Homeschooling and homeschoolers go through a variety of seasons over the duration of their journey. These range from seasons of freedom to sacrifice. Seasons of freedom give us flight and vision and empower us to continue on the journey. Though not enjoyable, seasons of sacrifice teach us the greatest life lessons and end up giving us so much more.
Many times the seasons of sacrifice are due to illness, unemployment, or the birth of a new baby. In our case, a rambunctious toddler. Our season of sacrifice that I’m speaking about in particular occurred when my children were 12, 9, 7 and 16 months. It was a season of sacrifice for all siblings, one for another!
Using the word of God as our guide, we see that in Romans 12:10 we are instructed to:
“Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another.”
There were many times during this season that they skipped an out of home activity because the baby absolutely had to nap in his own bed. And conversely there were times where the baby had to nap on the go in order for the oldest child to participate in a science co-op that I could not replicate at home.
At times it was the second born having his second choice of classes so his older and younger sibling having the can to have their first choice in enrichment activities.
And this particular season also included the oldest child making leeway for his younger brother’s amphibian guests to be parked on his desk, even though they grossed him out!
Homeschooling has taught us all very valuable lessons that I don’t believe we would have learned elsewhere. Just as parents we gave up much to sow into these young lives, my children learned seasons of give and take amongst themselves. In these sacrifices, my children have the opportunity to learn to minister and love each other in spite of what it may ‘cost’.
In this small way we remember the One who made the ultimate sacrifice. Isn’t that sacrifice the ultimate meaning of love and one we should be passing down to our children?
