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Master Teacher ~ Are You Choosing Stress or Joy?

2:03 AM, Feb. 12, 2007

“April showers bring May flowers” is a nice little rhyme, but at my house, any kind of showers bring my little ones to the back door covered in mud! There they stand, holding up their artistic creations dripping from their upraised hands with huge smiles on their very brown faces. I have two choices: to laugh or cry. I usually choose to laugh now, but there were those times when tears were all that would come due to allowing myself to stress out about the extra work of cleaning them up on top of my already loaded heap of things to do. Their smiles turned to frowns when they saw my weary expressions. I killed their joy. Ugh.

We all need to see the humor in our everyday circumstances, and choose joy over stress, especially as we homeschool our children and try to meet all the demands that come our way as we do.

Having seven children has caused me to really calm down over the years. If I didn't, I would have lost my mind! I used to be so stressed out trying to get it all done and keep everyone in line and put in a full day of homeschooling on top of it all. And there was no joy. As the years have gone by and I have matured in the Lord, I have learned to relax and let the kids be kids and enjoy this short time with them. I have seen them grow up super fast. When they were all young, it seemed like forever before they would be young adults. Now that I have a few teenagers, I wonder where the years have gone. If I could start over, I would relax a lot more, laugh instead of stress out, and enjoy their childhood while it lasted. The Lord has been gracious enough to get my attention while the older ones were still moldable and they don't remember a lot of my ugliness. Plus, He's given me more younger children and I try to purpose every day to stress less and enjoy them more. Yes, some things get put by the wayside (I will probably never get to anything on that all important project list) but I try not to let the children be put aside.

Now when I see their muddy faces through the window, I laugh along with them and praise God for His abundant blessings. And, sometimes, you will see me looking a little brown around the edges too. :)

Philippians 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice."

Galations 6:9 "Be not weary in well doing, for in due season, you shall reap if you faint not."

Deborah Wuehler
Devotional Editor
The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, LLC

Posted in LearningfromMaster, 2 comments, Link
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10:47 AM, Feb. 12, 2007, posted by Rebeca

Thanks for this reminder that joy is something we can choose! If there is one "fruit" I want to grow more of in my life this year it's joy. I too often do get stressed about the messes. Thanks for this timely encouragement at the start of a new day and week.
Rebeca

Amen!

11:32 AM, Feb. 13, 2007, posted by bestsister

This is a lesson the Lord has been teaching me too. Our 6 are still fairly young but I realize my 'memory making time' with them is slipping quickly by. I want to enjoy my children while raising and training them. I believe there is a way to do both. Surrendering and choosing joy is the answer.

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