Sacrifice

At the High Mass today, Father talked about the word SACRIFICE and what it means.

From the Latin, sacer (“'sacred, holy'”), + faciō (“'do, make'”). ... so, to make something holy...

To those who suffer and sacrifice, it is a holy thing you do.

As Divine Providence would have it, this was timely for me to hear. Recently, a blog friend of mine wrote about the doubt in the motherly sacrifice to homeschool.

There are hard days, days when you doubt you are giving your best. (Certainly teachers in institutions have the same doubts.) There are days when you can only think of the to-do list that is not seeing any progress. Finally, there's the lure of "me" time. Like my friend, all homeschooling moms, at some point I'm sure, succumb to this feeling of doubt or defeat.

That's why we need to know about SACRIFICE and what it means. I need to remind myself and capture here in this "journal" some of the thoughts that I wrote to her. As homeschooling is a sacrifice I believe God has called me to for my sanctification, may I remember ...

• Suffering is not a bad thing and as Catholics we know that it has value or Christ wouldn't have suffered for us. He is The Way, The Truth and The Life. That doesn't mean we want or like suffering! Sharing in the cross is meant to be difficult. Homeschooling on the scale of real suffering ranks pretty low.


• If my kids were "in school", ( and they used to be) I'd likely have a different set of doubts, worries and upset. It's what led me to homeschool.


• What saint didn't doubt or question their path to sanctity? If God has led you to it, He will lead you threw it. We are called to be saints. (Romans 1:7 )


• More important than a clean house and some arbitrary school schedule is the love we give/teach/share in service to our family. The beauty of homeschooling is that you can take that break in times of need to refocus.


• What would I do if my kids were in school? Paint my house to keep up with the Joneses? Organize and get things done? Not tasks that are "bad" in and of themselves but at the cost of time together with my children? Being together, strengthening the family is what it's all about.


• People always remind me of how quickly time passes. They are right and you can't get it back. It is a gift to be reminded to make our days about loving relationships even when we bicker. Bickering happens. We're not immune to it and we know to ask for grace and start over. Later, when the children are grown and gone, I'll have plenty of time to paint and organize and I'll wish I hadn't...I'll miss them, and this time.


• Christ went off to pray alone, yes...but did He give us some example to live our lives desiring "me" time? No. Our Lord came to serve, not be served. His service resulted in the ultimate sacrifice.

May we all be granted the grace to live out God's will for us, to know Him, to love Him and to serve Him....