The kids and I spent this afternoon at Line Creek in Peachtree City. This has been a favorite nature spot for almost a decade, and I have many memories and even more pictures made there. In the early years of homeschooling, it was easy to spend an entire morning or afternoon in the woods or playing in the creek, but as the kids got older, the textbooks grew thicker, the commitments more numerous, days at Line Creek became fewer and farther between. My inner introvert kept us cozied up at home when we didn't absolutely have to be somewhere else, and I sought sunshine and adventure less and less. In some ways, my own personality led me to become a bit of the homeschool mom I never wanted to be - shackled to textbooks and our schedule of extra-curriculars, rarely veering from that path, growing pale on my face and in my soul as the richness and joy of our earlier homeschool years began to fade.
On the brink of sealing my own tomb with a hefty curriculum purchase, the Lord opened a window and blew the breathiest freshness of air into my life. Through a swirl of growing friendships that blossomed around our mutual desire to educate wildly and well, at the beat of our own drum and no one else's, I found a new path in front of me, one that circled back to where I had begun years before, on the couch with a pile of books, flanked by my kids with a cup of tea close by. This newfound freedom reopened the way to the woods once more, and over the last two years I have slowly shed the textbooks and picked up weightier matters, like the strap of our trusty backpack. This bag has traveled many trails, growing lighter with every water break, every snack dive, every rest for lunch. It has traversed the sidewalks between enclosures at the zoo, angling for a better view of those frisky golden tamarinds and shy rhinos. Because it's awkward and only has one strap, the weight of water bottles and oranges and crunchy, salty snacks has a particular weight of memory on my left shoulder, and as I hoisted it on today, ready to take to the trails again at Line Creek, I was so happy to remember the weight of the pack. My shoulder will be sore, but my soul will be singing.
Mothers, don't forget the way to the woods. Remember the weight of the pack.
