Fear, One of Those Top Ten Struggles
If I was making a list of the top ten most common struggles of homeschooling mamas, fear would definitely make the list. Fear of failure, fear of what people think, fear of not covering everything . . .
Sometimes it seems as if fear is just second nature to us ladies. Maybe it’s second nature to the guys, too, but for us ladies, well . . . you know how we are. Sometimes our fears are just plain silly — like a fear I had when Ray and I first were married. I was afraid to cook spaghetti for company. I was afraid I wouldn’t get the noodles just right. What if they were not done or too mushy?
Spaghetti (or spag-g-g-geti as we like to call it because that’s what our little two-year-old friend Bethany — now married and the mother of two — used to call it.)? What a silly thing to waste fear on!
We should save those fears for some bigga, bigga problem (“bigga, bigga” is another of the Bethanyisms we still quote more than twenty years later) like whether we’re going to cover everything, right?
Here’s how I like to encourage homeschooling mamas about that one:
The universe is everything. You’re not going to cover it. So, get over it.
That might sound harsh on paper — or on screen — but, think about it. Everyone has to leave some parts of the universe out of their children’s education. Nobody can cover everything!
An even better idea than saving our fears for bigga, bigga problems is to lay our fears down all together. I’m reminded of one of the kiddie songs we sing at church: “Our God is so big, so strong and so mighty. There’s nothing our God cannot do.” Maybe we should bring that out of the kiddie classes and teach it to the bigga, bigga folks.
Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope for His lovingkindness.
Psalm 33:18
I sought the Lord, and He answered me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
Psalm 34:4
And when we fear the God Who delivers us from all our fears, we can rest in His Son.
Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden,
and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart,
And you will find rest for your souls.
For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
Matthew 11:28-29