Whatsoever Things

A small gift for Mother’s Day from us. Download the reflection card, Whatsoever Things: A Mother’s Reflection for Challenging Days.

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On this Mother’s Day, I want to send love and gratitude to the mothers reading this.

To the mothers happy to be celebrated
To the mothers who are tired.from a long week
To the mothers carrying more than anyone sees.
To the mothers who will try again tomorrow
To the mothers who carry a longing or grief alongside love.

Perhaps you are some or all of the above.

Homeschooling asks a great deal of us as mothers. Sometimes it seems more than humanly possible.

I vividly remember my homeschool days when I did my best but the results weren't what I expected.

I still feel them as a grandmother with my grandsons and watching younger mothers walk the same road.

Many mothers think the deepest burden is:“I am not doing enough.”

But underneath that, there is often another felt burden entirely:
“I am not enough.”

If this is you, please know that you are not alone. Your homeschool was never meant to rest entirely upon your shoulders.

There is another Helper.

Charlotte Mason wrote that the Holy Spirit is Himself the supreme Educator of mankind. It proved to be a defining moment in her life.

The real work is abiding not doing--easy to say, harder to do. Abiding changes the atmosphere of a day more than we realize.

But, how do we "abide" rather than "do?"

I found a way then and it saved a day I had rued more than once.

After years of trying to manage everything outwardly, I began to see that abiding often begins with attention.

St. Paul wrote:

Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report… think on these things. -- Philippians 4:8

I read those words many times before. But one day, during a particularly difficult season, I began treating them less as beautiful advice and more as a kind of rescue line.

Over time I realized something surprising. The circumstances themselves did not always change immediately. There were still unfinished lessons, interruptions, uncertainty, laundry, tired children, and evenings when I was humbled by my own impatience. Yet the inward pressure began to loosen because attention is not a small thing. What we continually look at shapes the spirit in which we live.

If I fix my eyes only on failures and unfinished work, discouragement deepens. But when I begin consciously attending to what was still living, growing, and good, I found myself remembering that God had not abandoned our homeschool at all.

I think this is one reason nature helps mothers. Nature quietly teaches us to notice life again. A blue jay at the feeder, rain moving through trees, apple blossoms opening, the first peony beginning to unfold—all bear witness to the fact that growth often happens slowly and invisibly before fruit appears.

Homeschooling is much the same. Children are living souls, not projects, and much of what matters most unfolds beneath the surface for years before it becomes visible.

Charlotte Mason understood this well. She knew that education finally rests in a Person, not merely a method. The Holy Spirit is the Teacher. That realization changes motherhood itself because we are no longer carrying the impossible burden of manufacturing perfect outcomes. We become mothers who abide, attend, pray, repent, begin again, and cooperate with grace.

Robert Frost described poetry as “a momentary stay against confusion.” I have often thought mothers need such stays. Sometimes the saving of a day begins simply by pausing long enough to notice what is still lovely.

To help you remember, download the reflection card, Whatsoever Things: A Mother’s Reflection for Challenging Days.

Happy Mothers Day.

If you like this post, please comment below. It helps me know what helps you.