Aug 10

Aug 10 Back-to-School (COVID-19 edition): Making Hard Decisions

As the school year approaches, we are all making tough decisions! It's so important to find peace knowing that these school decisions are what's best and what works for our kids and our family at this time.

The last few weeks and months have been a scary and anxiety-driven time for us mamas, hasn’t it?

And now we’re at the cusp of Back-to-School time and parents everywhere are having to make extremely hard decisions when it comes to their children’s education.

Confession: I spent all last week crying over the choice to unenroll my middle child from public school. I mourned the loss of our relationship with the elementary school we love and how things used to be. While my oldest child will stay enrolled at the public middle school, our family made the hard decision to pull our middle child out of public school and do her schooling at home for the next year because of her distinct personality and learning abilities. We are at peace with these school decisions because know it’s best and what works for our kids and our family at this time.

Though this is still hard. Not only do we have 786 thousand (roughly. *wink*) options to go about educating our kids, this is a new season we’ve never embarked on before, and quite frankly — I am sort of scared to move forward, not seeing the end. Though I am taking one step at a time.

For we walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)

I know I’m not the only one. “Hard” seems like an understatement.

Never before have the consequences of our decisions for schooling (and beyond) been so wide-spread, with the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic and culture we’re living through.

However, it’s the backlash of the contrasting opinions and decisions on whether to send kids back to school or not that has my attention right now.

Contrasting opinions are tearing our communities apart.

Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand... (Matthew 12:25)

I’ve seen social media comments tearing school administrators and districts apart. And I’ve seen comments from the other end shaming parents for wanting to pull their kids out of school.

These issues of schooling aren’t the only opinions tearing us apart. Our whole country has become so politically and socially polarized, it’s frightening and disheartening.

It makes me wonder…

When did we get to a place where all matters of life are black and white?

When did we get to a place where we can’t live peacefully in the gray and messy, confusing middle?

When did we get to a place that our ideas, opinions, and personal convictions all have to be the same?

Can’t it be “both/and” sometimes? On all matters of our lives, there is no ONE practical solution. We live in a gray, messy, and confusing world.

Can’t I choose to homeschool one child and send the other to school? Because that’s what’s best for the individual members of my family and our lifestyle? And can’t you choose to send all your children to school? Because that’s what is best for your work schedule and kids’ learning?

I saw a meme the other day that said this,

What kind of mom is sending her kids back to school? A good mom.

What kind of mom is doing virtual learning? A good mom.

What kind of mom is homeschooling? A good mom.

Yes, yes, and huge AMEN to that meme, because I believe we are all simply trying to do our best for our families.

My family looks different than your family. And your family looks different than your neighbors.

So I’d like us all to err on the side of kindness.

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. (Colossians 3:12)

This means offering other’s the benefit of the doubt.

This is actually more simple than it seems. It’s not always easy, but it’s definitely simple. We must choose to believe that while people or situations may seem to threaten our health, happiness, or even our own schedules, they are not trying to harm us emotionally or physically. Let’s go ahead and believe that most people — our school districts, our government, our social media friends, whoever — are not “out to get us.”

Because the wars we are facing in 2020 are not of flesh and blood.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12)

It boils down to the fact that when we give the benefit of the doubt, we honor God’s people and ultimately Him.

We have better options as followers of Christ than to follow our fear and anxiety about ours and other’s decisions. We can look for and allow the Fruit of the Spirit to show in us by showing kindness and giving the benefit of the doubt to ourselves and each other.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)

When we do that it shows some great news.

It shows we are trusting Him and not our social media feeds.

It shows we are hoping in Him and not our government.

It shows we are going to be just fine in the long run.