A Bit Burnt Out

           I had high hopes for this summer and big plans.  Most of them did not come to fruition and the past two months have not been what I expected, but it was still summer.  I have always enjoyed summer break and when I realized the other day that ours is practically over now, I was sadly shocked to realize the time had gone by so quickly.  

We will be starting our 9^th year of home schooling in less than two weeks!   And I hate to admit it but I am feeling a tad bit burnt out.  I had hoped that summer would be refreshing and relaxing and that fall would find me renewed and excited for a new year.  But…. the struggle to keep up with all the different grades and different learning styles and different personalities of my beautiful children while attempting to educate them each properly and patiently is just not always easy.  And after 8 years, home schooling just doesn’t excite me like it used to.  

I still love the family friendliness of it and the flexibility and the wonderful blessing of being able to be together every day.  I still appreciate the opportunity to give my children a truly Catholic education in the loving environment of our home.  But, the thought of the actual work of lesson planning and teaching and grading and record keeping and just plain juggling exhausts me a bit.  

I still feel called to home schooling.  Without a doubt, I know this is still where God wants our family to be.  So, I realize, as I did in our early years, that I must trust that if He calls us to it, He will see us through it.  The more I feel burnt out, the more it is an opportunity to turn it all over to Him and to rely even more on His strength.  Right?!?!?

As a family, we have been praying a nine week novena to St. Martha perpetually for nearly a year now.  We started it last September and at the end of each nine weeks, we start it anew for another intention.  St. Martha has been awesome in interceding for our every intention so far.  So when we realized last night that our next nine weeks was just beginning, we decided to offer this novena up for a successful home school year- for motivation and positive attitudes to make this year a great one.  

I’m still feeling a little unprepared for another year of home schooling but it is nice to know, it doesn’t all rest on my shoulders.  Through St. Martha’s intercession, I know God will see me through.  And maybe this will be our best year yet?!?!?!?!?!?!

St. Martha, pray for us.

What we learned from teaching

Today is Tim's last full day of teaching.  Teaching religion in a Catholic school has been an interesting experience.  His career will be going in a different direction very soon (more on this to come....).  We are not sure we fully understand why God brought Tim to teaching or why his teaching career was so short.  Perhaps it was only to provide an opportunity to hopefully pass our beautiful faith onto others, or maybe it was to teach us a few things ourselves.  Here is a little of what we learned from Tim's one year as a classroom teacher....

1.       Teaching is truly a calling and those who have dedicated their lives to it deserve our utmost respect and support.  Going into the classroom every day and trying to impart wisdom and knowledge to a room full of children from varied backgrounds, with varied learning styles, and varied interests is really hard.  

2.      Our Catholic schools are not always as Catholic as they should be.  Catholic schools may strive to provide an authentically Catholic education but often the teachers and administrators are un-catechized themselves.  We, as Catholic parents, need to demand authentically Catholic curriculum, ongoing catechesis for the teachers, and policies that build up and support Catholic teachings on every level.  It would be great if our schools could be run by religious sisters again.  There was discipline then, there was respect then, there was solid catechesis then, there was an example of lives lived for Christ back then…..

3.      The best thing parents can do to make sure their children are truly educated in things of our faith is to practice it at home.  Even the very best of Catholic schools can only do so much.  It is in the home where children learn to either follow God and respect His Church or do their own thing and maybe show up to Mass a few times a year.  Parents are the greatest influence in their children lives, whether they want to be or not!  If they want their children to be Catholic, they must be faithfully Catholic themselves.

4.      The best thing parents can do, to facilitate a good educational experience for their children in general, is to support their teachers.    This means parents should not criticize teachers.  They should not contradict teachers.  They should not attempt to override teachers’ decisions.  If parents were more supportive, teachers would be empowered to provide a better environment for all students.  Students would learn, not only their academics, but also respect for authority and the concept of taking responsibility for their actions- lessons that are sorely missing on our schools today.

5.      Teachers are WAY underpaid for the time and energy they put into their jobs.  We probably knew that, we certainly had heard that, yet we were still surprised by how true it really is.

6.      Our family was definitely called to home schooling.  We knew this too, of course.  But a year in the schools has given Tim a greater appreciation for all I do and for the MANY benefits that home schooling has afforded our children, both academically and socially.

7.      And the lesson that might be most important and that I am trying to fully embrace--  God’s plan is always surprising.  He answers prayers in the most unexpected of ways, at times.  Obedience and trust are never easy, yet God will bless us if we are obedient to Him, trust in Him, and let Him work in our lives.