In Every Season
There was no one to put me to bed while my husband was away on a backpacking trip this summer, so there I was at 11 PM eating the chocolate almonds he left under my pillow and scrolling through homeschool videos on YouTube:
Do I have enough planned for this next school year?
I could try this curriculum…
We really should learn another language…
Why not beautify our cursive writing?
Pause.
Breathe.
Remember, Charlene.
Be With Me
Adding to your cart could steal from your heart.
Sizing up reels of meals and deals is soon to lose appeal.
When we watch, share and compare, we forget our one dare.
To live into our gaps, these are our family maps.
Finding a way for my kids will look different than your grids.
A beauty that comes when we stop all the sums.
Instead of adding more, we let our souls roar.
The call of the wild and free has always been,
Come, be with me!
So sit on a rainy day and let your ‘why’ pray.
Because without a deep knowing, life aches when it gets going.
Nourishing, educating, and shepherding souls.
No small tasks or measureless goals.
If for freedom, lean into rhythms this season.
Wisdom shouts to catalyze truth over doubts.
And the children echo the Holy Spirit’s call,
In every season, for this next fall,
Be With Me!
One of the activities I am privileged to invest my time in is home eduating my six children.
For those who are parents, whether your kids attend a school or learn at home, you are probably like me in wanting to give your children and teens the best opportunities to become well-rounded individuals who don’t fit into the culture but contribute to society by beaming Christ!
This does not happen by accident.
It comes through seeking God for our families in every season.
In the seminary course I took on leading change this spring, I learned more about the practice of communal discernment.
Fancier sounding than it is, I have been using this practice in many different settings lately to discern and affirm “best yeses” and “next right things!”
One morning this summer, as we gathered for our time together, I told my kids we would play a game. They asked the game's name so I called it “Curious Cat” on the spot, haha!
Each child had a sheet of paper and a pencil. I turned on soft instrumental music and set a five-minute timer for them to brainstorm things they felt were working well in our homeschool lifestyle and family.
I gave them another five minutes to do this about the things they wanted less or more of and felt were not working.
Then, I allowed each child to share as I recorded their feedback on a whiteboard and ticked off whenever the same ideas were shared.
ticks represent the kids’ votes (our youngest didn’t vote)
We had a lot of fun brainstorming and voting on priorities with a collage of ideas. We could see what we wanted to keep or let go of and where to reform some of our systems, attitudes and interactions and step out to try new things!
As my kids grow, I find their buy-in and investment essential for our homeschool lifestyle to be filled with wonder and delight.
Some of our kids may head to school for the higher grades, so savouring our time together this next year, all six kids under my wings from ages 5-13, is a dream come true!
Meeting together built trust and camaraderie.
Along with hosting a meeting for communal discernment, one great resource my husband and I worked through this summer with our older kids (ages 8, 10, 11, and 13) is Launch into the Teen Years by Focus on the Family.
I shared all about this amazing program in a past blog post: Launch into the Teen Years!
These sessions have been launching pads for incredible discussions with our kids on devices, identity, friendships, puberty, sex, marriage, and so much more!
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God has called us to invest in our children, and I have seen how he provides what we need daily through the beauty and struggles that come in every season of life.
My professor for my next seminary course is an author, and I figured reading some of his writing would be a great way to prepare.
Thus, Spiritual Rhythm: Being with Jesus Every Season of Your Soul, by Mark Buchanan, was in my stack of summer reads.
Not only did his poetic writing style resonate, but from the first pages, as he described the winter season my soul had been in since losing my dad, I let the tears well up, grateful I had found another book companion.
I took this soulful book along for a week of family camp, and as I continued to flip pages, I felt seen and affirmed reading about the actions and posture common in the winter season of the soul.
The compelling feeling I had to pull back or cut off some things was healthy and normal in early grief, like the hibernation many animals go into in a long, cold season or the pruning back that happens to plants and trees as they weather another winter.
Then, two days into the camp and this book, I sensed a profound encouragement from the Holy Spirit at one of the services as I encountered my heavenly Father’s overwhelming love and sensed an assurance that the winter season of my soul was ending.
I breathed with relief as I continued reading about the attributes and activities of other seasons like spring, summer and fall.
Unsure what season my soul is heading into my curiosity and hope are growing.
Change is in the air.
And I am ready for whatever the Lord has next!
If you pop by my house one morning this fall, you could very well find me reading aloud to my six children, wrapped in cozy blankets, oblivious to tears of mixed emotions as I remember what was, long for what will be, and sit in a posture of invitation for my very present helper (Psalm 46:1) to be with me in whatever season my soul is heading into next!
Photo by Chris Lawton on Unsplash
Knowing our “why” and living intentionally from that vision every season is rewarding!
I wrote three blog posts in years gone by that may encourage those interested in the homeschool world:
And here’s the link to the tween resource again: Launch into the Teen Years!