Mom - Are you Learning Today? an Ultimate Homeschool Expo post

I was sitting at the playground all by myself. With three children. Usually, when I head across the street to the playground, one or two other moms will join us and we chat. Not today. I decided to do what I often do when faced with a lonely playground. I pulled up iTunes on my phone, and scrolled through the audio sessions in my Ultimate Homeschool Expo playlist. Today, I listened to Tricia Goyer speak for 50 minutes on the topic Dreams of Being a Mom.

Tricia spent the entire time encouraging us as Moms to focus on what is most important. When you are a little girl and you dream about being a Mommy you always picture a perfect world. You never lose your temper, your children are always perfect, and your house runs smoothly every day with little effort. In fact, if I was brutally honest, I will admit that in my dreams I always had a maid to do the work for me!

We all know that reality does not match those childish dreams. Some things about motherhood are far more beautiful and perfect then we can ever imagine. However, children are never perfect, keeping your temper in check 24/7 is a lot of work, and a gargantuan amount of effort is required to keep a home running smoothly day in and day out.

As Moms, it is easy to forget that we need to keep learning too. We need to keep our minds sharp and active for everyone’s sake. We need to move our bodies and drink lots of water just as much or more then our children need to exercise. Some day we will be the grandmothers, and we will either be able to keep up with our grandchildren physically and mentally to some extent … or we won’t. I’ve been thinking about this often lately as I observe my mother-in-law with my children. She gets down on the floor and plays with my children. At 65 years of age, she is actively engaged in their lives. She learns new games and converses with them about new technology. I want to be that Grandma, and it had better start now!

I don’t know about you, but I have gone through times when I thought my brain had turned to sludge. I wasn’t spending time with other adults, I wasn’t reading amazing books, I wasn’t writing very much, and I certainly wasn’t learning anything. Today I did. I spent 50 minutes nourishing my brain. Here are some of the nuggets of wisdom Tricia shared.

“The most important thing in my day — making time for God. If I’m going to make time to write, I need to make time for God.”
“The fruit of the Spirit is what comes out when we put God in. (Goodness, that is convicting all over again.)”
“Put your husband first. The best thing you can do for your kids is to adore your husband.”
“Focus on the one thing. That is, focus on the one thing you are doing right now and rest in the knowledge that the rest will get your focus later.”

If you think any one of these statements could be the start of some encouragement or learning for you, you might want to consider gifting yourself with Ultimate Homeschool Expo 2012. Ultimate Homeschool Expo 2012 contains 82 audios recorded for your learning, encouragement and growth. And at less than $1 per audio ($59.97 for the whole set with bonuses!) — the cost is far less than buying audios through your convention. It’s like going to the ultimate homeschool convention, without the hotel, food and gas expense. And, you can listen in your pajamas — or do what I did another day and listen while you workout. The point is you can use the audios from Ultimate Homeschool Expo any time and any where you want.