Halfway Mark

Well, we are exactly halfway over the school year, and I think I can officially say I love it.  I really, really, love having the kids home.  People... Friends, even, have told me they feel sorry for me.  Often times I'll get the age old, "I don't know how ya do it!" from strangers.  But, what they don't get is that it truly is a joy for me.  My kids are a joy.  I adore, adore each of them.

It is a blessing to get to stay home and to have the opportunity to pour into them each and every day.  It is a blessing to be able to slow down and eat breakfast with them... A blessing to teach them the joy of reading... A blessing to hear them cheer when I open the Bible at breakfast... A blessing to face challenges together and teach them how to face those challenges... A blessing to watch their relationships blossom into such tenderness and adoration for each other... A blessing to see them enjoy the sunshine and crisp air without constraint... A blessing to hear them play pirate in the woods or dig up worms... A blessing to instill in them a love for learning.

This is a blessed life because I get to be the one who has their focus for these tender years.  It will not be long at all before their focus will be elsewhere.  There will be time enough someday for sipping coffee idly at Starbucks... Time enough for going to the gym at a leisurely pace.  In just a few short years, I'll soon have a clean house again and all the laundry put away... "Me" time will be all that I have; it won't be long.  I will then be so thankful that I've had this precious time with each of them.  I won't regret it.  I don't regret it now.  So, please, please don't feel sorry for me.  It is a gift to me and an honor to be right where I am.