2008 April | Heart of the Matter

April 30, 2008 By admin 4 Comments

We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them.

- Kahlil Gibran

Experiencing JOY everyday. . . Is it really possible? Life is full of unexpected events, distractions, bad moods and illnesses. Can you honestly be joyous in the midst of these events, when things don’t go the way you think they should?

The truth is that God’s grace is new each morning, and joy is ours for the taking, but so often we choose to focus on the negative. What takes away your joy and peace? In my research of this topic, I was blessed to hear from so many moms and the feedback has been amazing! While the fun ideas on how to enjoy your family have abounded, what I found to be the most interesting was the comments concerning what stole your family’s joy. They really boiled down to 8 main themes, the first three of which we will discuss today: Comparison, Busyness, Health, Media, Scheduling, Worry, Interruptions, and Housework. Do you see yourself in this list?

The habit of comparison is an old friend of mine. I believe it’s a trait all women are born with, and regardless if you are a single woman, working mom or homeschooling mom, we all battle some form of this habit daily. From your comments, it appears that comparison shows no favorites – every aspect of life is up for scrutiny and evaluated against our perception of someone else. Whether it is that they have a bigger house or nicer “stuff,” or appear to be more organized, creative, fit, attractive, spiritual or intelligent! The list is endless, really. I loved how Wendy summed it up, “What takes away my joy and peace is when I compare myself to another mom. Her house is cleaner, more organized. Her homeschool plans are filled with baking, sewing projects, and arts n crafts galore, while I struggle to find the math book, pencils, and where in the world is my manual – I just had it!”

I would love to say that I have this one figured out and have words of wisdom in how to battle it, but the reality is that I don’t. I do try to remind myself that you never know what someone’s bank account looks like, what is hiding behind those closet doors, what a normal day really looks like or what type of undergarments they are wearing to hold all that in! My friend Ami wrote on this topic and has much better advice, “The next time Ms. Mom Guilt comes sneaking around, trying to grab your joy (or all that’s left of your sanity)…tell her that God gave you these children and you will not compare yourself to other moms, you will not be manipulated into doing something you don’t need to be doing, and that YOU (by the grace of God) are quite capable of doing what’s right for these little ones that you love with all your heart.”

Busyness is another habit I know all too well. It is so easy to get sucked into wanting to do all the great things you hear about from other moms, when in reality what you are attempting to do is combine five different families’ schedules into one! Yes, some activities are good, but too much not only results in chaos but it can also compete with the real reasons many of us chose to homeschool in the first place. The past few weeks, I have been obsessed with Cindy Rushton, the self proclaimed binder queen. I have been reading all of her articles with excitement and passion, as I believe she has figured out how to truly experience joy in her family and her homeschool. While reading her many articles, I have been taking notes, and this comment from Homeschooling the Easy Way is one that I wrote, highlighted and underlined, “We all want for our children to have ALL of the advantages that we can give them. However, somewhere we have to choose the very best! There are so many GOOD things. Those good things can battle against our focus so that we do not have time for the very BEST things! It just takes a little while before our routines are so overcrowded with truly great activities, but no real substance!”

The final joy sucker that we will examine today is health, be it physical, mental or spiritual. This can include not getting enough sleep, not making regular exercise a priority and not having a regular quiet time. I know that my day goes so much better when I go to sleep at a decent hour, wake up a little earlier, and start my day with a jog in the quiet morning hours, talking with my Heavenly Father. To be honest, I rarely do this, but it makes a huge difference!

Health can also get in our way of joy when someone has an unexpected illness. School is not much fun when you have a sneezing fit every five minutes or when your little one is throwing up on you for the third time that day! But God taught me something new about this just yesterday. I woke up Monday morning feeling absolutely horrible. I had a migraine that lasted from 7:30am until I went to bed at 9:30 that night. I couldn’t hold anything down, felt completely exhausted and miserable. This isn’t the first time this has happened – it seems I have these 24 hour bouts every six months, and each time God teaches me something new in the process. Last year, he taught me about busyness and how I needed to slow down and make my family more of a priority. This time, His lesson for me was that I can experience joy even in the midst of unexpected illness, if I take advantage of the unique opportunities it presents.

You see, I am the BIGGEST baby when I am sick. I am great at nursing others to health, and knowing what to do, but when it is me who is sick, I whine…. I moan…. I lament, “Why?” Yes, I am a baby and I admit it. But yesterday, I can honestly say that in the middle of all that, I enjoyed my girls. We cuddled on the sofa, we took a hot bubble bath, we snuggled in Mommy’s bed and watched movies. During all of this, we talked and laughed. I think the difference this time was that I had the above quote in my head. I decided to choose my joy before experiencing it! I knew that as much as my hus
band wanted to come home early to help, he couldn’t, so it would be my sick self with my rambunctious two and three year olds. If I wanted to focus on all the things we weren’t getting done, my horribly messy house or my own ailments, then what I would experience is sorrow. I don’t want to live my life like that, and I don’t want my girls to suffer. No, I decided to choose joy and as a result, my girls and I had a really nice day of talking and snuggles and my oldest got to take care of Mommy for awhile. My spirit was ministered to and nourished, and my girls got 100% of my attention.

Yes, I now believe it is possible to experience joy everyday, but it is most definitely a choice that we make. Over the next few posts, we will continue to look at the things that compete with our joy on a daily basis. I would LOVE to hear from you, if you can relate to these concerns or have unique struggles of your own! Let’s combat these together and live in true victory and JOY!

This is part two in the series: Experiencing Joy in the Ministry of Motherhood. To read the first post, click here.

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April 30, 2008 By Tammy 1 Comment

Yes, the joke is on me! HA! The last time you saw me here, I was joyfully writing about spring fever. Of course, at the time I wrote the article we were enjoying a taste of spring. Briefly. By the time the article was published, we were experiencing a snow storm with a bunch of snow piled on the ground! This past week as I was considering my topic for an article here, guess what season we were in? Spring! Yay! HA! Good thing I took pictures then as it’s been snowing like crazy all evening and the ground is once again covered in white. Of course, by the time this article is published it could be spring again. Who knows?!

How does a mother keep her sanity when life goes from spring fever to winter blues to spring fever to winter blues to :::::whispering:::: hopefully spring because it is almost the end of April? She puts away the school books on a beautiful sunny day and allows her children to do some child directed delight learning.

And that is exactly what happened this past week. My kids wandered outside during the day – and no, I don’t remember their excuse this time *wink* – and ended up down by our pond which is very full this time of the year after the snow melts. Our water table is still quite low, so the kids love to putter around by the pond before all the water slowly fades away as it is soaked into the dry earth. And spring is the perfect time for them to catch sluggish frogs. It was only a matter of moments before an excited four year old came running to the house to come and get me for a frog had been captured!

Of course the most giggling happens while watching the girls take a turn holding a squirming slippery frog since their brothers are pretty ho hum :::yawn::: about the whole thing. And they spent much time in a catch/release program with the girls giving each frog a name (and yes, they assured me that it wasn’t the same frog they kept catching over and over again) and anyone who has girls understands this whole naming things thing that they so enjoy doing.

The next day after they had spent some time scouting the pond, they came indoors to scout the bookshelves for books about frogs. The search pulled up a variety of nature books which included not only information about frogs, but also about other wildlife in our area.

Over the next days the weather turned rainy and cooler, but they stayed on a frog theme as they pulled out drawing books that had frog pictures in them. Out came the paper, crayons, and markers. They kept busy with their pictures (yes, those are pink frogs) and talked about frogs as they sketched and colored. Perhaps they’ll write the stories down on paper to keep with the pictures.
So, how much planning did I do for this lesson about frogs? Umm, none. The kids found something that interested them and followed their natural curiosity to learn more. My only task was to gently guide them to the resources they were looking for to learn more. So, do I do this all the time for our lessons? Umm, nope. Our curriculum is more on the structured side which works well. So, is one method better for a child to learn than the other? Umm, not necessarily. Use what works the best for you and your children as the basic curriculum and be flexible to allow teachable moments to do just that….teach! learn! apply!

“Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.” ~ Proverbs 23:12. And for children and parents alike, isn’t that really the heart of the matter when it comes to learning whatever the season you are passing through?

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April 28, 2008 By admin 27 Comments

Review & Giveaway! Preschool Activities in a Bag, Book 1

Preschoolers. . . Gotta love their energy! The world is an adventure and they are total sponges, absorbing everything that is around them. While this boundless exuberance can be a joy to behold and witness, at times it can also be a tad annoying. If you have ever been in a waiting room, a doctor’s office, in church or on an airplane with a preschooler, you have felt my pain. Or maybe you are a veteran homeschooling mom, attempting to teach multiple levels of older students with your preschooler demanding to be a part of it all, but really just driving everyone nuts. In situations like these, what’s a poor parent to do? Enter Preschool Activities In a Bag! (insert deep super hero announcer voice here)

Preschool Activities In a Bag, Book 1 is a compilation of over 30 different activities and games that are perfect for children under the age of six – but don’t be surprised if your older students ask to get in on the fun, too! Paula Reetz and Sherri MacLean designed each bag to contain self-guided activities that your children can do by themselves with minimal parental interaction. There are 11 main skill sets that are learned and enhanced with the activities: 123 Order, ABC Order, Color, Consumable, Motor Skills, Hand/Eye Coordination, Matching, Observation, Patterning, Puzzle and Sorting. One of the things that I love about this book is all of the helpful charts and descriptions that allow you to see at a glance what activities touch on what skill sets. If your child is having difficulty with motor skills, for example, you can quickly scan the chart and see there are 19 activities that focus on this skill. If your child is struggling with hand/eye coordination, you can tell which of the activities (there are 8 of them) would be good for your student to work on to develop this skill. Thus, the bags are not only fun for your children, and a much needed diversion, but they are very educational!

Another one of the reasons why I am now singing the praises of this book, and its authors, is the importance placed on community. They devote a significant part of the book to helping you coordinate an Activity Swap. Being homeschool moms themselves, Paula and Sherri understand the budget constraints and need for community that homeschooling brings. They encourage you to get a group together to share in the cost and production of the bags, and have some fun while doing so! To get the full experience of this program, I coordinated a group of my own through some local co-ops and met some wonderful women in my local area that I wouldn’t have met otherwise. The moms were enthusiastic to participate and commented how much fun it was to put the activities together.

The book says that the activities were designed to keep the cost around $1 per bag, and for the most part we found this to be true. . . some moms were even able to put the bags together completely utilizing items they had around the house!

Now to review the actual activities, although from this mom’s point of view, the fun of putting them together and socializing with other preschool moms would be well worth the price of admission. For our swap, we were able to put together 9 activities to test and my girls and I added a few more. As the budget allows, we will definitely be adding more of the activities, and there is already talk from the group of getting back together for another swap. We did make sure for testing purposes that we did at least one activity for each skill set, with many overlapping. From my personal experience with my girls, ages 3 and 2, these activities do exactly what they say they are designed to teach.

There are a few activities that are easier and more fun from the onset, but overall I was very pleased with the results. My girls surprised me with what they were able to do on their own and they get excited whenever they see the box of activity bags on the table. Initially I wasn’t impressed with a couple of the bags, judging by my girls shorter attention spans with them, but then my husband and I realized that they were simply more challenging and are indeed teaching them skills that need work. I also like the fact that many of the activities can be open ended. Each bag does come with a label that includes the name of the activity, what skill it was designed to develop and the intended directions, but I have found that you can tailor these for the individual student. For example, for the Fabric Pattern Card Activity, we simply work on matching skills with my two year old. For my three year old, we make things a bit more complicated and work on shapes and textures as well. For Match the Bead, one of the participants noted that her older children wanted to make it a bit more challenging, so they designed a color sequencing chart for them to duplicate.

Overall, I would say that this is definitely a quality investment that has so many uses. When you need to clean the house, cook dinner or have a Calgon moment, these bags are not only great “boredom busters” but are valuable teaching tools as well. It definitely gets this mommy’s recommendation!

Activity Bags has generously donated a kit for us to give away to a lucky reader. The enter the contest, leave a comment telling us about your favorite activity to do with your preschooler.

Comments will be closed Friday evening and the winner will be announced on Sunday in our brand new weekly newsletter. So please go subscribe! As always please make sure you leave your email address or that it is listed on your profile or blog. If we can’t email you, you can’t win this fun package.

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April 28, 2008 By The Amies 3 Comments

We would like to wish our wonderful
Marsha a very blessed birthday. Please stop by her blog at Our Homeschool & Other Such Happenings and leave her a birthday comment.

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April 27, 2008 By AmyS 5 Comments

Please welcome Valerie, this week’s featured homeschooler and the newest member of The Heart of the Matter Family.

1. How did you and your knight in shining armor meet?

Oh, what a fun story! I met my knight at a local restaurant through a friend. You see, my friend had a crush on this waiter and wanted me to go with her to “check him out”. So I did. After all, she knew I was safe because I didn’t date “blonds”. Well, after several months of back and forth, my friend decided that “he” wasn’t the man for her. However, by this time I had already started to develop a friendship with the guy (we went to this restaurant… all the time). Needless to say, we took our friendship outdoors, to movies, to gatherings… this went on for well over a year. Then one night we decided to throw caution to the wind and begin to date. The rest is history – once we made that decision, the Lord began to confirm things in both of us… and we got married 6 months later. So, I guess you can say I married my best friend!

2. Tell us a little about your 3 beautiful children.

This is my favorite thing to talk about. My three little blessings. Yes, I have two boys and one girl. My boys are in the 5th and 2nd grade while my daughter is getting ready to turn 2 this summer. I have an introvert, an extrovert and a social butterfly! I love the variety!!! I always tell people that the Lord knew exactly what I needed when He gave me children. I learn so much from them. You know, it’s amazing how much a small child can teach you about life… don’t you agree?

3. You are the moderator of an international Yahoo Group for homeschoolers, what lead you to begin this ministry?

My Yahoo group is a passion of mine. I started the group out of a need I saw in the Homeschool circle… Let me explain… Once I started to homeschool my children, I found that I wanted to do all I could to help other homeschool families get started. So, I began to help different churches set up “umbrella programs” for homeschooling in California and/or trouble shoot already existing programs to make them stronger. My main quest was to create and implement programs – then pass the torch to the leaders to carry it through. I did this for a couple of years until I noticed that there was a lack of support for the homeschool family who chose not to participate in an umbrella school program. What about them? Then, I started looking at the emotional side of the first time homeschooling mom. That is when my heart began to get stirred. So, I began to pray and wait. Then in 2005, I created Just4homeschoolfamilies.

Just4homeschoolfamilies has become my home where I kick my feet up and rest. It’s where I go to ask questions and learn from other homeschooling mom’s. The best part about my group are the members. They come from all over the world. Seriously, some members are from Canada and USA, while others are from such places as Australia and Europe. So many countries represented. Just4homeschoolfamilies is definitely international. It’s great to see the different cultures pulling together in dedication to encourage (my groups moto). It’s great to know that mom’s can log on at their leisure, from anywhere in the nation, to share their struggles, passions, successes… all while being encouraged by other mom stories. It’s a great place to call home. Although I am the owner/moderator of the group, I believe that I am probably blessed most by these wonderful women and what they offer each other within the group.

4. Tell us about your new website Weblink Education.

Weblink Education is my playground. I’m still adding more sites and sections to the website weekly!!! It’s a great teacher resource center for all home educators. What makes this site unique is that all of my resource weblinks have been provided by other homeschooling mom’s within my Just4homeschoolfamilies yahoo group and/or my weekly Weblink Wednesday blogging Meme hosted on my personal blog (http://homeschoolblogger.com/socalval). It’s exciting because over 400 homeschooling families have contributed their favorite weblinks to Weblink Education. My hope in putting this website together was to give mom’s a one-stop place for educational weblinks. It’s unique because it gives mom comfort in knowing that each listed website has been Mom Tested and Mom Approved.

5. You are a very active prayer warrior in our homeschool community. Do you keep a prayer journal?

Prayer journals are wonderful. I have friends who keep them. I wish I kept one. I believe it would be a great resource to look back on and see how the Lord answers prayer and use it as a testament of faith. Unfortunately, I am so busy I’m afraid I would forget to write down my prayers. So, many years ago I found a way that works for me. When I see a need, or if someone asks for prayer, I don’t hesitate. I pray right then and there for that person. I find that if I wait and say “I’ll pray later”, life happens and I never get around to it. So, I’m a firm believer in “no time like the present”. Living this way keeps me in prayer all day long. I am constantly reading blogs of certain needs or hearing about someones struggles… or even open my eyes to my own situation that has me panicked. Prayer brings me through. The Bible says to pray without ceasing… so, I do just that. Pray.

6. You have just joined the Heart of the Matter family. Tell us more about what you hope to provide the readers.

The Heart of the Matter is a blessing. I was surprised that my name was mentioned to join the team because I didn’t know what I could offer the group. However, once I was told that I was wanted for the article “Around The Web In 12 Links” – I was thrilled. It’s right down my alley. Being that I have Weblink Education as a website, and I host Weblink Wednesday, and my Yahoo Group exchange helpful weblinks with one another, I knew I was the one for the job!!! I have a bunch of weblinks to share!!! I hope to reach many more homeschooling mom’s through this on-line magazine and provide them with a free resource that will strengthen their homeschooling journey.

7. What curriculum do you use to homeschool your children and what is your favorite subject to teach?

Hmmm, when I think about what curriculum I use, my mind goes crazy. I am what you call Eclectic. I pull from everywhere for my studies. I think I have tried just about every structured curriculum out there and I’ve enjoyed them all… but I am finding my niche to be in free resources. I sometimes teach unit studies and/or pull occasional printables from different websites. I “shoot from the hip” with curriculum, but keep to a Scope and Sequence guide all year long.

My favorite subject to teach is Language. I was an English major in college and did some professional writing for awhile. I find it so fun to make an idea come to life… using words, grammar and tricks of the trade, I can have a ball with my kids! So far, that love for English has been passed down to my oldest son. He is a writer already!!! I just wish I had the love for Math. Oh well. At least I will get a few times around to learn that subject again. lol.

8. Tell us what a typical day is like in your California home.

I wish I could tell you that my typical day in California has something to do with a day at the beach… but I can’t. My day is just like yours, I’m sure. My almost two year old keeps me on schedule that I can’t seem to break. We are early risers and early to bed. On most days, we begin our day around 7am with breakfast and chores around 8am. School begins around 9am and ends around 11:30am. It is my passion to pray with each child in the morning and sit at the table as they eat their breakfast. I learn so much from them during that time. This sets the tone for the day which I have come to enjoy. School is family time. I never leave the table during their studies unless I am tending to my little girl. I even set my blogging schedule for break time. This time spent with my children is something I treasure as a stay-at-home mom.

Although the mornings are the most important for me, I believe my boys would share that afternoons are most important for them. It’s their free time. In fact, I hardly see the boys since they love to run around and spend time outside or in their bedroom. It’s a blessing that my boys are best friends (the best part about homeschooling) and enjoy each other. Occasionally, we will take walks or play board games together, but most of the time they want to make paper airplanes or build legos. Anyway, it gives me time to spend special time with my little girl and/or catch up on all my blogging friends.

I’ve got to admit that once daddy comes home from work, I give him 30 minutes and then my day is over. It’s like handing the keys over to the new driver. I hand the kids over and he engulfs himself with all of them. He is an active father who loves to be apart of each of their lives. I love that about him… after all, he is my Knight In Shinning Armor!

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April 27, 2008 By admin 3 Comments

When I first began home schooling, I didn’t really know anyone who home schooled their children. I knew 2 families, and one of them was and is my dearest friend ever, but it was just us. Now this was ok mind you, but then she moved out of State, and I was very alone. She left in 1997/98, I cant remember the exact year.

Not to long after that we were given our first computer! “Insert screaming of excitement here”. The world began to open up a little bit. I found many things online to help us, and encourage me as a home schooler, but still no “real” people. My kids were very young, and I had a desire to have friends who were home schoolers. It seemed we had all we needed to have a great home school, but what about resources and relationships locally?

So I began my search online for local resources. well I found something. It was a Christian support group. I emailed the woman who organized it and we soon became close friends, and we still are. Our boys have had a sweet privilege to also grow up as good friends and will soon graduate together.

A little side humor, when this friend and I are at gatherings and we introduce ourselves and how we met each other, my friend and I get the biggest kick because we can honestly share, we met online. *Ü*

Other relationships have grown and developed, friends have also moved away, but its been that local home school group that has encouraged me to be better than I am, and encourage other moms as well.

Seasons change and kids grow, play dates at the park are harder to get to because of commitments the older kids have, but I still desire to stay connected. So for the past 4 years I have had the privilege to organize a used curriculum sale locally for our County. I was asked if I was interested in taking this task over form the ladies who had been organizing it 9 years prior! I jumped at the chance! Books, curriculum, discounts, people… Um ya! What female would not love any of those things! Right?

When I took it over and began talking with folks I realized people really were at a loss for local support. A little like I was some years back. As I began to share things we do or have done, or something I was involved in, they would be surprised and want to know how to get information. That is when I decided this sale can not just be a used curriculum sale. It should be more.

The desire that welled up within me was to make it more than a sale. My desire is to offer fellowship and access to local resources that people can use. Resources like Classes, co-ops, plays, music lessons that are all local. My hearts desire is that people will find people. My hope is that they can find support locally to come along side them and encourage them on this journey.

The sale has become a time of fellowship and encouragement and not just because of something I do but its because of the people who come, share and reach out. Im just a small link in a very large chain.

If you have a desire to also get connected or begin something like a used curriculum sale in your community and dont know where to start,leave a coment so I can contact you via email or your blog.I would love to offer you my help in getting things rolling in your hometown.

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April 24, 2008 By Suzanne 11 Comments

In my last article, I offered up some ideas on how I’ve engaged my attention-challenged littles around here with mini-units and lapbooking. I promised a “show off” of the extended units we’ve tried and a “how-to” on planning. And some of you asked how much work I had to do up front. Good question. Not as much as I was putting into pulling their proverbial teeth in our traditional “school work.” Also with 3 learners between the ages of 2 and 6 right now, I like that I can do so much more with them all together. Which also equals less work than what I was doing, plus nobody feels like the other is getting to do the cooler work – we’re all doin‘ about the same things. And, I think I must admit here one of my dirty little secrets: I’m a geek that loves (way too much, by the way) the research and printing and organizing of the upcoming study.

And so without further ado…

Once I decide on a topic I make all copies that I will need for the week. Since I teach all 3 of the older kiddos at one time I make 3 copies of everything and then just tailor how I teach it according to their ages. After I decide what I’ll cover on which day, I then separate the material into file folders labelled with each day of the week. I make a list of further research or printables that I’ll need and sticky note them to the front of the appropriate folder to look up and print off on that day. I have 3 Ziplocs, gallon-sized, that I collect all of their finished work in until the unit is over. I keep all of these things stashed in a 3 ring binder to be the “teacher’s guide” for our units. I print off the lesson, put it in the binder for current teaching and future reference, and separate each lesson with (none other than…) a file folder! So far, I’m only planning for the next week. I’m rollin‘ with whatever tickles their fancy. I printed off a scope and sequence check list that I refer to from time to time to keep me on track.

Voila! You’re all set for a week’s worth of big learning fun for little ones!

These extended lessons all began with watching “A Bee Movie” a couple of weeks ago. My girl kept asking why the flowers all died. So I did what any self-respecting homeschoolin‘ mama would do. I looked up honey bees and then found a good story to read to my little honeys. We then jumped into a literature-based unit study turned lapbook “Winnie the Pooh and Some Bees” by A.A. Milne. And incredibly my short-attention spanned lovebugs stayed on task daily for a whole WEEK!

Of course that led into an in-depth study of bees. (With the promise that we’ll find a real live bee farm to take them to!) We’ve cut, pasted, danced, and tasted our way through so much bee trivia that I just knew I’d tried to cram too much in to actually have any retention. Au contraire, madams. My six year old blew us away at the dinner table with his facts that he just rambled off. Ah, another successful venture!

Homeschool Share provided both the Winnie the Pooh and Some Bees unit and the Honey Bee unit. Enchanted Learning gave great worksheets. A Bee Movie – the official site provided some very cool learning activities.

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April 22, 2008 By Guest 14 Comments

A common complaint among homeschooling moms is that there are not enough hours in the day. Busy schedules, loaded with events and appointments, can easily turn homeschoolers into road scholars, leaving important things undone. Many moms feel stretched too thin as they grasp to reach their goals.

Over the years my husband and I have reworked and rethought our schedules, priorities and goals numerous times. Taking into account the size of our family, the ages of our kids, and our own energy levels, has helped to find balance in the way we use our time.

One mistake that we have made in the past has been to schedule our lives according to the things that seem to scream for our attention—and I am not talking about toddlers! The need to put out constant fires may be a sign that you are overextended and that you need to cut back on your commitments. Working hard, putting your kids in too many activities, hanging out with friends too often, and even church work can end up keeping you far away from your priorities. By themselves, none of these activities are wrong, but if you are struggling to get to the important things in life, you may need to rethink the way you spend your time.

Another common mistake is to simply avoid making goals or having a plan to reach them. It is commendable to desire a close relationship with your husband and children, but if your actions speak otherwise to them, your desire is worth nothing.

Here are some tips for using your time wisely and reaching your goals:

—Be specific about your goals. Make long-range goals and short-range goals.

—Keep a list of ways to acheive those goals and reread it occassioanlly. Be honest with yourself about whether or not you are making progress.

—Write important things on your calendar, even if they seem small
*Read a book with Aubry
*Ask Micah about the bridge he is building down by the fort
*Take Josiah out for ice cream this week
*Walk with Craig in the evenings

—Don’t take on extra things until the “first things” are being done on a regular basis, even if those extra things are good and worthwhile.

—Leave a margin of time for life to happen. Unexpected events can turn your life upside-down if your calendar is filled to the max, with no room for surprises.

Everyone is given 24 hours per day. Taking back those hours and rescuing them from busyness is a good first step in prioritizing your life and reaching your goals. Plus, your family will thank you for it!

See that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time… Ephesians 5:15-16

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April 21, 2008 By Kysha 8 Comments

Believe it or not, I didn’t have a topic for this week’s HOTM post. I have battled with writer’s block for a few weeks now so I had asked the Lord to give me something to share with you but no answer. At least, that’s what I had thought. I have been meditating on some things in which the Lord has been revealing to me lately. One matter in particular was that of commitment. Yes, the big C. I can see many areas in my life for improvement on this subject.

Last week, I had stumbled across a blog post concerning commitment then one of our pastors had chosen the very same topic for his sermon during the week. There was no escape! Finally, I stumbled upon some notes in my Bible from my pastor’s sermon which were dated January 15, 2006 and what was the topic two years ago you ask? Commitment! Nothing happens by accident, right? So I knew this was definitely for me but I felt that I should share some of this with others as well. So I hope this will bless someone just as much as it has blessed me.

Commitment.

is what makes a dream a reality.
is the action that speaks louder than words.
means making a firm choice.
is a need and not an option. Some people only want to serve until they are treated like a servant.
is usually discovered in the midst of adversity.
does not depend upon gifts or abilities. It is harder for talented people to commit. They must learn to rely on God’s abilities and not of their own.
comes as a result of choice and not condition.
lasts when it is based on values.
gives you a chance to succeed.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Colossians 3:23-24(KJV)

Why do we need to commit?

We must keep in mind that we will always have a cloud of witnesses. There is a race set before us and the race is never easy. There will be hindrances that will entangle us yet someone is always watching your spiritual walk.

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith: who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and fainth in your minds. Hebrews 12:1-3(KJV)

Sometimes we tend to get so comfortable in our positions or state that we become slack in certain areas of our life. Not long ago, I had the opportunity to hear a speaker who made an interesting comparison of the people of America with other countries.

“We live in a free country with many privileges. Sometimes it appears as if we have too much freedom. Other countries are tested by hardship while Americans are tested by freedom.”

It is so easy to take our freedom for granted each day. We can do what we want and when we want to do it. We can worship who and how we choose and God has placed that little thing in all of us called “will”. That small little word can be such a big problem for us, can’t it? Whatever you are finding as a challenge to commit, I pray that this encourages and reminds you of your first commitment above all others which is your walk in Christ.

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