I recently wrote about my Homeschool Goals for 2013. And whiles those goals centered around goals I have for my children and our family as a whole, I also have some goals for myself.

1. A set-apart daily time with the Lord. Before kids, it was easy to find this time in my days. After kids, well, this is something I have struggled with for four years now! I am a night owl and since I began regular, daily quiet times with the Lord, I have done so at night before going to sleep. It just works for me. Since kids, it’s been a struggle to keep this time holy and set apart for time with the Lord. By the end of the day, I just want to veg. Anyone with small kids can understand that, I am sure. I am done. I don’t want to have to think or reflect on things or think about issues in my life that need resolving. I just want to be. The Lord convicted my heart a few months ago about this. I was still having my daily quiet time but it was after I had taken the time to veg by jumping on my laptop, taking the dog for a walk, cleaning up the house from the day, etc. Then, I’d finally pull out my Bible study and be practically too tired to process anything I was reading. But I did it. Check. It was done. And God convicted my heart of that attitude. He showed me that I needed to keep that time holy, set-apart and sacred. I needed to put my kids to bed, jump through the shower and head straight for my quiet time with the Lord, refusing to let all my distractions get in the way of a meaningful time with Him. I wish I could say that since the Lord convicted me of this I don’t let anything distract me from this time, but that is just not the case. But I strive to have this daily time with the Lord right after my girls are in bed and I can tell a definite difference in my patience and overall mothering when I keep this time holy, set-apart and sacred.

2. Keep priorities in order. This ties along with #1, but it is imperative my relationship with Dave stay above our children and homeschooling. I am a mother and teacher of my children but above all of that, I am Dave’s wife and if our marriage, which is at the core of who our family is, does not stay in tact, then everything else is done in vain. Dave and I know the best gift we can give our children is a marriage that portrays Jesus Christ and his bride, the Church. Several ways we strive to keep our marriage strong is by: weekly at-home date nights, once a month out-on-the-town date nights (don’t think crazy here. These nights most likely include eating out and then running errands, like to Wal-Mart.), and little get-a-way trips here and there. It is so.easy. to let life get in the way and suddenly we realize we haven’t had a meaningful conversation that didn’t include talk of our children and we know it is time to slow down and reconnect. It’s a challenge when you have small children for sure and contrary to what the world would have us believe about marriage, it takes work. Work that is worth the effort, for sure!

3. I think it is important for me as a stay-at-home-mom and homeschool mom to find an outlet or hobby. Whatever you want to call it, really. My hobby is my blog! I love to write. It is therapeutic for me. I love reading blogs (I have about a million adoption & homeschool blogs I read) and I love writing blogs. My blog recently went through some changes, and since those changes I love this blog even more because I don’t feel like my daughters are too exposed as I used to feel they were. I can still write about the topics that are very near and dear to my heart: my faith in Jesus Christ, infertility and adoption, parenting, motherhood, Babywise, and now, homeschooling. I also plan to continue on with my volunteer shift once a week at our local Crisis Pregnancy Center. I will also be very involved with the Women’s Ministry at my church as one of my best friends from church is heading up a new Bible study that will begin at the beginning of next year.

4. Maintain my cleaning system. It’s probably not shocking to anyone who has read my blog for a while that I have a cleaning system in place. Monday is kitchen/laundry, Tuesday is dusting living spaces, Wednesday is bathrooms/laundry, Thursday is dusting bedrooms and Friday is vacuum/laundry. Does this mean every Wednesday you will find me cleaning my bathrooms? Nope. Probably not. But having this system in place does keep my house clean. If I miss a Wednesday cleaning bathrooms, I just prioritize bathroom cleaning for the next week. Since Sweet Pea’s birth, I have given myself A LOT of grace in the cleaning department because I realized there is more to life than having a clean house! Now, I still make a clean house a priority for me because I believe it is my responsibility as wife and mother to have a clean and tidy place for our family to live. Spotless?! No. Clean and tidy works just fine and my cleaning schedule works just fine for me in keeping up with it all while taking care of two small children.

5. Keep my perspective on what is truly important and the main reason why I have chosen to homeschool my girls. Like I said, I read about a million homeschool blogs. Blogs of moms who have way more kids than me and have been homeschooling way longer than me. Many write about fantasizing about putting their children on the yellow school bus and, even further, some have even admitted to threatening their kids that they were going to just put them on that bus next time it drives by! The message behind all of these posts? Homeschooling is hard work. There are going to be days where I think to myself “What in the world am I doing??”. Homeschooling isn’t all sunshine and roses. I know that. I am preparing myself for that. When my moment strikes (because, let’s face it, it is only a matter of time), I know I need to keep my perspective on what is truly important and the main reason why I have chosen to homeschool my girls. I want my time with them. It is that plain and simple. I never want to lose the perspective I have that it is a true privilege of mine to be able to homeschool my children. I know there are people out there who would love to homeschool but for various reasons it’s just not an option for their family at this time. Having my children at home with me affords me the many opportunities that arise in any given day to instill the Word of God into the hearts of my children when they are young. Above all the academics, that is why I am homeschooling. I see the benefits to homeschooling when it comes to the hearts of my children and my relationships with each of them. Homeschooling is not the only way to train up a child in the Lord and truly know their hearts, but it is the way God is leading our family to fulfill these responsibilities as a parent and I need to keep my perspective on this when that yellow school bus is looking way too attractive. (Note: It is Day 3 of homeschool and I’ve already had one of those ‘yellow school bus moments’. It was Day 1. Oh yes, our first day of homeschool was a disaster. Post coming next week all about that! Ha!)

So-when life as a Homeschool Mom gets crazy, remind me of this post!!! {Like now}

- Elaine