Yesterday, during one of those rare moments of solitude, I visited some blogs I had never been to before.  As I read through the posts, some fun, some serious, and some so interesting it was hard to stop reading, I realized how closely connected we seem to be.  It seems no matter what part of the world that we hail from, we all have common goals and dilemmas. 

There are times when I hear the success stories of other homeschool families, how their kids ace their tests or about all the outside activities that they participate in, mission trips, music recitals, art classes, sports, etcetera, I wonder how do they do it. Some of our days are filled with frustration, arguments and just plain chaos.  On those days we are lucky if we finish the basics by bedtime never mind throwing in outside activities.  But then there are the days when schoolwork gets done, concepts are learned and peace reigns over the house.  No one ever said parenting was easy and if anyone ever does they are fooling themselves. Let’s face it; being a homeschool mom could challenge the saints. There is no magic formula to get ‘Suzy’ to behave or for making ‘Johnny’ a straight “A” student.  As moms we do the best that we can with a Bible in one hand and our hearts in the other. Although our strategies may be different and our techniques unique, we all have a common end goal: to teach our children to be men and women of God and to survive motherhood with some semblance of grace.  And when we feel like we are failing that’s when we dig deeper into the trenches and fight harder to succeed.  We know that we have been entrusted with a precious commodity.  If we are truly doing the best we can, depending on God for strength and wisdom, there is no failure.

I thank all those bloggers out there who share their lives with us, who are not afraid to fail, but are always willing to try, who know that true success comes from God. It is a great encouragement to know that we are not alone and that we have others going through the same ups and downs that we are.  We are all connected by the same love

2 Thessalonians 2:14-17

He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.  So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.