Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Grimaces . . . and God's Good Gifts

Yesterday was a bad day. It was Monday, for one thing . . . and both my homeschooled kids were sniffling and generally feeling lousy from a cold. It was hard to tell if my teaching methods were a mis-match, or it it was just a "bad day."

Because I couldn't seem to get cooperation, I felt like what I was doing was a failure, and I felt like crying.

I did cry, last night, when I woke up in discouragement and despair. I prayed to God to help me rest . . . and He did (eventually). This morning, I prayed that things would go well for our school time today, and guess what . . .

Today has been a wonderful day. We started late, and didn't get all of our usual schoolwork done, but it's OK. Looking all over for something new to learn for piano (it's Molly's lesson day), we found a really fun piece-- that Molly likes, and is not too hard to play. And Later I had time to work on the artwork project I need to do. While I was going back and forth between "pencil" and "eraser" on the computer-- trying to get one spot to turn out just right, Molly said they were through with their other schoolwork, and we could do science now.

Well, science had to wait, and I kept thinking I was "almost" finished with the artwork, but while I worked, Molly picked up the guitar and started strumming, and James came and taught her some chords. I was so happy to listen to them playing the chords while I kept erasing and drawing . . . then he taught her how to play "How Great is Our God," and they were playing and singing . . . and then it looked like science was never going to happen-- I was really "almost" finished with the line art design, and Molly and James were starting on the ukelele, too. After James showed her a few chords, she played a song, and was pleased with how easy the ukelele was.

The art design finally reached its goal, so I stopped drawing and erasing . . . I hated to interrupt the kids from their ukelele playing, but I pulled out the science book to see if it was a long lesson or short one. After a quick glance, I knew this was a great lesson for tomorrow.

So anyway, we decided to just make lunch--since it was too late for science-- and I'm so thankful for God's blessing us this day with happiness . . . and success!


4 comments:

  1. Diane, thanks for your post. I remember many days from my years homeschooling that were trying, but many more that were wonderful. I remember feeling discouraged, but praying and sleeping were always powerful in making things better. =) I'm so glad today went better.

    Blessings on your homeschooling endeavors.
    Dana

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  2. Having that day myself, layed low with arthritis. We did a little stidies and now the children are working around the house.

    Thanks for the encouragment. God will help us continue on for Him!

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  3. The secret of happiness is not getting too attached to your own plans.

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  4. Here's a link to some articles by Lee Bintz about having difficult times in homeschooling:

    http://www.thehomescholar.com/blog/surviving-struggles-face-challenges-confidently/5428/

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