CLOCK TOWER
© Daniel Loncarevic | Dreamstime.comYet you do not know [the least thing] about what may happen tomorrow. What is the nature of your life? You are [really] but a wisp of vapor (a puff of smoke, a mist) that is visible for a little while and then disappears [into thin air]. James 4:14 (AMP)
Time is most precious and it slips through our fingers on a daily basis. I try to slow it down, but it’s so fast. Everything in life demands more of our time—gardens, meals, organizing, cleaning, friendships, church responsibilities, lesson planning, insert here __________.
Nothing, aside from our Lord and our husband, deserves more of our time than our children. God hand-picked this arrangement. As I drove 7 hours yesterday with 5 children, I was shocked with the realization that sitting in the passenger seat beside me, was a man. Only 11, his feet are bigger than mine and he’s now taller than me, this baby I held in my arms. He can open all the hard jar lids. Sometimes he asks me hard questions like “how will I know who God picked for my wife”.
Time is flying by.
Puff.
What if I wasn’t homeschooling him? Even though most days zoom, while the clock zips from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. before I know it, what if my man-child was gone 9 of those 12 hours? I wouldn’t know him. Oh, I’d try as any mother would. I’d try to absorb every moment as soon as he’d get off that big yellow bus at the end of the driveway. Like my own mother I’d meet him with milk, cookies and a smile. But I know he’d be zombiefied. It’s what happens. I remember being a zombie after getting off of that bus.
Think of how many hours children who leave for public/private school are away from home everyday? All they’re missing is getting a paycheck at the end of the week. And this is childhood? A few years ago we had two foster children who daily went to public school. They had to get up by 6:30 each morning to get dressed, eat and stand with loaded backpacks at the bus stop by 7:20. The bus didn’t bring them back home until nearly 4 pm.Stepping off the bus in late afternoon sun, their eyes were glazed over. Before we knew it dinner was calling, then evening chores, showers and bed. Wake up the next morning, do it all again.
Where’s the time? 
I openly share that some days are messy, because life can get that way. But even on the messy days I still have my children with me, by my side. We have time to talk. Even if we’re doing housework, we talk. Big, hard, thick questions about life, the world, Jesus. We get into the deep stuff, over oatmeal. If the math makes the brain hurt, we go jump on the trampoline and eat a popsicle – that usually fixes most dilemmas. When tempers flair as brother upsets sister {or most likely sister upsets brother}, we talk it out and pray big prayers.
A few of the gifts of time that homeschooling brings:
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Siblings get to know each other, they are not just passing by morning, night and weekends. Even if a sibling conflict erupts {no perfection, we have them} we handle it as a family. More prayer. More Word. More Time. I can say though, with all our children, they are increasingly becoming one another best friends. I’m seeing it happen.
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I know my children, through the gift of time that homeschooling brings. They are not strangers that I’m obligated to care for. I don’t have to give them away to the world 40+ hrs a week.
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We know our children’s strengths and weaknesses. We don’t find out about these areas from a teachers note, SOL’s or report card. With Holy Spirit’s help, we refine the strengths, we develop where they are weak. We learn and grow together.
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Jesus, at the center of family life, is our focus. Some days I say to the kids, “boy, we need more Jesus today, let’s get our bibles out.” We play the Word in our house while we work. We’re working on incorporating meal time devotions. And if we find ourselves really digging in to the Word, we can linger. Everything else can wait.
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There’s still more time, even though I feel days rushing past, than if we were all running in different directions everyday. At least we run, and slow down, together.
Enjoy your gift. Soak up these days.
Thank you so much for this fresh breath of God
I needed to read this today, and HE knew it. Bless you as we are on a similar journey – homeschooling our children while we love on Jesus and our husbands 
Following you from http://www.soyoucallyourselfahomeschooler.com
Carlie K.
I second the part about siblings time together being important. I love to see how well my kids get along with each other. They're building lifelong relationships with each other and learning to resolve conflicts Biblically and that MATTERS. I wish I had that time with my own brothers!
Time is the most precious thing we can give another person because we can never get it back.
What a beautiful post! There is no denying it, what our children want (and need) from us requires time. We have to be present to guide and know them as people. Time is the stuff parenting is made of!
I've been go back and forth (leaning toward homeschooling though) for a year or so now. My littles are 9mos, 2 and 3. And this post, or rather, this idea of giving of your time to cultivate your children – I know it's been written many ways before, but something in this post just sealed the deal for me. My husband is all for it (he was homeschooled) but his mom worked from home and they just studied from books, they weren't really cultivated as individuals, so I was undecided. But this, giving yourself and your time to get to know them and love them, to teach them what it's like to live, think, pray, go through trials as a Christian every single day – this is exactly what I want do with my family. Even though I've read this idea in different words before, God used your post to speak to me about what exactly it could look like.
Thank you for posting this! I emailed it to my husband, letting him know I'm committed now. I can't thank you enough!
Heather Ann – Praise God, it makes my heart happy to know that God can use this post to inspire you to homeschool. You will never regret investing these years in your children! Bless you and yours
I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE this article …same as the "others" previously posted ..this one truly shines "God's Love" through it…and I "too" agree.."our" time given on this earth is only a "breath"…I pray.."Please Jesus" let every parent and grandparent..no matter their "life's situations"… they themselves have created..REALIZE THIS TODAY..if they have not had the "light bulb" go on yet :O)..and yes..seems like in a span of maybe "6 months" that grandson has grown from a mere toddler into a man…I agree.. "PUFF"..catch the "breath"!
I met my daughter with a "gorgeous" saddled up pony at her bus stop….then a short ride up the lane to our home…more adoration spilled over her upon arrival…if I would have been enlightened at that time..to "HomeSchooling" I surely would have proceeded in that direction in order to lavish even more "blessings" upon here life….as I watch my "Homeschooled Grandchildren" I pray that any parent..or grandparent that can give this "gift" to their children will be enturnally "BLESSED" :O) Please all who read this article..PRAY ABOUT HOMESCHOOLING YOUR GIFTS FROM GOD!!!! :O)
Beautiful, I agree with you! Thank you for sharing, its wonderful to hear other women feeling the same way. Homeschooling is a way of life and I love being with my children all day~its a gift! They are my blessings and I treat them that way!
Exactly!!! Very nicely said! This is exactly why we homeschool too.
And now that we're close to the end of our homeschooling journey I can't even begin to tell you how thankful I am to have had this privilege! 
I have never commented before and I may never again….I usually don't stop long enough to comment. But I really appreciate this post. I have had several friends that don't home school comment over the last several weeks that they wish they could get some of that time back. This is the perfect article to share with them….Thank You. I did share it on face book. Maybe it will help them..it did help me to appreciate the time I do have with my kids.
Crystal
This is so true. It's not about quality time (which is really a fancy way for saying trying to cram moments in to specified time instead of letting them happen naturally). It's about quantity time. Time is a gift and we don't know how much of it we will have with our children, so we need to treasure the moments. Time is absolutely one of the biggest gifts of homeschooling.
Thank you for the beautiful post just in time to put me in the right mindset for starting off a new year.
What a wonderful post, Jamerrill! Honestly, you warmed my heart right up with that! Really, really great post!
So well put!
Really enjoyed reading this!
LOVE your post, and it just reminds me of why we choose to homeschool our children last year, after 3 of them having been started in the public school system. Although it is not a piece of cake, it is definately a slice of Heaven. Thank you!
I love that pic of you and your baby and your big boy.
And, you look great! So young for having such a grown-up 11 year old.
Thank you Roselady! I’ll take that encouragement right now.
Thanks for stopping by to read.
It is true. We too often fall into a fast pace. My family lived for a time on a cattle ranch in the wilderness. (Only wood heat). I thought it was going to be rough. But it was much easier. The pace was steady, we worked long hours, but it was not rushed. The kids worked side by side with us, and it made a big difference in family bonding.
I prefer homeschooling because there is so much in it. As a parent, I can’t deny how much my family has benefited from it. My kid has the best curriculum, books, e-learning software like EasyPhonics™ …the list goes on. We have the financial freedom and we contribute the quality time my child needs. I also noticed he is growing more mature day by day – with self-confidence, self-respect, and self-worth.
Thank you for this beautiful post. I sobbed out loud throughout the entire reading. After much consideration, we finally decided to register our children for school this year. Our son (age 9) and daughter (age 7) both currently attend private school. However, we home schooled our son during his kindergarten year. He then went to private school for first grade. The following year, he went back to private school for second grade, while I home schooled our daughter that year for kindergarten. Last year, we home schooled both children (son was in 3rd grade and daughter was in 1st grade.) So, we have sort of went back and forth with private school and home school. We struggled all last summer trying to decide what to do and praying about our decision. Our son was convinced that we wanted to go back to school….he missed his friends. My daughter had never attended school, at the point, and expressed (very vocally) that she did NOT want to go to school. In the end, we sent them – thinking it would be fun for our daughter to have a “real” school experience, one that she had never had up until that point. Plus, our son said he missed his friends….and I thought I might have more time to clean the house. Huh? Ridiculous, I now realize. Well, four days after starting school, my daughter didn’t want to be there and ran away from her teacher down the hall (kicking and screaming, literally) because she missed me. Also, it probably only took two months (tops) for our son to realize that, even though his friends are great, he would still rather be at home….with us. Eventually, our daughter accepted going to school and has adjusted to the routine fine. Our son was on the school soccer team and is now finishing up basketball season with the school’s team. So, all in all, the school year has been fine and they never come home crying at the end of the day. However, they regularly express their desire to be home again with us, instead of going to school but they don’t complain and go along with the “program.” Though my days are more quiet than if my children were home with me, I have never really adjusted to having them gone all day, every day. It just hasn’t felt right, since the beginning of the school year….something feels off. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very nice school, small and personable. There are no real problems, to speak of. Something just feels “off” when I send them “off” to school each day. It was during their recent Christmas vacation that we realized just how much they want to be home with us and just how much we want them home, too. Though they said everything is fine at school and they both have many friends and they both have good grades, they miss us when they’re there. They went back yesterday, after their Christmas break. The night before, when I was putting them to bed, my son (with a single tear streaming down his face) said something that stopped me in my tracks. He said that, although he misses us when he’s at school and really wants to be home schooled again, he will do whatever we think is best. It nearly broke my heart. Missing his Mommy, while being mature enough to be obedient to what we think is best. So, hear I sit – reading your post and crying….in a house that is no cleaner than if my kids were here with me and I have to ask myself: what is best?? They miss us and WANT to be home with us. We miss them and WANT them to be home, too. So, what’s the point of sending them off for 7 hours every day? What’s the point of paying tuition when I can be here for them? What can they learn and gain by going to school that they can’t learn and gain from being home? Thank you so much for this post and for reminding us that our children won’t be children forever. Time, no matter how hard we try to slow it down, it just keeps ticking away. You have beautifully stated how I have been feeling since the beginning of this school year. I believe that “off” feeling that I get when I send them off each day is God whispering to me “you have the gift of time right now, use it wisely.” Thank you for helping me hear Him a little easier!!!
I want to encourage you to follow your heart. As far as I could see, you only stated one reason for having your children be at a brick school, and that was to have a cleaner house, which we realize doesn’t happen with the best intentions (unless we stay up all night cleaning). Your words show they are BEGGING you to come home and learn with you. When I read your post, I felt like I was watching a movie and rooting for the kids to win and get to come home and learn after Christmas break! I am thinking you must have other reasons for keeping them away at school. If they are good, God will bring peace to your heart. I enrolled my 5 year old son (at the time) and felt NO peace. So I called up the school and took his name off the list. He and his younger sister are homeschooling with me now. It is NOT easy. Even with a teaching degree, this is the hardest job I have ever done. It seems to never end, since it is all at home. Sometimes I get VERY selfish and think I want to get a job just to escape! So I am still struggling with making “me” time so I can give them the best teacher and mommy they can have. But I do have peace. I pray you will find yours either way. (PS- our 16 year old is attending private school. Loves it. PERFECT for him.)
This was a great post! I’ve personally struggled with wanting to Homeschool since my 1st son started K, 7 1/2 years ago! I just never felt it was right to send your kids away from you the whole day, 5 days a week, 10 months out of the year! I was so insecure about my ability to teach them that I caved into the societal pressure and put them in public school. I’m happy to say that after much thought and prayer, I can finally say that this fall all 3 of my older children (I have 4 sons) will be Homeschooled! I’m so excited and very scared. But I have felt this nagging at my heart for over 7 years now, it’s just now that I realized that is was God guiding me to Homeschool, I just never trusted in HIM!
Vickie, this is wonderful! We’re here for you