On Friday Maddie put off her lessons as long as possible. Her neighbor friends get home from school and she still hasn't completed her math. So she sits at the kitchen table and I give her 5 sheets of math facts. Five. I explain to her that I'm testing her to see what facts she knows and which ones we need to work on. I mix in some easy facts of 0's and 1's and 2's. I want her to have a feeling of success after our long journey with the vision and learning to read and all. I want her to enjoy learning. I want her to feel good about her accomplishments as we move into Year Three and then into the leap in difficultly the fourth year will bring. She has worked so hard. I want her to soar.
The five pages doesn't even phase her. She works. Happily hums to herself and completes the pages in good time and with a joyful spirit while I do the dishes and her siblings and friends play outside. There are only three facts out of the 5 sheets that she does not know (6+6, 7+7, 8+8). That is easily remedied.
I think I glimpse the future. And a wave of joy and appreciation overwhelms me. What we are able to accomplish here at home is not because of how great I am. It's not because of my skill. I've never taught anyone to read before. I know very little of geography. My own math skills are terrible. And there are obvious gaps in my history knowledge so large they cease to qualify as gaps and resemble something more like canyons. There are no guarantees with homeschooling and there are plenty of bad days. What good we receive and the success that we experience is because of God's grace. And I'm overwhelmed by how He continues to be faithful despite my failures.
I'm in awe of the privilege to be the one to train them, teach them, mentor them, live with them day in and day out. I'm honored to know them and be the one to whom He entrusted them. I can't imagine why He saw fit to bless me this way but I thank Him for His mercies everyday.
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