You Are More

Today's encouragement comes from "Streams in the Desert", page 86-87.

February 24

Though John never performed a miraculous sign, all that John said about this man was true. (John 10:41)


Perhaps you are very dissatisfied with yourself.  You are not a genius, have no distinctive gifts, and are inconspicuous when it comes to having any special abilities. Mediocrity seems to be the measure of your existence.  None of your days are noteworthy, except for their sameness and lack of zest.  Yet in spite of this you may have a great life.

John the Baptist never performed a miracle, but Jesus said of him, "Among those born of women there is no one greater." (Luke 7:28).  His mission was to be "a witness to the light" (John 1:8), and that may be your mission and mine.  John was content to be only a voice, if it caused people to think about Christ.

Be willing to be only a voice that is heard but not seen, or a mirror whose glass the eye cannot see because it is reflecting the glory of the Son.  Be willing to be a breeze that arises just before daylight, saying "The dawn! The Dawn!" and then fades away.

Do the most everyday and insignificant tasks knowing that God can see.  If you live with difficult people, win them over through love.  If you once made a great mistake in life, do not allow it to cloud the rest of your life, but by locking it secretly in your heart, make it yield strength and character.

We are doing more good than we know.  The things we do today - sowing seeds or sharing simple truths about Christ - people will someday refer to as the first things that prompted them to think of Him.  For my part, I will be satisfied no to have some great tombstone over my grave but just to know that common people will gather there once I am gone and say, "He was a good man.  He never performed any miracles, but he told me about Christ, which led me to know Him for myself." George Matheson


Dear Friend,
If you are disheartened because you're a "mere" homeschool mom, and your heart is desiring more...consider this... the everyday work you do with your beloved children may seem tedious and insignificant at the moment, but trust me you are doing "Kingdom work." You are planting seeds that God will use later in their lives to share the Gospel with an unbelieving world; His word says so, Proverbs 22:6 "Train a child up in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." That is Gods promise to us as parents to keep fighting the good fight!

Father, you already know the plans you have for us and our children, and how we are to get there. Please help us to keep our eyes on you and faithfully serve our children through our homeschool. Will you be faithful to meet each one of us this today, to encourage us and to fill our hearts with a renewed spirit...your Spirit. Amen.

 

Island Living

We were never intended to live our faith in isolation.  As homeschoolers, we can get into a mindset of what I like to call, "Island Living". There are various things, or "life situations" that get us to this place before we know it. Maybe you're just a "homebody" that feels like you don't need anyone. Maybe you're thinking, "I don't mind friends, it's people I cant stand." 


I have to confess, I can be one of those people who think, "I don't need anyone, I got this! People just make my life messy!" Well, that kind of "island thinking" is wrong! I do need people, I need my friends and they need me!  

Let's look at Scripture to see what God has to say about friends.  

Exodus 17:8 "The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim.  Moses said to Joshua, "Choose some of your men and go out to fight them.  Tomorrow I will stand on the hill with the staff of God in my hands." 

So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hand, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands the Amalekites were winning.  When Moses' hand grew tired, they (his friends) took some stones and put it under him and he sat on it.  Aaron and Hur held his hands up - one on one side and one on the other - so that his hands remained steady until sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword." 

Do you see how God used all of those people to defeat the "enemy"? Moses needed his brother and friends to help the Israelites through a rough situation.  

Friendships can get messy! Anytime you have more than one person in a relationship you have more than one point of view or opinion. Instant ingredients for conflict. It's how you walk through those conflicts that either bring "life" or "death".

   

I am not saying solitude is a bad thing, it's not!  While on this earth, Jesus was surrounded by his "friends". Occasionally he went away for solitude.  

If you have a good support system in place, that's great! But if you don't, consider asking God for a few good friends you can share your life with - the good and the bad. But don't be surprised when conflict appears on the scene, it's inevitable you will not always agree.  It's in those times God will faithful to grow you and the friendship alike. 

C. S. Lewis, author and professor, said, “Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.”    

  

What Do You Do?

Do you ever get the dreaded question from other moms..."So, what do you do for a living?"

When we first started homeschooling...WAY back in the day...I would timidly respond with, "I'm a stay at home mom." Then either they would change the subject quickly or respond with "Oh me too!" followed by, "Maybe we can go have coffee or something while the kids are in school." My first thought would be.."huh, that's a great idea but what do I do with my children? "OH SNAP! I didnt say we homeschool...How do I get out of this?" Followed by, somewhat embarrassed, "Well, we homeschool so... I'm not sure how that would work." The conversation would awkwardly end and we would go on our way.

When I did find a family that homeschooled, desperately, I jumped on them like white on rice! Almost obsessively seeking their friendship.  I may have been a bit creepy! LOL

After I started gaining more confidence in our "new" lifestyle, I would go the opposite way in conversations with new encounters...Them, "So, what do you do for a living?" Me, (overly excited and terribly prideful) "WE HOMESCHOOL!!!! I AM A STAY AT HOME MOM! I HOMESCHOOL ALL OF MY CHILDREN ALL OF THEM!!"  Then I would go into a short dissertation on how, they too, can homeschool if they just tried. The shock looked on their faces would tickle me to no end. But in the end, I still had not gained a new friend nor the acceptance of my lifestyle. (wonder why it took so long to find friends?)

So, as time went on, I began to find more and more people that homeschooled. Honestly, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack! I attended our local homeschool workshops in hopes of finding new friends for me and our children and acceptance. We did find families to do things with, but I wanted more! I wanted permanent long lasting "best" friends. It just wasn't happening the way I wanted it to!!

During this desert time, I began to doubt my calling and draw close to God; frankly, because I was lonely!  Over time, He showed me my heart. I was "striving" for acceptance instead of walking in obedience. I cared far too much about what my peers thought of me and my "noble" calling instead of looking to God for my acceptance.

But the question still begged "how do I answer people when they ask what I do for a living?" I got tired of their fake responses in exasperation of "OH, How do you DO that? I could NEVER do that! I cant stand my kids!" or "OMG! You're a saint!" or falsely encouraging "How amazing! you go Girl!"

One day, in my quiet time, I was asking God about this and how He wanted me to respond to moms, as to not bring attention to myself in a negative way or to take away from an opportunity to share the Gospel. (what a heart change right?) He was quick to provide an opportunity to practice my new response...

Dave and I were out with some local parents that their children go to public school and "the question" was raised, "So, Rhonda, what do you do?" My response, (very humbly) " I am a stay at home mom." Dave usually brags about how proud he is of me and that we homeschool our children, this time was no exception; and their response was the same, "OMG! How do you do that? (blaablaa blaaa)...ready for this...
I put a very gentile smile on my face and said, politely as I could, "What do you do?" After they answered, I said "Well, homeschooling is a calling, just like any other career, you were called to XYZ...and I was called to homeschool. We all can't be nurses or XYZ, right?" That usually drops their guard and now I am approachable, I am normal to them, and not some weird enigma to a civilized society.

Try it out...see how it works for ya!!!

Be blessed!

Welcome!

Welcome to Every Day Homeschool blog site. My desire for this blog is to encourage homeschooling moms in your "calling."  Grab cup of whatever you enjoy drinking...sit down...relax...and enjoy my simple musings of our experiences of homeschooling.