During my bloggy vacation one of the things I had the privilege of doing was to attend the OCHEC Homeschool Convention. At the convention I sat in on several inspirational workshops and received pages of takeaways not just for homeschooling but also for life.
While I want to share with you what I learned from a particular session, let me just give you a taste of some takeaways I learned in other sessions first.
In reference to scripture memory for children: “Use the gospel to show your children that they need a Savior, not to present some rule they broke. What does the scripture say? ‘…according to the power at work in us.’ If your child does not have Christ IN them sin rules in their hearts. They are going to do wrong. They need a Savior.” The conclusion: Teach them scripture but use the scripture to point them to Christ, not their wrong doing.
“The average working parent spends 19 minutes per day with their children, but two and a half hours per day watching TV shows. Go ahead and tell your kids they are not as important as your TV shows.” The truth is in your actions.
“At the end of the day realize that all you do is not good enough. You can only do so much. God has to do the rest. You do your part and let God do the rest. Keep in mind God has more invested in your children than you do.”
This last one, although by a different speaker, leads us directly into what I want to share with you today.
“Are you tired all the time? You don’t have a fatigue problem. You have a priority problem.”
You ever have trouble getting your priorities in order or figuring out what is most important? Well one particular session really struck a chord with my heart. It was called, “Who’s on First?” and was presented by Cindy Nicolai, blogger of The Country Homeschool Mom. She shared with us her struggle to establish priorities in life until she designed a priority picture that looked like a baseball diamond.
The concept: God is our pitcher. He pitches us life. We hit the ball. We run around the bases. Some days we may spend longer on some bases than others but we must land on the bases in order. To not land on them in order or to not land on them at all means you are out. The husband is on first. The kids are on second. Home school life is on third. Everything else, is in the outfield. They are not your top priorities. If you get to go out to the outfield to celebrate after your run, great. But if not, don’t stress it. As Cindy puts it, “It’s okay to have a clean house but it should not be the focus of your day. If you are too stressed to feel blessed, it is time to make some changes. Other people are always going to need our attention. You are not going to neglect them. They are just not your top priority Keep your eye on the pitcher and you can still win the game.”
I hope these quotes inspire you as much as they did me. And with that, let’s go get in the game!
