Dear Mama, The World Needs What You're Growing at Home

Maybe you're reading this while your children are napping, maybe you're drinking your coffee before the house wakes up.  Maybe you've been quietly wondering if homeschooling could be right for your family.

Or maybe...You already know it's on your heart, you're just afraid.  Afraid you aren't patient enough, smart enough, organized enough, qualified enough.

Can I gently tell you something?  I don't think God calls perfect mothers, I think He equips willing ones.

When He entrusted your children to you, He already knew every weakness you would have.  He knew the days you would lose your patience.  The math lessons that would leave you scratching your head, the laundry that wouldn't get folded, the meals that would burn, the tears, the doubts.  And He still chose you.

Not because you're perfect, because you're their mother.  No one else in the world has been given that calling.

Your Children Don't Need a Perfect Teacher

They already have access to books, videos, libraries, museums, experts.  What they can never replace...Is you.  Your encouragement, your prayers,your laughter, your hugs after a hard day, your faith, your example.

Children rarely remember who taught them long division.  They remember who believed in them.

You Already Teach Every Day

Before you ever considered homeschooling...You taught them to walk, to talk, to pray, to say "please", to ride a bike, to love animals, to share, to apologize and to laugh.

You didn't need a teaching degree for any of those things.  You needed love and you already have that.

Homeschool Isn't About Recreating School

This is where so many moms become overwhelmed, they think they have to recreate a classroom.

Rows of desks, seven-hour schedules, endless worksheets.  You don't, home is allowed to look like home.

Some of your best lessons will happen while baking bread, walking beside the river, reading on the couch, watching a foal being born, planting tomatoes or sitting on the porch talking about God's creation.

That's education too, sometimes it's the very best kind.

God Doesn't Call the Equipped...

He Equips the Called.

One of my favorite truths is this:  God never asks us to do something without promising to walk beside us.  If He's stirring your heart toward homeschooling...don't ignore that whisper because you're afraid.

Fear has talked many mothers out of beautiful things, Faith has led many into them.

You Are Already Enough

Not because you know every answer, not because you'll never make mistakes, not because every day will go according to plan.  You're enough because your children don't need someone else.  They need their mom.

The one who knows what makes them laugh, the one who sees when they're discouraged, the one who notices their gifts, the one who prays over them when they're sleeping.  No curriculum can replace that, no classroom can duplicate it.

God chose you.  And He doesn't make mistakes.

If You're Still Wondering...

If homeschooling has been quietly tugging at your heart...Pray.  Ask questions, read books, talk with other homeschool moms.  Take one step, then another.  You don't have to know what the next twelve years look like.

You only have to trust God with today, He'll meet you there.

A Letter From My Heart

Mama...If you're waiting until you feel completely ready...You may wait forever.  I still have days when I wonder if I'm doing enough.  Then I look across the table, I see my children learning, growing, laughing, discovering God's creation, building character, asking questions, living life beside me.  And I remember... This isn't about being the perfect teacher.  It's about faithfully loving the children God has entrusted to me, one ordinary day at a time.

Until next time, may your coffee stay warm and your children stay little just a little longer.

-Maggie