An Art-ISH Activity
What You Need for this Art Project:
- White Paper(watercolor or card-stock) or  A Sketchbook
- Black Sharpie(water based pen will not work)
- Watercolors
- The book, Ish, by Peter Reynolds
I didn’t come up with this activity. Â Our girls came home from art class the other day talking about this project, and we just had to do it as a family.
It’s a particularly good activity if you have a child who’s doubtful about their art abilities. Â Or, if you are one of those moms who tell me all the time that you can’t draw. Â Now you can draw-ish with your kids instead. Â You may not be able to draw a horse, but you can draw something that is horse-ish.
First read the fabulous book, Ish, but Peter Reynolds.
Ramon delights in drawing until his older brother makes a rude comment. Â After that moment, his enjoyment of drawing changes and he becomes super-critical of anything he tries to draw. Â Finally he’s ready to quit when his little sister-Well, I won’t tell you the rest. Â Read the book..
Next, grab a plain piece of paper or a sketchbook and with your black sharpie, draw 8 rectangle-ish boxes, leaving room beneath each box for a title.
(You can pre draw these boxes for a younger child, my almost 6 year old had a little trouble spacing his out and making each box big enough to draw a picture inside.)
Continuing with the Sharpie, draw simple sketches inside each box, titling each picture. Â You might start with nouns, giving examples such as “House-ish” or “Dog-ish.” After nouns, we did feelings. “Sad-ish, Silly-ish.”
(You might help your younger child spell out his words. Â I’m not big on correcting spelling, but with these it is more effective if you can easily read the titles-you’ll notice some mispelled words on the sample from our house, but the words were still decipherable.)
Finally, take your watercolors and enjoy filling in the pictures.  Watercolor is forgiving as it crosses lines.  It will look great. (Show your child how to blot extra paint or water with a paper towel.  Show him how to use more water than paint and then blot the brush on the towel before painting, to get a lighter color.)
You can also use black paint to add shadows along two sides of your boxes.
from the 8 year old-
From the 10 year old-
from the almost 6 year old-
From the Daddy year old-
From the Mommy year old-
These are completely addicting and very freeing if you keep in mind that they just have to be close-ish.
A few more examples:
Calender Idea For Young Writers and Artists
The new year has begun, but maybe you have a blank spot on the wall crying out for a 2011 calender. Â Maybe you’ve realized you need one in the learning room, or maybe you’ll just like this idea and decide to make one for(or with) your kids, anyway.
Make-Your-Own Story Calender
Inspired by the calender my daughter created(which you’ll see below), I decided to make her a calender uniquely designed for her love of writing and stories. Â I decided this late in the night. Â On Christmas Eve. Â And it was Christmas Day at 3:30am as I finished the last page.
First I printed the 2011 calender on 12 individual sheets. Â Using a 10 x 12 Spiral Bound Bare Book(we just happened to have a few of these on hand, but they worked perfectly) I penned a writing prompt, added a series of lines and spaces for illustration on the top page, and on the opposite page I placed the calender page for the month. I repeated this same step for each month of the year.
The Bare book perfectly accommodates 12 months and it creates a sturdy, long lasting calender to hang on the wall. Â I’m sure there are other ways to make these calenders(cardstock, cardboard for the cover and back for example).
Now, keeping in mind that it was in the wee hours of the morning, I was glad to get a prompt, some lines, and illustration boxes on each page. Â I could certainly have fun going back and adding a punch of color and style with some scrapbook paper and stamps.
A few of the writing prompts:
- Think about the the books you’ve read recently. Â Choose your favorite or most interesting character, write a letter as if he/she is your friend.
- Re-tell a  scene from Narnia, but tell it from the witch’s point of view.
- Tell a story about a dragon who tries to breathe fire, but colorful bubbles float out instead.
- List ten things you love. Â List ten things you don’t love.
- Write a story about four children who time travel and meet a famous person.
- Write a silly poem, similar to Shel Silverstein.
- Re-tell a scene from the Fellowship of the Rings, but tell it from Treebeard’s point of view.(This one was a bit of teaser for her because she’s reading this with her Dad and they haven’t gotten to his character yet, but I knew they would by July).
- Leaping, Stomping, Falling, Diving, Spinning. Â Use these seven words in a poem about you.
A mix of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. Â And each prompt ends with the command, “Illustrate”.
Color Your Own Calender
My daughter, the source of my inspiration, made a calender for her sister. Her sister loves to draw so she wrote drawing prompts for each month.
Draw two horses galloping very fast.
A few of the prompts she included:
- Draw a new candy bar that you have invented.
- Draw eight butterflies.
- Draw 3 aliens flying through space.
- Draw a ship sailing on the ocean.
- Draw all of your frogs.
- Draw a bookshelf full of books.
- Draw a huge hotel.
- Draw your dream house.
We should have no trouble keeping track of our year with four calenders in the house. Â And the creativity will be brewing.
An Assortment of Audio Treasures
“Mommy, can you put it on now?” one child asks before we even get the coats, the hats, and the littlest one all out the door.
“Just a minute, I can’t even think about that yet.” I answer as I grab the toddler running by without her shoes.
“I already got it ready!” the eight year old yells from the back as I dump the diaper bag on the seat beside me in the van.
“Just let me get going,” I growl.
“Don’t ask again,” the ten year old whispers to everybody. Finally, we’re on the interstate, my swirling thoughts settling like the snow that was here last week.
I reach for the button and I hear, “She’s doing it. Â She’s putting it on.”
And the story begins. Â Most assuredly, it was one of these:
Radios Dramas by Focus on the Family Radio Theater
Once my eldest began listening to this series, she’s never again been satisfied with one person narrating a book on cd. For the past few years, these have been the main request for her Christmas list. Thoughtful story selection, great acting and writing, and a dramatic sound and musical score blended together into a compelling story. We have the entire Narnia Series(listened to repeatedly both in the car and at home) and The Secret Garden. We’ve listened to Squanto and hope to add it to our collection soon. On Christmas Day, Anne of Green Gables and George MacDonald’s At The Back of the Northwind will find a new audience.
These volumes are a great way to dive into history as a family.  There a many, many volumes and they’re told in a dramatic format like the Focus on the Family series.  We’ve entered the life of slave with Sojourner Truth, grown up with Eleanor Roosevelt, and journeyed to a famous hymn with John Newtown.  Though these don’t match the top notch quality of the Focus on the Family Series, they’ve still engaged our whole family.  They have another series that chronicles the life of Jesus. My only word of caution is that occasionally one of the historical stories will include content  a bit questionable for our younger kids.  I’ve found that this series is a mixed bag, we find a volume in which every story is great and appropriate and then with another we might skip a few stories and I might silently wish the acting was a little better.  We have not found these are the library, but you can buy them online and look for good deals at your local homeschool convention.
Classical Kids
We don’t own these cd’s but they’ve always been on my “To Purhchase” list. Â Dramatic, well-written, musically inspired stories about great composers. Â We just finished Mozart’s Magnficient Journey this morning on the way home. Â I didn’t let them bring it inside this week to listen, because I didn’t want to miss any of the story. Â If only they would make more of these.
And finally, Seeds Family Worship:
Okay, so these cd’s are not story collections, they are a collection of even more important words. Â I can’t help but mention these Bible verses put to music, delightfully not dumbed down either in words or music, for the whole family. Â Many times these verses have stirred in my heart at just the right moment. Seeds in my heart. Â There are six volumes and they are all available for listening free online OR, if you purchase the a cd, you get a second cd free to give away. Â Seeds of Courage and Seeds of Encouragement are two of our favorites.
Two Advent Options
With wonderfully good intentions, I plan to plan ahead of time for the holiday seasons, praying and choosing the activities that will draw our family closer to Christ before we get swept into the worldliness of the season. Â So far I’ve never gotten the planning done ahead of time and in a panic I scour the internet for ideas and add a mish mash of projects that may or may not take us anywhere.
The word that has stayed with me this year through these early months of schooling is SIMPLIFY. Â So far it’s been the north on our compass that has kept us from getting bogged down with too many ideas. Â As we approach Advent and I once again choose my ideas last minute, I atleast have that one word to help me sift through the possibilities.
I bought two Advent books this year and also found a wonderful, free Jesse Tree book and I’m glad to announce that they’re all great and I’m only doing one of them!
In case you still haven’t found a guide for your family, here are two possibilties.
The FREE Jesse Tree Devotional Book with Hand-Drawn Ornaments by Ann Voskamp
and
The Advent Bible Study by Quiet Times for Kids
(currently on sale for $6.00 with passcode “halfoffsale”, I’m not sure how long the sale lasts)
The Advent Bible Study is a daily advent quiet time suggested for kids 5 and older. Â After trying a free sample of their other studies, I’m planning to use this independently with my 8 and 10 year old and talk about it with my five year old. Â We’re also going to do the prophesy boxes, a project idea included in the study, as a family in the evenings when we light our advent calender.
Wishing you a simple and meaningful Christmas this year,
Aimee
Science. He made me do it.
Science has been the subject of most resistance at our house, for me that is. Â I have easily conjured the passion for Bible, All Things Art, Writing, and Reading. Â Math, once I found the right program for our family, has been a steady and productive part of our learning. Â Even History, which I gave over to Mr. Darcy for the first few years, has lost the yawn factor and I found myself talking about Captain John Smith in our after dinner conversation.
But Science.
This year the older girls joined a tutorial and take science once a week. Â Saved.
Then Drummer Boy, the 5 year old, started asking for science experiments. Â I suppose it was coming all along when I think back on his interests and constant questions on how things work.
I told him we would do science experiments once a week and then I proceeded to check out 50 books from the library.
Weeks went by, the pile overwhelmed me, I couldn’t find a starting point and although the lure of online science kits were tempting, I knew his curiosity didn’t need a 40 dollar product.
I found this book a few days okay and this is it. Â I’ve always loved DK publications. Â They consistently have great design, straightforward instruction and illustrations, and clear explanations. Â We’re going to do one of these each week until we run out of pages and then we might move on to the other book in the series: I’m a Scientist: Backyard. Â Either of these books, along with all of the non-perishable supplies, would make a great Christmas or birthday present. Â A ten year old could do these experiments without much adult supervision.
Yesterday we made Gobbledy Goo, a experiment about solids and liquids and creating a colloid. Â If there’s food coloring and a bowl of slime, he’s all in.
There’s a Great Big World Out There
My world is pretty small.
We didn’t take family vacations to National Parks and I didn’t fly on a plane until I was 20. Though I live 12 hours from the town that I was born and raised, it’s still in the same corner of the country.  In a few weeks I travel to Colorado which is atleast a jump out of my corner.
It’s not only the distance(or lack thereof) that I’ve traveled that defines my boundaries. Â A small world is a safe world. Â If I stick to people of my same economic background, job position(stay at home, homeschooling mama), ethnicity, beliefs, maybe I can accept my small world as a suitable miniature copy of the larger universe.
Except it’s really not the same-at all.
Though I’ve always wanted to travel, I’ve never possessed a drop of desire to be a missionary. Â A group of my college friends have lived in the inner city of our college town for ten years, sharing food and money, bringing neighbors in to live in their homes, starting home churches, and they even went to the Phillipines for a year to live and serve(about 18, including young children and a baby). Â Now one of those families is off to Germany to live for 3 years and start an underground church.
Have I compared and thought that my daily existence didn’t carry the same outward purpose?  Yes, and no.  Yes,when I think “They are  so much better than I am” and no, because I’ve also felt like I had a mission in my own house.  To keep our family walking steadily with the Lord, and moving slowly away from some of the multi-generational struggles that so hard to break, to grow a strong man and three women who understand the deeper truths of the Lord.  With the myriad of other challenges since becoming a family, it seemed we had enough to attend to in our little corner.
But in the last few months I’ve noticed  a wall that’s sprung up between our family and our goals.  So many of the character traits I’m trying to build into our children are blocked simply by living in our culture.  Thankfulness in a world of consumerism? Diligence in a world of machines to make everything easier and a goal to find leisure and work less each year? Help others when we’re told only to help ourselves?  How do we effectively instill a different perspective if they only experience the middle class world of America?
At the beginning of school we started illustrating the passage of love in 1st corinthians. Â Though it produced some great art for our sketch books I couldn’t get them to connect the verses to their own lives. Â “Love does not boast” was a great drawing of a wrestler who is being obnoxious from winning the round juxtaposed next to the love character who politely says in his cartoon window “I won!” Â How will this help them understand the nature of God’s love and the love we’re called to give?
We remained at the wall and in the meantime I grew more frustrated and discontent with all of my responsibilities and challenges. Â Poor me!
It’s usually around this time that another voice calmly speaks to my heart. Â Our family needed to turn our focus off of ourselves and on to a much bigger, more diverse, poor and hurting, beautiful and inspiring world and get a big dose of perspective. Â And put God’s word into action instead of a sketchbook.
Bit by bit the door is opening and I don’t know what the door flung open will look like. Â But here are two resources we’ve been looking at daily.
This first book is one that I’ve seen around homeschool sites for many years but couldn’t buy it and couldn’t find it at the libary. Now our library has it and we’ve been taking a few pages at a time.
Material World by: A Global Family Portrait by Peter Menzel
Through this book you travel around the world gathering a picture of families-what they own, their income, their wishes and hopes for their future. Â Each time the location changes there is a photograph of a family in front of their home with all of their wordly possessions(furntiure, bicycles) surrounding them. Â From clay houses and huts to large homes in Britain and Iceland, our eyes are wider. Â Here are some facts that have surprised the kids.
- One yearly income was 119 dollars, only a little more than double the generous check my daughter received for her birthday. Â The 7 year old who, after getting the money, had quickly decided she needed 100 dollars not fifty, dropped her jaw.
- Or the communal baths a mile away open 2 days a week,
- and the one room houses with 11 family members made the sharing of a room seem a little silly.
- Or when we realized the items we put out with our garage sale last weekend tripled what some families will ever own. Â And that was what we were getting ride of-our waste.
- We found one family who doesn’t dispose of anything-nothing they consume includes any trash that needs to be thrown away. Â We throw away a bag of trash a day-how could it be possible to live without any garbage?
Missionary Stories with the Millers
There are many other missionary stories and books, this was the one we had on hand and it’s been a picture of heroes and what it means to have faith in God. Â It’s also a reminder that we have a greater purpose than maintaining ourselves and our own lives.
It’s not a soapbox to climb on or a guilt trip that I hope to wake up from. Â It’s a discovery of truth. Â Looking for the wider world makes my world look more not less. Â Instead of seeing how little we have to give, we see how our smallest offerings make a difference.
It’s a journey for sure, but my heart seems to growing along with my world.
How does your corner look today?
Pictures Confirming We’re “That Family”
In the immediate surrounding neighborhood, we’re the only family I know of that homeschools. Â Added to the fact that our driveway abuts the house immediately to our right and the wife and grown-up daughter both have long-standing public school jobs and you might understand why I wonder sometimes what people think of our family.
The family sharing our driveway have a wide open view for every day that
we didn’t homeschool during the sick, pregnant days,
the hours spent outside instead of sweating over workbooks,
the days we just played monopoly when my dad was in the hospital,
and they keenly see that we stop way before public school days ends.
They don’t ask me any questions(I wish they would) but they ask my kids, “What did you do in school today?” and it’s always on the day that the answer sounds like “We just played monopoly today” or “My mom’s too busy taking care of my grandad to do school today.” Â and never on the days that they’re overflowing with excitement about explorers, math games, art, or new reading skills.
I go back and forth over being concerned with the perception of our family. Â I think our learning life is great, moving with the seasons of real life, but I can let what others might think buzz in sometimes.
This was one of those days. Â The kids had created beautiful paint with chalks and quickly switched from decorating the sidewalk to decorating each other. Â And of course, being kids, they wanted to show off the fashion statement on anyone who walked by the house. Â I didn’t discourage them in anyway but inside I thought, “This seals it. Â Now we’re the family who’s kids are always home, outside during school hours, and look at how their mother lets them run wild.”
Oh, well.  Maybe next time I’ll join them and really give the neighbors something to talk about. Ooh, and I can paint baby Sparkles, too.
Do you ever struggle with the opinion of others toward your unique lifestyle?
S is for Sharing the Important Moments
My friends have various feelings about motherhood and teaching-some have a stronger liking for the newborn period or maybe the preteen years, some love the days of Five in a Row and some can’t wait to get to the deeper studies.
So far I’m rather attached to all of it and, on the days I’m not ready to quit everything, I’m glad I get to enjoy a variety of ages and learning at the same time.
But I do think teaching a child to read is nothing short of magical.
This morning as Drummer Boy worked through his A Reader, I watched as…
…he worked slowly, hesitantly, through the first word and I hoped he wouldn’t give up.
…his pace quickened, Â and I knew his confidence was growing, and I watched the small smile on his face and a secret look of wonder at himself.
…I mentioned how soon his little sister would be begging him to read her a book just like he’s begged his big sisters for the last five years. Â The smile grew.
By this point the girls are gathered around, interjecting “I remember that!” because they sang the same songs, played the same games, and sat in my lap with the same readers. Â We entered the world of books together and as I look at my boy I see the door opening that won’t ever close.
We have plenty of learning ahead of us but for me only a few other moments are as powerful as sharing the moment a child learns to read.
(I get to do it one more time.)
Best-Laid Plans
When I get a few hours to school plan on the weekend, the chart my husband made for me looks beautiful, complete, a promise of the accomplishments in the days ahead.
On the whole I’ve found it’s incredibly helpful to have specific plans written down so I know my through line when a normal day amongst  our 4 kids muddles my brain.  Here are a few interruptions from last week’s best-laid plans.
- A birthday for the new 8 year old(including surprise cupcakes delivered to the tutorial we started in the fall)
- 4 colds
- 1 two hour trip to the doctor
- The baby, with one of the colds, needs extra attention
- New(unscheduled) interests pop up
Basically, Life happens.
That’s when amnesia strikes. Â I forget any lessons I’ve learned from the last five years of this homeschool journey.
“I failed today” begins in a nagging drone.
School tasks only partially accomplished, chores half completed and a completely grumpy mom and kids by four o’clock. What’s successful about that?
“Failure!” continues, louder and frantic.
A smaller voice, much calmer and steady, “This is a lifestyle. Â Don’t you remember? Â Your success is not a series of completed tasks. Â Your week looks messy up close, stand further back, don’t look for the neat and tidy picture, take a wider gaze.”
I can be so forgetful, in the daily chaos, that the lessons for each of us aren’t contained within that beautiful chart.
This is what I see when I stand back:
Kids who are begging me to read more Shakespeare, acting out his plays and narrating them in detail(not on the plan, not in the scope of our American history this year).
One child read three Little House on the Prairie books this week(it wasn’t on the read aloud list).
Kids who are saving and earning their own money, buying and handling their change and making wise decisions(not math lesson 56 this week).
Miniature newspapers created with advertisements, news reports, contests, and cartoons diligently and excitedly worked on(the day of the two hour surprise doctor appointment).
An eight year old who’s found a new vehicle  to spread encouraging words(and it’s contagious) when she’s struggled so much to be verbally encouraging.  (Though we didn’t get our writing assignment done this week, these came straight from the heart, not spurred on by me).  An example:
“Dear Joshua,
Thank you for the silly band. Â I think your kind to give away things like that. Â I love you so much Joshua. Â You are kind to give me things like that, here is a list of things you gave me 1.silly band 2. two shels 3. shineing silver rock 5. a letter 6. one cent.
You are kind and I love you.”
Thursday night I hadn’t yet heard this quieter voice and I shared with my husband about the joylessness of being a taskmaster and how I needed to drop some of the expecations on myself of housework, dinner on time, etc. Â Then I could get down on the floor and play with Sparkles, listen to the kids, and be more present even in school work. Â He was so understanding and I was looking forward to revealing the new, more relaxed me the next day. Â But by 9:30 the next morning we were headed out for that two hour doctor’s appointment, which threw off my new plan and I was unsettled again. Â I had been ready for some changes, just changes that I could control.
A new day arrived.
Yesterday the chores didn’t get done, I spent four hours with my new eight year old, listening, not correcting, delighting together.
I can hear that small voice, but I need it to get bigger before the new week begins. Â I need to see the messy picture of our life and realize the best-laid plans are happening.
Just not mine.
Waiting For Perfect
It’s the week before.
The week before we enter another year of school. Â We’ve been homeschooling since our oldest was a little Five in A Row pre-schooler and she’s now entering her 4th year of grade school. Â Her little sister enters 3rd, younger brother kindergarten, and littlest sister begins a year of playing with blocks along side our lessons. Â Five years on this homeschool journey, which sometimes feels like Mr Toad’s Wild Ride.
For some of you this conjures sweet pictures, the really good days of  learning at home-everyone gathered on the couch casting everything else off for another chapter, sharing in a great prayer time or singing verses of the Bible, or the big wow moments when letters come into focus and character falls into place.
For some of the you the idea of  the whole family at home each day conjures the harder moments of homeschooling-the loneliness, the guilt when you feel like you’re not doing enough, the routine which can feel like a trap after endless winter months.
This summer, for the first time, an ever teasing truth(usually spoken to me by non-homeschooling moms) landed on me with a vengeance: what I’m doing is hard. Â When my olders went off to art camp and the bickering lightened and the youngers and I swept about each day fancy free without the guilt that I should be doing something more, a thought found it’s way through that I’d always kept at bay, “This is what’s it’s like to have kids go to school.”
But let me add in some context. Â I had already girded myself for last year, knowing that our young babe would add an extra challenge to the days. Â What I failed to armor up for was a 4 month hospital stay for my father and all the other details that go into that story. Â I came out of this year reeling. Weighted down by relentless responsibility and my vision cloudier as each day of guilt and effort continued.
Heading into the next year, none of the extra weight has lifted. Â I walk through my house and climb into my car with a whirlwind of thoughts that must be a visible blur of movement.
How will I keep 18 month old baby sparkles satisfied while we truly dive into the Word, great books, and stories from history?
How will I also set  the olders off and running to independent learning so that I can sit and enjoy every shaky step and misspoken word of Sparkles?
How can I keep up the myriad of chores, lessons, character teaching required each day without making myself sick from my own voice and it’s constant call to work, move, produce?
Will we find time to be in the here and now, to laugh loudly, to celebrate moments that have nothing to do with what’s on a list?
How will I recharge in the evenings when I’m off checking on my Dad, how will detailed school planning happen, when will I stop, breathe, and be responsible for nothing and no one but myself for just a few short minutes.
The thought “Why are you choosing this path if it’s so hard for you right now?” is a growing whisper in your head. Â Stick with me, I’m getting there.
Tonight my schoolroom sits in shambles, shelves half rearranged, old curriculum thrown to the side, clay projects from two years ago with no place to call home. Â For the last few weeks I’ve fed that hungry whirlwind with lesson plans, strategies for Baby Sparkles, new chore charts to smooth out the care of our home. Â I see the countdown to monday is bearing down and I keep thinking that a good year for us all hinges on my ability to get everything just right. Â If the schoolroom is perfectly organized, if the lessons are perfectly written down, if I have a chart that breaks down the day’s duties, if I can just calm the whirlwind into perfect control, we’ll be alright.
Does anything seem faulty, this idea luring me toward skewed priorities and a dependence on the wrong thing(my control) to keep us afloat this year? Â So I left the schoolroom dangling and sat down to give myself a kick in the pants.
A few weeks ago, in a moment of calm weather(outward and inward), the Lord held back my good intentions of planning and helped me write a mission statement for our school instead. Â It’s something I’ve wanted to do for years, hoping it will be a compass this year, when inevitably(the first day most likely) things will slip right out of my hands. Â By looking at it right now, and sharing it with you, I hope that it will remind me that the reason our family has chosen this path has little to do with a schoolroom organized by the dewey decimal system or whether we finish our first year of american history in exactly 36 weeks, or whether my 18 month old acts like a perfectly normal 18 month old!
I haven’t spent too much time editing this or adding in verses to guide each letter of the acronym, this feels like enough to steady us this year.
GUEST FAMILY HOMESCHOOL MISSION STATEMENT
“-that you may shine like the stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life-“
PHILLIPIANS 2:15
Learn for a life time: about God’s world through history, science, and art in order to see His beauty and creativity, power, and love, that we might praise Him and trust Him more.
Identify: journeying with each child as he/she discovers the talents, gifts, passions the Lord has uniquely given them, making a path for those passions to grow. Also helping them to embrace their unique personalities, celebrate their character strengths, and encourage their weaknesses.
Give generously to each other as we honor others above ourselves, building a family who loves, encourages and enjoys one another. Â As a family we will give generously to others, instilling a purpose that is outward and sacrificial in God’s love.
Honor the Lord with our bodies and minds, learning lifetime habits of prayer, study, healthy eating, and exercise.
Teach God’s word, instructing our hearts through the Word of life, learn His ways above the ways of the world, knowing that His Word gives light to our path, gives joy to our soul, gives wisdom to our heart. This will be unique with each person in our household-each will have a unique relationship with Lord, focusing not on perfect outward behavior, but hearts that yield to the Lord.
I hope the above answers the “why” I’m doing this even though it’s hard. Â We’ve been called to run this particular race, and run it with perseverance and endurance, hopefully shining a little more as we go. Â A homeschooling mom of five shared with me just the other day that she’s been praying for God to give her a strategy for this next year. Â I loved the prayer immediately and thought surely He would give me great specific ideas to quell all of my worries. Â Though I’m sure He does care about those details, I think the Mission statement He’s given me is my strategy. Â It’s a strategy of a greater purpose and of an even greater God.
