A Doozy . . .

Just to warn you this may be a doozy of a post. All of the things on my mind are swirling around; I will attempt to get them down in a readable manner.

First up, an overwhelming need to glorify God for the healing he has allowed me to experience must be satisfied. It is so hard for me to just type this up like anything else I might blog about, because I know that it is so much more. I'm talking healing, cured, no longer feeling any symptoms of arthritis. Today I was able to be so active, and feel good while moving. I can jump, run, skip, hop, and most amazingly to me . . . snap my fingers! I simply can't describe how deep into healing my body is going, and I am most grateful that my spiritual and emotional healing has followed suit. Thanks be to God that I'm no longer a slave to my sin, by His wounds and His grace and His forgiveness and mostly His unending patience I am healed! Hope fills my heart when I think about my future, gratitude fills my heart when I think about my past.

The next topic on my mind: homeschooling! I liken the way we fell into homeschooling to the way we fell into homebirthing. Growing up I never imagined I would do either one. Researching each has enlightened me to the fact that I simply do not have to do things the way everyone does things, and the fact that doing things the way everyone does things is not always the best thing to do (I feel like I just wrote a line from Winnie the Pooh . . . oh bother!) Anyway, the kids and I are all so excited to begin this journey, and in many ways we already have. Many moons ago when I was running track at ACU, Coach used to have us start our 200's about 15 feet ahead of the start line. That way, by the time we got to the start line and he began the timer we were already at full speed and we could shave a second or two off of our time. I think he did this mostly to build our confidence by improving our times during practice. In a sense, I am doing the same thing with homeschooling. We officially will not start homeschooling until the fall when the rest of the world starts school, but we are gradually building up speed so that by the time school starts, we (at least I) will be confident in what we are doing. When it comes to homeschooling here's what I know:

1. I know that I want to use Charlotte Mason as my homeschooling inspiration. I love that she puts a big emphasis on environment, on building good habits in children, on using living books, and on studying nature and the arts as well as the three R's.
2. I know that the most important thing for me to do this year is to teach Mandie how to read and to inspire her to love to read. If the girl can read there is nothing she can't learn. This week Mandie read her first book. It is about a cat who patted a rat and then they both ran. None of the words in her book were longer than three letters, but you've got to start somewhere!
3. I know that homeschooling is giving me a peaceful easy feeling. I find so much comfort in knowing that I get an extra 35 hours a week to spend with my kids. To teach them, to shape them, to form them, to inspire them, and to live with them. It feels like such a gift.
4. I know that I am most worried about becoming some kind of slob who doesn't know if it's Tuesday or Friday and hasn't bathed or changed clothes for days on end. I will definetly miss the days that we get up and get dressed and I go to work for a few hours. I am planning on making a big effort to get involved with plenty of extra-curricular activites to keep us out and about, and to inspire us all to keep up our personal hygiene routines!!!
5. I know I want to name our school. I don't know what exactly that will be yet, but I have some ideas swirling around in my mind.

Hmmmm, I guess this post wasn't such a doozy after all. Everything on my mind boiled down to simply two main topics, and now that it's all out there I can think of nothing else to say.