The contents of the Gracious Space books were written from my heart.
I thought about all the impossible standards I tried to meet in homeschool culture in the 1990s and 2000s. I remember going to a conference where the speaker talked about capturing the hearts of our kids. He went on that the way you know you have their heart is by how they receive your leadership and honor your vision.
I’ll never forget meeting up with my best friend after the session. She burst into tears: “I don’t have my son’s heart! How do I win his heart?” But the thing is: she was measuring where his heart was based on how he was supposed to turn out. He loved her totally (and they are close today). But he didn’t have the same vision for his future that she had at the time. Our poor firstborns!
Many of us fell prey to that thinking—that a heart connection was proven by how a child performed the family’s values. As my ideals were challenged by the real desires and needs of my kids, AND my own, I looked for permission-givers:
- people who helped me let go of impossible standards,
- people who described what I was experiencing,
- people who described the reality I lived.
Honestly: I didn’t find much in homeschool circles or conferences. I went outside the idealism of our movement. And I grew. I was helped. My homeschool grew and improved.
So I’ve written these books of essays with those thoughts, with some of what I learned, some of what I wished someone had said to me. I’m grateful for all the brave writers in our world today sharing their truths. It seems we’ve all grown and I’m grateful.
It’s spring. If you need permission, inspiration, hope, I’ve written these essays for you. You can pick up A Gracious Space: Spring here, if you like.
