Move Over Bacon...

  So I realize that any family with kids goes through a certain amount of transition when school ends and summer starts.  There is an awkward sense of freedom, accompanied by a weak sense of structure that will sustain a family for a couple of days before the "I'm Bored" mantra begins.  Our family goes through a degree of this in the first week of summer vacation, but it is not that transition that rocks my world.  Oh no, there is another one that happens only in families where there is a parent who is a teacher.
  You see summer for our family means wonderful freedom and fun for the kids, and also the excitement of having my wonderful husband around for two months.  This is something we all look forward to the whole year round, and when it comes it is such a blessing, except for one little hiccup.  You see for 10 months out the year, I am the master of the home during the day, and run things according to my style and pleasure, but come summer, there is a sudden switch of master in the day-time routine.  It is a good thing, and I am definitely one to step out of the way, but it sometimes catches me off guard.
 For example, I may have planned how I thought the day would run, only to come out of our room to find my husband re-organizing the homeschool bookshelf.  I wasn't mentally prepared for that task, and now must clear my mind to help him in the newly scheduled day.  It is not a bad thing, just not the thing I planned to do with that moment.  I can chose to fight it, but what good would that do?  In the end, I know I am called to be my husband's help-meet, and therefore would really be picking a fight with God because I didn't get my own way, even if it was about something that I didn't value in the first place.  Were my plans for the day SO dear to me? Not truly, but the fact that they were mine and under my control ...well that part may have been a little too dear to admit at the time.  It may not show itself outwardly, but there is an inward struggle as I learn to follow a new flow for the next two months. 
  Unfortunately, I tend to have this same trouble with God year round.  How often do I make plans for my life, as if it were mine to plan?  Gal 2:20 reminds me that I am no longer my own, but have been bought at a price.  So who is bending to whom here?  It is not for me to demand of God how I would like my life to turn out: what kind of home I would like, what kind of children I would want, or how many children I would want, or ...well you get the idea.
  I need to learn to clear my schedule for the day (figuratively speaking) and be prepared for the distractions and interruptions, as we would see them, that God may have planned for me to attend to.  Perhaps it is the putting aside of my ever-so-important tasks, to attend to the heart of my child.  The one who is hovering behind me, waiting to tell me her thoughts and struggles. Lord, make me aware to your schedule so I do not miss the narrow window of a view into my child's spirit.  If she sees that I am ever-so-busy, those open-heart opportunities will grow fewer and fewer until we sit at a table in a restaurant during her college years with nothing to talk about.
  So I am transitioning with my home and with my heart.  I can go down gracefully, and show an honoring example to my daughters, who are quick to imitate, or I can go down kicking and screaming.  That choice is still mine, and I pray for the wisdom to chose the former.