So you want to homeschool your children? OK ... first let's see if you "qualify". Please check all that apply from the following list:
- You use cloth diapers only
- You grow all your vegetables (and then can or freeze them for the winter)
- You bake all your bread (after you've hand-ground the wheat)
- You sew all your clothes and your husband's and children's too
- You bake cookies only from scratch, with some of that hand-ground wheat and honey from the bees you keep out back
- You feed your children only whole milk, straight from the Guernsey you keep out back
- You play the piano beautifully, sing like an angel, and whistle while you work, in the garden out back
- You knit beautiful blankets from the wool you spin from the sheep you raise out back
I suspect you know where I'm going with this! A friend recently shared a blog post she read over on WorldMag.com and it got me to thinking about this topic. I suspect that WorldMag article does carry some truth to it. We moms can indeed be cruel to one another. But I wonder where that judgmental attitude really comes from? Maybe because we're not terribly confident in our own choices?
I find myself often guilty of the same behavior ... comparing myself to others and finding myself coming up short. Or I compare myself to my own self-imposed expectations, and once again come up short. Sort of like those Corinthians that Paul had to remind ...
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We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. |
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We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the field God has assigned to us, a field that reaches even to you. |
One of the great lessons that God continues to teach me in both my parenting and my homeschooling is that He and He alone sets the standards for my life. I can certainly admire the efforts and accomplishments of others, but ultimately the only plan that matters for my life is the one my Father has assigned.
So what does this mean on a daily basis? Huge boatloads of grace! Grace towards myself, when I fail to reach the expectations *I've* set for myself (or for my spouse or children). Grace towards friends and acquaintances who make different choices from mine. Or put more plainly ... cut myself (and others) a break!
Keep on keeping on ...
~Judy
