This is the time of year when homeschool discouragement runs rampant.

I get it. I have been discouraged lately, but because I have been down this road for several years now I know this too shall pass!

Normally, when I am feeling this way, I put my thoughts down in a blog post. {I have collected all of these posts under the Homeschool Encouragement tab if you're interested} Recently, however, I haven't even really felt like writing.

It's amazing to me how much homeschooling has refined me as a person and as a mother. God has laid it on my heart to work on PATIENCE this year. He has impressed upon me the importance of RELATIONSHIP and  SLOWING DOWN.  During a week where a lot of things went haywire (ill parents, broken appliances, pre-teen attitudes, etc...), I drew on strength I wasn't quite aware I possessed. 

Homeschooling means your children are privy to all that goes in your life. There is no "when the kids go to school" so you can deal with the messiness of life. My kids are right there dealing with all of it with me, and this week I witnessed that this is a beautiful thing. People talk about homeschoolers being "sheltered" and not ready for the "real world", and I just couldn't disagree more.