It has been a busy month and here now we have less than 10 days left in January!  Amanda was bemoaning this fact recently, as she has some goals and projects she wants done by a certain time.  But this evening we had a spaghetti dinner and a special cake for her 18th birthday.  Her grandparents (my inlaws) came for the celebration and we all had a nice time.  And I just want to thank our precious Lord for giving Amanda to us 18 years ago, and for the blessing she has been and continues to be.

I think that the last two Homeschooling Minutes have been so timely.  The one on Organization came out when I resolved to get more organized and then the recent one on Pondering Perspectives comes out just when I have been feeling totally inadequate and thinking everyone has their act together except me.  Now, I have been homeschooling long enough to realize these things come and go from time to time.  The best thing to do is to go to the Lord and cast all of my anxieties upon Him, as He tells me to.  Then it is good to take a look at everything objectively and see what really needs work, what is going well, and then work on a plan to make progress.   Being consistent is both the hardest thing and yet the best and most rewarding thing in homeschooling and running a household.  I guess consistency is the key to a lot of things in life -  everything from prayer and Bible study to exercising and eating right to training children and developing good habits.  And, when things fall apart occaisionally as they will, the effort to get it all back together and keep at it is the important thing.

So let us highly resolve to continue running this race with the strength that the Lord gives.  And let us each seek from Him the wisdom and guidance to do our jobs the best way we can - which will probably be different for each of us!

Blessings,

Chris