Dear Mom,

Thank you for sharing your journey with this forum. It is always a joy to read letters from moms who are experiencing the call of the Lord to make a change in their homeschooling lifestyle.

You mentioned the stress that is generated from your having to deal with the virtual classroom. It would seem to me that such stress is counterproductive to your being able to enjoy the fullness of the peace that comes from doing what you believe to be within the will of the Lord. Is there a way that you can discontinue the virtual school, giving your children credit for the amount of work they have accomplished thus far, and start to redesign your homeschooling day to fit the needs of your family?

Here's the deal for me. When I am under stress, especially the type of stress that I know I can eliminate, I become tense and hurried. This feeling of being wired but tired translates into everything that I attempt to do. In other words, I no longer see the joy in our tasks but feel pushed to accomplish tasks for the mere sake of saying that it is finished. One of the main reasons that I was drawn to the homeschooling lifestyle was the complete freedom to 'mother, teach, and nurture' my children in the way that best suited me and my entire family.

Our second oldest daughter and her husband are living with us while he finishes his graduate studies. They have just had a baby girl. She is the main show at our house. Our younger daughters and I have been preoccupied with all things baby for the past two weeks. Naturally this is a special time in the life of the entire family. I can not even imagine, nor do I want to imagine, a day whereby we are more interested in tedious school tasks and not in the delights of this precious baby girl. However it is necessary that the girls do their work and that they learn the needed self-discipline of staying on task. So.....we came to a compromise. The girls agreed to do their school work early in the morning and to do those tasks that require the most help from me thereby freeing up the afternoon to help their big sister with the baby. What a joy!

God gifts us with family and in this gift He gives us our ministry as well.

Please seek to be peaceful and joy-filled in your days. Your children have in you the best teacher and certainly the Lord feels this way as He has called you into this homeschooling lifestyle. I admire you very much and find in your holy witness a sister in Christ who has indeed a heart for her children. This is the greatest gift a child can have. Go forward into your days and embrace your children and this time as it is short-lived and worthy of the joy it brings.

Let us pray our prayers this afternoon for all those women who are experiencing difficult pregnancies. Let us ask the dear Blessed Mother to surround them with her arms and to shelter them from thoughts that serve only to make them anxious. Lord we ask that You protect these women and allow that they have persons in their days that will uplift and encourage them as they travel through difficult times.

Sending out a prayer,

Rita Munn