I rediscovered today one of the reasons I love homeschooling.  It's real.  It gives my children a little more exposure to real life . . .  and to real death.  A dear friend of mine and of my mother's died this weekend. Over the last few days, I have been able to serve the family.  It has been such a blessing not to have to worry about school pick up times and those kinds of committments.  It was also a blessing to take my boys to the funeral today.  Seems like a strange blessing, I know, but I realized what a blessing it was as I looked around the church filled with people honoring an incredible woman who lived her life for the Lord.  Do you know how many children were there?  Other than the children in her family, maybe three.  My three.

The boys heard how this woman had, along with her entire family, come to know the Lord.  They heard how she had lived her life seeking the treasure of God's Word.  They saw the example held up of how she had lived her life serving others.  They heard.  And they came face to face with loss--the loss of her family, the loss of a church, the loss of a large Bible study, and my loss.  My oldest son put his arm around me as I cried. He learned to comfort his mom.

While other kids were leaving the microcosm of their schools to do math homework or to learn to play soccer or piano, my kids were with me as I explained  the etiquette of a funeral, of the procession, and of the wake.  They were instructed that all they had to do for the family was to hug them and say they were sorry.  Today, they learned a little about grieving, a little about being a servant, and they learned that life ends. None of this will make their own losses less painful.  I simply don't have the power or the know-how to relieve them of that.  But hopefully the education they received today will help them know how to deal with real life, especially as they face other losses.  These are things they will have to know.  I'm so glad I get to teach them.