Lessons from Life - God, our Protector

Every once in a while, life will give you a lesson and as I was thinking about you all this morning and what I could post, I thought about our loss last week.

We lost a member of our family. My son's teddy-bear hamster escaped, which he's done a number of times in the past. This time however, we didn't realize it until it was too late.

See, we have this other member of our family who enjoys the chase. And unfortunately, Teddy happened to be his prey. (BTW, this is the cat eating a steak bone. He thinks he's part dog.)

Teddy had camped out behind my dryer. How he got there from upstairs is beyond me, but such is the way of rodents. :) Peeta, the cat, found him back there. I found Teddy in Peeta's mouth.

Where's the lesson in this?

God wants to be our safe place, just as Teddy's cage was his safe place. When we step outside of that protection, we open ourselves up to all sorts of danger. Teddy couldn't see past the need to escape and be "free". His freedom cost him his life. How many times do we want to escape our safe place and do something daring, or say to ourselves, "just this once" when confronted with temptation?

Teddy was okay the first few times he managed to gain his freedom. No big deal, right? And yet...

Think on that today.

Blessings,
Ginger

School is in session...

The joys of homeschooling are endless:

• I get to choose when we start.
• Curriculum is also my choice - what works for one does not necessarily work for another. I also try to arrange my high schooler's work toward what his/her interest is.
• My children can go as slow or as fast as they (or I) choose. If he/she is better at math, then we can work ahead.
• We can take breaks when we feel like it. Is it a super nice day out? Let's go play.
• School can happen in pj's or sweats  :) I don't have to buy certain clothes to keep up with the current trend.
• Wake up time can be whenever I deem it to be. Bad night? Get up later.
• My kids are with me ALL the time.
• PLUS more.

School? What's school? Oh, let's study the effects of sliding down the hill and falling on our backsides.

The headaches of homeschooling (and I'm sure public school, too):

• Bad/late night? People tend to get grumpy.
• Hard work? Would you like some cheese with that "whine?"
• Questions? I have to answer them all, even when I don't necessarily know the answer. Thank God for Google.  ;)
• My kids are with me ALL the time.
• There are probably more...

So today was the first day of school for us. I know it's a month early for some of you who read this blog. North Alabama schools will start either next week or in two weeks depending on where you live in this area (no they're not all the same). We started early because we are taking a mini-vacation next week, which was the planned week to start. In order to stay on schedule, we started a week early.

The normal grumbles happened. More, harder work causes little mouths to protest. On the first day, I choose to ignore them - actually for the first week. After that we are getting used to the new work load. For the first week, I usually need the afternoon reading time to regroup. I am one who thrives on peace and quiet to recoup my sanity. With seven children (all of whom still live at home), I NEED that afternoon time. Today I needed it more than ever. Shew, what a day!

But you know what? I would not stop for anything. God has called ME to do this; He will give me the grace to continue it.

Crystal growing experiment

Unfortunate spill from crystal growing experiment

This is my fourteenth (14th) year and every year I experience what I call the "back to school blues." We don't WANT to go back to school, but we have to. It's time. The fun of summer is over. My marathon reading is done. I get back to one book every two or three days like normal people instead of one to three books per day (depending on length).

Ahh, the joy of doing the best you can for the ones you love. Just like God does for us - everyday.

As always, under HIS wings,
Ginger