"....Your children shall be like olive plants all around your table." Psalm 128:3

Monday, May 2, 2011

I Can Do It Myself!

How many times have I heard one of my little ones tell me, "Mom, I can do it myself!"?

I am the self-reliant type, so years ago my first thoughts as a soon-to-be-homeschooler were
1. have an organized "school" area
2. get the textbooks
3. set up a schedule
4. teach the material

I decided homeschooling would be a breeze. Teach the material, test the children. No problem.

And it did work well...for a while. But the error in my way of thinking soon became obvious. I realized that the Lord had to be the center of our homeschool. And that from the beginning, the Bible should have been the foundational curriculum for us. All other material should have been considered supplemental. How unfortunate that I, as their mother and teacher, had missed this! I knew that I needed to rely on the Lord to successfully teach my children.

And after 17 years of homeschooling, I am still in no way sufficient to teach my children. There is not enough time, preparation, books, or anything else that can change my insufficiency.

No matter how prepared I am, I can't do this myself. No matter how organized I am, I can't do this myself. No matter how easily my children learn, I can't do this myself.

Some days are smooth sailing, and I wonder what the big deal is anyway. But other days are very demanding and I seem to barely make it through them.

Either type of day requires my reliance on the Lord, and not on myself.  Demanding days especially require the guidance and perspective that only the Lord can offer me.

Not just with homeschooling, but in all areas of my life, I am so thankful for my all-sufficient Heavenly Father.

2 Corinthians 3:5 :  "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God."

this post is linked up at Titus 2sday @ http://time-warp-wife.blogspot.com/
                                                                 http://proverbs14verse1.blogspot.com