My life is a grand adventure! After all, I’m a home school mom! It’s been well over a decade since we set out on this path, and I thank God that I have this privilege. I do rue how much time I’ve squandered along the way on stuff that is infinitely insignificant in comparison. Lord have mercy! May I be MORE faithful in the next 18 years!

        I catch myself resting on comfortable assumptions that as long as I am home schooling my kids, they will turn out to be raving successes in every aspect of life. Unfortunately, if am not faithful in the little things associated with this BIG task, I have at least two problems. First, important stuff doesn’t get done that will be sorely missed down the path. Second, my poor example will set up a stumbling block for my children.

        I often read advice on how we should slow down our lives so we can relax and enjoy the little moments. I need to hear that sometimes! And yet, many of us use that as justification to just sit around and do nothing. If anything, we should slow down our lives and not do so many DIFFERENT things so that we can focus on working very hard at the FEW things that we are called to do in this season of life. I am deeply sobered when I consider how much there is to do with what little time I have each day. With God’s help, I am responsible for training my children spiritually, guarding their morals, making sure they develop GOOD habits, teaching them academics, overseeing their health, safety, nutrition, and home atmosphere -- and so much more! (Oh, and did I mention that I am a wife, too?) To do an excellent job with this divine call leaves very little time for anything else, but I know that I invest these precious hours each day to fulfill my life destiny. That’s a reason to rejoice!

        Likewise, I want to take a good hard look at the future and evaluate whether I am preparing my children to meet their life destinies with competence and confidence. For that, I need to teach THEM faithfulness, and I don‘t have the luxury of waiting until the last few years before they leave home. It needs to be built into everything we do throughout their lives. I want them to be able to communicate effectively, work with excellence and initiative, be well-versed in the Biblical worldview, creatively solve problems, be good stewards of their time and money, and keep their homes in order. Most of all, I want them to have a passion for the Lord, his word, his church and his ways.

        Yes, I am sobered as I think of these things! When I feel overwhelmed, I remember that the Lord does not want them to be a burden, but a challenge to be diligent -- to be faithful! I want to encourage you along the same lines, but not merely leave you with philosophical ideas. Let’s get practical for a few minutes. Here are some ideas to help you:

If I am going to develop faithfulness in myself and my children, I need to…

…take care of my health -- nutrition, exercise and proper sleep -- so I won’t get grumpy or burned out. 

…choose to cherish my family and show them ample affection, because it helps us all stay cheerful and fosters a sweeter servant attitude.  When I do get cranky, I need to realize that this cheerfulness is a CHOICE and I can make an instant "mood swing" in the right direction whenever I want!  

…talk to my husband and get input on what he wants me to do, and feedback on how I’m doing.  Then I can talk to my children to see how things are going from their perspective, and make adjustments as needed. (This should be a result of me thinking it through, not my children manipulating the situation. )

…plan ahead for what I’m going to do, and then follow through -- but not get upset at “interruptions”.

…carefully evaluate how I spend my time and how my children spend theirs -- remembering that it’s much better to do a few things well than many things in mediocrity.

…limit the amount of time spent on the phone, surfing the web, playing around on the computer, watching TV or videos, and running around town. (If watching too much TV is a problem for your family but you need your set for educational videos, you can disconnect the antenna or disable channels using the TV menu. If you really need to watch something special, you can hook it back up. It’s amazing at all the things you can get done if the TV is NOT on -- and I’m not just talking about work! How about reading a story book cuddled up on the couch, or playing Scrabble, or turning on some music and dancing around the room with your children, or inviting a lonely friend over for dessert?)

…keep my children busy with the essentials first, because if they aren’t doing their schoolwork and housework with a great attitude, why should they be doing anything else on top of that? (The same goes for me!)

…assign challenging yet appropriate school work to my children, and make sure they follow through with a GOOD JOB and not just the bare minimum. A lesson planner is a big help here! Often, a bright child who coasted through the early years of school on sheer natural ability and curiosity will need to learn self-discipline to make it through the later years, when school work is not quite so fun or intuitive. This can be a tough transition!

…delegate house work to my children, and inspect to make sure that it is completed according to my reasonable standards. A chore chart can keep everyone on track! If you don’t know what is appropriate for each age level, consult a book or chart on this. Here are several links to help you:

       Chores: You Are NOT Doing Them All By Yourself, Are You? http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KeepingtheHome/1054/

       Chores: What 1-2-Year-Old Walkers Can Do http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KeepingtheHome/1053/

       Chores: What a 3-5-Year-Old Can Do http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KeepingtheHome/1052/

       Chores: What Elementary-Aged Children Can Do http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KeepingtheHome/1051/

…encourage my children to set manageable goals for themselves, and coach them through how to set up steps to complete them.

…consider enrolling my child in a class or hiring a tutor for a subject where I may lack expertise or where he or she needs extra accountability. (My children have always thrived best when taking high school lab science classes away from home.)

…take the time to nurture and teach my little ones, even if they aren’t school age. Check out the ideas at http://www.PreschoolersAndPeace.com/, a lovely web site by a home school mom of many.

…stay close to the Lord, and continually ask for his wisdom and strength.

If you would like to read more on these topics, I encourage you to get a copy of my first book, The Real Life Home School Mom, especially the following chapters: Life Management 101, A Vision for the Future, Excellent Work!, Building the Family Team and Busy at Home.

If you want to know what and how to teach each school subject up through the elementary years, I recommend my book Common Sense Excellence: Faith-Filled Home Education for Preschool to 5th Grade, which I have excerpted near the end of this issue.

You can find out more about each of these books at www.TheHopeChest.net/resources.html.

May God bless you as you focus on being a FAITHFUL home school mom!