A brand new year is such a gift, a 365 day long new beginning in which to cast aside all the weariness and woes of the previous year and start afresh.

This, in theory, should have rejuvenated and infused me with new energies, but the old year had spun out in a breathtaking round of activities culminating in an attack of influenza that rendered my entire family weak and exhausted. The prospect of a new beginning was not invigorating, but a little overwhelming. Nevertheless, I managed to haul out the books, refresh my schedule, and take a deep breath before plunging back in to the round of lessons. I gathered my strength and determined to put on discipline with the goal of finishing well what I had begun last August.

I consider homeschooling to be a calling in my life, so this certainty does help under gird my resolve on a weekly basis. Charlotte Mason is a gift from God, a mentor and guide, a voice of wisdom and source of knowledge that has focused and sharpened my purpose along the way. I have made myself her student, learning how to teach and nourish my children by feeding on her writings regularly. Since a new year had begun, I picked up the Home Education Series where I had left off last, and re-immersed myself in her ideas.

On the first official day of school in this new year, having strengthened my will to begin, I found the extra dose of inspiration I needed to renew and set my heart to serving my children. The first day of school, I read this passage, and my heart was filled with gratitude to Ms. Mason for once again helping to mark my course:

“The education of the children will always remain the holiest and highest of all family duties. The welfare, civilisation, and culture of a people depend essentially upon the degree of success that attends the education in the homes. The family principle is the point at which both the religious and educational life of a people centres, and about which it revolves. It is a force in comparison with which every sovereign’s command appears powerless.”                  –School Education, page 96

If this wasn’t encouraging and inspiring, I can’t imagine what would be. I thought perhaps I should paste this on the front of my planning notebook, or possibly memorize it while my children were memorizing their Shakespeare soliloquy that morning. Instead, I am sharing this experience with you in case you too are finding it rough to get going again, praying that her perspective here will refresh your spirit to tackle a brand new year with hope and joy, to remind you of the eternal perspective we all need to continue this long, arduous, and immensely rewarding task of home education.

It is not a little thing we are about, as she says, but absolutely a very high calling with world-changing outcomes.