Sweet Overwhelmed Mama

The following is a letter to a mother I don’t even know personally, but my heart went out to her when I read her post about the loss of her daughter and feeling the need to get back to homeschooling just one week later.  “.... It has been a hard process ... but I don’t want them to fall behind.... I feel like all I do is worry ... and it is a bit overwhelming..... “  

Oh, my heart goes out to her!!! We may not have just experienced the deep pain of losing a child, but we all have times in our lives when we experience deep pain and need a time of healing. Many of us are too stubborn to give up and just “rest in the Lord” (I am one of these women). Maybe you are one of these mamas who just need to take a school break and rest in the Lord. The following is my response to her: 

Sweet, overwhelmed Mama,

I am so very sorry for your loss!! I will pray for you and your family. We can be our own worst enemy. We, homeschool moms, can be so very hard on ourselves. We think that we have to continue being the teachers when life gets overwhelming, but we forget that our first responsibility to our children is being their mom. This is especially true for those of us with “driver personalities” (work now, rest later, but only if there is time). My sweet husband reminds me often "Remember the beauty of homeschooling- YOU make the schedule.” I often forget that. I should not allow circumstances to control me, my children, and our school schedule. At those times we need to stop, take a breath, pray, and ask the Lord to give us wisdom with our school and time management. 

Homeschooling is just that; we “do school” in the midst of life “at home”. Life is full of surprises, good and bad. There have been times in my 18 years of homeschooling that we had to take extended breaks, in the middle of the year, for various reasons. God has used these times to grow us. My advice to you is during those times, take the needed break and then, catch up ONLY on the subjects that each child truly needs. We really can teach more than we think we can, in a smaller period of time, especially when we take out all of the extras that we try to cram in every year.  Don’t we try to do that every day?

I am a "do it now” personality type, and these “We can’t do school because of life." times are hard on my driver personality. But, these times also continually teach me to rely heavily on my God, Who understands and knows the circumstances better than I do.  I love the story in 1 Kings 17:1-3, where God ordered Elijah to go and rest. God took care of Elijah’s needs during that resting period. He was able to rest in His peace. You need the mental, physical, and emotional time of healing only HE can truly provide. God will bless the time you have when you return to it. For now, RELAX and rest in His presence.  "And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus!" Phil 4:7.

Here are a few books that have encouraged me. I hope they do the same for you!

One hundred devotions for Homeschool Moms

One Hundred and One More Devotions for Homeschool Moms

Daily Encouragement for Homeschooling Mothers

Enjoying the journey,

~Michelle~

  Michelle Osborn is the owner and founder of Yellow House Book Rental, specializing in providing homeschool curriculum for rent or purchase, as well as counseling and guidance for homeschool families. She is a wife of 32 years, a 22-year homeschool veteran, and mom of four amazing children and five adorable grandchildren. Three of her children are now entrepreneurs, running their own businesses and doing quite well. Michelle’s passions include serving by leading worship at her church and encouraging homeschool moms through one on one, social media and speaking engagements. She has found her niche in helping parents homeschooling their teens through the high school years and on to pursue their dreams

Yellow House Book Rental links to many different sources within our blogs. A link does not equal an endorsement. We cannot guarantee the content of each site (especially its ads).

Visit our sponsors! We receive a small commission when you purchase through these links. (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) Thank you. The purchases do not cost you more but help support our business and ministry. We only promote those that we love and believe in!