a beautiful story of perseverance

Originally published April 10, 2018

I received this message over facebook today...and this darling mom, reeling in despair, sent me a story of hope.  It started out like this:

...Then I spent 6 days like almost 60hrs on my house and 15-20 boxes out of my house.... Then I actually felt human again. Felt happy in my home. Felt like I could get through days without yelling....

We communicated back and forth, and I was rejoicing in her success.

And then she wrote the story in its fullness so that I could share it with all of you.

"My name is Kristine Stonehaven. I have homeschooled for seven years. My oldest goes into grade 9 in the Fall. I will also have three littles 2 in kindergarten and 1 in grade 2.

I’d have to say that this year would be one of my hardest ever for homeschooling. Really there was so many things ....and I don’t know if I could pinpoint it to exact things that happened this year. I guess overcommitting myself was a big one! I had to decide what my priorities were. I had to step back and take stock in what wasn’t working? Why was I so burnt out?

At first I thought my only solution was to put all my children in school. But putting them in school did not mean just putting them in any school. So then I had to think about financial ways to deal with putting all my children in school. In my heart I know that money should not determine how my children are educated but all of the sudden it became just about that. I work through this and I was able to come up with a somewhat feasible solution. So I was coming into the reality that We were embarking on a new adventure for our family.

I still had an overwhelming amount of stress and anxiety and just the inability to be the mother I wanted to be. All through this whole process, I have prayed and asked for the right solution to our families problem. Although I don’t think that either solution that we finally came down to was a wrong or right. I had a decision to make. What was the choice that was best for my family?

A couple days have gone by at this point still with no answer inside me. Then a morning almost 2 weeks ago, I woke up and started to de-clutter! It ended up being so much more than that. I went through everything I went through bookshelves, toys, everything that I could get my hands on. I looked at each thing. I decided I had to ask myself these questions. Do I love it? Have I used it? Will I use it? Can I live with out it? My 1 box turned into 3 then 3 turned into 15.

I could breath. I liked my home again, no I loved it! I was excited at the idea of schooling again. But I felt almost trapped by the decisions I made (to put kids in school). So I prayed more. I talked to people I know, admire, look up to... It’s ok that we almost changed our plans. It is also ok that I changed my mind. I’m grateful that I made this choice before putting my children in a school.

I didn’t realize how much pressure my overcommitting, and my disastrous home, had on my family. I have decided that my homeschooling family, my church family and My family is all I have room for. Everything else will just take time away from these things I feel are so important. I still will fill a couple more boxes and fine tune my house. This weight that has been taken off me is huge! A weight I didn’t even know was there. So to everyone reading this. I just want to say it’s ok maybe take it back a few steps.

What’s important to you? Keep it simple. Keep homeschooling simple!"

So, thank you Kristine...you are an example and inspiration to all of us, love and blessings to you!