Many Hats
February 26, 2010 by AngelaP
Motherhood equals a Woman of many hats. I don’t mean those crazy big church going hats that are all fancy like. I mean hats that are sometimes messy. Hats that are not in the literal sense at all. These hats are the actual roles given to us to play. As a mother I can be wearing my nurse hat, my doctor hat, my house cleaner hat or my teacher hat at any given time. At times I could be wearing all the hats at the same time. Moms have to be versatile and flexible willing to flow with whatever comes our way. We have to be prepared to wear any of those hats at any given moment as the need arises.
As a mother life flows in and out of many different responsibilities. As a homeschooling mom this is also the case but even more so. I have a friend who home schools wearing the teachers hat. She takes off her mom hat at that time and even tells her kids that she is now their teacher. This helps them and works for them. But for me, I can never make myself take off my mom hat. It is always there along with the others. When we start school the teacher hat just goes on top of the mom hat. I think it can work either way just fine depending on your family.
However, because my life is so intertwined with so many roles and responsibilities I found it hard when we had to take a number of sick days because of the flu. In my mind I was having a really hard time allowing us to be sick. I was fighting the temptation to give us work anyway for school though it would have been a disaster for us all. I was also finding it hard not to clean up every little thing that became misplaced. I could not do it if I wanted to but I found myself fretting over it.
God was trying to teach me rest. Our bodies need rest when we find ourselves ill. It is okay if things get out of place and life has to come to a stop for this time of healing. God was showing me how to surrender that activity for rest, something I really need to learn to do without being sick. School will always be there and we will get right back into the swing of it as soon as we are well. No need to think we are behind because we are not. We are on our own schedule and will follow it until completion. It will not always look the way I want it to or think it should but nevertheless it will be completed.
So in all the hats we were as mothers there is a time that we need to just take a breather and relax. Jesus speaks it well this way, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:27-29). Maybe instead of trying to balance so many hats I just need to take His yoke and put it on me. Everything else will fall into place if I just do it His way.
Angela Parsley, of the international ministry Refresh My Soul Ministries, is a wife and homeschooling mother to her 2 young daughters. Angela is also a contributing author to a devotional book entitled, “Standing on the Promises of God” and Radical Revolution, a devotional site for teen girls through Proverbs 31 Ministries.
An Entrusted Treasure of Great Worth
January 22, 2010 by AngelaP
As you approach this New Year with the last half of the homeschooling year in mind, I want you to consider this Scripture passage. Acts 17:26-28 states,
“From one man God made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’”
These verses are always so encouraging to me. God gave you the exact children that He desired for you to raise up for Him. They are not ours forever. No one else is accountable to God for how you raise your children but you. God hand chose you to be that parent. In this journey of homeschooling God has entrusted you with this task at hand. He will never give you a task to carry out that He will not fully equip you to do.
We are all children of the King who is never far from us. Whenever things get tough we would do well to remember that. In every detail of our lives God is always near. He knows our thoughts and struggles. He is the one who understands every bit of it. When we desire the very best for our children who are His children He smiles on us.
It is our job to teach our children about God in word and deed. Our actions impact them more than any words that we can ever say. Perhaps homeschooling is the best discipleship program for them because they get to observe our walk with the Lord around the clock. It needs to be authentic and real. It is a great privilege that we have to be able to home school our children.
So with that all said, know that you have a great purpose in these tasks. Let us encourage one another in this and bring glory to God in how we handle them. Let us be thankful for the job that God has entrusted us to do. In what ways can we pray for one another this school year?
Angela Parsley, of the international ministry Refresh My Soul Ministries, is a wife and homeschooling mother to her 2 young daughters. Angela is also a contributing author to a devotional book entitled, “Standing on the Promises of God” and Radical Revolution, a devotional site for teen girls through Proverbs 31 Ministries.
Homeschooling-The Whole Family Approach
October 7, 2009 by AngelaP
I just love that homeschooling can be something the entire family can experience together.
Just as not all people are gifted in all things, so perhaps they should not teach all things.
In our home, I teach from a curriculum just because it helps me stay focused and accountable. I adore the privilege I have to teach my children. I teach them best the things I like the best. All individuals are limited in certain ways and that is why we absolutely need a whole family approach.
I absolutely love all things history. When I teach it I am passionate and excited about the subject. This effects the learning environment positively. The students also want to learn the things that their teacher is excited about. A teacher’s excitement better keeps the children’s attention.
Now, let’s take Math. I cannot even fake excitement about this subject. It is much needed but I cannot get that same excitement in it as I can history. But, my husband is very excited about math. He is the one who the children learn from and he is their main teacher on this subject. We enjoy dividing things up because we are taking a whole-family approach.
Another way that we approach the whole-family method is within our family of friends who home school. The children are in Art, P.E., and Ballet classes because neither my husband nor I are very gifted in these areas. It is great that they can learn from these other gifted people the things that they are excited about.
We were never meant to do this alone. We are a community. What support do you have with your homeschooling?
Angela Parsley, of the international ministry Refresh My Soul Ministries, is a wife and homeschooling mother to her 2 young daughters. Angela is also a contributing author to a devotional book entitled, “Standing on the Promises of God” and Radical Revolution, a devotional site for teen girls through Proverbs 31 Ministries.
Nurturing Your Child’s Heart One on One
August 13, 2009 by AngelaP
What I love about homeschooling is that you can take your time to really learn something in detail.
While we were at the local aquarium taking a Charlotte Mason approach to field trips, we were able to just focus in on the things that the children were very interested in at that moment. It was a time where we could just slow down and learn everything we could about those things of interest.
A sweet thing I would have never learned so easily as a mother was how tender my youngest’s five year old heart was toward injustice.
We were looking for the large sea turtle in its usual aquarium but could not find it. My sweet child inquired about it with the volunteer. He told us that the angel fish in the aquarium were interested in the parasites that clung to him. Because of that they kept picking at him creating sores. The turtle had to be moved into a different aquarium until he properly healed.
Her sweet heart was ready to get those angel fish and have them make it right with the turtle! This is so precious to a mother’s heart. She is understanding restoration. Yet in the midst of all of this we got to learn about the angel fish and what it eats and why this happened. The angel fish was at first helping the turtle by cleaning it of parasites but after a while the helping turned into damaging. There were so many lessons in this about life.
After we studied our subjects of angel fish and turtles we learned much more than we went for.
When it was time to draw or journal what we saw she drew a great picture of the turtle. Her interest in learning is so precious to me. I praise God that I am able to see it all first hand and help guide her. If she was in a large group she would have gone away mad not understanding why the sweet turtle was injured. Sometimes one on one time is best. I am thankful that I can be her teacher. I bet you are too.
Angela Parsley, of the international ministry Refresh My Soul Ministries, is a wife and homeschooling mother to her 2 young daughters. Angela is also a contributing author to a devotional book entitled, “Standing on the Promises of God” and Radical Revolution, a devotional site for teen girls through Proverbs 31 Ministries.
Teaching Proverbs
July 16, 2009 by AngelaP
Summer is now here and it is a great time for taking on a lighter schedule. In our home in the summer we continue with the schooling but our school time is not as “official” during the summer as it is during the rest of the academic year. Learning is a continual action and as we go along we are always talking about things. Most importantly however we never take a break from learning the things of God.
For this season something really good for us to focus on in our Bible study time is the Proverbs. They are very simple statements that are there to help make us wise in life and make us think. The best thing about them is that they are not just wise sayings by wise men but they are inspired writings. God ordained Scripture and preserved it for us so we would have instructions to live our life by. They are easy statements to ponder and live out day by day. God didn’t want us living our lives without direction that is why He gave us His Word.
Chapter one of the book of Proverbs speaks of the importance of studying this book. It states proverbs are good, “for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair; for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young- let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance- for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise” (Proverbs 1:1-6).
Now just in that list alone there are many good reasons to study them. But I wanted to specifically point out that it points out that they are good for giving knowledge and discretion to the young. Is not that our goal in teaching our children? I love that God left us something for guidance in that area. He knew parents wanted this for their children!
Yet also the Proverbs are two-fold because they are also good for our attaining of wisdom. Besides the Bible can you give me any other book that is good for all ages? That is the beauty of God’s word! It is alive and active. It is useful for every good work. It teaches the young and the old at the right level.
If you want to join me in this study with your children here are a few tips I have found. The first nine chapters of the book speaks much about wisdom and folly so we discussed this issue over and over and used activities like examples and role playing based on some of the passages. We would practice different situations in their lives where they can practice choosing wisdom over folly. Also, in these chapters the fear of the Lord is mentioned several times. That was also important to discuss what that means. After that starting with chapter ten on you can just choose a few sayings a day to focus on. Maybe discuss one at each meal. Talk about them and use examples. Find ways you can put those into practice. The entire family will benefit and can rejoice with each other as you all put them into practice. This can be a fun way to grow together in the Lord.
Angela Parsley, of the international ministry Refresh My Soul Ministries, is a wife and homeschooling mother to her 2 young daughters. Angela is also a contributing author to a devotional book entitled, “Standing on the Promises of God” and Radical Revolution, a devotional site for teen girls through Proverbs 31 Ministries.
The Pressure of Discipline
“The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the LORD said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.”
(Genesis 6:5-8a).
Oh I grieve when I read this. I can see my own depravity of heart and think, Lord, forgive me. Yet the Lord is slow to anger. I think of how unworthy I am, yet the Lord says I chose you. The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in love. In all of His characteristics, this scenario makes me realize that things with these people on the planet had gotten really bad. In all of His love and patience He felt this way about His creation. Oh to think that I have the capacity to fill God’s heart with pain just crushes me.
Now let’s look at our own children. Today was one of those days when I felt the pain God describes here about His creation. These little children He has entrusted to me have torn my heart out and stomped on it. My heart was grieved because to my limited view it seemed that every inclination of their hearts were evil today. From the time we woke up to the time we settled them into bed. All day evil abounded in their hearts toward one another. Despite the pressure of discipline it continued to be a nonstop 24 hour marathon. My heart was filled with pain and truthfully I did ponder why I even had children! I was grieved that I was in this situation because I felt hopeless.
But God knows better than I. God made a way. God relates to every feeling of hurt and pain that I do. He knows the only reason my feelings toward my children are so strong is because of my deep love for them. Only deep love feels deep pain. God loves us incredibly deep. Deeper than anyone else ever will. It was because of this love that despite our great depravity He sent His One and only Son to die for our sinful state. He loved us so deeply that He made a way for us to be pure before Him through His Son Jesus. That kind of love amazes me. I praise God for that.
It is because of God’s great love that though I know today was a very bad day in our household, I am guaranteed by His promise that His mercies are brand new every morning. Just as there is hope for me, there is hope for my children. God will continue to help me instruct them in the way of love and one day they will start to live it. Those are the days that we by faith look forward too. Tomorrow is a new day and my hope is in Him. Whatever may come I know we will make it through and find comfort in the fact that He understands completely. He sustains, helps, provides, and comforts us. He has given us everything we need for life and godliness and He will bring every good work unto completion.
If you are struggling today in your parenting or with sibling rivalry, know you are not alone. We are all in this together. Let’s just take a moment to lift one another up in prayer. This task is impossible without God. We need God to do this thing. Parenting is not an easy task. Be encouraged today. You are doing a good thing. Keep it up!
Angela Parsley, of the international ministry Refresh My Soul Ministries, is a wife and homeschooling mother to her 2 young daughters. Angela is also a contributing author to a devotional book entitled, “Standing on the Promises of God” and Radical Revolution, a devotional site for teen girls through Proverbs 31 Ministries.
Living Obviously
April 22, 2009 by AngelaP
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35).
In Bible study one thing I have learned is that repetitions in text are no accident. We see in these two verses the word love is repeated four different times. Do you think perhaps that God is trying to tell us something?
Based on the passage what will people know if we love one another? They will know if we are His disciples or not. Really we can only be disciples of Jesus or of the world. There is an easy way to determine which category we fit into—by our love for one another.
Ponder this today. If a hidden video crew were to follow you around all day today, whose team would they determine you to belong to? As you prepare your children’s breakfast? As you teach them new concepts? As you shop at the grocery store? As you fill your car up with gas? As you interact with people? What team would that tape reveal you to belong to?
In my life I have observed a situation where people whom I believed to be believers handled another believer in the most unloving way. I could not believe my eyes. It threw my whole world in confusion. That is the power that this action of love has over others watching us. Whether they truly were believers or not is not mine to judge. The issue is that if they were truly believers, these actions ruined their witness.
Let us be a people who live lives that are evident of God’s love. Let it be so obvious to others that we belong to Christ because of it. Let us live every moment of life as a video crew is taping our life ready to do an instant replay at any moment. Wouldn’t that change some things?
Father, thank You for Your gracious love. Help us to be full of Your love toward others making it evident that we belong to You alone. Let it never be a question of us if we are Yours or not. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Angela Parsley, of the international ministry Refresh My Soul Ministries, is a wife and homeschooling mother to her 2 young daughters. Angela is also a contributing author to a devotional book entitled, “Standing on the Promises of God” and Radical Revolution, a devotional site for teen girls through Proverbs 31 Ministries.
No Condemnation
March 15, 2009 by AngelaP
No Condemnation
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”
Romans 8:1a
Parenthood. With it comes many things. Things that are good and bad. Great things like seeing your child come to know the Lord or learning a new concept for the first time. There is not a better thing, as their teacher, than seeing that “light bulb” in their mind go off. The one that occurs when you really know they “get it.” I just delight in seeing life through my child’s eyes.
Yet, with the good comes the bad. Working through tough issues like the first time your child tells you they do not like you or that they want to leave and live with another family. Or worse yet when you find out your child is the difficult one when around other children.
Sometimes seeing our children 24 hours a day for 7 days a week limits our vision of them and their progress. To me sometimes it seems that there is little growth when it comes to the things that really matter—the issues of the heart.
We are currently going through a stage of disrespectful attitude. I cannot stand it when my child speaks to me or others with a tone of disrespect. I continually correct this over and over like a never ending cycle. I cry out to God to move in her heart to change it more into His image. Yet I see all the negative things day in and day out. They are continually in my sight. With that I have allowed a lot of false guilt to dominate my thinking. I cry out to God about it and ponder the idea of what I have done wrong. Have I let in too much of the world’s influence? Have I just not prayed enough? Have I let too many things fly under the radar because it was easier? Guilt, guilt, guilt to the limit.
Others however can give you a clearer perspective on the growth of our children. I saw it tonight as a special hug from the Lord. Tonight at our Upward Sports Awards night my child was chosen to receive the special Most Christ-like award. Only a few selected players received this. Talk about a special confirmation from the Lord. He has shown me that we all are a work in progress and He will keep working Himself in us to make our hearts like His whether we see it or not.
Parenting must be in faith for the long term goal. A goal that takes perseverance. Guilt is not an option. Christ does not want us to feel condemned at all in our child rearing. He chose what children we would have with His greater purposes in mind. He would not have given us our children if He didn’t already equip us with what we need to raise them up for Him.
So from one mom to another, hang in there. Continue to do what you need to do to grow them up in the Lord. Progress may seem limited but in faith God will bring it all to completion. He is true to His word.
Father, we love You so much. Thank You for entrusting us with our children. Thanks for equipping us fully. Help us to continually seek you out for those tools we need to raise children who are like You.
Angela Parsley, of the international ministry Refresh My Soul Ministries, is a wife and homeschooling mother to her 2 young daughters. Angela is also a contributing author to a devotional book entitled, “Standing on the Promises of God” and Radical Revolution, a devotional site for teen girls through Proverbs 31 Ministries.
Be Content
February 15, 2009 by AngelaP
“I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances”
(Philippians 4:11).
I love the flexibility of homeschooling. This month I experienced an unavoidable spinal headache “sickness” caused from a lumbar puncture gone wrong. This unplanned event has caused our schedule for homeschooling and everything else to be hindered and changed.
For me it is decision time. Do I stress out over the changes or do I go with the flow?
I would lie to you if I said I did not stress a bit over this situation. There is nothing I dislike more than getting off schedule, especially since I have one child who really thrives off of a consistent schedule. But with prayer and the wise advice of my husband, I came to the place of accepting my present circumstances by making the most of them.
Will we get off schedule? Sure. That is why it is good to have sick days. In the meantime we have to accept the place we are at. We have to look for Christ in these circumstances and take the time to find Him and His will. What is His purpose for these circumstances?
My children are learning the more important things of life during these “sick” days. They are seeing the body of Christ in its beauty operating the way God created it to. They see the beauty of friends bringing meals and offering help for all of our needs. They are seeing the hand of Christ tangibly extended to us through His people. They are seeing the importance of prayer and how life isn’t always just about them. They are learning how a family operates and sticks together through good and bad times. They are learning how to seek Christ in their difficult circumstances. All of these and many more lessons they are learning on our “sick” days.
So, is this time of “sick” a waste? Of course not. These children are learning the best lessons for life. There will always be time to get that school work done. But it is in these real life experiences that we truly learn to thrive and depend on Christ. I am thankful that God allows us to see that in the difficult times. He is always so good to us. Let us not let any moment go by without seeking Him and His will for us in our circumstances. Let us make the most of every moment. How about you? Have you ever run into unexpected circumstances in regards to your home school schedule? How did you handle it?
Angela Parsley, of the international ministry Refresh My Soul Ministries, is a wife and homeschooling mother to her 2 young daughters. Angela is also a contributing author to a devotional book entitled, “Standing on the Promises of God” and Radical Revolution, a devotional site for teen girls through Proverbs 31 Ministries.
Homeschooling – The Whole Family Approach
I just love that homeschooling can be something the entire family can experience together. Just as not all people are gifted in all things, so perhaps they should not teach all things.
In our home, I teach from a curriculum just because it helps me stay focused and accountable. I adore the privilege I have to teach my children. I teach them best the things I like the best. All individuals are limited in certain ways that is why we absolutely need a whole family approach.
I absolutely love all things history. When I teach it I am passionate and excited about the subject. This effects the learning environment positively. The students also want to learn the things that their teacher is excited about. A teacher’s excitement better keeps the children’s attention.
Now, let’s take Math. I cannot even fake excitement about this subject. It is much needed but I cannot get that same excitement in it as I can history. But, my husband is very excited about math. He is the one who the children learn from and he is their main teacher on this subject. We enjoy dividing things up because we are taking a whole-family approach.
Another way that we approach the whole-family method is within our family of friends who home school. The children are in Art, P.E., and Ballet classes because neither my husband nor I are very gifted in these areas. It is great that they can learn from these other gifted people the things that they are excited about.
We were never meant to do this alone. We are a community. What support do you have with your homeschooling?
Angela Parsley, of the international ministry Refresh My Soul Ministries, is a wife and homeschooling mother to her 2 young daughters. Angela is also a contributing author to a devotional book entitled, “Standing on the Promises of God” and Radical Revolution, a devotional site for teen girls through Proverbs 31 Ministries.
