffered the loss of his children, his wealth, and his health, not even to mention the loss of respect and friendship that seems to go along with those.  His were huge, obvious sufferings.  Lisa Harper mentions some huge, obvious traumas in her life as she discusses these sufferings.  But what if we haven't had the huge, obvious sufferings?  Personally, I think I have lived a pretty charmed life.  I was never abused in any way.  My parents love...

Friday was rough.  I woke up a little frustrated and angry and little things kept happening all morning that, while I don't like them, wouldn't normally make me feel like screaming.  Friday, I felt like screaming.  It was one of those days where the battle was fierce.  After ranting with fellow teachers at lunch, I spent the rest of my lunch buried in my Bible, asking for help, and, finally, got some peace.  But the problems and frustrations didn't end.  One of the big frustrations of my day was the lack of retention my students were showing.  Things they needed to know from the past math they have learned, they didn't remember.  Another teacher and I were discussing (this was the ranting part, really) what we could do to combat this - more homework, more class time, what would help?  Once lunch was over and I was feeling some peace about life, I could finally listen to the Father, talk to the Father, and think logically as He guided me....

This morning I was awakened early but the Spirit.  Abiding.  John 15 talks about abiding and the importance of abiding.  We cannot function if we are not abiding with Jesus.  But what does that really mean?  The picture God gave me this morning helps me to see abiding more clearly.  In medieval times, villagers lived around a castle.  For protection, they had to come inside the castle walls to be shielded and under the protection of the king.  The choice was theirs, they could stay in their thatch huts or they could come into the castle and be with the king, protected.  We have that choice, too.  We can come into the castle of the King, or we can stay in our thatch huts, built by our own hands.  Once we are inside the castle walls, it is our choice how much relationship we have with the King.  Those who are closest to the King are the ones who make the most difference for others.  The ones who are closest to the King are t...

Jesus tells us in John 8:12 "I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."       Like the sun (in a small way), Jesus lights our world.  Like the moon (in a small way), we should reflect that Light into the dark world.  When a full moon rises over a dark night, we can see very well.  Not as well as in the daytime, mind you, but still pretty well.  Is that the light we shine?  A clear bright reflection of the perfect Light of the world cast throughout the darkness helping others see?  This is a dark world.  Most of the time it feels like we are walking around in the shadows of night.  But if we are willing to be close to Jesus constantly, we can reflect such a pure Light that, not only can we see better, others can see better, too.

"When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, You knew my path." Psalm 142:3a      I'm not gonna lie, I am totally overwhelmed right now.  I am teaching a class I have never taught and it isn't working to line up with the textbook I have (not to mention the five other classes, which are three more preps, that I am teaching).  I am taking one very reading assignment/write papers heavy graduate class and another one that requires time in my classroom as well as analysis afterward.  We are getting ready to move and trying to sell our house.  I still have three kids at home (and one getting ready to deploy) who play sports, have music lessons and activities, and have schoolwork of their own.  BSF starts next week, which I love, but it does add to my schedule.  My husband travels.  I'm overwhelmed.  But, ya know what?  God knows my path.  He knows where I am, where I have been, and where I am headed.  He's already been th...

     Sometimes, letting go is so hard.  As my children get older, they have to choose their own paths.  I don't always agree with their choices.  Some of their choices actually scare me.  But I can't make those choices for them and, as much as I hate it, they are just as human as I am.  I think of all the mistakes, some of them life altering, I made in my teens and twenties.  Yet, I am still here, loving Jesus with everything in me.  Even when I have slipped over and over, I don't fall.  "Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; Yes, our God is compassionate." (Psalm 116:5)  So I pray for my children and love them no matter what.  I pray that they will love Jesus more than anything and they will be able to get back on the right path when they stray.  I have to release them to the One who loves them even more than I do, and, as they get older, I have to release them more and more often.      Something to ad...