Abdication and embrace

I am a homeschooling mother by calling and not by gifting. It is a calling I'm not always excited to embrace. Honestly, homeschooling is HARD! There is a reason education used to be reserved for the social elite, who hired tutors along with nannies, housekeepers, and cooks. But, I digress.

It is Monday, a day usually spent at our homeschool co-op and filled with activity. And though I'm rarely ready for Mondays, Mondays are always ready for me. On this particular Monday, though, I have sick little ones, so I'm not at the co-op, having sent my older, healthy children alone. Which brings me to the reason for my post this morning.

If I sent my children to a government school, I could enjoy this kind of time every morning, five days a week. Six of my eight children would be gone, for hours, and the two who would be home would be napping at least a part of the time their older siblings were gone. Such quietness is tantalizing, even tempting. How much I could accomplish. How free I would be to pursue more enjoyable endeavors.

Then, before I've even had a moment to contemplate the temptation or the enjoyment it might bring, this realization pops into my mind; to send my children away would be to abdicate the responsibility God has given to me to disciple and train them. I could leave them to be raised by others, while I was home, in the quiet of a relatively empty house, but at what cost?

As difficult as it is to be wife, mother, housekeeper, cook, and educator, it is my calling. To do less will cheat me of the joy that comes from sharing life with my children, as crazy and difficult (even overwhelming) as that might be.

So, instead of abdicating or delegating my responsibility to train and educate my children, I will embrace God's call to a high and noble profession. And, many years from now when my house is empty and quiet and clean, I will look back fondly on these days, thankful for the privilege to leave my mark on the next generation.