Second Semester Slump

It has been happening every year since kindergarten.  I can't remember a time that my momentum didn't crash after the Christmas vacation.  The lack of routine leading up to the holidays, and during them, creates what my husband lovingly calls the "Second Semester Slump".  It has been particularly difficult the past few years as we tend to do more traveling in the Spring with the chorus and band at Ryan's school.  The once carefully planned routine begins to crash all around me. 

Add to that my weak "follow-through", and you have a recipe for treading water.  I love to brainstorm and research new ideas, and begin multiple projects.  The excitement of the "new" is like a drug for me, but I tend to give up when my plans demand more effort than the initial momentum can handle.  A slight depression sets in as I realize a certain amount of discipline will be needed to get things moving in an orderly fashion again.  A new project or two has even been known to appear during this "slump" time as a distraction to my real responsibilities to the family.  The lie that I SHOULD be doing more than taking care of my family, educating them, training them, and discipling them, creeps into the back of my mind and fertilizes the soil of DISCONTENT!  Very UN-COOL!

Discontent has a way of creeping into your thoughts and attitudes and springing out in a frustrated tone, or an exasperated sigh.  What's worse is that discontent is more contagious than the flu.  Once mom, the mood setter for the home, is contaminated it goes down hill rapidly for the rest of the family. (As I type, my children are doing their Saturday morning chores...and I can see how my poor attitude has affected them...the sighs, and grimaces, and poor effort...discontent is too costly to be entertained for any length of time)

So, what can be done?  This life is what I KNOW God wants from me.  I am certain the He is calling me to homeschool the girls, even though it is getting considerable more complicated as the oldest hit middle school this year, and I now have 4 out of 5 that need my educational attention. (The fifth needs all kinds of attention, but that's a blog for another day.)  So abandoning this plan is not the cure.  In fact, a little reflection on the reasons WHY we chose this path, a little envisioning of the long-term goal is VERY needed.  It's easy to lose sight of the WHY when your deep in the trenches of a life-time project. 

Perhaps the snow this week has given me the chance to get frustrated enough to see the problem.  I have been kicking and screaming in my soul, and God has been gently holding me tight like a parent holds a toddler having a fit.  As He reminded me of the WHY, I began to see how big, how valuable the goal really is.  That's the cure to gathering the strength for the coming months...the VALUE of the goal.  Nothing truly valuable or worthy comes without great sacrifice.  In fact, I have come to see that the greater the goal, the greater the sacrifice.  So the discontent bug can go find a new home to infest....perhaps it will work out some of the good that has happened here.  Without it, I might not have remembered the importance of the goal.