There are two times every year when many homeschooling moms feel like a failure. One of those times is upon us. As the end of each semester approaches, doom falls upon the homeschooling community. We moms begin to hear questions and accusations in our heads. We worry that we're not living up to our own expectations. We're not as far into our curriculum as we had planned to be by the end of the semester. We dropped that subject somewhere along the way. We've been too busy to get to Spanish studies. One child isn't understanding math, and we wonder whether we need to switch curriculum– or if he'll ever get it. We're behind. The list of worries could go on forever. And we wonder if we're good enough to be homeschooling.
After fourteen years in this homeschooling gig, I am realizing that this is a recurring incident. It recurs like clockwork for most of us~ every winter at semester break and every spring as the traditional school calender draws to a close. None of us are completely immune. Some of us are more susceptible than others. It has taken me this fourteen years to figure this reality out. And it's because God has finally shown me the truth about failure.
God used a passage in Joel to show me this truth. In Joel 1, God is telling His people that big locusts are going to come and devour everything. When the big locusts are done, smaller locusts will come and devour everything they left. When the small locusts are done, smaller locusts will come… You get the idea. Everything will be gone. But then in Joel 2:25-27, God says,
I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten– the great locust and the young locust, the other locust and the locust swarm– my great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the Name of the LORD your God, who has worked wonders among you; never again will My people be shamed. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed.
We do not need to fear our own failure.
"God will restore the years the locusts have eaten." What a tremendous comfort. I can see how God has done that in my own life but I find it so hard to trust Him to do the same in the lives of my children. Thanks for the encouragement.
I can totally relate, Melissa! I was the same way until God spoke this to me this past spring. Now when those thoughts come, I remind myself, "God will restore the years the locusts have eaten." He is so sweet to comfort us, isn't He?
He is, indeed.
Thank you for this encouragement. This I needed to read and ponder today.
Such a great reminder. You're right, it happens every year like clockwork! For me, this year my son lost his Teaching Textbooks Math cd set… Which is how he does math. Um. Yeah. Today & tomorrow we are tearing apart the house so I don't have to wing it for the rest of the year!
Feeling like a failure is common to homeschooling and most important tasks. At 7sistershomeschool.com, Vicki writes about the secrets to success at homeschooling.
God has given me back the years the locust has eaten in my marriage. I love that passage! And yes, failure is never final.
Thanks, ladies!
Dawn~ If you can't find his math book, ask me about the free math program we are using now. My children have liked it more than Teaching Textbooks (which is saying something. They loved TT!).
Thanks, Marilyn! Even with the best advice, we still fail. When we do, it's important for us to remember that God can restore.
Wonderful, Susan! You're right, God uses it for all areas of our lives! Isn't He sweet to us?