Tag Archives: Priorities

Getting Ready for 2016 Homeschool Convention Season #3

12 Tuesday Apr 2016

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Flyer2016-Front-1000x412This post is a repeat with minor changes from last year.

Last post was all practical and humorous, but today I’d like to go back to the spiritual gut-check side of convention.

Now that we’ve evaluated our “current” curriculum status, and “organized” the past stuff that needs to go, we really should take a moment and look to the future.

Yes, even before we start deciding which grammar and spelling curriculum to use next fall.

Think of this time as a great opportunity – it’s like the New Year Resolutions for homeschoolers. We’re out with the old and in with the new. And with that always comes a time of reflection, of celebrating being done, and also making resolutions/goals for the upcoming year.

And this is a really perfect time to sit down with your spouse and “Define Your Homeschooling Mission.”

Defining your purpose and vision (see, there goes my “Coaching” voice again) can be life changing. I know that going through this process each year, (outside of homeschooling), truly helped me clarify the driving priorities and purposes in my life. Step-by-step, I began to evolve into who I am, and closer to whom I’m meant to be.

And oh, isn’t that what we want for our families? For our homeschool? For our children?

So as a personal challenge this week, sit down with the hubby, a cup of coffee (or chocolate ice cream, whichever makes discussion go down better), and really just talk about these questions. Perhaps you might want to email him the link to this article ahead of time, giving him time to come up with his list of answers, and then you both can compare notes.

And just since we’re already going there, I want to point out this article that I read. WOW. Powerful stuff. But really, has the “homeschooling” become the driving force in all that you do in your home? Sadly, I’ve seen several “discussions” online that give me pause. Maybe because I led a Bible study in past years, entitled “No Other Gods” that I’m hypersensitive about this particular topic?

Regardless, we still want to make sure that God is the ruler of our home, our lives, AND our homeschools.

And once we, as individuals, as parents and as a family, able to truly envision that “better us” that God is ever developing, we can start to use that as our guideline.

How does that information define your choices?

  1. Does it affect particular curriculum choices?
  2. How do you keep homeschooling within it’s proper order of priority in your family?
  3. What things might need to be reviewed and adjusted from last year?
  4. What can you simplify in your family to make it all work out “to the glory of God” in hopefully a less chaotic, calmer manner?
  5. How are you teaching “living in priority” to your children? Are they learning from your life or only your words?

Yes, these are the things I’m contemplating right now – as I sit here and read reviews of spelling and grammar programs. Yes, here is Choice A, which everyone says is SO amazing, but they also say it’s very time consuming. Choice B is also good, but is more shorter time period each day. Which one fits with my “simplifying, calming, and loving/nuturing” atmosphere I long to create? Perhaps it’s worth it to use the longer time-intensive program and make cuts somewhere else. Or, do I really need all those extra curriculum enhancement programs I’ve found online? When is too much? Or when is the extra just so much fun you don’t want to stop?

I guess what I’m saying is, this is a really good time to figure out where your lines seem to be drawn in the sand. Obviously I might not be able to figure out the answer to that grammar/spelling curriculum internal debate before convention, but knowing having our family mission statement and priorities organized, will make those decisions much easier and quicker. So, you know, you can enjoy everything else at convention!

(PS. Another reason I want to be clear on this before attending: Hubby attends HEAV with me each year. Which means he will actually SEE how much I spend in the Expo hall. More incentive to behave. Ha!)

HEAV- Home Educators Association of Virginia – website

 

“I am excited to be a blogger for HEAV this year. In exchange for sharing my honest opinion about this convention, I was provided with a family registration at no charge.”

 

Getting Ready for 2015 Homeschool Convention Season #3

06 Wednesday May 2015

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This post is a repeat with minor changes from last year.

Last post was all practical and humorous, but today I’d like to go back to the spiritual gut-check side of convention.

Now that we’ve evaluated our “current” curriculum status, and “organized” the past stuff that needs to go, we really should take a moment and look to the future.

Yes, even before we start deciding which grammar and spelling curriculum to use next fall.

Think of this time as a great opportunity – it’s like the New Year Resolutions of homeschoolers. We’re out with the old and in with the new. And with that always comes a time of reflection, of celebrating being done, and also making resolutions/goals for the upcoming year.

And this is a really perfect time to sit down with your spouse and “Define Your Homeschooling Mission.”

Defining your purpose and vision (see, there goes my “Coaching” voice again) can be life changing. I know that going through this process each year, (pre-homeschooling), truly helped me clarify the driving priorities and purposes in my life. Step-by-step, I began to evolve into who I am, and closer to whom I’m meant to be.

And oh, isn’t that what we want for our families? For our homeschool? For our children?

So as a personal challenge this week, sit down with the hubby, a cup of coffee (or ice cream, whichever makes discussion go down better), and really just talk about these questions. Perhaps you might want to email him the link to this article ahead of time, giving him time to come up with his list of answers, and then you both can compare notes.

And just since we’re already going there, I want to point out this article that I just read today. WOW. Powerful stuff. But really, has the “homeschooling” become the driving force in all that you do in your home? Sadly, I’ve seen several “discussions” online that give me pause. Maybe because I’m led a Bible study in past years, entitled “No Other Gods” that I’m hypersensitive about this particular topic?

Regardless, we still want to make sure that God is the ruler of our home, our lives, AND our homeschools.

And once we, as individuals, as parents and as a family, able to truly envision that “better us” that God is ever developing, we can start to use that as our guideline.

How does that information define your choices?

  1. Does it affect particular curriculum choices?
  2. How do you keep homeschooling within it’s proper order of priority in your family?
  3. What things might need to be reviewed and adjusted from last year?
  4. What can you simplify in your family to make it all work out “to the glory of God” in hopefully a less chaotic, calmer manner?
  5. How are you teaching “living in priority” to your children? Are they learning from your life or only your words?

Yes, these are the things I’m contemplating right now – as I sit here and read reviews of spelling and grammar programs. Yes, here is Choice A, which everyone says is SO amazing, but they also say it’s very time consuming. Choice B is also good, but is more shorter time period each day. Which one fits with my “simplifying, calming, and loving/nuturing” atmosphere I long to create? Perhaps it’s worth it to use the longer time-intensive program and make cuts somewhere else. Or, do I really need all those extra curriculum enhancement programs I’ve found online? When is too much? Or when is the extra just so much fun you don’t want to stop?

I guess what I’m saying is, this is a really good time to figure out where your lines seem to be drawn in the sand. Obviously I might not be able to figure out the answer to that grammar/spelling curriculum internal debate before convention, but knowing having our family mission statement and priorities organized, will make those decisions much easier and quicker. So, you know, you can enjoy everything else at convention!

(PS. Another reason I want to be clear on this before attending: Hubby is attending HEAV with me this year. Which means he will actually SEE how much I spend in the Expo hall. More incentive to behave, unlike before. Ha!)

HEAV- Home Educators Association of Virginia – website

Convention-Logo-2015-660x660

“I am excited to be a blogger for HEAV this year. In exchange for sharing my honest opinion about this convention, I was provided with a family registration at no charge.”

 

Getting Ready for a Homeschool Convention #3

29 Tuesday Apr 2014

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It’s time for the HEAV (Home Educators Association of Virginia) Convention again, and I thought it would be a good idea to re-share my posts to get you ready!!!

Last post was all practical and humorous, but today I’d like to go back to the spiritual gut-check side of convention.

Now that we’ve evaluated our “current” curriculum status, and “organized” the past stuff that needs to go, we really should take a moment and look to the future.

Yes, even before we start deciding which grammar and spelling curriculum to use next fall.

Think of this time as a great opportunity – it’s like the New Year experience for homeschoolers. We’re out with the old and in with the new. And with that always comes a time of reflection, of celebrating being done, and also making resolutions/goals for the upcoming year.

And this is a really perfect time to sit down with your spouse and “Define Your Homeschooling Mission.”

Defining your purpose and vision (see, there goes my “Coaching” voice again) can be life changing. I know that going through this process each year, (pre-homeschooling), truly helped me clarify the driving priorities and purposes in my life. Step-by-step, I began to evolve into who I am, and closer to whom I’m meant to be.

And oh, isn’t that what we want for our families? For our homeschool? For our children?

So as a personal challenge this week, sit down with the hubby, a cup of coffee (or ice cream, whichever makes discussion go down better), and really just talk about these questions. Perhaps you might want to email him the link to this article ahead of time, giving him time to come up with his list of answers, and then you both can compare notes.

And just since we’re already going there, I want to point out this article that I just read today. WOW. Powerful stuff. But really, has the “homeschooling” become the driving force in all that you do in your home? Sadly, I’ve seen several “discussions” online this week already that give me pause. Maybe because I’m leading a Bible study right now, entitled “No Other Gods” that I’m hypersensitive about this particular topic?

Regardless, we still want to make sure that God is the ruler of our home, our lives, AND our homeschools.

And once we, as individuals, as parents and as a family, able to truly envision that “better us” that God is ever developing, we can start to use that as our guideline.

How does that information define your choices?

  1. Does it affect particular curriculum choices?
  2. How do you keep homeschooling within it’s proper order of priority in your family?
  3. What things might need to be reviewed and adjusted from last year?
  4. What can you simplify in your family to make it all work out “to the glory of God” in hopefully a less chaotic, calmer manner?
  5. How are you teaching “living in priority” to your children? Are they learning from your life or only your words?

Yes, these are the things I’m contemplating right now – as I sit here and read reviews of 2nd grade spelling and grammar programs. Yes, here is Choice A, which everyone says is SO amazing, but they also say it’s very time consuming. Choice B is also good, but is more shorter time period each day. Which one fits with my “simplifying, calming, and loving/nuturing” atmosphere I long to create? Perhaps it’s worth it to use the longer time-intensive program and make cuts somewhere else. Or, do I really need all those extra curriculum enhancement programs I’ve found online? When is too much? Or when is the extra just so much fun you don’t want to stop?

I guess what I’m saying is, this is a really good time to figure out where your lines seem to be drawn in the sand. Obviously I might not be able to figure out the answer to that grammar/spelling curriculum internal debate before convention, but knowing having our family mission statement and priorities organized, will make those decisions much easier and quicker. So, you know, you can enjoy everything else at convention!

(PS. Another reason I want to be clear on this before attending: Hubby is attending HEAV with me this year. Which means he will actually SEE how much I spend in the Expo hall. More incentive to behave, unlike last year. Ha!)

HEAV- Home Educators Association of Virginia – website

Are you following HEAV on Facebook? Do you know there are bloggers giving away passes to the convention in the next few weeks?

Be sure to be following me on Facebook as well, my time to do a convention pass giveaway will be coming up very soon!

31st-Signature-Final

“I am excited to be a blogger for HEAV this year. In exchange for sharing my honest opinion about this convention, I was provided with a family registration at no charge.”

 

Getting Ready for a Homeschool Convention #3

30 Tuesday Apr 2013

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Last post was all practical and humorous, but today I’d like to go back to the spiritual gut-check side of convention.

Now that we’ve evaluated our “current” curriculum status, and “organized” the past stuff that needs to go, we really should take a moment and look to the future.

Yes, even before we start deciding which grammar and spelling curriculum to use next fall.

Think of this time as a great opportunity – it’s like the New Year experience for homeschoolers. We’re out with the old and in with the new. And with that always comes a time of reflection, of celebrating being done, and also making resolutions/goals for the upcoming year.

And this is a really perfect time to sit down with your spouse and “Define Your Homeschooling Mission.”

Defining your purpose and vision (see, there goes my “Coaching” voice again) can be life changing. I know that going through this process each year, (pre-homeschooling), truly helped me clarify the driving priorities and purposes in my life. Step-by-step, I began to evolve into who I am, and closer to whom I’m meant to be.

And oh, isn’t that what we want for our families? For our homeschool? For our children?

So as a personal challenge this week, sit down with the hubby, a cup of coffee (or ice cream, whichever makes discussion go down better), and really just talk about these questions. Perhaps you might want to email him the link to this article ahead of time, giving him time to come up with his list of answers, and then you both can compare notes.

And just since we’re already going there, I want to point out this article that I just read today. WOW. Powerful stuff. But really, has the “homeschooling” become the driving force in all that you do in your home? Sadly, I’ve seen several “discussions” online this week already that give me pause. Maybe because I’m leading a Bible study right now, entitled “No Other Gods” that I’m hypersensitive about this particular topic?

Regardless, we still want to make sure that God is the ruler of our home, our lives, AND our homeschools.

And once we, as individuals, as parents and as a family, able to truly envision that “better us” that God is ever developing, we can start to use that as our guideline.

How does that information define your choices?

  1. Does it affect particular curriculum choices?
  2. How do you keep homeschooling within it’s proper order of priority in your family?
  3. What things might need to be reviewed and adjusted from last year?
  4. What can you simplify in your family to make it all work out “to the glory of God” in hopefully a less chaotic, calmer manner?
  5. How are you teaching “living in priority” to your children? Are they learning from your life or only your words?

Yes, these are the things I’m contemplating right now – as I sit here and read reviews of 2nd grade spelling and grammar programs. Yes, here is Choice A, which everyone says is SO amazing, but they also say it’s very time consuming. Choice B is also good, but is more shorter time period each day. Which one fits with my “simplifying, calming, and loving/nuturing” atmosphere I long to create? Perhaps it’s worth it to use the longer time-intensive program and make cuts somewhere else. Or, do I really need all those extra curriculum enhancement programs I’ve found online? When is too much? Or when is the extra just so much fun you don’t want to stop?

I guess what I’m saying is, this is a really good time to figure out where your lines seem to be drawn in the sand. Obviously I might not be able to figure out the answer to that grammar/spelling curriculum internal debate before convention, but knowing having our family mission statement and priorities organized, will make those decisions much easier and quicker. So, you know, you can enjoy everything else at convention!

(PS. Another reason I want to be clear on this before attending: Hubby is attending HEAV with me this year. Which means he will actually SEE how much I spend in the Expo hall. More incentive to behave, unlike last year. Ha!)

HEAV- Home Educators Association of Virginia – website

Are you following HEAV on Facebook? Do you know there are bloggers giving away passes to the convention? And a Bounty of Blessing, 30 Days of Giveaways going on right now?

Be sure to be following me on Facebook as well, my time to do a convention pass giveaway will be coming up very soon!

“I am excited to be a blogger for HEAV this year. In exchange for sharing my honest opinion about this convention, I was provided with a family registration at no charge.”

First Things First: Lord Teach Us to Pray

10 Monday Sep 2012

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You know when you’ve got a song stuck in your head and you can’t get it out?

Yeah. Me too.

And are you ever struck by how much God must really love irony?

Yup. Same here.

Me and a few ladies this summer have been going through Kelly Minter’s study, Nehemiah: a Heart That Can Break. It has been an amazing study that has just been fascinatingly and uniquely relevant to each of our lives.

Last week we were supposed to cover week 5, which is specifically about the prayer of the Jewish people, after the rebuilding of the wall in Jeruselum, which is apparently the longest recorded prayer in the Old Testament. (Nehemiah 9:1-35) Well, of course last week got busy, and few of us got much done. (I didn’t open my book!) So we just chatted, ate, kept the kids from destroying the house, and promised to do better next time. Needless to say, yesterday was Sunday and I still hadn’t started!

And then Sunday morning I woke up with this song stuck in my head. It’s on my iPod, sure, but it’s not one I listen to regularly. I don’t even know the last time I heard this song!

(And I forgot to mention – our Sunday School class retreat last weekend? Yeah, that was on prayer, too.)

And where does all the irony come in?

Well, Friday one of these gals asked me to lead a Bible study this fall, because she wasn’t quite enthused about any of the upcoming options.

And I actually said, “Okay. But I don’t know what we should study. What do you think?”

Well, okay, I at least think it’s funny! God knows I love irony and His sense of humor!

So, to add to my list of crazy busy this fall, I’m now about to create a study on prayer. And I’m strangely calm about it. Frankly, it just seems like all the stars are in alignment and this is just all falling into place nice and neatly.

What I do feel is a little bit of trepidation, not about the class itself, but about what will happen when we start this class. Prayer is going on the offense against Satan, and I know he is going to come at me and my “assistants” (because yeah, they said they’d help and I’m holding them to it!) with all the force he can muster. I can already tell that we are on the right track because this morning my back has completely seized up in knots and as soon as I got the word that this class was a go, I came down with a massive sinus headache. You know the kind – the one where all you can think of is just going to bed???? Yeah. So obviously, he’s already gotten the memo.

We (meaning me) still can’t decide on a specific book study to use, so I’m going to take a couple different options to Wednesday’s first meeting so we can all look at them together and see what happens. Right now I have a pile of about 20 books at the side of my bed, all on prayer. At least for the first session, I plan to pull from several different books and turn the hodge-podge into a lesson.

Egads. This is either going to be amazing or completely embarrassing. Thank you God, that all you ask for is “willing.”
As for the rest of this week? I’m swamped under with the plumber coming in a half-hour for a tub that won’t stop running, a house that is trashed, homeschool work, homeschool co-op every Tuesday, Bible study on Wednesdays, trying to get in as much work in as I can so we can continue to pay the bills, and occasionally seeing my hubby which I hope will look like more than two ships passing in the night. I covet your prayers for health, direction, and walls of protection around my family.

First Things First – Update

12 Monday Mar 2012

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I wanted to follow-up on last week’s “First Things First” post.

I’ve created some templates to help me get organized with my blog writing. Of course, I have yet to use them, so I’ve got to play around with them a bit and tweak them until I get everything “perfect.” Once I get them the way that I want them, I’m going to print them out and take them over to Staples or Office Max and get them bound together, like a “real” organizer. Heck, maybe I will even put a pretty cover on it, LOL!

I also thought quite a bit about how to get my days “in priority.” And I had a bit of a lightbulb moment: If I want to start “living in priority,” shouldn’t I start teaching the girls and modeling that for them, too? And if we’re going to do that, shouldn’t our homeschool work reflect how we want them to live their life? Heck, isn’t that why we started homeschooling in the first place?

It was such forehead, slapping, “Duh!” moment. Sometimes I wonder why God doesn’t ever despair of our dimwitted-ness, you know?

So, I have decided to rearrange our school routines. Instead of our Bible work getting pushed to the side and shuffled through at the end, we are now going to spend Monday morning on Bible-related activities. Only after all of this “work” is done will we move on to regular school work.

This morning went a bit long, as I finally finished up a few straggling ideas that I had run out of time for in the past. I added in several practice activities to start learning our new Bible verse for the week, and we started learning our new Bible song for the week. We did several related craft projects, which helped keep the girls’ interests (and I will post about them soon, I hope). We created our prayer basket, our study of Esther to finish up our celebration of Purim last week along with stick puppets to help us tell the story, and finished decorating our lapbooks all the way from Valentine’s, so I could declare those done. Little things that had been lagging and lagging and I feel so much better I don’t have to think about them any more.

In between and any time I could catch a few minutes while the girls were coloring or doing worksheets, I sat over at the table and tried to work on my own devotional study, that I had tried to get through all last week. I snuck two minutes here and five minutes there, but I’ve finally gotten some really productive progress made and will be able to blog about that this afternoon.

So, this style I think will work well for us. I need to re-tweak my school organizing grid a little bit more, and some of the normal “Monday” work like science might have to get pushed to Tuesdays on days where our Bible time goes too long. But that flexibility is why homeschool is so great, right? And I feel much more comfortable pushing science back because Bible went too long instead of the other way around.

New Firsts I’m Focusing On This Week:

1. First of Our School Day

I’m also going to push Bible time to first in our routine. I usually do math first while my daughter’s focus and patience was the best, but again, that’s not giving God our “best,” but “leftovers.” So, hoping to model “living in priority” for our girls will hopefully teach them by osmosis about putting first things first,andwill give me a chance to put devotional time first as well, even if it’s “child-focused” devotional time and not always “personal” devotional time. Plus, I’m hoping that making devotional time my focus on Mondays, that I will be able to set it up so that I can snatch time during the day each day to do my own devotional time. We’ll have to see how it works out this week.

2. First of the Morning

I am NOT a morning person. Just not. In fact, I have a running joke that there is no point in me going to the early service at Church, because God doesn’t speak to me before 10am. He knows I’m not really awake, so He doesn’t even waste His time!

I don’t know about you guys, but my first new moments each morning feel like they are begin with blearily peering through half-open eyes while trying to break up girly squabble and getting my turn in the bathroom. It takes no time at all to start my day in a cranky, stressed-out, frazzled mom-mood, wondering where the coffee is and why does morning come so fast? It is not the way I want to start my day each day, because it colors my day with those colors the rest of the day.

So, I’m going to attempt to implement a new habit this week – by giving God my first few moments of each day before the insanity starts. At the very least, I can review a quick verse and say a short prayer, even if it is just, “Lord, please help me make it through the day.”

So, that’s my update.

First Things First

05 Monday Mar 2012

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I’ve really been thinking about the concept of “firsts” and “giving the first fruits to God” lately.

Yes, we give the first of our income as a form of tithe to our church. (Basically, I write that check or pay that online first! Maybe a little legalistic, but I think the physical action of doing that before paying anything else is a good spiritual discipline.)

There are a lot of firsts in our daily lives though, aren’t they? First day of the week, first day of the month, first day of the year. First child, first kiss, first cup of coffee, first breaths and thoughts of the morning. Quite a lot of firsts! And if you really start to think about giving all of your first fruits to God, it can really change — everything.

Besides redeeming your all for the glory of God, I do believe there is another potential positive to come out of this practice – ORDER.

God is a God of order and not of chaos, right? So, when I began to think about making a conscious decision to give Him my firsts, I had to be a bit organized about it. And, even now, it IS a conscious action, and never an unconscious one. Kind of how God likes it, I guess. But what I’ve noticed is the act of giving God my firsts brings order through everything else.

Think about the joke, “you make all your mistakes on your first child.” Gosh, how many times I’ve thought that about myself, and my oldest is only five! How much more does that oldest and firstborn need the extra grace of God to cover all our many parental screwups! Being “the youngest” myself, I kind of bristle at the idea that just because of birth order, a child is not “given over to God” or that any one child “can redeem the rest.” Still kinda dealing with that concept to be honest. But I do know the fact the oldest is a role model for the younger ones is important, and older siblings have a large influence on younger ones. I see this reflected in our homeschooling right now as well, as our three-year-old is mainly along for the ride as I truly homeschool the older one, but it’s amazing how much she soaks in, just from observing and participating peripherally.

But back to my point. I think part of my spiritual discipline this year is to investigate this concept of “firsts” in my own life, and focus on how to give all of my “firsts” back to God.

“Redeeming everything we have and are and do so that everything can be redeemed and be fruitful back to God.” – Jan 3, 2011

To that end, for the rest of the year, I’m going to try to focus on my firsts – first day of the month, first day of the week, etc. I’ve been resisting too much structure mainly because my artsy-fartsy side just rebels with too much regimentation, but my possibly-ADHD/life-filled-with-chaos side of me really appreciates order! Sounds insane, right? I desperately need the order, but hate being told what to do exactly when. So, I’m trying not to take this overboard, because I’d never end up doing it anyway.

1. To begin – this blog. I’ve been thinking about it for a while, and have finally come up with a routine (don’t say schedule! don’t say schedule!) that I think I can feel comfortable with AND actually accomplish.

Mondays – First Things First: All about Order, Priorities, and Living Life in God’s Will

Tuesdays – Reviews and Recommendations: My Opinions on Products, Books, and Just about Anything Else

Wednesdays – Walk with Him Wednesdays: Spiritual Musings link-up with A Holy Experience

Thursdays – Practical Tips: Whether It’s Organizational Or Whatever.

Fridays – Homeschool: Plus Link-ups with Homeschool Mother’s Journal and MFW Homeschool Highlights.

Weekends – Saturdays and Sundays Will Be Extra, or Possibly Random Topics That Fit Nowhere Else.

Whew! That felt good to write down! Of course, I don’t expect to have something every single day of the week, but at least having this ROUTINE will give my mind and this blog some semblance of order.

2. Next – the First Day of the Month.

I’ve always used the first day of each month as my kind of “check-in” date. I will update my goals journal and make my plan for the rest of the month. Update my calendar. Upload pictures, edit them, and upload them to share with family and friends. Except that’s not really working for me any more. I’m not using my “goals journal” this year, and am instead blogging about my experience here. And I’m no longer doing the “once a month massive email with 50 pictures to everyone I know.” Heck, most of those folks are on Facebook, and if they are not, they ought to be, LOL! (Mom, if you’re reading this, yes, I am talking about you!)

But still, I need my routine. I feel like I’m floundering without that 1st of the month anchor. So, on the first of the month, I’m not sure what it will look like, but I will take some time that day, and spend time in prayer for the month past and the month going forward. I will pray for God’s Will and continued movement in my life, and then and only then, review my calendar to update it and create my plan for the month. So that living my life for God, and giving him the first fruits will continue to be a conscious decision on my part each month.

3. First Day of the Week.

This is always in my Grand Plan That Never Seems to Happen. (You moms know exactly what I’m talking about, right?) In my ideal, dream-world, I would get ready effortlessly, the children would disappear for a few hours (through no work on my own part, LOL) and I could sit down with a cup of coffee alone in the perfectly clean house and quietly start my week with a non-rushed devotional and prayer-time, write my spiritual journalings down and then go on with the rest of my week in focus. 

Did you get as much of a laugh out of that as I just did?

Even this morning, I tried my darndest to even keep the girls occupied so I could get my Bible Study notes in order so I could even begin! Sadly, what with computers malfunctioning, printers refusing to print, and all electronics just NOT LIKING ME TODAY, it took until 6pm for that to happen. And I know you can relate.

I always like to do the big homeschool work push on Monday mornings, so we can goof off later in the week, but I might have to change my natural impulses here. Because even school should not come before prayer time with God. And I really need that “getting set up for the week/starting my week off right time” or I flail about the rest of the week.

I have no idea how this is actually going to happen or what it’s going to look like, but here and now I make a conscious decision to give the first day of the week and especially some time that morning to alone time with God. And yes, I’m sure there will be many weeks where I will end up late at night on the computer, like I am tonight, trying to catch up!

I know there are more “firsts,” but that’s all I can handle for now! Thinking on it, I’m actually kind of excited to what this will end up being and how it will transform our family. May God use this year to bless and metamorphasize my family and yours!

Yes, Put First Things First, But First . . .

11 Wednesday Jan 2012

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I’ve been reading 31 Days to Build a Better Spouse and have committed to spending the month of January praying for my husband.

At first I was doing great. It’s a simple read, and a simple little daily task.

One day we had a little “You’re speaking Man-Language and I’m speaking Woman-Language” spat. Nothing really.

And that night I realized, after picking up my e-reader, that I hadn’t prayed for my husband in almost three days. How in the world did it happen so fast?

Well, it’s a matter of putting “first things first.” Every single day. Over and over and over and over. That’s the part that always trips me up.

Right now, in our lives there is just so much going on, that even what we know to be first, what we know to be right, what we know to be best, doesn’t get done in the priority we know we have committed to. Tasks must still be done. Our move. Homeschooling our girls. Preparing for the packers. Making dinner. Laundry. And oh, throw in a small surgery for me and a week or so of bedrest in there.

Commitment is always so hard to reconcile with the daily calendar and to-do list isn’t it? Sometimes I feel like I’m just “fitting” my faith life in, instead of letting everything I do be influenced and permeated by my faith. I ask others how do you do it, and the stock answer of “putting it on my calendar” or “scheduling a time”, sounds great and all, but really, let’s face it. It doesn’t work! If y’all could just see my calendar, color-coded, long lists organized to the nth degree. (I am not exaggerating.)

It’s so much easier to say, “Tomorrow, I’ll ________” or “When I _________, then I can __________.” And mean it. Truly mean it. And then allow the defeat and self-condemnation swallow you up when of course it doesn’t happen.

On Sunday, we heard two different groups of missionaries speak at Church, and I really felt the need to help sponsor children to attend school in Honduras. The missionary mentioned how she was able to use Bibles in school, to teach the children English! How awesome is that? And yet when I came home and balanced the checkbook, I thought, “Oh, maybe when we pay off that debt we can afford the extra $30-$40 a month.” And once again I realized I was falling in that same “if/then” trap. 

So, no. I am not going to let that happen to me this year. I choose to complete what I start. I will put God first. I will put relationships before the task-master to-do list. I will reach out to others and seek for ways to use my purpose.

I will stop everything I’m doing, even writing this blog post and pray for my husband. (Realizing that yet again, I’m behind because I’ve lost track of what day it is!) What’s more important, the deadline or the “task” well done? And better still, I’d like to change my mindset because it’s not a “task” or a duty to pray for my spouse. It’s an honor.

It’s a gift that God has given us, the ability to pray for those we love.

I will not groan inwardly with the phone rings because someone has called yet again to check up on me, I will thank God for the chance to reconnect. I will look forward to those interruptions, because life happens in those interruptions.

And I will pray. I will pray for my spouse, so he can start his year off in the right place and on the right path that God has created for him this year, and I will pray for my children, that they will learn of God’s love and of God’s world, and of the place that God has created for them in this world. I will pray for all those that cross my path, because God can use that crossing to lay them on my heart at that moment.

The act of prayer, is my way of putting my wish for the movement of God in that person’s life first.

And this is the change I pray for in myself, that the movement of God happens in my own life, metamorphasizing my view until I can see like Him.

And I will see not a year filled with lists and tasks and duties, but a year filled with blessings and gifts and promises.

My New Year’s Priorities. Not Resolutions

04 Wednesday Jan 2012

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I have to confess to all of you.

My focus with this blog has gotten completely out of whack. And it’s a picture of how my life has gotten out of whack as well.

Lately, all I’ve blogged about here has been homeschooling. I have left homeschooling pretty much take over our home life as well. With my husband being gone, and then adding homeschool to the mix, I basically did just enough to survive and get through the day. My health went into the toilet and my stress levels went through the roof. And my original goal, to use this blog to chronicle my journey becoming a Proverbs 31 Woman, went by the wayside.

I just wasn’t spending enough time in the Word and with God. And frankly, I think that alone is why, when my husband did come home last month, my body decided to fall apart two days later.

There is only so much living through your own willpower your body can handle. You just can’t live through your own strength and do anything more than survive this insane world. If I have learned anything this past year, it’s been that.

Look at our society. Aren’t most of the health issues of our country reportedly due to stress? And really, how much of that stress is truly necessary if we were living and abiding in the will of God? If we truly trusted in His provenance and His grace? If we waited on the Lord and allowed God to do His work, instead of pushing to do it ourselves?

Now I’m left to deal with the health repercussions of living with my spiritual life out of whack. According to my chiropractor, my spine isn’t in alignment and my mineral levels are depleted. According to my gynecologist, my hormones are “psycho” (My words. He’s much too polite to actually say that.) and the only recourse left seems to be to “shut down the factory.” My ENT doctor tells me my immune system is run down which is why I need horse-pill antibiotics to get rid of a sinus infection. In short, I’m a mess.

In the midst of all of this, our pastor’s sermon this Sunday was very timely.

Bay Community Church – “Out of Order”

Basically, we spend our time where our priorities lie. And if we look at our goals and resolutions, you’ll see where our true priorities are. As he mentioned, why do our New Year’s Resolutions focus on the temporal items which won’t last, instead of the spiritual, which is forever? We (and I do mean “I” in this case) give great lip service to living for Christ, and yet we don’t really live like that. Or worse, we say, I will be able to ____ for Christ after I ________ (lose 30 pounds, pay off that debt, get that raise) which of course never happens. We become hypocrites of our faith, and slaves to our taskmaster – success by the world’s view.

Is that any way to live? Is that the legacy I want to leave to my children? A life of struggle and stress?

This year, I am going to do things completely different from I have ever done them before. My “New Year’s Resolutions” are based on the spiritual. I want to reboot my focus and put my priorities in order.

My first New Year’s Priority/Resolution is simple: Put God First. Give him the FIRSTS of my life. I’m still working out what that will end up looking like, but my current ideas are:

  • Have my first thoughts awake be prayers and thanksgiving to God.
  • Be sure that my last thoughts before napping or sleeping are prayers for others and praising God.
  • Make a real focus to spend time in deep study of the Word, and reading books about the Word.
  • Get back to focusing on the girls’ spiritual development with prayer, learning Bible stories, verse memorization, and character development.
  • I need to stay involved in group Bible Studies, both for accountability and spiritual connections.
  • More conscious effort in praying for others.
  • Get back to the original message of this blog and write more about my spiritual journey, not just homeschooling or other topics.

My second New Year’s Priority/Resolution is: Put Relationships First.

I think I have a tendency, as a SAHM/WAHM and now a homeschooling mom is to stay.at.home. It’s just so much easier to never leave the house! But I know that my soul longs for human interaction. I’m really more of a people person than I have I let myself be in the past few years when I’ve been focusing so much on dealing with kids and “getting things done.” Yet, that’s not what God has called us to do! If we are to be His hands and feet, what good are we to Him if we don’t get out and reach out? So this year, I resolve to:

  • Make sure I spend time out of the house, interacting more and reaching out to connect more.
  • Focus on spending more quantity and quality time with my husband and our children, especially outdoors.
  • Take care of my health, so that I will be able to get out and have the energy to actually do things.

And my third New Year’s Priority/Resolution is to: Reach Out to Others. Use my Purpose.

This is pretty self-explanatory. God has commanded us to “Go;” not to “Sit” or “Stay.” So trying to keep that command, yet stay with the first priorities of putting God and relationships first, I plan to:

  • Use my spiritual gift of hospitality when possible. Willingly and cheerfully host coffees for groups, or functions for my husband’s office group, and perhaps host a Bible study group in my home if needed.
  • Look for small ways to serve. Meals to share, donating items to charities, or volunteering. Or perhaps a special note to encourage a friend.
  • Work my personal business with the mission to help others. Reach out and connect more using this business as a tool for sharing God’s provision.
  • Blog more. Use the internet to reach out, connect, and share God’s love with those I might never meet in person.

Of course, there are still things I’d like to accomplish this year. However, I’ve decided that I refuse to call them a Resolution, as that puts the wrong emphasis on these items, and gives them too much power over my life. So, instead, I’m going to call them “projects.” These are my “projects” for 2012:

  • Lose 20 pounds. Gain back my health. Get back to working out regularly once medical issues are resolved, and end the year strong and fit.
  • Scrapbook. I’d love to catch up (I’m about 3 years behind at this point) and I want to have fun doing it. I’d like to finish about 150 pages this year.
  • Complete our moving nightmare adventure. Get the family unpacked and settled in our new home, and happily adjusted. Pay a really nice chunk of our mortgage, keep our financial situation in control, and focus on living within our means!
  • Help us get out of debt! I really would like to actually make some money this year (normally I break even or just under).
  • Practice the guitar and play more, and finish my recipe book project that I’ve been staring at for a few years now!


 

 

Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World

30 Wednesday Mar 2011

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Recently I’ve begun reading Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver. Wow, what a breath of fresh air this book has breathed into my heart! This really is the book I’ve been looking for, something that focuses on changing the heart of a Modern Proverbs 31 Woman, instead of just habits. If you’re looking for a Bible study to do alone or with a group, I really recommend this book as a fabulous resource.

Here are couple quotes that I think are so important, and really strike to the heart of the book’s message:

Suddenly all of my good intentions about worship disappear, swallowed up by what Charles Hummel calls “the tyranny of the urgent.”

“We live in a constant tension between the urgent and the and the important,” Hummel writes. “The problem is that the important task rarely must be done today or even this week. Extra hours of prayer and Bible study can wait. But the urgent tasks call for instant action–endless demands pressure every hour and day.”

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So where to we find the time to follow Mary to the feet of Jesus? Where do we find the energy to serve him?

How do we choose the Better Part and still get done what really has to get done?

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When we put work before worship, we put the cart before the horse. The cart is important; so is the horse. But the horse must come first, or we end up pulling the cart ourselves. Frustrated and weary, we can nearly break under the pressure of service, for there is always something that needs to be done.

When we first spend time in his presence–when we take time to hear his voice–God provides the horsepower we need to pull the heaviest load. He saddles up Grace and invites us to take a ride.

 

And all of that is just in the first chapter! 

Doesn’t that feel familiar? I know I can’t be the only one out there that feels Joanna is describing me to a T. The never-ending to-do list, the pressure to get things done, the battle between urgent and important, the stress of it all. Can I get an Amen here? And the most frustrating part of all this is that the struggle never ends. Just because I got it right yesterday or last week doesn’t mean I’m all set for today. It’s like laundry (which reminds me, I need to go flip a load downstairs), the basket is only empty and done, until everyone takes a bath again tonight and it starts all over again. Just like that, we must accept that our spiritual basket is never “done;” it’s a task that needs to be “kept on top of” so you never get over burdened.

Just this week, the sermon at our church was about “prayer without ceasing,” – basically living your life in a constant state of prayer. Easier said than done, right? Yet this is something I have really been attempting to accomplish the past few months. (Though it might not be proven by the number of posts on this blog at the moment.)

Here are a couple of practical ideas that work for me.

Music.

  • I’m blessed that the local Christian station here is a great one. It plays contemporary Christian that is easy and pleasurable to listen to. It is constantly on in my car, every time I get in it. I’ve noticed I drive with a lot less “road rage” and with a calmer, more patient spirit. Also, I’ve noticed my children are calmer in the car.
  • When the radio gets tiresome, I’ve got an Ipod full of Christian artists. And because my husband loves digging into the Christian music scene, he’s constantly finding new artists to download and add to our collection. I play the Ipod in my room while I’m working sometimes, and occasionally I’ll bring Itunes up on my computer and play the music from there. And when I’m energetic enough to get outside and attempt to walk/jog/crawl through some exercise, I always have my Ipod strapped on my arm and ear buds in.
  • YouTube. Whenever I hear a song that just strikes me – often by the praise team at church – I will try to get the name of it and look it up on YouTube to find out more. This is how I found the song, “Overcome” that I posted about recently. Also, it is a great way to share songs among my friends on Facebook when something is just pulling at my soul. And by clicking on the links when they share songs, I find new ones all the time. And while I’m checking out one song from an artist, I’ll often click-through and check out their other works. That is how I discovered JJ Heller and “Only Love Remains.”

As you can see, music is completely enmeshed in my life and is a huge part of how Christ opens up my heart and speaks to me. Part of that is because of my background as a singer, but also I think music reaches into subconscious parts of your brain that analytical study just can’t get to.

A Set Place

  • I’ve posted in the past about having a prayer closet in my last home. Unfortunately, in my current house that’s just not possible. I’m still working on finding that perfect little spot in my home and while nothing has found me yet, I’ve heard of other ideas that folks have suggested.
  • Go outdoors. One of my favorite things to do is to go sit in sun, on our pier overlooking the bay, and soak in God’s Word while soaking in some vitamin D. The only negative is that it’s sometimes difficult to force myself to come back inside! So I encourage you to finds a peaceful, restful, spot outdoors that you can go to in good weather. If you’re working outside the home, this is also a great way to spend your lunch break at work! This is also made easier by having an organized prayer bag.

A prayer/Bible bag.

  • The idea behind this is that everything you need for your Bible study time is organized in one place. That might be a bag or a basket beside your bed or chair in the living room.
  •  It contains everything you need, so that you can pick up and go wherever is convenient. (It also solves the organizational problem of having to stop and look for everything, which can distract you from original purpose.)
  • So, this would include your Bible, whichever devotional book/s you’re working through, maybe some lighter reading when your brain can’t handle the deeper analytical stuff, a notebook for you to journal and work through passages, pens or pencils, post-its (I find that’s a great way to deal when to-do items pop in your mind in an inopportune time. Write them down on a post-it and hold it to add to your to-do list for later.), kleenex just in case, and 3×5 cards.
  • I love 3×5 cards because when you get that verse that God is using to speak to you (or sometimes feels like he’s hitting you over the head with a sledgehammer), I find it great to take a minute and write it down on one of these cards so you can post it up somewhere you will see it. (If your handwriting is atrocious, you can also print them out from your computer, which is what I prefer.) I’ve got 1 Chronicles 28:20 taped above my monitor and Psalm 19:11-14 taped on my bathroom mirror.

Incorporate Into Your Family Life

  • Make Bible study part of your family’s daily ritual and routine. I know this is hard to achieve. I got the idea from this homeschooling blog and website. No, I don’t home school yet, but I really believe in the idea of intentionally instruction and playtime.
  • One of the main reasons I really focus on this is because I want my girls to see Christ as fully incorporated and invested in their lives. I want them to practice it in their lives and see it molded into mine. I don’t want them to have to figure out how to do that all on their own. And I don’t want them to think that just attending Church on Sunday is “enough.” I don’t want them to rely on the Church for their growth as I did, because once I got into college and “Church” wasn’t around or easily accessible, I really floundered. I want them to find that Rock at an early age. But don’t we all want that for our children?
  • Don’t worry, I’m starting this in very small steps, both for my children’s sake and mine! We have small children, so we are currently focusing on basic tasks. (One day, I’ll go into much more detail on this topic) Praying before bedtime, starting our day with a hymn (Right now this is a silly cheerful rendition of “This is the Day” in Spanish that I wake them up with in the morning), reading Bible stories out of our toddler Bibles.
  • Incorporating Bible lessons into behavior lessons. When we had problems with obeying and disobeying, we pulled out the story of Jonah and how he disobeyed God, and the consequences of his actions. When we wanted to learn about being a helper, we read about Miriam and how she helped her Mommy by watching over Baby Moses in the basket. At this stage in our kids’ lives, we’re talking basic. But I pray that this will feed into their lives as they grow up, how the Bible applies to their daily life as well.
  • Bible verse memorization. I know, this is always what my parents relied on the Church to teach. But, because of how much we move around, I just can’t count on their being a strong children’s Sunday School program at whatever Church is available to us. So, my husband and I have made the decision that we must take over the responsibility for this ourselves. And I’ve come to believe is that this is how it should be.  We have just begun using two books from Scripture Memory Fellowship, Bible Forget Me Nots and ABC Memory Book. I can’t tell you how much my 4- and 2-year-old have taken to this! They-LOVE-it. They are so proud of being able to memorize these verses, and I am astonished at how amazing they are at it! (I like this program because it comes with rewards you can give your children as they complete sections of the books.) 

Force Yourself

  • Do it. This is my hardest one, and this is where I’m really struggling right now. I just have to make myself do it. That’s what it boils down to. If I believe this is my priority in life, and I want my girls to believe that, I have to practice what I preach. And oh, gosh, is it hard.
  • Do it first. This has been something that has been hammered into my head since the beginning of the year. As my preacher said on Sunday, if you leave it ’til last, ’til everything is done, ’til the end of the day, then what you are doing is giving Christ your leftovers. Isn’t that harsh? But yet, so true. And still, if I leave it until a,b, or c gets done, well, I never get to it and it never gets done. So, while I might not be getting up at 5am to do it, I do push myself to do it first in my day. Before I even sit down to write my to-do list. I’ve found if I write my to-do list first, then I stress and worry all during my prayer time about getting things done.
  • Do it all day long. As I’ve progressed in the past few months, I’ve found that I’m getting closer to living in that “state of continual prayer.” The place where I want to be. The place where I can stop in the middle of a chore (like that laundry that still needs to be flipped) and just pray for whatever is on my heart. I’m not there yet, and it’s definitely not a habit thing yet, but I’m working on it.

I hope these ideas help you work on it too.