These Two Things

These TWO Things 

To Know Him and Make Him known 

Over the course of this first few weeks of school there had been tears and sighs and outbursts... no not from me 🤣from my sweet oldest girlies. Venturing out of the homeschool world into public school the past two years has brought two things into our lives that have made for a real feeling of injustice and wanting to venture BACK into the realm of being a homeschool-only family. Those two things are: HOMEWORK and TESTS! 

Now don’t get me wrong here. I think some homework would be fine every once in awhile or on a particularly busy day at school when goals weren’t met... but seriously?! The amount of homework these students receive is absurd! They are already giving the public school a near 8 hours of their day. Then they have another hour or more of homework during the afternoon and evening?! And what about kids who play sports? On top of school, they have to find time for studying and getting homework done too. Oh, and somewhere in the mix of all of THAT—-MAYBE spend just a FEW moments resting and catching up with their family! 🤦🏽‍♀️ 

Now, don’t get me wrong about test taking either. Tests are a wonderful way to assess growth and knowledge. They’re a very “normal” part of life and school. However, when there are days on end of test after test after test—ESPECIALLY for students who face very real test anxiety in the first place, this just seems like cruel and unusual punishment. How about a rule of thumb one test per subject per month?! It seems instead the tests are daily or at the very least weekly. The anxiety that tests provoke is just not necessary to inflict on students so frequently. Just my opinion 😉But as someone who struggled with intense test taking anxiety in school myself, I personally know that the tests rarely reflected my total comprehension of a subject anyway. Could we not have found better ways of assessing overall comprehension by now? 

OKAY homeschool mama rant over 🤣 

Now that we got THAT out of the way 🤣

So, back to the tears and sighs and outbursts... with all the test anxiety I was beginning to feel at the end of my rope for
 encouragement to offer my girlies. One morning a week or so ago we headed in to school and during the morning drive instead of having any time to connect or listen to scripture together on the Bible app, Seana was hurriedly and overwhelmedly studying for a math quiz. When we pulled in to the middle school, I could feel the burden weighing on her shoulders to achieve. I looked at her and with everything inside of me I said, “Seana, I do not need you to get A’s. I do not need you to do amazing. I don’t even care if you fail, so long as you are giving it your best effort. Work hard, and give your best for God’s glory. BUT at the end of the day, pass or fail is not my utmost highest goal for you! Because ultimately, I believe that even if you fail time after time, if God truly has created you to be a veterinarian and called you to do that, He will provide ways for you to accomplish that even through the struggle. But, do you know what my highest hopes for you are? My biggest goal for you and your siblings is not your achievements, it is for you to do TWO THINGS. 

Two things, alone. 

Know Him. 

And, 

Make Him known. 

That is it! TWO THINGS. If you do those two things to the best of your ability my heart will be so full of joy and gratitude to God because those two things are the most beautiful strivings this life has to offer us!” 

After those words came out of my mouth, I knew they were from the counsel of the Holy Spirit encouraging our family to find peace and release, rather than stay stuck in anxiety and striving. 

I know anxiety still wages war against us, but we will choose to strive for Holy goals and surrender every other striving into His strong, affirming and faithful hands. 

So, I hope my sharing this today encourages your hearts to hold onto THESE TWO THINGS... 

Know Him and make Him known! 

Blessings, friends 

“All of your works will thank you, Lord, and your faithful followers will praise you. They will speak of the glory of your kingdom; they will give examples of your power. They will tell about your mighty deeds and about the majesty and glory of your reign.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭145:10-12‬ ‭NLT‬‬