Focused Homeschooling

"Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

Distractions. Every day you face them as a homeschooling parent. Although some may seem good in themselves, they can steal time from your family and destroy your homeschooling schedule. Learning to recognize each interruption as either a divine rescheduling or an evil diversion takes discernment that only comes from the Holy Spirit. Whether it's a long phone call from your mother or sister or an invitation to enjoy an impromptu outing with another homeschooling family, you must prayerfully consider what daily activities are best for your family.

Going with the flow and failing to pray for guidance caused many problems for people in the Bible, too. Even Joshua, God's chosen leader after Moses' death, was distracted and made the mistake of believing the Gibeonites. After seeing the destruction of Jericho and fearing for their lives, the Gibeonites sent representatives disguised as travelers from a distant land to make peace with Joshua. Instead of coming before the Lord in prayer to verify their story, Joshua made a covenant with them, not knowing they were his neighboring enemies (Joshua 9:14-15). Held to his oath, Joshua was forced to let them live. He made them "hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar of the LORD" (vs. 27).

Have you learned how to discern God's will for your homeschooling day? Only as you walk in the power of the Holy Spirit will you be able to know the difference between a dangerous detour and God's window of opportunity. Taking the time to pray for wisdom each morning and throughout the day will save your homeschooling from disaster. "Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God" (Proverbs 2:3-5).

Father, only You know what's best for our homeschooling today. As we face distractions, please help me to discern what is Your perfect will for us and adjust our homeschooling schedule accordingly. In Jesus' name, Amen.

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Comments(10 comments)

LAURIE R 04/28/2009 10:52:30

I really appreciate this devotional. I am a pastors wife as well as a homeschool mom, and mom of toddlers. It is a challange to discern every day whether to answer the phone, answer the door etc. I needed to be reminded that not every interuption is an opportunity from the Lord but sometimes a stone to stumble on. Thank you for your ministry.

DIANE B 04/30/2010 21:54:02

This is really true, to be able to discern what we should do each day is the job of the Holy Spirit. At times I forget this.

Thank you for reminding me.

Diane

DALE G 04/28/2011 04:19:01

Wow! I needed that reminder today! This has been a week of interruptions & distractions.

Thank you!

SAMUEL C 04/28/2011 04:26:58

TWO THUMBS UP!!!

RUBY B 04/28/2011 04:44:28

SO TRUE!!! I always think that I MUST answer the phone and talk out of courtesy...until I see my kids bouncing off the walls and remember we were in the middle of our school day....with dinners to make, laundry to clean, home to maintain, exercise to maintain some sort of physical shape, and running to the store because we ran out of toilet paper...it is no wonder we are distracted!!! Thanks for this great reminder!!!

CHERYL D 04/29/2011 02:32:21

Thank You ! Appreciate the reminder to even pray about discerning our distractions. I am easily distracted by so many things...... our \"too many\" dogs, chiickens, baby chicks, baby ducks, the mess in the house, etic..

It is no wonder my daughter can go off on a 10 minutes sidetrack when I simply ask her to go get a pencil from her room. She comes down with a spinning carousel of them, and before you know it, begins sorting them all, reminiscing about where she got some of them, etc...... I am pretty sure she gets this ability to be easily distracted from me. Will pray specifically for help in this area.

MIA M 04/28/2012 04:49:02

Amen

KATHY S 04/28/2012 09:01:52

Our distarctions have been ongoing for 7 weeks. I cannot make heads or tails of \"why\" my health is being tormented. I make one step forward and take 8 steps back. 6 trips to the ER in 7 weeks, I have pain that is immobilzing, and keep getting new diagnosis\'s to add on to my alrready hefty list.

So, the only thing I can even think of, as to why this is possibly being allowed, and completely disrupting our homeschool schedule, is that we weren\'t praying enough?

As now, my son and I are constanlt begging the Lord for me to have enough relief to just sit peacefully or sleep for a few hours. And huge praise to Jesus after receiving any relief.

I miss our fun trips to the Library where we were able to use their beautiful glass cubicals that overlooked a georgeous wooded area for instruction and study, with tons of reference books, and stops in the cafe to treat my son to his favorite grilled cheese sandwich.

I can\'t see the plan that God has for this time in our lives, I\'ll continue to trust him, and let him know how much I miss our regular, happy homeschool routine.

The Bible says to \"Thank and praise him in all things\", so Thank you Lord for this time, and use it for your Glory. Amen.

TRISTA J 04/28/2012 11:18:09

This is, I think, my biggest flaw as a homeschooling parent.... relying on my own understanding and my own plans instead of leaning on the Lord and praying for wisdom and discernment. Lately I have not felt like I can hear his voice or feel his hand guiding me in my decisions and the only reason, if I am honest, is because I have not been asking throughout the day (or even every day) through prayer for his wisdom and discernment. Sadly, I think this is the reason why our family has been experiencing some hardships! My mission this very minute is to pray for forgiveness and then for discernment, that I may follow God\'s plan for our lives and schooling instead of my own!

TABITHA J 04/28/2012 12:59:28

Not many people realized this, but they do have a distraction sitting at home, the TV set. Right now, I am trying to get my house cleaned and dishes washed, but not getting any help due to the TV distraction.

Dishes do need to be cleaned and for the house, we have a home business that have customers come over, which is why it needs to be cleaned.

Hope that my husband learns that taking care of the inside of the house is a team effort, not an individual effort, because right now, I work full time outside of the home and I can\'t do everything.


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