I hate being judged for my choices. I am sure you do also. Here is what happened today that sparked this post.
Here we are at the library for No Hunger Summer Lunch. My kids enjoy going and it is so nice to not have to make lunch every day, it frees up so much time. Less dishes and less food used means less work for mommy. So we go and we enjoy it and the kids get very nice lunches!! But today here was the scenario
A lady comes up to me commenting about how cute my sweet Jericho is and notices me talking to Malachi and this is how the conversation goes
"oh how sweet, Is this big brother" --volunteer
I say yes! then I talk to Alexis and she says
"oh is she your too?"--volunteer
Yes! I have five. and then I waited for her response
Gasp!!! "Wow you are a busy mom" --Volunteer
and immediately I saw it her eyes and her facial expression changed, she was judging me I can only imagine everything going through her mind then to top it off she asks David what grade he is in and he thinks for a bit and says I will be in fourth grade!
"Oh do you go to school here in Horton?"-- Volunteer
He proudly says "No I am home schooled!!!"
Gasp!!!"Wow your a busy mom"--volunteer
Then she walks away and talks to others but in less then 5 minutes she is back and I know by this time what kind of person I am dealing with. You know the type? Always questioning never encouraging.
And she says "So do you use the free Kansas home school curriculum?"--Volunteer
I say "No, I piece together different things and build my own "curriculum""
Gasp!!"Wow, that must be a lot of work for you!! "--Volunteer
"I don't mind" I say
And then it comes the questioning look, the glances at my kids sizing them up, are they really educated?
And she proceeds to tell me all of the things that makes my life hard.
"Wow, you have a lot to do! With educating, cleaning your house, cooking your meals, and nurturing, lots of nurturing!"--Volunteer
I just smiled and went on helping my kids with their meal but inside I was being attacked. You see homeschooling is a calling. I love homeschooling my children but everyday Satan tells me I am not good enough. He tells me I don't nurture enough, he tells me I don't teach well enough, he tells me my house is not clean enough, he tells me my meals aren't healthy enough. I have to fight against his lies and conversations like this don't help!!
Then it got me thinking. These volunteers are from local churches. If I a believer in Christ feel judged what does a non-believer feel like under this scrutiny?
I feel like as Christians we should be lifting people up not pulling them down! Reminding people how blessed they are not how hard their life is!
So today I didn't feel encouraged or loved. I felt judged, I felt like there was no way I could be doing a good job! My life was too full, too hard. I couldn't possibly have well educated kids.
So to sum it all up remember to encourage each other instead of questioning. Encouraging people could take a weight off their shoulders and most of all show them Christs love.
