Am I Enough?

As a new homeschool year is starting back, many questions fill my mind. Can I juggle three different grades, take care of a toddler and a baby, and still get the house work done without being completely overwhelmed? Did we make the right choice for me teaching instead of doing video lessons again? Am I prepared?

If you homeschool, I’m sure you’ve had similar questions fill your mind, even though we may not all be in the same stages of life at the same time. You might be homeschooling for the first year. Your family and friends might be giving you flak about your decision to homeschool. Maybe they think public school is a better choice. Let’s be real, who can teach better than a “real” teacher.

You could be right in the middle of the trenches of homeschool. You have multiple children in multiple grades, and even though it’s a new school year, you are tired just thinking about it. You’ve pictured what it’d be like loading the kids up and dropping them off at a school for someone else to deal with.

This might be your last year homeschooling. Maybe you wonder if you’ve prepared them enough for the real world. I’m sure you question some of the choices you’ve made along the homeschool journey. Are they going to be behind in college? Or have culture shock from the environment they didn’t know existed.

It doesn’t matter what stage you are in, you might be wondering the same thing I am. Am I enough?

I often feel like the things I do in life are never good enough. This spans way beyond homeschool.

To be honest, I’m not a top notch chef. I can make the same meal two weeks in a row, and it never turns out the same. Sometimes it’s good, other times it’s barely edible.

I have five children ages 7 years to 5 weeks old. I question, am I doing everything I can to equip them for life? I want to shield them from all the bad in the world, but I don’t want them to think life is a big fairytale. Nor do I want them to be scared to walk out of the front door.

Am I enough, to teach them about God? I mean really show them by my life that God is real. I don’t want it to be a casual thing, I want them to really love God. Life gets busy, and sometimes, I forget what’s really important.

Is what I’m doing as far as training and disciplining enough? Sometimes I have no clue what I’m doing. Why won’t these little people listen to me? In my mind, I’m making simple requests, but you’d think I was speaking in a foreign language, by their response, or should I say the lack thereof.

Can I actually expect a clean house? I’m not talking about a museum type clean. I’m just talking not looking like we live in a toy store with toys all over the floor in every room including the bathroom! Am I enough to get this done?

Let’s go back to homeschooling. Am I enough to teach my little ones how to read? To be truthful, some of the phonics rules don’t make sense. How am I supposed to show them, when I can’t explain it? My five-year-old has better handwriting than I do, so that makes handwriting interesting. Math is easier to explain for now, but once they get in the higher grades it’s all on daddy because I had a tutor for

Algebra and still didn’t do well.

Am I enough to teach them what love is, what forgiveness looks like, and what compassion moves a person to do? There’s so much involved with parenting. How does a person know if they are enough, or if they have what it takes to do it all?

The answer might be shocking to some. We are not enough to do the great task of parenting, homeschooling, and everything in between. In my own strength, I will come up short every time, and get frustrated and overwhelmed trying, but God has given me everything I need to succeed in this journey of life. If I lean on Him and rest in His ability, instead of my inability, I won’t go wrong. Does that mean I won’t ever fail or make mistakes? No, I’m only human, and sometimes I make the wrong decisions; but when I read His Word and commune with Him in prayer, He gives me what I need for that day. He has not made a mistake blessing me with the children I have. If I’m sure of His calling to homeschool, then I can enjoy the journey knowing that with Him I am enough.

Jessica West

I am a stay-at-home mom who loves God, and couldn’t thank Him enough for His blessings. I have a great husband and five little ones. I have one girl and four boys, ages, 7,5,3,2,and 5 weeks old. We spend our days homeschooling and trying to stay on top of the household duties. I enjoy baking with my children. And playing the piano whenever I get a free moment.

My blog is called: Called to be a Christian Mommy. calledtobeachristianmommy.blogspot.com