The students have been soaking up the fresh air, as well as all the outdoor related knowledge. Compass/navigation skills, knife safety and a little bit of fire-building are a few of the fascinating topics and skills that we've covered so far.
They've all been met with enthusiastic reviews by the students.
From a mother's perspective, I really want the girls to be able to handle the whole gamut of situations. I want them to be prepared in life to have dinner with the President, survive if they get lost and any situation that falls in between.
Considering the outages and calamities our nation is currently experiencing, thriving without power in unusual situations seems like a handy skill to have.
Co-op has been good for other reasons too. The fellowship we mamas experience ranks high on my lists of reasons for being involved in a co-op. The idea extends beyond something that applies only to homeschoolers. It's this:
Find a solid community.
Plant yourself in it.
Be a thriving and integral part of it.
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to linger a bit afterward while the Blossoms enjoyed the fresh autumn air, picturesque scenery and friendly interaction on the playground.
My friend and I soaked up the stillness and delved deeper into the matters of motherhood.
The funny thing is that our situations are not exactly similar. Her children are a bit older than mine. She has some in different school situations than mine. She also has ventured into the world of adoption, a life choice that I greatly admire and find highly intriguing.
Friends, one of the surest ways to miss out on friendship is to pigeon-hole yourself to people who are only in exactly the same situation as you are. Oddly enough, this is a lesson that many homeschoolers grasp well.
In our meandering conversation, we were sharing moments of motherhood weakness. It was the fleshing out of confessing our faults to one another in the truest and most natural sense. She shared a very hurtful thing that one of her children had said to her. Then, she shared that she'd been unable to respond in kindness, so she'd walked away.
She did not know how much the girls and I have been talking about what to do when faced with times of temptation. Run from it! Many parents want their kids to stand up to temptation. Yes, a truly good thing, but a child isn't always strong enough or wise enough to do that or know what that might mean in a given situation. We've been discussing that the Bible gives us this option for temptation or peer pressure.
Walk away.
One of the simplest tools we can equip our children with, is the power and freedom to know they can and should just walk away. Practically, in a social situation, that can be as "easy" as going to the bathroom.
Through the girls' and my discussions on this topic, it has been encouraging me to walk away from temptation, any kind of temptation I face in my life.
When my friend transparently shared her recent tough motherhood moment, I celebrated her victory. She walked away from the temptation to react in less than a Godly manner!
The moment was so powerful for me. Another mom is plodding through this journey, pursuing Godliness in the tiny and the monumental decisions. Her courage and humility inspired me. I got up from the park bench and the message of her moment resounded in my spirit. I felt energized to withstand the temptations I face daily.
Blessings,
Dominique
