Life seems to be never slowing down.

Does it do that to you sometimes? I just want sometimes to float instead of seeming like I am always swimming upstream.

Sometimes, we learn the most while swimming upstream though.

I have wanted to sit down and sort out my thoughts and write about all the incredibly cool stuff God is leading me through. I lay in bed very early in the morning when my alarm goes off and pray…

Lord, order my thoughts…move me in the direction of your design of what You want for me today.

And by the time I put my fuzzy robe on and get my coffee, my head is swirling and there seems to be a flooding of His words that I seem to be just sitting in the moment with them swirling instead of organizing them.

I see all the possibilities of how He wants to work in my life.

Dreams that I am not sure how to even start.

I’ve been in this place before when I had a dream of something that I knew God was calling me to do but I didn’t know how to start much less even had the energy to get it started. With time, I have seen that one thing has to take place first…Prayer.

When these occurrences happen, I sometimes just lay prostrate before Him saying, “Only by your hand will this happen!”

It’s easier to dream and not take the first step than it is to actually pick up my bootstraps and say “Ok God, Let’s do this!”

How many times do I just want to drive through life waiting on opportunities to come to me instead of diving into life and chasing after the dream that God has already given me?

I have come to the conclusion that God sometimes puts dreams in our hearts to begin the process. But the process may take a little time to cultivate and grow that dream into reality. We just have to wait for the first directions.

It is part of his plan. Pray. Then learn to listen to the next steps.

Many times we are scared of the work that will be involved. Hard work.

Photo credit by Jon Acuff
Sometimes those dreams mean we’ll have to work harder.

I knew this when I began hearing God lay on my heart to do some research on homeschooling my daughters who were going to be in 3rd grade, 5th grade and 9th grade.

“Are you sure God?! Am I hearing you right?! Me?!

I knew the task would seem overwhelming and how in the world could I do this? I could see the work load of information that I was going to have to digest.

Instead of looking at the mountain before me, I prayed. And prayed. And prayed. At some point, I heard God say, “Ok…we’ve talked enough…now go read _______ and research _______.

I had to eventually take the first step in faith and trust that God would lead me to the answer. Was this easy?! No! Did I get discourage and overwhelmed with the daunting task of teaching my kids every day? ABSOLUTELY!

Sometimes life takes sacrifice and even bravery when God calls you to do something that seems bigger than you are. But that is usually when you know it’s all God.

Now, 8 months later, I look back and can totally see the hand of God Almighty through every step of our first year of this adventure in homeschooling. We do it through a co-op with Classical Conversations. It has been one of the best decisions we have made with our children. We have seen progress in so many areas that makes a parent soar with pride!

No regrets, not because of mine or my children’s abilities, but because I knew God was doing the leading…not me.

We have even done this homeschooling thing while walking through cancer with my husband, Kevin. That shows you the abundant amounts of grace and mercy that the hand of God had on us. He will sometimes lead you through deep waters even when things don’t make much sense. I am so glad I trusted Him.

That was part of the plan. Learning to pray first…then listen for the next step…and proceed!

{If you are interested in doing some research of your own with homeschooling and this particular homeschooling model, please leave a comment in the comment section – I would be more than welcome to tell you about it!} Sometimes that is just your first step. Mine was a phone call to a friend.

Diving in means taking risks, trusting God whole heartedly and trusting the process of the dream.

This same stirring has begun once again with another mountain size task God has put before me. However, because this post seems to be longer than it would take you to drink a cup of coffee…then I am going to ask you to… {Please come back Monday to find out more.} I would also like to hear your thoughts of when you have had a daunting task before you and God showed you His hand. It will bring myself and others encouragement to see how continually God goes before us and smooths out the rough places when there seems no other way!

Blessings,