Accountability

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Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. -Deuteronomy 11:18-19

Someday the Lord will hold me accountable for what I teach my children about Him. We should desire to prove ourselves unashamed teachers when handling God-breathed Scripture. . . Moses did much to help the Israelites know their God. Why wasn't he allowed to enter the promised land? He failed to speak to the rock as God commanded and struck it instead (Numbers 20:8-13). Moses was held accountable as a leader because his disobedience affected the people who looked to him for wisdom and knowledge in following God. . . As a parent, do you realize the importance of correctly teaching your children the Word of God? Their foundational understanding of God is to come from you - not Sunday school or Christian school. We must be prepared to teach God's Word.

-From the Homeschool Mom's Bible; Devotions by Janet Tatum; February 24; p. 228

Faithfulness

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Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. -Psalm 36:5

Faithfulness is being true to one's word, promises or vows. Faithfulness in homeschooling is persevering in spite of criticism, countless hours, repetition, less sleep, less money, more time given to others than yourself, following the One who gives you the strength to do it all: Jesus.

God's Word provides many examples of people who remained faithful to the Lord in their work or call, but God himself is the best example of this character quality. As Creator God, faithfulness is an attribute of his very nature. He demonstrates that attribute each day as he lovingly cares for us and meets our needs. The Bible describes God's faithfulness as infinite (Psalm 36:5) and everlasting (Psalm 119:90). Every morning, the Lord's faithfulness is new (Lamentations 3:23) and unfailing (Psalm 89:33). Even when we fail to be faithful to God, he remains faithful to us (2 Timothy 2:13).

Faithfulness is a character quality not easily found today. Homeschoolers, as well as Christians in general, approach too many commitments with the option of, "Well, if this doesn't work, I can always get out." When life gets tough, we are tempted to escape our responsibilities, but faithfulness means not forgetting the Lord in the good times, and not blaming Him in the bad. No matter where we go, we will have difficulties of some kind.

-From the Homeschooling Mom's Bible; Devotions by Janet Tatum; February 19; p. 207

Packing Light

In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples. 
-Luke 14:33

Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road. -Luke 10:4

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Instead of trusting the Lord for what we need to teach our children, we often compare ourselves to other homeschooling families. We see what they are doing and complicate our lives by adding their activities and events to our day and rob ourselves of simple homeschooling joys. Although these activities may be good in themselves, we risk losing the spontaneity in teaching our children because we are locked into a full schedule. Why not leave the suitcases in the closet and rediscover your freedom in homeschooling.

-From the Homeschool Mom's Bible; Devotions by Janet Tatum; February 21; p. 218

God Causes the Growth

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So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 

-1 Corinthians 3:7

The credit for whatever success comes from your homeschooling efforts really belong to God. He is the One who gives the increase and the One who should receive the glory.


-From the Homeschool Mom's Bible; Devotions by Janet Tatman; February 18; p. 202

Wise Children

A wise son brings joy to his father,

but a foolish man despises his mother.

-Proverbs 15:20 (NIV)

We cannot - we must not - raise our kids randomly. We must have well-defined, godly and God-given objectives.

Most of us would like our kids to be healthy, wealthy, and wise. But if you could only choose one out of three, would wisdom be your first choice?

We cannot make our sons or daughters become anything. They have their own first choices. But we can create an atmosphere where wisdom is honored above athletic skill or even academic achievements, because it's been said, "You can get all As and still flunk life."

Teach your children to honor older people. Hold them accountable. Teach them God's Word. Talk about integrity and honesty and noble behavior and purity. Pray for them.

-From The One Year Wisdom for Women Devotional by Debbi Bryson; May 19; p. 146