Posted in Lessons I Have Learned

Recently I was having a discussion with one of my favorite Aunts about homeschooling.  She was asking me questions about our daily and weekly schedule and I was explaining to her how we do what we do.  I thought I was doing a good job “selling” her on homeschooling. (Not that I’m likely to convert her since she’s in her 80’s. LOL )  Then the conversation took and unexpected turn and she started expressing concerned about me!  “Where do you find time for yourself in all this?” she asked?  Well, my first thought was I remember when she was raising her kids and I don’t think she had any time for herself!  She was an old fashioned homemaker.  Yes, the kids were off at school, but she had many responsibilities with the house.  Hanging laundry out on the line, canning vegetables she grew herself. Taking care of my elderly Grandmother.  I didn’t see her getting a lot of “me time”, but apparently she remembers it differently.

Since that conversation I have been spending a lot of time thinking about what I do for myself.  Here’s what I have decided…I do a lot for me!  I blog, scrapbook, read, sew, quilt, study homeopathy. I go out to dinner with a couple of other homeschool Mom’s on a semi-regular basis.  I actually feel like maybe I should cut out some of my “me time” so I can do more for my kids and husband!  So this has made me do some more thinking.  What was the real question she was asking?  Was it really “How do you find fulfillment without a paying job?” or “Don’t you think you are putting a little too much energy into your kids?”  Perhaps she was wondering “Does she look down on me because I didn’t homeschool my kids?”  Who knows?  I really think this was more of a societal pressure question that she was just relating than her actual concern for me.  I think she can see that I am happy and yet all the things she hears in the media and from her own daughter-in-laws and granddaughters my age is that to be fulfilled you must have it ALL!  Kids, career, your own money, time for yourself.   I think maybe I am just a mystery to her.  I remind her more of her (outdated) self than of all the other women she is surrounded by today.  Is it possible that I really value all the same things she did in the 50’s and 60’s?  Is it possible that I find fulfillment in my children, my home and my hobbies?  Is it possible that I don’t yearn for my own income to make me feel complete?  Yes, it is!  I cannot tell you why God wired me in such a different manner than the majority of my generation. (Although I have found many other women like myself out there in the homeschooling world!)  I can’t tell you why I feel fulfilled by hanging out with my children.  I cannot tell you why I love to sew, quilt, scrapbook, blog.  But, I do!  I am so grateful that I found my calling in life!  I hope that when I am in my 80’s I can encourage younger women to live a life of simple pleasures instead of expressing concern for them.  I hope that when my time here on earth is done I can stand before my Lord and He will say "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things: I will put you in charge of many things. Come share your Master's happiness!"  Matthew 25:20-22

The most important work you and I will ever do will be within the walls of our own homes.  
–Harold B. Lee