I hope you all had a great Resurrection weekend!  Mine was pleasant and I'm happy to be back into the routine of school.  But more about that later.

One thing I'm working on right now is learning how to podcast!  I'm excited about that.  When my children were young I was offered to do my own Saturday morning show at a local Christian radio station.  I turned it down because I was afraid it would take too much time away from my young children at that time.  I still wonder if I did the right thing!  There is a part of me that feels icky inside when I think about giving up that opportunity.  Maybe I missed God -- I don't know -- but I know that if I did, He is not surprised, because He knows me better than I know myself, and He is not mad at me.

I "gave up" a lot of things in those days because I thought that was what God expected of me.  Looking back, I'm not so sure all those decisions were the right ones.  But what I do know, is that I don't have any regrets about spending all that time at home with my children.  Even if that time didn't make as much a difference in their lives as I thought it did (and how would we ever really know that until heaven anyway?) I can still look back and say, "I did what I thought was best at that time.  I did my best, and I have no regrets." 

And I really don't regret staying home with the children in those days.  In fact, those are some of the happiest memories of my life!  Even though we were dirt poor, and we lived in a town where I was lonely, had no friends at all (we didn't know about the internet yet!), lived in a tiny little town that ostracized us for homeschooling (we were the first and only homeschoolers in that town back in the late '80's, early 90's), I still look back at that time as one of the most idyllic times of my life.

Anyway, I'm excited to be learning how to podcast so that I can have "my own show" again!  God is good!  He is a God of restoration.  His call is irrevocable.  We might try to take all kinds of detours, but He is still going to fulfill the purpose He has for us as long as we give Him the reins.  Giving Him the reins completely is something I am still learning to do.  I'm not sure I really even know where those reins are sometimes!

Okay, but back to school stuff.  I had a little Mommy fit this morning.  My son, 16, showed me his journal entry that I assigned him yesterday and it was unacceptable.  The work of a third grader, I told him.  Then I had to make a speech that went something like, "Why am I more concerned about you getting into college than you are?  Don't you understand that these journal assignments are practice for the essay you will have to write on your SAT?  You need to focus on your work and less on your social life!"

"Well," says I in my I-am-wiser-than-thou voice, "I suppose if you want to work in a factory all your life, that's your choice..."

I get so frustrated with my sons!  Why did God give me sons to teach instead of girls who love pencils and books when I love pencils and books so much!?  I suppose because I am just stubborn enough and tough enough to match them, journal entry after journal entry without giving up.  But sometimes, it sure feels like I'm fighting a loosing battle! 

Still, we are called to never, never quit.  When it comes to our children, the devil is counting on us to be exhausted, weary, and tired.  We have to call upon the strength of the Lord to get the job done.  This is a supernatural thing we are doing -- there is no way to do it in ourselves!  It will take prayer and determination that can only come from the Lord!