Encouraging Moms Who Homeschool

Hey there, friends!  Today's blog post is difficult to share...because it's about a friend who is facing a tremendous struggle in her family & my heart is just so heavy for her.  Can I take a quick moment to share her story, and ask you to pray for her and her family? From the bottom of my heart, thank you for reading this post! I n the tapestry of life, there are moments when our paths intersect with the struggles of others, and we are presented with a profound opportunity to make a difference. In our journey through life's challenges, we discover the immense power of compassion—the ability to extend kindness, understanding, and support to those facing adversity. It is in these moments of shared humanity that we experience a connection that transcends our individual stories and binds us together in a tapestry woven with threads of love and empathy. A dear friend and fellow blogger, Lisa, is currently facing a challenging situation, and I am writing to you in the hope t...

 Anybody else read 1 Samuel chapter 2 and see some commonalities in the way many people raise their children today? I don't think we can, or should, expect the world at large to apply God's Word to their parenting. But when those in the Church don't take the Bible seriously enough to allow it to influence the way they raise their children, well, there's a problem. A big one. The Lord is holy. The story of Eli's wicked sons, Hophni and Phinehas, reminds us of this truth with total clarity and unwavering certainty. God. Is. Holy.  When we allow our children to take God's holiness for granted, to run amuck in sin and depravity, we err terribly. And our errors will result in grave and serious consequences, for us and for our children. As if that were not enough, the Church as a whole will be negatively impacted. I'm not saying that our children's behavior is the end-all, be-all. And I'm not saying that parents are 100% responsible for every big and every...

  Ever written one of those beginning of the school year essays? You know the ones I'm referring to. The attempt to ease students back into the swing of things, coupled with the simultaneous attempt to ease teachers back into the chaos of things, which would somehow be achieved by requiring every-single-student to answer the same question they answered last year...and the year before...and so on, ad nauseam.  This blog post is basically my adult, non-student, never-going-back-to-school-because-I'm-north-of-fifty version answer to the question, "What did you do this summer?" Spoiler alert: I'm an introvert. (And, yes, that actually matters when it comes to this blog post. Hang with me and I'll explain.) As a podcaster and a speaker and an indie author, I keep my eyes peeled for events that will help me grow in my work and expand my horizons in my field. As an introvert, my interest is piqued when said events are available in the virtual space. My motto is: ...

  Anybody else out there in the ginormous world of the internet feel like they could use some clear guidance? Maybe some extra insight into what is going on in the world around us and how to navigate all-things-crazy?  I don't want to speak for anyone else, but for me personally, time has somehow paused but also been on fast forward since spring of 2020. It's confusing and hard to try explaining with my words... and I am honestly wondering if anybody else has been feeling this way? Some sort of way?  I read a Bible verse recently that was helpful and reminded me that God is still on His throne (He has not abdicated!) and I am still under His watchful gaze.  Psalm 16:5 - LORD, You alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing. You guard all that is mine. (New living Translation) God alone is my inheritance.  I don't have to worry obsessively (or worry at all, actually) about the things of this life because this world is not my home & the things of this world ...

  What words would I want to put down on paper (or on virtual paper via, say, a blog post) if I knew they would be my last and final words? What would the Lord want me to say? What words would matter most? People’s last words may be carefully chosen and well-listened to. Planned out and penned with intention and care and focus. I do not pretend to know when my very last opportunity to write, to speak, to share will be. God alone knows such things, and none of us will ever be able to answer the question of “How long?”. And so we probably need to weigh our words carefully and say the things that are most important sooner rather than later. Lately, there are some words that have been on my heart and mind. Words from Matthew chapter 24 and Luke chapter 21 and some portions of the book of Daniel. Even some things written in the book of Revelation have been at the forefront of my mind. There are things happening in the world that were foretold in these books of the Bible. And while it is...

  Are things changing?  Does it seem like there is an almost palpable change taking place? And that it’s going to lead to more and more changes?  Sort of like we are all just waiting for the other shoe to drop… but the state of the world has changed so much since the spring of 2020, the second shoe dropping could turn out to be almost anything at all.  It feels like nothing would surprise us; the bottom has fallen out on the shock value. And yet, something heavy is hanging in the air.  Things have changed so much in recent years, and things will continue to change. That much we all seem to know.  What are we to do with all this change, and all the impending change that seems to be looming on the horizon? Pray.  What we do, as followers of Jesus, is pray. When I get too focused on the unknowns & the what-if’s, I start to lose hope. And when I start to lose hope, I don’t pray big, bold prayers.  And I don’t encourage others to hold on to hope, b...

   Well, here we are, on the brink of a new homeschool year. Wrapping up another summer and moving into fall.  I wanted to share a few things with you today that will *hopefully* serve as tangible sources of encouragement for you - and to make an impact on the way this school year plays out for your family. Let's jump right in! First, here is a fun quiz to find out what's missing in your homeschool. Check that out HERE . Next, I recently had the pleasure of meeting an author who write Christian fiction for middle schoolers, and after hearing her heart for children ages 9 to 12, well, I had to share about her books here on the homeschool blog. Her name is Jill Osborne, and if you have a middle schooler and would like to offer them some books that could benefit them as they lay a foundation of who they are in Christ and help them discover what God may be leading them toward in their future, her fiction series are worth looking into. Check that out at her website here . You ...

 For so many of us, prayer is a challenge. Maybe because it can be hard to find the time for an extended prayer session. Or there is a lack of guidance to help us as we pray. Sometimes the prayer meeting can feel more like a gossip meeting, and that has never helped anyone to grow a healthy prayer life. We may not even know what, exactly, we can and should pray for and about.  I don't want to make this one bit more complicated, confusing or challenging. What I do want, however, is to see more people pray more prayers and receive more answers. This blog post won't be written perfectly, and there is no well-mapped out flow for what I share here. There is just my heart for God's people and my belief that He is still in the prayer-answering business. So here I am, in all my imperfection, to offer you this brief and somewhat untidy word about prayer. Thought #1 -       God's promises are long lasting. They are imperishable. And they have a very long shelf life.....

 I think I had a sum total of 17 days during my homeschool years when I felt confident & qualified...maybe. 17 days plucked out of the midst of 25 years is not all that many days. I've heard that confidence is key, which may be true, but it isn't a key I have access to and so the doorway to completely confident living remains locked tight. In my daily Bible reading, I came across these words:  "We are confident...because of our great trust in God through Christ. It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. He has enabled us..."      - from 2 Corinthians 3:4-6, New Living Translation Even though the youngest of our five children finished her fourth year of college last month, in spite of the fact that I haven't done a single lick of homeschooling in over four years - nevertheless, I read those words this morning and thought about how they applied to my life as a homeschool mom. In and of myself, I wasn...

 So, one pretty terrific trick of the trade that I discovered during my quarter of a century of home education was that the classes & online courses & lessons (including sports lessons) my kiddos participated in during the summer months could be counted toward their school days the following year. (In our neck of the woods, 180 teacher contact days were required to fulfill the academic requirements legally - so we aimed to hit that number each year.) Take skating lessons for my children - I would simply keep track of all the time spent at the ice rink during the summer in my planner and before we started the new school year, I would add up the hours spent on the ice and calculate how many days of "schoolwork" it counted for.  I also kept track of art camps, books they read, online courses they took, missions trips and service projects, and even things like rebuilding a lawn mower engine or painting a bedroom (small engine repair and life skills/home economics are real...