A Place to Belong

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Ray and I ran into a homeschooling mom and dad yesterday. I’ll call them Dean and Miranda. As we caught up, they shared with us some of their anxieties about this year of transition as their oldest child finishes eighth grade and they begin their high school homeschool journey as a homeschooling family.

We have heard similar concerns again and again during our almost eighteen years in Notgrass Company. Mama after mama has shared her worries and fears about the high school years. All of a sudden mamas and daddies who have finally gotten to a comfortable place in homeschooling feel as if they are starting over and entering a whole new ballgame.

Ray and I are completely confident that this couple can do this job in the same fabulous way they have been doing.

As we shared many encouragements with Dean and Miranda, one was especially close to my heart. I assured them that their child continues to need them. I also encouraged them to keep family time a top priority.

Two of my greatest joys when our children were teenagers were the closeness of all five of us and the opportunity to watch our children spend so much time with one another.

As I watched our children, I thought back to my own teenage years with some regret. I grieved about lost time with my younger brother. When I got to high school, I spent more and more time away from home and lost out on time with Steve. If I had those years to live over, I would spend much more time with him.

Steve and I were blessed with wonderful growing up years.  From comments that some of my high school friends have made to me in the last few years, I now know that Steve and I weren’t the only ones who knew our parents were special. My friends noticed it, too, way back then.

You have a wonderful opportunity to create a beautiful family, give your children an opportunity to live that way, and be a beacon to other children. I encourage you not to get so caught up in those high school fears and worries that you lose sight of one of the most important things you can give your high school student — a place to belong, a family, a happy place where they sit and lie down and rise up.

You shall therefore impress these words of mine
on your heart and on your soul;
and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand,
and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.
You shall teach them to your sons,
talking of them when you sit in your house
and when you walk along the road
and when you lie down and when you rise up.
Deuteronomy 11:18-19

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