Monday, April 2, 2012

Cliff Jumping Is a Viable Hobby

Sometimes you just need to jump off a cliff. How bad could it be? Some even say it's a thrill of a lifetime.

When I look back at my life there are a few cliffs I wish I would have jumped off. In college I wish I had taken the time to go work at Walt Disney World for a summer. Instead I took heavy loads of classes as a summer pastime. Disney World does have a college internship program and I seem to have genetic material in place that makes me immune to the song, "It's a Small World." Seriously, I can listen to that song over and over again without losing my mind. Clearly I missed my calling. But still I did not take the time to explore the opportunity.

Another wild seed I never did sew was in college degrees. My love of literature and history made me consider these as options for majors in college. But since I had no desire to be a school teacher it didn't seem practical. Yuck. I have a bit of disdain for the word, "practical." Because all too often I am more practical than I want to be. I fear it's a side effect of trying to be wise. In hind sight I could have taken the time to minor in one of these subjects but I was too goal oriented on my career path to see this as a viable option.

I could go on about missed opportunities but instead I'll pause here to carpe diem and jump off this cliff before it too passes me by. You see we absolutely love the school Savannah attends. It's one of those situations where you walk in the door, meet the people and think, "This is home." As far as schools go, that is a rare find. But this voice inside me (AKA, God) began to whisper notions of homeschooling this past January. I thought this voice to be a bit of a jokester at first since we are content where we are. What would be the point of leaving?

But as Mark and I began to talk about it, many reasons came to light as to why it would be wise to take this year off and home school (hey, maybe it can be wise to jump off a cliff!). And finally we got a deep-felt peace about homeschooling next year and dare I say...even excited about it? What it all came down to was this question, "Twenty years from now would I regret taking her out of a wonderful school for a year? Or would I regret not taking a year off for us to journey together through learning and spending time together with each other and extended family?" The hardest decisions are when you have to wonderful choices to choose from.

Casting off fear of failure and knowledge of being within God's will we are leaping off a cliff with joy into the adventure of homeschooling for 1 year!

P.S. I have no idea what's going to happen next. And that's ok.

3 comments:

CDJ said...

Brings new meaning to "Between the Lions" character Cliff Hanger, and his infamous screech, "Can't.Hold.On.Much.Longerrrrrrr!"
Welcome to the dark side, baby:)

Jen said...

Excited for your journey! You will be a great teacher! I'll just say that we have some tough days but I have never once regret our decision;)

Kathy said...

Come to the Arlington Book Fair with me May 11 and 12! We'll have fun!