The silver lining

God is really doing a marvelous work in my soul regarding my ministry here at home. I wrote in an earlier blog that I brought the kids home early from our beach trip a few weeks ago. That trip began the humbling lesson that God has been teaching me. In a nutshell, our trip to the beach was a struggle for me. My husband was asked to do a 30 minute lecture per day on creationism. The group he was speaking to was a homeschool co-op called Living Science. The kids were in high school. We went with the expectation of him being able to help with our kids during the day and afternoon, and then spend the evenings with the group. Once we got there he was asked to be with the group the whole day, every day. I was left with my newborn and two boys in a motel room. It was difficult to take the kids to the pool because the baby and I could not get in the water, and the beach was okay but very windy. By Wednesday all of the children had bad colds. So we came home. This trip was a trial for me because the majority of the time I was handling all three children alone in an unfamiliar and not ideal setting and then I traveled 6 1/2 hours home alone, only stopping to breastfeed.

So that was the down side, but isn't it just like God to have a silver lining? The up side was that I got to talk with some of the chaperones on the trip and be very encouraged for our road ahead with homeschooling. I got to see the most emotionally, academically and spiritually mature teenagers I have ever been around, and that was very encouraging! But most importantly, I learned something very important in my marriage. I learned that submitting to my husband is of upmost importance. I drove back home from a "failed trip" so tempted to have an "I-told-you-so" attitude towards my man. After all, who asks their wife to hit the road for 12 days with a newborn? But if I would not have heard God's sweet voice and listened, I would have missed out on so much. Yes the trip was a trial, but it was God's desire for me. My husband was not wrong in requiring me to go. I realized, by God's grace, the He is sufficient for me. I don't have to always be comfortable or organized or have it easy to be in His will. He taught me the strength I have when I look to Him. He allowed me to meet some amazing families and be encouraged enough to commit to homeschooling for the long run. He enabled me to not be mad at my husband for the mess we seemed to be in, but to seek out what God wanted me to learn. All of these lessons are things that I struggle with. I am constantly amazed at how God works in our lives.