Bits of Encouragement

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In the Depths of Despair

October 2007

So many things have been happening around us lately. From sick friends, divorce, job loss, broken families, abuse, to friends with cancer. It can bring a person down especially those directly affected.

Our family has someone we love in each of the categories listed above. I had felt drained about a week ago. We had some personal family issues to deal with as well. I felt like David, Job and Caleb all at once!

So what do we do in times of such despair?

Well, among the 100+ names used to describe Jesus, such names come to mind as the Great Physician, The Comforter, The All Knowing, The Redeemer!

Oh how easy it is to forget the Hands in which our lives lay. The joy of the Lord is truly my strength.

What a joy it is to be His servant.

What a joy it is to wake up in the morning and see my family.

What a joy it is to know He loves me even more than I love my sweet family.

AND, what a JOY it is to be able to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ!

Right on target as He always is. In church on Sunday our sweet Pastor reminded me of one very important truth...

No matter where we are, when we pray we are in fellowship with the church. We are part of the ministry in Africa as we pray, we are part of the healing of a dear one in Australia who is hurting, we are a part of it ALL, when we pray. What a delight to my soul to serve the One who blesses us with this most powerful privilege. 

God quickly brought me back to place of comfort and peace. I continue in my prayers, never ceasing, always alert. Sometimes I awake in the night and pray until the sun rises. Not always of my choice, but His. I am still fully functional the next day because He provides. He IS and always will be.

My current Bible study includes the Book of Daniel. What an eye opener! The world now is parallel to what Babylon was back then. All the more reason to ask God to open doors so the Light of His Word can be shared among the darkness!

A Lesson Learned...for Mom!

August 2007

With school beginning for most families, the excitement about the possibilities for our new school year began to build waaaay back in June. (or so I believed) Thoughts of decorating the school area, deciding which of the latest must-haves I was going to buy, new boxes of crayons, pencils, etc. You know what I'm talking about! (can't beat those sales, right?)

The equation for home school happiness: A new set of curriculum + new supplies + a new schedule = A GREAT YEAR!

Trying to keep up with the world's standards is stressful! (later referred to as mistake number one) We easily slip into the mode of "I just know this year will be different now that we have all new curriculum!". Been there, done that!

Although I had gone through the steps to home school happiness, I have to admit, I was not motivated at all this year. (this was to be our 9th year of home schooling) Our 5 year-old was to start school...after all, isn't that what's expected of us?

Our first day of school was July 1. We always start early so that we can do special activities around the holidays. This mom was not ready by any means.

I had prepared lesson plans for our daughter, who is in the tenth grade, with no enthusiasm whatsoever. I didn't know why I wasn't excited, after all, I had new books, supplies, etc.  Isn't that the equation to home school happiness?

Day One: Disaster. Not one of my 3 children were excited about school.

Day Two: Disaster. High school daughter didn't want to work with younger ones on special projects. Younger ones didn't want to "do" school.

Day Three: Vacation Day. Mom now seeks wisdom from others. Wonders if our budget could support a vacation to the beach. <wink>

Day Four: Vacation Day. Mom realizes that maybe the school area isn't decorated enough to motivate my youngest ones, ages 5 and 3. High school daughter works on her lessons...by herself.

Day Five: Mom throws hands in the air because she can't justify buying school decorations to hang on the wall. (This becomes another vacation day, in case you were wondering).

Well, our week went well didn't it? 

I took the next week to recap the events that had taken place the previous week. I had already decided that decorations wouldn't motivate my little ones, nor would the new supplies. Time to change the equation.

Although our high school daughter continued her studies, many more "vacation days" followed for my five year old.

I took my worries to the Lord. I asked what it was that I was supposed to do to keep the love for learning growing. I was afraid that I had killed the joy that she once found in learning new things. As I prayed, it became clear that I had been trying to live up to the world's standards. (mistake number one) This makes me especially sad because I know better.

My five year old didn't have to formally start school. In the past, I had made it priority to first build character and wisdom (the foundation), then the academics fell into place. I had bypassed this because our five year old is very Scripturally wise. I assumed that she needed a rigorous schedule because she was advanced academically. What I didn't see was that the foundation still needed to be filled, set, and then hardened, before I did anything else. How was I to do this? As always, God is faithful and answered my prayer.

Without going into details, our five year old suffered from anxieties which stemmed from our adult daughter's disobedience to the Lord. This is why our five year old was so Scripturally wise. We used God's word to comfort her. One of the results from this trying time was that she wasn't connected to the family anymore. She had withdrawn. I thought the excitement of new supplies and books would win her back. (mistake number two)

What she really needed was to feel a connection again. To fill the gap in her foundation, to complete it, so it could set, and harden. She had the Scripture base, but as parents we too are part of the foundation because God has entrusted us with their upbringing .

The question now before me, "How do I break the wall down?" As with Jericho, following God's direction is always the answer. I surrendered this thought to Him and trusted that He would direct me. School for my five year old had ceased.  

Then one morning a couple of weeks later, I awoke with a burst of excitement. I had some ideas of things to do with my five year old. I knew she loved to paint and she loved science. We painted, and she learned how to mix colors to get other colors, then we read together, we learned about our five senses and held a taste testing experiment, we even played a taste game! Guess what? My three year old happily joined us in all activities, AND, my high school daughter caught the excitement bug and sat down with her sister and did a chemistry experiment with her!  Not only did she learn a few things, but she was building a connection with all of us again, as a family. God has richly blessed us for our faithfulness.

So here we are, mid-August and my children and I have a new love for family time AND learning time, which just so happens to be one in the same.

The lesson learned, a new equation;

God + Prayer + Faith + Family = all the happiness you need in your home and school.

I pray you and your family will be richly blessed this year. I pray you don't fall into the worldly ways that sneak up so easily into our lives. I pray the equation that I have come to realize will become a daily habit for all home schooling families. The completion of the foundation is so important, I pray you don't overlook the entire picture as I once did.

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