Learning through hard times – February 2021

Hello friends! How are you? I realise I’m not writing much about home ed or adoption, but our lives are so out of the ordinary at the moment that my musings seem to be ambling in a slightly different, though related, direction. However, for some more practical home ed thoughts, check out our podcast here.

I think many of us, although so grateful for what we have, are feeling rather grey at the moment. My mum sent me a lovely piece of writing about a conversation between Winnie the Pooh and Piglet. Pooh is feeling Sad. He doesn’t think he should as there are so many people in far more difficult situations. But nonetheless he wakes up in the morning and sobs and sobs. Fortunately Piglet phones, and through the hiccups reminds his old friend that sadness isn’t a competition, we are all allowed to feel sad that he, Piglet is there to to listen to Pooh. They are under the same sky, even if they are not together.

This was a timely reminder that it’s not only ok, but necessary to voice our emotions as we live through these times. Kept undercover they can turn much darker, whereas when shared they can even be constructive. I do a lot of crying out to God at the moment. I feel a constant bubbling need to intercede for our nation, and to do that I need to spend time listening to God and trying to hear what He is saying into our world and our lives.

Alongside this, I’m ever an optimist, looking for how God can redeem and work for good in all situations; this makes me smile even as I write. I have a sense that as we are stretched in these times, so we can become stronger and more prepared for whatever comes next. We tend to grow during the hard times, not when life is easy.

Most children in the UK are being taught at home now, so in a sense we’re all in the same boat. While we want to ensure that we continue to give them as good an educational input as we can, I do wonder whether more important lessons are being learnt at this time. Our children can’t branch out in the ways they normally do, but maybe their roots are going deeper. Maybe fewer, but more important relationships are being honed; maybe they are learning how boredom can lead to creativity; maybe they are having to learn, alongside us, some boundaries around screens; maybe family is becoming more central in their lives; maybe they are having to learn to deal with some rollercoaster emotions, or with a general flatness. Maybe they are becoming more resilient. For those with a faith, maybe their roots are going deeper as they question and search through the issues of our times.

I pruned back some of our fruit bushes today. It always seems counterintuitive to be clipping back stems which have born fruit the previous season. However, it needs to be done to ensure a good crop this coming year. It seems like a good analogy; we are being severely pruned, but maybe this is to ready us for a flowering and harvest in the next season.

So, from my mother’s heart to yours, keep going! And to finish with, a few pictures from our weekly shopping trip into Wells. The sun was actually shining, which lifted this weary mother’s spirits no end! I hope you too find some things to make you smile this week!