Several months ago I started thinking more deeply about the family culture we have created in our home. It was an appropriate time to reflect on it because I saw the first eleven years of our parenting journey all culminating when we had our daughter tested and finally had the answers we had been seeking since, really, she was a tiny infant who was very challenging to parent. I realized that cozy was the word that best described our family life. We live a cozy life. And I also realized that we had embraced what I call cozy parenting and cozy homeschooling.

Around the same time, someone shared a video on Facebook that left me completely mesmerized. Entitled Godspeed: The Pace of Being Known, it conveyed in a beautiful and compelling way many things I had already come to understand about life, the body of Christ, church life, etc. but it took them a step further.

As the video says, “This is the story of a parish minister who learned to walk instead of run.”

But it is so much more than that.

I realized that the very ideas he is talking about as a pastor apply to me as a parent.

I could almost say that my story is that of a mother who learned to walk instead of run.

Especially as a homeschooling parent.

Especially as a parent of a child with unique learning needs.

And, like Matt Canlis, the pastor in the movie, my journey also took about thirteen years.

Christian or not, the principles and insights in this video are truths that can bring peace, understanding, and joy to our families.

And bringing peace, understanding, and joy to our families is what I call cozy parenting and cozy homeschooling.

I encourage you to take the time to watch this video. The video’s settings won’t allow me to embed it here so I’ll have to send you over to Vimeo. (You can click on the screen capture above or the link at the end of this post.) The video is almost 37 minutes long and be sure to watch it all the way to the end.

(I’m telling you how long it is so you can set aside some quiet time to watch it and you’ll have the opportunity to grab a cup of something yummy and a pad of paper and pen. Yes, the video is that rich in what it offers. You can also read more about it at Live Godspeed.)

And then I hope you will come back and tell me in the comments what spoke to you as a parent, as a homeschooler, or as a Christian.

In the coming days, I’ll be writing about topics related to the concepts of Godspeed, cozy parenting, and cozy homeschooling. I’ll be referring to the video and also sharing my own thoughts from our parenting journey the past twelve years. I hope you will find these posts encouraging and share from your own experiences and insights in the comments each day.

Click here to go to Vimeo to watch Godspeed: The Pace of Being Known