Back to School

Apparently it's Labor Day in America.  All of the "First Day of School" pics on Instagram probably should've given me a clue.  I usually try to remember all our holidays so our kids, being American and all, have a reference point and won't look like ignorant fools someday by asking seemingly ridiculous questions like "What's Labor Day?" which is exactly what they asked me this morning.  But because some of our holidays have no impact on us over here, I sometimes forget about them entirely.  Which is what happened with Labor Day this year.  Ironically, while every kid in the American school system has the day off today, we started our new school year instead.  So much for remembering and honoring our American holidays!

This year, 2/3 kids were ready to start a new school year.  And 0/1 homeschool moms was ready.  It's been a weird summer, to say the least, and I've been in survival mode for awhile, and starting a new school year just wasn't on my list of top priorities.  But because we had to start sometime, and because I really don't want a repeat of last year's never-ending school year (we were still doing school into August, folks...) I knew we just had to get started again.  We have great potential for a normal school year this time around, and starting on time is the first step in attempting to achieve said normalcy.

Despite the fact that we're still trying to finish Caleb's and Kai's 4th Grade math and language arts, we now have two 5th graders and a 2nd grader!

We had a slow start this morning, which was always the plan for the first day of school, and by God's grace we got through everything smoothly and finished at a decent hour.  Even the 4th Grade math book (who is not exactly my best friend these days, but we greet each other in a sort of forced alliance) didn't push me off the ledge.  I could tell people were praying for me.

So here we are, entering a new homeschool year and figuring out a rhythm by ourselves, a rhythm that was never supposed to be.

We are alone as we start the new school year.  Although there are many kids around the compound still, most of them attend the local public school during the day.  The two Kenyan homeschool families on our compound are doing their own thing and follow the Kenyan calendar, and the two other expat families are not here right now, so we are on our own.  That was not the plan, but alas, plans have a way of refusing to cooperate, fickle things that they are.

This entire summer felt rather fickle.  Twists and turns abounded, and there's been a lot for me to process.  I had a list of summer projects - a list that felt very reasonable, mind you - and hardly anything on that list has been accomplished because life happened and the summer flew by and we were often holding on by the seat of our pants.

But we held on somehow and even made some good memories in the process.  I'm thankful for the things that anchor us.  Things like campfires, finding chameleons, hiking to the waterfall, playing at the river, and the persistent sound of hornbills.  These are the things that keep us steady when everything else seems tipsy.

That list of summer projects?  It stares at me most days, and I usually stare back before returning it to the back burner.  It's hard to squeeze things into the cracks of a full life of home and ministry.  Kinda like it's hard to remember and celebrate every American holiday while we're living in Kenya.  We have to choose our battles.  Labor Day did not win out today, but a successful first day of school with only half the people ready to start did win today.  The Lord is gracious and compassionate and it was His kindness that covered us today!