Do you need a hug today? According to the Harvard experts, you need 8 hugs per day just for maintenance. Virtual hugs are not the same – I get that. If I could, right now I would wrap my arms around each one of you and give you a hug. For most of us, that’s just not gonna happen this side of heaven. If you are like me you might be “all done” with being hugged and touched by the end of the day anyway.
With little kids in the house I can hardly sit down without someone coming over to get on my lap or get a hug. But as homeschool moms we still need encouragement. So I’m hoping this is the next best thing – my collection of virtual hugs to encourage and inspire you when you need a hug and a person to hug isn’t nearby or you just don’t want touched!
I asked my blogging friends to offer words of encouragement for you. Each of these short virtual hugs were written by a homeschooling blogger. If you need more encouragement today, you will find encouragement and inspiration by clicking through to each of their blogs.
©Deposit Photos by Pics4ads
Immeasurably More
by Marcy Crabtree of Ben and Me
My prayer for you today is the same prayer Paul offered on behalf of the church at Ephesus . . .
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. ~Ephesians 3:14-21
Immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. That part of this passage stands out to me as I read and begin to understand that my requests are paltry in comparison with what He is able to do for me. What He wants to do for me. And for you. It’s difficult to understand that which we are unable to even imagine. We are human. We want to quantify it all. But He is not a God bound by our simple limitations.
Unmeasurable is His love.
Unmeasurable is His power.
Unmeasurable is His strength.
And you know what? Because of the Holy Spirit, we have unmeasurable love, power, and strength as well.
It’s true. We don’t even know our own strength.
He is able, sweet sister. And because He is, so are we.
©Deposit Photos by Yaruta
He Gives More Grace
by Debbie Palmer from The Architect and the Artist
But he gives more grace. James 4:6
There are days. Days I fail to teach a lesson. I fail to get clean socks into the drawers. I fail to listen patiently to my boys. There are days when my boys fail, too. We all do.
These days I search for grace. Grace for myself and grace to give to them, because life is never perfect. Homeschooling is sometimes more mess than magic. Our Heavenly Father is a never-ending supply of grace. We can receive it from Him so that we have the ability to give it to our kids as we teach, guide, and mold them.
Are your homeschool days less than stellar? Do you feel like a failure? Does your anger flare when school doesn’t get done like you envisioned it? Allow God to give you grace…then hand it to your children, because one of the most important lessons any homeschool mom will teach is how to live in this imperfect world.
©Deposit Photos by tolokonov
God, Incline My Heart to You
by Anne Marie from Future Flying Saucers
Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness. Psalm 119: 36
Homeschool Mom, the Christian life is impossible. We need God to do what we ourselves cannot. And so I refer you to Psalm 119. If you dig into Psalm 119, it can be a daunting task. It’s the longest Psalm in the Bible. But verses 33-40 have practical words we need to hear, understand, and put into practice.
If we really want God to change us, then these verses list what we must allow God to do in us. We must commit to Him. The commitment comes first, then the change. So Mom, I urge you to get your Bible, look up Psalm 119:33-40 and then allow Him to teach you, give you understanding, make you walk, incline your heart, turn away your eyes, establish His word to you, turn away your reproach, and revive you.
Isn’t that what we all need and want? Revival? May the word of God dwell richly in you!
The Most Important Days of All
by Melanie Young, Raising Real Men www.RaisingRealMen.com
I used to hate the days that school came apart, days that I spent all day dealing with discipline, counseling the offenders, and teaching character. Hal would come home and ask how the day had gone and I’d wail, “It was awful! We got nothing done at all!” How wrong I was.
We have adult children now, graduates from our homeschool. Now, when I look at the kind of men they are, I realize that those were the most important days of all. Those days when I thought we got nothing done were the days that made them men of character. The days that I thought were chaos were the days that we were fighting for their souls. They weren’t a waste, not even close to it. I thank God we had those days to disciple our boys.
Don’t despair, Mama. You aren’t wasting time, you aren’t falling behind. Instead, days like that are an investment in the future.
©Deposit Photos – photo by JustinKendra
It’s a Marathon, Not a Sprint
by Kristi of The Potter’s Hand Academy
There are going to be days when you wonder… is this what God really had planned? Are you really educating your child well? Can you do this? There are going to be weeks with no light-bulb moments. You might realize, years into your journey, that your child has a learning difference, or something else that just makes this life a little more interesting.
I promise, Mama, it will be OK. You’ll lean on God like never before, and you’ll grow in ways you never expected to. Your prayer life will take on a new meaning.
Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Be in this for the long haul, and keep the goal in mind. Homeschooling is not an educational choice, it’s a lifestyle choice. Embrace the lifestyle, embrace the tribe of fellow homeschoolers, and know that you’re not alone. God is with you, and we are here, walking the path the same as you, even if you can’t see us. We are praying with you, and we are praying for you.
Together, we can do this!
©Deposit Photos by Welcomia
Life is FUN Again!
by Yvie at the Gypsy Road
©Deposit Photos by bradcalkins
Remember the WHY.
by Monique at Living Life and Learning
My advice to other homeschool moms is that you have to remember why you are homeschooling. If there are tears during a math lesson, step back and evaluate why you are teaching them. Is it because you want them to learn math or are you trying to teach to them to be a lifelong learner who loves learning new things? No amount of school work is worth damaging the relationship with your child.
Take a break and do something fun. Play some online games, board games, and puzzles to remind them why it’s great to be homeschooled. Just be their mother, not the homeschool teacher. Come back to your school work with a renewed heart and mindset with an intent to encourage.
©Deposit Photos by Danussa
Life is Learning in His Grace
by Amanda at Heart of the Matter Online
As we enter what “should have been” our 3rd month of homeschool, I am reminded of the words of wisdom I recently read, words that struck me to the heart, words homeschoolers should never say. I find that I have been saying those same words, like the above, “should have been.” Where should we have been? Who determined that? Some system that operates out of a need to keep everyone in the exact same place? Myself? or God?
I realize that I have been too hard on us, on myself. Life is ever-flowing, ever-changing, and it is learning. Do you hear me sweet mama? Life is learning. Realizing that for myself sets us up for successful days of learning. It keeps us focused on the best and allows grace to happen. Sure, I have written on how to plan, and I do try to stick with that. But God has been showing me that there is much more to life than the plan. Life is learning in His grace.
In a recent e-mail, you said ‘If you wouldn’t mind – could you take a moment and let us know what would encourage you most as a Mom?’
I am now 63 & have had 8 children of my own 3 with Dyslexia, 2 with Aspergers, 1 with ADHD & 1 with Epilepsy. For 14 years I educated some of my children at home & here in England you have to have an Education Officer who comes to check your children’s work & make sure the parent/parents are not nutty, are actually educating as they say they are, are not abusing their children & can provide a whole years Curriculum in advance as well as evidence of the past 12 months.
So it isn’t made easy for us to educate at home & the stress levels can be extremely high. I pass on information to everyone I know when I find a good site like yours.
What I am doing now is in its infancy, but I am supporting parents who have had any Autistic Spectrum Diagnosis for their child, by holding a bi-weekly club. I give support, discuss education, especially pre-school. I know from my own experiences that it is vital to teach as much of the social communication skills as possible, prior to the age of 5.
I pass on web addresses & useful links & in all honesty 9 out of 10 of the sites I have found have been in the USA. You are so much freer with your information, you are most definitely generous with your freebies. Some of which I have used & can only bless you for them.
A lot of the parents I am involved with are like I had to be, doing this on a shoestring. It is really hard during this unsure economic time to find the money that is needed to Home-Educate.
This is why freebies, free resources, printables and any information that can be gained online is so precious.
I wish I had had all these things available to me when I was doing home education. I did not even have a computer or internet access at the time & every piece of worksheets that I produced had to be by hand & duplicated three times for the three older children I was teaching at the time. I then had to work on separate sheets for the youngest.
It involved me in reading a copious amount of books to get the information in the first place & I usually took 2/3 weeks holiday during the summer to research & produce my year of curriculum ideas to cover all subject.
I am I suppose lucky that I had the type of brain that worked like a tree, I would get one idea in one subject & somehow managed to link those ideas, like tree branches across the whole curriculum.
Now my energy levels are a lot lower & although I do not wish to give up, I have to say I am very reliant on the support that I get from sites like yours in the USA. I have recently been diagnosed with a small brain tumour, that gives me many headaches, but all the time I can mask the pain I will continue.
I guess I wanted basically to say, how precious your site is to my mums & how much we thank you with all our hearts for the resources & freebies. A generation of children with problems will grow up the better for sites like yours…..God Bless You. Anne