An Amazing World of Learning

To My Fellow Homeschool Parents: 

We are going into our 7^th year of homeschool. It has been a roller coaster of emotions as we have been on a learning journey every step of the way. I feel as if I finally understand something of utmost importance that I am compelled to share with you.

First, let me explain our process of choosing education among our children. Every year has been different in our family. Some years, we have all the kids at home. Other years, we've had two homeschooling, one doing online classes, and one in public school. Another year we had three in public school and one at home. It has varied because as our children have grown, their needs have varied as well. One thing I cannot get past, though, is that as a stay at home mom, I have needed to be available to teach whatever child has needed to be at home that year. Sometimes, the need has stemmed from us moving to a new state, or because the pressure of keeping up with public school curriculum and regimen was just too daunting. As the needs have varied greatly, so have our lessons, schedules, and methods. We have even homeschooled through me having heart surgery and recovering from that. It was not easy, but it was necessary.

This year, two of our children felt strongly it was time to return to public school. Always encouraging my children to take the lead in their education, we reviewed a list of pros and cons, the “why” of their decision, and the requirements to attend in our new state. (We move to Tennessee this summer!) After much prayer, research, and discussion, the choice was made for them both to return and we all felt peaceful about it. When I went to look up one last piece of information, I learned there were some conflicts in what was required of our children by the school district. Gathering all of the info that was needed, I gathered my children together and we had a very involved discussion. When all was said and done, they could not go against their personal standards and they chose to be homeschooled once again. It was a decision made after a lot of heartache and tears, but in the end, we all knew it was the right decision. They held fast to their principles, and I could not be more proud of them for doing so.

Now it is time to get to work and for the first time in all of our years of home educating our children, I do not have my supplies or books to teach them, for everything is still in storage. As I have deeply pondered and prayed about how best to teach three children of varying ages and levels, I finally realized something I needed to change. For all of these years, I had only considered the needs of my children. As I prayed about going into this school year, I felt something different: it is time to consider my own needs as well. This year, we are changing up our schedule to how I know I can best teach. We are encouraging our children to take the lead in what they are studying instead of me planning it all. We are now working together on the needs of all of us, rather than that of just the children. It is a change that has brought sweet calmness and peace to this mama's heart.

Do not think learning has to to always be the same year after year. Let me share a few changes we are making. 

Take more field trips! We are now living in the middle of the Civil Ward battlefields, so we will be taking regular field trips to learn part of our nation's history. There is always somewhere to go, and many times for free. Ask around! (The library often has postings, as well as the city websites.)

Allow the Children to teach! My two teen boys chose what Social Studies subjects they want to learn about, and they will be teaching the rest of us what they learn. This will allow them to share what they are passionate about, all while learning how to do public speaking!

Use living books! We have always utilized the libraries, but this year, I will encourage more living books instead of using text books.

One more thing. If you are not able to homeschool, but would like to be more involved with your child's education, I highly suggest this well-written essay on the understanding Education in America. It is as if the author (who is a fellow musician acquaintance I highly respect) went into my brain, pulled out everything I wanted to share, and wrote it up for me. Whether or not you homeschool, public school, or private school your children, it is well worth the read.

Please share your favorite homeschooling tips with us! Perhaps you will be the answer to someone else's need!

Learning Daily,

Mama Dragon

Living Joyfully

For those that are closest to me, it is no secret that I have been undergoing a transformation of sorts since my heart surgery nearly three years ago; a rebirth of my spirit, so to speak. I have paddled hard as the dark waters have tried to confound me and I have struggled to gasp for air as I have fought, sometimes seemingly in vain, to keep my head above water. There has been a light slowly finding its way through the darkness, and now after sinking, drowning, battling to stay afloat, it seems the light has not only pierced through, but has filled my every soul. It has shined it's way into the broken and fragile being I was and brought love and healing into every crevice of my heart, mending it beyond the medical repairs; allowing it to illuminate something nearly tangible as I begin to embrace the new me.

One aspect of me finding my way to the new me has been that I have not been pursuing my music as much as I used to. I went from writing Christian songs up to four times a week, to writing maybe twice a year. I stopped performing, nearly completely stopped creating, and ultimately, stopped walking a path I knew I was supposed to travel since the age of seven. This has not all been bad, wrong, or neglectful. It has simply been what I needed.

As I have stepped away from music for these past few years, I have embraced motherhood to its fullest, and am learning how to put my own needs first. Note: I did not say wants, but rather needs. It is much like the oxygen mask theory I am sure most of you have heard of by now. Still, it is important to have reminders now and again. When an airplane is going through severe turbulence, or is (heaven forbid) on it's way to something more severe, an oxygen mask drops from the ceiling. In the pre-flight information, the attendants explain that if you are traveling with a child, to place your own mask on before assisting your beloved child. This is so that you will have the tools you need to care for your child. Placing your needs first allows you to have the energy and strength to care for those entrusted to you. This is what I have needed to do, striven to do (albeit not always successfully) and continue to do. Yet, there was something still missing.

In order to find that something, that part of me that was either lost, forgotten, or perhaps not yet discovered or unveiled, I gradually left social media. First blogging, then Facebok and Twitter. Some people might think that this could mean the death of a reputation or business you have built. If that's the case, so be it. For me, it became about taking that last step in recreating who I am. In the past two months, I have: cleaned out my house, purged a great deal of “stuff” (which I was sad about then over time realized how freeing this has been), said goodbye to the dearest of friends, parents, my in-laws, and grandmother-in-law (some of whom I may ever again see in this life), buried a soul sister, stayed up all night talking, hugged my brother after he was imprisoned for 10 years, learned to change the oil in my car, moved 2000 miles across the country, fed bison, had nothing to do (aka: been bored), petted donkeys, visited a hidden Civil War Cemetery, been to the Smoky Mountains, walked to a waterfall, missed playing my piano, stayed off social media, made new friends, lived in a tent, developed an infected and excruciating heat rash, healed my body naturally, moved another few hundred miles, and moved into a new home where we currently have camping chairs for furniture, are eating from our camping dishes, have no dressers, no tv, no internet, are preparing to homeschool another year... and are thriving. I have discovered that what I was missing was already a part of me. I am happy. I am light. I am joyous. I am at peace.

One of the best parts of this journey was today, when I sat down at a piano, and just played. I played songs already written, and created new pieces just for me and God. I talked to Him through my playing and was reminded of a scripture once shared with me.  

"For the Lord God giveth light unto the understanding; for he speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understanding."

Today, I truly communed with God through our common language: that of music. These past (nearly) three years I have felt more and more withdrawn from God, but did not know why. Now I do. I pushed Him away, Him and the incredible gift He gave me. By not aligning my will with His, I was fighting Him. This music is part of me, and when it is gone, I am no longer myself. Without my gifts, and more importantly without God, I cannot be the incredible Daughter He desires for me to be. It is what bonds us, joins us as Father and Daughter, Love and Light. Without the music – the gifts - He has blessed me with, I am nothing. Without Him I am nothing. So today, because I have opened the door and let them both back into my life full-heartedly, I am me once again.

How incredibly grateful I am to be eternally linked with a husband who supports me and never gives up on me; with children who are truly good souls and cheer each other on; with friends (old and new) who remind me how much God loves me; with an incredible Father in Heaven who has never doubted me, but sent His Son so that I could find myself again.

Thriving Joyfully,
Mama Dragon

Returning to Him

Dear Readers,

I'm back! After some time away from blogging and all forms of social media, I am ready to resume my responsibilities that the Lord has given me and share my voice, in hopes to glorify Him. As challenging as it sometimes is, I am ready to fully embrace all He has asked me to do.

I have committed to be a Guardian of Light. Part of this, the biggest part of it, is to protect the sanctity of families, which includes the sacredness of marriage. Some people believe that love and all that comes with it should be free, open to expression for all to witness. I believe that there are many parts of love that should be kept sacred. What goes on behind close doors is part of that. God created our bodies to feel intimately between man and wife, and there is great beauty and pleasure in that. It also something that should be kept special, sacred, private. Just like there are tender, personal moments that should not be captured on video or photography, there are some experiences that should not be shared with your neighbors, be it your children, virtual acquaintances, or actual neighbors.

Friends, we now live in a world where hardly anything is held special or sacred. Why do we feel this incessant need to share every tiny aspect of our lives? Why can we just not hold them close to our hearts for our own personal memory? The world demands we share all of our personal experiences so they can like, approve, or voice their challenging (and sometime rude or obnoxious) opinions. [This is part of the reason I had left social media for a time and took a step back. I needed to remind myself that I do not need the World's approval for the choices I make, that I only live my life to please my Father in Heaven.] I challenge you to join with me to be a change in the world. I invite you to share your light (Matt. 5:16) so that others may see you and glorify your Father, who is in Heaven. #SharingHisLight #BetheChange

When Mary gave birth to Christ, it was the Shepherds who went and proclaimed to the town of Bethlehem that the Savior was born. As people came and went, visiting them in that humble shelter, it was the Babe's mother who watched, observed, and “kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.” Why did she do this? As a mother who has given birth to four babes of my own, I believe it was because what she experienced, and the joy and love she was witnessing from others, was so special, so incredibly tender, that she chose to not share her feelings with everyone else. She was the literal mother of the Son of God! How do you even begin to describe how that felt? Sometimes, there are no words, so you just take the experience, wrap it up tightly in a bow, and keep it, ponder it, and treasure it in your heart. There is beauty in that. There is virtue in that. There is respect in that.

Let us no longer live up to the world's expectations of sharing all that is tender and personal but live up to God's expectations for us instead. Let us take hold of all that is sacred, and treasure it up in our own hearts, so that it remains the treasure God meant it to be.

Finding joy,

Mama Dragon