It’s ironic how a homeschooling mother can carry around this immense amount of guilt surrounding how little time she spends with her kids. She is with her toddlers all the time. She meets their needs every second of the day, yet, she may still feel as though she isn’t doing enough.
A mother of high schoolers may find herself wondering how to get back to the beginning. Like Inigo Montoya in the Princess Bride, when our teenagers fight against us over and over, we want to go back. How do we go back to the beginning where it all started? With the picnics in the park, reading Piggy and Gerald, and enjoying grapes while laughing at the clouds. The journey makes us more like Christ, but sometimes we feel as though we could really use a redo. A chance to go back and do things differently.
We all struggle with something. It’s the nature of the fall. Instead of suffering alone, we need to bear each other’s burdens and give each other courage to finish the job well. We do this best when we are in a community. Man cannot live on bread alone and woman cannot homeschool in isolation. You were called to educate your children, but you weren’t called to do everything without help.
Sometimes working hard and showing our children perseverance includes showing them what to do when you are struggling: phone a friend, pray, and ask for help.