I Wish I Had That School Right Now
I received this note last week on facebook from a member of the Providence family who God has led to move to Turkey. I asked her if I could re-post it on the Patriot Moms Blog to remind each of us of the blessings in our lives, as well as remind us to pray for them. They have four small children, and are in a foreign country schooling their children. The following is her heart felt letter that she entitled, "Things That Still Make Me Sad."
Nineteen months after moving away from the only place I'd ever lived before (Rogers, Arkansas, USA), I find that there are few instances these days where I feel sad. This is a drastic change from last year when I was constantly depressed due to culture shock, starting a completely new life, and an unexpected pregnancy. I've felt generally happy these past few months, and even with all the challenges we face here, I've not felt down or sad.
But there's been one thing that has consistently made me miss our "old" life. It makes me long for what I used to have. What is it? Watching our now 8 1/2 yr old son Seth's graduation DVD that he received after he attended Providence Classical Christian Academy in Rogers, Arkansas for a year.
It's a simple thing, and probably the other parents who own that same DVD from the 2007-2008 kindergarten school year are able to watch the DVD with warm fuzzy feelings. Just a compilation of pictures from the school year with the kids smiling faces as they played together, did projects, and enjoyed their school year - set to the song "Roots and Wings" by 4Him.
One of the very hardest things we face here is the difficulty of educating our children. We homeschool them, which we enjoy, but keeping them on a schedule and making sure they are getting the education they need has been horribly difficult since we have so many other things we need to be doing too, not the least of which is our own need for lessons in Turkish. Three of our four kids have also been in part-time Turkish schools so they can learn the language and adapt to the culture here.
I miss the support we had that year from that school.
It was only two days a week (three days a week of homeschool that went along with the school's curriculum) but Seth had a teacher who loved and cared for him, classmates, interesting lessons and activities, Godly influences there, and we had the support to help us guide him in his educational development.
Here, we have no idea how well our kids are doing. Thankfully we will be able to have the boys tested next month in Istanbul and we'll be able to get some guidance there.
But I still miss having a community around us to help us in raising our kids.
There's always this temptation for us to wonder how badly "this" life here might be messing up our children. We love being here and feel a tremendous peace and joy about our life here. But when I am reminded of the other kinds of support systems out there, I begin to feel this ache in my heart about what we don't have. I know we DO have lots of other things because of this life that ARE helping our kids. But I guess right now, particularly because one of the kids has not adjusted well to his part-time Turkish school and we're struggling to know how to guide him behaviorally and spiritually, we're just wishing we had a little extra help.
So if you have a good school system or others in your life who help provide you with encouragement as a parent or homeschool teacher, be grateful. Don't take for granted the availability of others in your life and your child's life that can pour into you and them. And pray for us to know how WE can fill all those roles for them here!
Nineteen months after moving away from the only place I'd ever lived before (Rogers, Arkansas, USA), I find that there are few instances these days where I feel sad. This is a drastic change from last year when I was constantly depressed due to culture shock, starting a completely new life, and an unexpected pregnancy. I've felt generally happy these past few months, and even with all the challenges we face here, I've not felt down or sad.
But there's been one thing that has consistently made me miss our "old" life. It makes me long for what I used to have. What is it? Watching our now 8 1/2 yr old son Seth's graduation DVD that he received after he attended Providence Classical Christian Academy in Rogers, Arkansas for a year.
It's a simple thing, and probably the other parents who own that same DVD from the 2007-2008 kindergarten school year are able to watch the DVD with warm fuzzy feelings. Just a compilation of pictures from the school year with the kids smiling faces as they played together, did projects, and enjoyed their school year - set to the song "Roots and Wings" by 4Him.
All three of our older kids love to get this DVD out from time to time, even Caleb and Allison who did not even attend there, and watch it. Allison got it out this evening and was sniffling while watching it and said it made her sad. I asked her why, but she couldn't tell me exactly why. Watching it makes me want to cry too.
I wish I had that school right now.One of the very hardest things we face here is the difficulty of educating our children. We homeschool them, which we enjoy, but keeping them on a schedule and making sure they are getting the education they need has been horribly difficult since we have so many other things we need to be doing too, not the least of which is our own need for lessons in Turkish. Three of our four kids have also been in part-time Turkish schools so they can learn the language and adapt to the culture here.
I miss the support we had that year from that school.
It was only two days a week (three days a week of homeschool that went along with the school's curriculum) but Seth had a teacher who loved and cared for him, classmates, interesting lessons and activities, Godly influences there, and we had the support to help us guide him in his educational development.
Here, we have no idea how well our kids are doing. Thankfully we will be able to have the boys tested next month in Istanbul and we'll be able to get some guidance there.
But I still miss having a community around us to help us in raising our kids.
There's always this temptation for us to wonder how badly "this" life here might be messing up our children. We love being here and feel a tremendous peace and joy about our life here. But when I am reminded of the other kinds of support systems out there, I begin to feel this ache in my heart about what we don't have. I know we DO have lots of other things because of this life that ARE helping our kids. But I guess right now, particularly because one of the kids has not adjusted well to his part-time Turkish school and we're struggling to know how to guide him behaviorally and spiritually, we're just wishing we had a little extra help.
So if you have a good school system or others in your life who help provide you with encouragement as a parent or homeschool teacher, be grateful. Don't take for granted the availability of others in your life and your child's life that can pour into you and them. And pray for us to know how WE can fill all those roles for them here!
