Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Different... In a Good Way

In 2009, my daughter was 10 and I came across this very challenging blog written by Lysa Terkeurst.  "She Seeks the Uncommon" is a precious outpouring of Lysa's heart for her daughter, Hope. How she begs for Hope to be uncommon in this world. I was moved then in such a way to begin praying for my daughter, Bekah, as Lysa was praying for Hope. And for two years this word uncommon continues to be the descriptive adjective I desire for my Bekah.  

When Bekah was 18 months old, we were at the pediatricians office for a well child check-up and the doctor said to me, "Bekah is precocious." No, not precious (although she absolutely was), but precocious. Not wanting to sound baby-brained, I did not ask what it meant.  I did what any really smart mom would do.  I went home and looked it up in the dictionary. This is was it said, "having developed certain abilities at an earlier age than usual."  The thesaurus used words like, "advanced for one's age, mature, gifted, talented, clever, intelligent, quick."  Wow.  
Fast forward ten years. My Bekah can definitely be described as all of those words the thesaurus listed. Well, except for quick. She might be quick to catch on to things, but she MOVES in slow motion getting out the bed, taking a shower, folding clothes, all of the mundane things.  


In January of this year, Bekah approached me and asked me if she might could try homeschooling this next school year. Well, trying homeschooling is not like trying sweet potatoes. If you don't like it, you can't just spit it out. And homeschooling requires one major thing...me. You have to know that I have many friends that I love and admire that homeschool. But that was never a word that I wanted as a part of my vocabulary. I love my freedom between the hours of 8am and 3pm. I love my ministry that requires me to be available to people. And I love being able to do what I want to do, when I want to do it.  
When I asked her why she wanted to be homeschooled, she had three answers.
1.  "I want to move at my own pace. When I understand something, I want to be able to move on to the next thing. " I get that. She is intelligent and pretty quick to catch on to things.
2.  "I don't want to be at school for 7 hours and then come home and do homework for another hour or two. I want to be able to participate in other things - like drama, extra church activities, and I don't have time to do all that right now because of school." Ok, I get that, too.  I am really vigilant about guarding our family time and I do not allow either of my children to participate in more than one thing at a time. Because we would never see each other or have dinner as a family which I think is super important!
3.  "I want to be different. I feel like God has called me to be different and it is super hard to live that out with all the pressure from people at school. I want you, Mom, to spend at least the next year teaching me how to be bold." This was the clincher.  How could I say no?  


Yes, my precious (and precocious) daughter can be described in many terms. But the adjective that I pray most for her is different. Uncommon. And when the world begs her to conform, I  beg for God to continue transforming her. When her peers encourage her to fit in, I pray that she stands out. When she feels like giving in to the pressures of this world, I pray for the boldness to fight for what she believes in and to remember WHO fights for her.









So, am I homeschooling my 7th grader? Yes. Do I know what I am doing? Not exactly. But God does. He is shaping and molding a precious and precocious girl into a young woman who is different...in a good way.



Who are you praying for today? Your children? Your spouse? I would love to pray with you.  Leave a comment, please!


Unwrap the gift of praying for someone,


11 comments:

Stacy @ Heartprints of God said...

As an onlooker peeking into your family, I would say your daughter is well on her way to becoming uncommon. How blessed she is to have a mother who listens to her heart...a mother who is willing to tackle homeschooling...a mother who is teaching her the precious ways of the Lord.
May God bless your school year with His sweetest blessings-
~Stacy

Shannon Milholland said...

Wow, Kelli, what a powerful post. So moved by your heart to be led by God instead of your natural desires. Bekah is indeed blessed to have you as her momma.

Christina said...

I have a precocious child as well:) He was in a gifted program at our local public school but we decided to homeschool him this year for some of the same reasons your daughter wanted to be homeschooled. Raising a precocious child has been challenging for me, but I have learned so much through the process. God is good! Thanks for sharing!

Kelli Williams Wommack said...

Stacy, thank you so much for your encouragement and blessings.
Shannon, your words mean so much!

Christina, I am praying for you as well! Yes, God is Good!

Sharita Knobloch said...

Awesome post, boss... I simply adore your preciously precocious daughter :-) You ARE a great mama, leader and prioritizer-- Bekah (and I!) are so blessed to have you as our teacher!

Unknown said...

Love this post.. and so glad you decided to home school! If you have any questions... just let me know!

I don't have all the answers but, I can find a Momma who does. ;-)

Hugs and many blessings for this year!

Always remember Patience is a virtue. ;-)

Tonya

Courtney (Women Living Well) said...

Wonderful! I'm so happy for you!!! Have a great new year!
Courtney

Kelli Williams Wommack said...

Thanks for your encouragement, Sharita.
And thanks for stopping by Courtney and Tonya! Love your expertise!

Richella Parham said...

Oh boy oh boy oh boy! Or perhaps I should say "Oh girl!"

Sounds as if your prayers are being answered--just not quite in the way you'd imagined. Isn't it interesting that God often answers our prayers by presenting us with new challenges and opportunities that we never could have foreseen?

I pray that your year spent in homeschooling your daughter will bear much fruit--both in her and in you. I bless you for being willing to invest in this new way. I am confident that God will guide you as you both seek to honor Him.

Thanks so much for linking to Grace Imparted!

amy King said...

I loved reading this! You are an amazing woman Kelli - being used mightily in God's Kingdom!

In this story - I saw your unselfishness. Your willing to sacrifice your time for the bigger things of God for your daughter. That is HUGE!

I have 3 daughters that have requested these same things but their excuses are - they don't like the lunch food! :)

I continually pray that if God is leading me into this that I can be bold and obedient at His Timing.

Bless you!
ps - my sister just moved to Auburn and so I expect to be coming towards your way some time in the next couple of months and was hoping we could meet!

I could learn so much from you!

Amy

Kelli Williams Wommack said...

Thank you, Amy! You gave such words of encouragement that were much needed. Oh, and I would love to meet up with you soon!