Prioritizing Your Priorities

A great article about priorities from http://raisinghomemakers.com.  It's very encouraging to me and hopefully to you as well.

Prioritizing Your Priorities



by Veronica on April 22, 2011 in Faithfulness


As a Christian woman, wife, mother, and homemaker, if I were to ask you to identify your priorities, you would probably create a list that ranks each area in order of importance. Maybe it would look something like this:

God
Husband
Children
Home
Friends, Ministry, Hobbies, Career, etc…


But, what if then I asked you rearrange this list to accurately reflect how much time was spent on each of these priorities over the course of a given day.

My revised “list” might look a little more like this:

• As a homeschooling mom, my daughter receives the majority of my time and attention each day.
• The care and keeping of my home also requires a decent share of my time and energy each day…to prevent the dishes from taking over the kitchen, or to keep everyone in clean, presentable clothing.
• My husband is a full-time pastor…who is currently working 2 jobs. There are days when I hardly see him…much less spend time talking to him.
• And, although I work to maintain a consistent habit of time in God’s Word and in prayer each day… There are those days when the demands of motherhood, or life in ministry seem to take over. And, my relationship with the Lord appears to take a proverbial “back seat.”

And, this has the potential to be an extremely discouraging exercise…


Because, in the trenches of everyday life, the amount of time that we devote to each individual priority is not always directly proportionate to its position in the hierarchal list above. As a mom with a young child, a home to care for, and a husband in full-time ministry, the amount of time that I actually give to each area can often seem rather disproportionate!


“A more practical approach to priorities may be viewing life as a ‘comprehensive unified whole.’ This concept suggests that God has called women to fulfill multiple responsibilities and roles (wife, mother, daughter, homemaker, community servant). Therefore, she should avoid compartmentalizing her life into the spiritual and secular. Thus, she avoids measuring the success of maintaining priorities solely by the amount of time given to them on a daily basis…Maintaining priorities means fulfilling all the obligations that God has uniquely and specifically called the Wise Woman to accomplish…” (Becoming a Woman Who Pleases God, pg. 131)


This perspective has been a game changer for me!


I like schedules and routines. (Probably a little too much!) I am a “task-oriented” person. I want to be efficient and diligent in all that I have to do in a given day. And, while that is not necessarily a bad thing, the usual result is that I often find myself getting frustrated with “interruptions” that mess up my plans. Sadly though, these perceived “interruptions” often come in the form of people who most need my attention (my husband, or my daughter).


But, my friend, Donna Morley points out that,


“there are two types of interruptions. One distracts us from what we should be doing; the other delays us, merely postponing our progress. Distractions jeopardize our chance to reach our goal, while delays merely grant us unexpected opportunities.” (Choices That Lead to Godliness, pg. 102)


When we see our life as a “comprehensive unified whole” we can stop evaluating our priorities (and by extension, our “success” or “failure” in each area) by the amount of time given to each endeavor. Instead we can see how the practical, daily outworking of our priorities overlap, and work together… Each one directly impacting each of the other areas!


And, we have no idea what the Lord has in store for us (and those around us) when we see choose to see the unexpected, the interruptions, and the delays as opportunities rather than distractions!
———
Veronica @ A Quiet Heart

The Ways We Have Ruined Our Children

One of the email loops I'm end sent this link for Off the Grid News: The Ways We Have Ruined Our Children.

It was awesome!  It runs about 52 minutes long.  It's an interview with a young man named Lance Seppi.  He's the third of seven homeschooled children in his family.

One of the topics discussed was the fact that our society is not instilling the ability to work into our children.  We are "raising children" instead of "raising adults."

I totally get this.  It frustrates me so when I see teenagers who are not actively part of the housework, for example.  Because my grandparents' illnesses, I was running the whole house (shopping, cleaning {somewhat!}, cooking, washing, paying bills) all by the time I was 15.  Oh, and I was handling what medical care they needed at home including frequent hospitalizations for my grandmother, all while I was maintaining good grades at school.  I know the Lord helped me through this, but I also know that teens are much more capable than for what we give them credit.  Our founding fathers were graduating from college at 18 not starting college.

Another thing they discussed was the fact you need to give humanist and socialist credit.  They understand the importance of education.  It reminded me of a post I wrote over a year ago, but I thought I'd mention it here.  It's The Parents' Responsibility.

Why Home Educate?

Once again my FB/blogging friend, Lea Ann Garfias posted some great stuff in her blog Whatever State I Am a great piece, so I wanted to share it with you.  You can go see it yourself here.


________________

Why Home Educate?

Posted on January 3, 2011 by Lea Ann Garfias

The numbers

In America today, there are nearly 2 million homeschoolers. Over 80% of them claim to be Christian. Less than one-third of them are homeschooling to impart their faith to their children.

The primary reasons of homeschooling are to avoid government institution environments or to provide better academics. Many parents home educate because of health reasons or special needs.

Only one-third of Christian homeschoolers are purposefully passing on their faith.

Thus saith the Lord, “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches,
But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the Lord Who exerciseth loving-kindness, justice, and righteousness, in the earth; for in these things I delight,” saith the Lord.
- Jeremiah 9:23-24


My husband made me homeschool.

My husband made me homeschool. You can read more about that in my story, “I Know Better,” part oAmy Puetz’s free e-book here. I used to be one of the 70%. After that infamous first year, we homeschooled for lots of reasons: we provided better academics than the schools around; we were definitely cheaper than the schools around; we couldn’t beat the one-on-one instruction; we liked the schedule.

It wasn’t until later, years later, when we had 3 children and were far from any schools, friends, and influences, that we began to see God’s Scriptural pattern for education.

The Bible and Home Education

These words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart;and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up…and when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, “What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which the Lord our God hath commanded you?” Then thou shalt say unto thy son,”‘…The Lord brought us out … and the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is at this day. And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as He hath commanded us.”
-Deut. 6

Ye shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
- Deut 11:19

Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law. For it is not a vain thing for you, because it is your life; and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land.
- Deut 32:46-47

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
My son, hear the instruction of thy father,
And forsake not the law of thy mother.
- Proverbs 1:7-8

Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding;
For I give you good doctrine;
Forsake ye not my law.
For I was my father’s son,
Tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.
He taught me also, and said unto me,
Let thing heart retain my words;
Keep my commandments, and live.
Get wisdom, get understanding;
Forget it not, neither decline from the words of my mouth,
Forsake her not,
And she shall preserve thee;
Love her, and she shall keep thee.
Wisdom is the principle thing; therefore, get wisdom;
And with all thy getting, get understanding …
I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths.
– Proverbs 4:1-11

Fathers… bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
- Ephesians 6:4

For more Scripture, see Gen 18:19; Psalm 1; Prov 23:6; Eph 4:17-24; 2 Cor 6:14-7:1; Titus 2:1-15; 1 Peter 1:15-16.

The Why of Home Education is so Important

The Lord used Bible passages such as these to strengthen our hearts during difficult trials in our own home education journey. It has not always been easy. We have lost jobs, faced death and disappointment, and struggled through illness. I am not proud to say that I have begged to put my children on the yellow school bus. Earnestly, tearfully, frantically. I know that desperate feeling.

But now I know why and it is the why that is so important now – at the New Year – and every time we face doubts and fears.

I am home educating my children to pass on my faith, to show them God is real every day, and to point them constantly to God’s Word as the ultimate Authority for their life.

That is really all that matters.

Will you join me?