Broken dreams or shifted focus?

(this post somehow got deleted so I am reposting it!)

I read this last night and it totally hit home for me with my photography business:

"I eventually realized that God was no longer blessing my acting career because He wanted me to be the one to raise my children HE has so graciously, and quickly, given us. I was to find HIS blessings at home"

This is from Lisa Whelchel's book "So you're thinking about homeschooling" (Lisa Whelchel was Blair Warner from Fact of Life). I read that sentence over and over and over last night. And it surprisingly brought tears to my eyes. It totally made sense to me! I have been trying so hard to figure out why suddenly, I wasn't getting many clients. Why it felt as if I couldn't even GIVE away a session. I began to wonder why God blessed me with talent, but wasn't blessing the path I was heading with it.

Our Pastor is doing an 8-week study on Broken Dreams. It's all based on Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God" How our "lower dreams" may not fit into God's Higher plan for our life. We all have been there...thinking we have it figured out, where we are suppose to go and what we are suppose to do "when we grow up". I truly felt that I was going to have a successful Photography Business. And I was really excited and looking forward to it. I started to get clients, set up a homes studio and then suddenly...things slowed almost to a halt! Around the same time I felt a huge pull in my heart to homeschool. This is something I said "I could never do" but suddenly felt a longing to do it!

We love homeschooling. LOVE LOVE LOVE it! I know that God called me to do this for my family. It's not easy, and there are days I want to pull my hair out! But I would not consider putting them back in public school even if someone paid me. For our family homeschooling works! I see my kids growing closer to each other, I see them maturing. We are bonding more and more every day! I love seeing them finally "get" what we have been talking about. In those moments, I see this sparkle in their eyes! And that is something I would have missed if they would have been in traditional school.

Here is something I want to throw out to you (any one who is actually reading this blog of mine)...We teach our kids to eat, crawl, use the potty, tie their shoes, teach them to talk...why is it that as parents we truly think "I can't homeschool my kids! I could never teach them". We teach our kids every day. Why is it that when they hit age 5, we believe that it's best to send them away and have someone else do the teaching from now on. Starting in kindergarten now our kids are away from home for 8 hours a day monday-friday. School teachers are getting the "best" of our kids. When they (our kids) come home, tired, hungry, over-loaded...we get the leftovers. I truly think thats why many parents think "I could never homeschool! I don't have the patience!"

Okay, I am kind of going off on a bunny trail (as Pastor Doug calls it!). Back to the quote! lol! After reading it last night I realized that yes, God has given me this talent for photography, but more importantly, he's given me four beautiful children. And that is where my true "calling" is. It's them. It's to teach them. To not only teach them the three "R's", but to teach them about God, and real life. I do not believe that God has closed the door on my Photography. He has simply shifted my focus to what matters most: My Family.