The Day For Epiphanies

Today is Epiphany which means we celebrate the visit of the Wise Men to the Holy Family. The wise men came from the East, following a star that signifies the birth of a king. The word epiphany means the "appearance of a superhuman being", which we have not spotted any of those around here lately. But the word epiphany can also mean "a revelation, a realization."

The new year holds "epiphanies" of all sorts. In this short year already I have had a great EPIPHANY..

In order to homeschool, I have to be home!! I know that seems pretty obvious to some of you who have been in the business awhile. Staying put at home to allow the children time to complete their school would logically be part of a homeschooling life style. However, since I have more little people than large I have been able to avoid this pesky side to homeschooling. Schooling a 1st or 2nd grader does not take much more than nap time to complete so my days were still filled with adventures and outings of all sorts. Taking our school on the road was part of the packaged curriculum, lots of park time, playtime with friends, walks and errands of all non-importance. All of the above helping to fill my social black hole.

But reality is beginning to rear its ugly head and I am finding that in order to be fair I need to commit to spending several more hours at home than I am comfortable with. By being fair I mean, if I expect Emily to complete her math page and finish her science questions I have to allow time for her to complete those assignments. If I want Molly to finish reading the Little House Series I need to give her time to read and tell me every detail of every thought she has. If I want Jack and Lucy to grow up to be avid readers like the girls are I have to give them the same amount of mommy reading time I gave the girls. But you see that was much easier when I was in Alaska. There was not much else to do except read endlessly...never mind I had NO LUCY!!...yet

I am grateful for these type of epiphanies, a moment when, for the briefest second, everything makes sense. I catch a glimpse of why I am doing this and how I supposed to make it all work. Like the Wise Men we are called to follow our star, even when we have been given a star that we have no idea if we are following it correctly, where it will lead and when we will get to stop following it.