1.        First and foremost, go to God.  Pray to Him.  Ask Him what plans He has for you for this year.  You can ask Him to be as clear and straight forward as you would like Him to be.  He does have plans for you, and He does want you to know what they are.
   

    "Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"

Luke 1:45

    Wow!  The Lord is so good!  I have read this passage of Scripture several times, even just recently preparing for the coming of Christmas, and yet today- now- is when this verse jumped out and spoke to me.  Now, it seems amazing to me that it never spoke to me like that before.

    I need to always believe everything the Lord says.  That should really go without saying.  He will ALWAYS do what He says He will do, and He will ALWAYS keep  ALL of His promises.  Truly, we have seen this throughout Scripture and throughout our own, personal lives.  And yet, sometimes it is so easy to doubt.  Not that I don't believe Him, but some of the things are so "out there" that they do seem "unbelievable."  I am like the man in the Bible who said, "I believe.  Lord, help me with my unbelief."  (Mark 9:24) 

    This Scripture is saying, to me, that if I believe two things will occur:

1. I will be blessed.
2. That what the Lord said will be accomplished.

Wow!  That is huge and speaks volumes to me.  Let's tackle each one of these individually in a little more detail.

    To be blessed --what does that really mean?  The Webster's 1828 Dictionary defines blessed as "made happy or prosperous; extolled; pronounced happy; happy; prosperous in worldly affairs; enjoying spiritual happiness and the favor of God; enjoying heavenly felicity; also a plant, a thistle, sometimes used as decoration, a bitter."  So when I believe that what the Lord says to me will be accomplished, I will be happy, prosperous, enjoy spiritual happiness and the favor of God.  The favor of God!  I definitely want to enjoy the favor of God.  God bestows His favor and His blessings on each of us in different ways and using different means, but the fact that there is blessing ALWAYS remains the same.  God's blessing, His favor, is really like a bonus to simply trusting and believing Him.  I personally do not feel it should be our motivation, but it is our reward.

    Secondly, we see that this verse tells us that what the Lord says will be accomplished.  Now, I do not mean to imply that God's accomplishing what He says He will do is limited to my believing it.  It is not.  God is all-powerful and He can do and accomplish anything He wants.  That is not contingent upon me.  However, the part that is contingent upon me is whether I choose to be a part of what He is doing and let myself be used by Him to accomplish what He desires.  He will do whatever He desires to do.  It just may or may not include me as the vessel He uses for accomplishing His will.  Does that make sense?

    God is able to do ANYTHING He wants, and He doesn't need us to do anything for it to happen.  However, He chooses to use us so that we may know Him more--His power, His faithfulness, His love, His mercy, and on and on.  He chooses to make us part of the plan with Him, if we choose to be willing and obedient.  (That could lead us into a whole new discussion if we choose to follow it.)

    Why don't you pray right now for God to soften your heart and to make you aware of when He is calling to you, wanting to use you as His vessel.  Ask Him to help you be willing and obedient when the time comes.  And, most of all, praise Him and thank Him for how wonderful He is, for all His many blessings He gives, and for letting us be a part of His plan.  Thank Him for blessing us who believe what He says will be accomplished.  God is so good!

    Yesterday my husband emailed me a link to a news article about kids and unstructured play.  He knows that I really don't keep up with the news that much so I would probably never hear about this on my own.    Check out the article here.

    Basically it says that kids are better off and are healthier and happier if they have plenty of unstructured free play time.  This is what we try to do plenty of in our home.  Most of my kids’ free time is spent playing in a way that is completely educational.  In fact, I would venture to guess that lots of kids' free play time is spent playing educationally.  Really!  I would even go so far as to say that most homeschooled kids have play that is educational. 

    And guess what?  No one had to plan a thing.  If you are a busy mom, homeschooler or not, this should be music to your ears!  It is okay (and best, really) to not have your children in every extracurricular activity you can possibly find and afford.  It is okay to let your children just run around outside and imagine all sorts of wild scenes.  It is okay to let them decide what and how they are going to play.  It is okay to just let them be kids.

When children are given the opportunity to play freely, they play what they have heard, seen, and experienced.  (So make sure you like what they hear, see, and experience!)  Currently we are studying the Revolutionary War in school so guess what my children often play in their free time?  You guessed it!  They are patriots fighting for our freedom.  Often they are Indians friendly to the cause.  (My oldest daughter is extremely into Indians right now.)  Sometimes they write and act out plays.  Sometimes they play with their horse toys or their cars or their baby dolls.  They love to play dress up and pretend to be all sorts of characters and people.  Boys love dress up too.  Give them items to pretend they are soldiers or miners or Daniel Boone.  Sometimes my girls pretend they are characters in the books we read.  At this time we are reading the first “Elsie Dinsmore” book and my daughters often pretend they are her.  Give them great, godly role models to emulate and you will love what they play. 
  

This is not the normal type of play in this day and age though.  Wow!  Have we really come so far as a country or society that we have forgotten not only to let them just be kids, but the kids have forgotten how to be kids?  Oh, it saddens my heart to think of some of the children I know who don't know how to just play.  They have no creative juices flowing at all.  American children in general have seemed to become lazy, overweight, TV and video game junkies.  Does that make your heart cry as much as mine?

    I could be very wrong here, but it is my belief that the majority of homeschooled children do not fall into that category.  I believe that most do know how to play and are still creative and imaginative.  I also believe though that we too have been sucked in a little into the "have to do all I can to make my kid super smart" mentality.  In fact some homeschoolers I know are even more that way because they feel they have to prove to everyone that homeschooling does work.  Have you been there?  Do you know what I am talking about?

    We, as a culture, as a society, as a generation, need to take back our children.  We need to let them just be kids again.  They will get into the grind of over-busyness and stress all too soon as adults.  Let's not heap more on them while they are still children.  Let's help them to find their creative bents once again.  Let's allow them to rediscover their imaginations.  Take back your life and your children's lives.  Say no to one structured activity (either outside the home or by you) and say yes to extra unstructured free play time.  Do this regularly and see if the results are completely amazing.  I think you will be truly thrilled!

Who is the head of your homeschool?  This may seem like a strange question to ask.  It’s homeschool, you say.  I am the main teacher.  I am the head.  I have often heard that the mother is the teacher, while the father is the principal; therefore, making him the head of the homeschool.    I know in some homes even it is the children who are the heads of the homeschool, although this is fairly rare.  Well, I challenge you that if anyone other than the Lord is the head of your homeschool, you may want to re-evaluate your structure.

I have always thought God was a major part of our homeschool, even maybe the head; but in the last year, I have felt challenged to make Him the Supreme Head of all in our homeschool.  Not just in leading us as some over arching guide, but in every area and aspect of our homeschool.  He is the head for curriculum selection, the head for schedule planning and implementation, the head for goal setting, the head for evaluating how we are doing.  He is the One we go to for every tiny detail.  He is the One who called us on this incredible journey of homeschooling.  He knows our children far better than we ever will, and He loves them more than we can even imagine or comprehend, far more than we love them.  He has a vested interest in our success in homeschooling.  He will not leave us.  He will not forsake us.  He will not let us fail.  He absolutely knows exactly what we and our children need, and He will provide if we will only go to Him and ask Him.

Then comes possibly the hardest part, at least for me.  We must listen and obey.  We must really take time to be quiet and listen for His still, small voice.  To listen to His directions for our family for this year, this month, this moment.  Listen and then obey what He says.  Often this may be difficult.  It may include stepping out of our comfort zones, or out of conventional educational methods.  It may include involving others in our homeschooling experience, such as mentors or apprenticeships.  It may mean not listening to that family member or that great friend at church who means well but doesn’t truly know what is best for our family.  Obedience is often difficult, but obedience is what is required of us.