The Significant Task of Home Schooling

#mondayfunday #sigosherts

Get ready for a month’s worth of pictures! We got school off to a GREAT start. We have worked out most of the kinks and have settled down into a good routine and rhythm. I am so thankful to God for his provision and power and grace. Thank you all for praying for us. Here are some pictures of our school time shenanigans.

Things to note:
1. French toast bake for breakfast on the first day of school was a hit.
2. The boys all wore green… by accident.
3.What is homeschool for if not to read upside down or with a post-it note on your forehead?
4. Keeping the 4 year old engaged in school is a full-family affair.
5. Red paint looks a lot like blood.
6. Magnifying glasses make everything more fun.
7. Home school is cool.

Recently we met with our Wycliffe Launch Coordinator and she said something profound that really gave me great comfort. Her statement was “Katie has the significant task of home schooling their five children.” If you are familiar with Gallup StrengthFinders, Significance is one of my top strengths. Every moment of every day I am seeking significance, looking for opportunities to make significance, even if there is little to work with. I know in my brain that home schooling my kids is indeed significant, but it is so easy to lose sight of the significance when I am in the trenches of spelling tests, chapter books, and attitude checks. I enjoy my kids and I am so grateful to be able to home school them, but sometimes in my search for significance my eyes can go astray, and I can become downtrodden. Statements like hers spur me on! It is the inspirational pep talk I give to myself when the 4-year-old has forgotten how to hold his pencil again, or the 16-year-old is sure he is right and I am wrong, or the 14-year-old just can’t accept what I say about how to indent a paragraph. 🙂 God is using me in their lives, and we are having lots of fun along the way!

A few other fun events happened. We went to a church celebration and baptism. Everyone got to swim, and about an hour into all the fun someone spotted baby turtles emerging from the grassy area before the beach. It was SO COOL! All the kids came rushing over to witness these amazing little baby turtles work their way to the water. God the creator is SO amazing. You can’t plan things like that for home school, no matter how hard you try!

Aaron and I were able to help some fellow missionaries (from JAARS) paint some of their rooms in their new house. We really enjoyed helping them. They are newly married (a few weeks before the quarantine started).

We got all dolled up for some family pictures. My two teenagers look WAY too old. I can’t take it.

Josh and I have the opportunity to donate COVID-19 convalescent plasma (Josh) and blood (Katie). We made a date night out of it and had fun watching a movie together (giving blood only takes a few minutes, but plasma takes 1.5-2 hours).

Last is some more pictures of yet more shenanigans and happenings around JAARS (for the most part). The playgrounds are open and the kids are very happy! There are many kids to play with and they seem to constantly make new friends.