Dear Mom,

God bless you dear heart. You are doing a fantastic work with your little homeschoolers. Considering the wonderfully lovely challenges that you are going to be facing with a little baby I would most definitely go easy into the upcoming homeschooling year. It truly sounds as if you have managed to get a jump start on your teaching being that you have managed to nearly complete the work for first grade for a student that is traditionally of preschool age.

Please do not overly concern yourself with the logistics of teaching with a newborn. It is far more important considering the young age of your dear children that you rest, eat well, and recuperate. A baby's arrival allows that you give yourself a wonderfully relaxed time of recuperation. In so doing your mental and physical well being will serve you well.

Your children will enjoy homeschooling as a time of closeness with mom. Please do not push yourself unnecessarily as this creates stress and tension that is often released when normal frustrations mount. Remember that all moms who are facing homeschooling are just like yourself. We all have our bad days and our good days. There are seasons when it seems that there is just not enough of 'me' to go around and to meet the many demands that I will face. It is in those days that I have forgotten the most important lesson a homeschool mom can remember....God handles the challenges through our docility of spirit when we gracefully and with humility give those challenges to Him. Do not take on more outside activities than you can peacefully commit to do. Remember that your little homeschool is the most important school and as such it is holy because it is of the Lord's will. The Lord will empower and inspire you to meet the tasks at hand.

One of the first tasks that I in my weakness will sometimes forget to do is prayer. I will feel pushed to get my day started because we are facing several tasks and opt to 'quickly throw in a load of clothes and pray my morning prayers in a minute'. Of course that minute usually never comes. In those days my spirit is unsettled and I lose my focus. Of course the reason for such a feeling is that my focus was not met at the beginning of the day. The focus is the Lord.

Go forward into your holy and worthy work. Be kind to your spirit and know that the Lord loves you so very much and desires to empower you every step of the way. When we turn to the Lord with our sorrows, challenges and anxieties He loves us through these times and tenderly embraces us with such an overwhelming love that we can feel His presence. I admire you and will keep you in my prayers. Your holy witness is lovely and surely will serve to uplift all moms in a similar situation who will read your letter.

Let us pray our prayers for all those families that find they are facing challenges related to caring for a sick newborn or sick children. Let us offer up our daily challenges on their behalf. Lord we pray that they are able to be fed well and to rest peacefully. Jesus we love You and long to see Your face in every second of the day. Amen.

Sending out a prayer,

Rita Munn