Fresh Starts

Every August, our homeschooling year started the same way. After the brown delivery truck left our driveway, four excited children would eagerly tear open the boxes of curriculum. Workbooks and teacher's guides would be laid on the floor and quickly checked against the packing slip. Then, like opening gifts on Christmas morning, my children would delightfully spend the rest of the day thumbing through the pages of their new curriculum. Inevitably, the fresh, colorful workbooks caused everyone to become so motivated that we began homeschooling the very same day.

Fresh starts are even more exciting in the Christian life. Helping someone come to an understanding of sin and a knowledge of the joy of God's forgiveness is by far the greatest blessing you can experience. The eager anticipation and thirst for God in a new believer is contagious. Wanting to grow and know God more deeply through His Word, these new Christians pass their enthusiasm to older saints and challenge them to grow in their faith as well.

When was the last time you told someone about the saving love of Jesus? If your walk with God seems dry and worn out, today's the day to give yourself and someone else a fresh start in Christ. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Lord, thank You for the exciting message of Your forgiveness and love! Help me to share it anew today with someone who desperately needs to experience Your grace. In Jesus' name, Amen.

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Comments(9 comments)

Aldy D 08/28/2010 15:52:09

Amen...! Thank you for sharing this message. God Bless you. The Lord is Our Strength

JENNIFER B 08/28/2011 03:23:59

May we each seek FIRST the kingdom and His righteousness!May we choose to live according to and teach ONLY the principles and truths revealed once and for all by God through the Bible. May we seek to do God\'s will and not our own. Let us use the Bible and it alone as the ONLY authority for salvation, the church and its organization, worship, daily Christian living, and service to Him and others. May God alone receive all the glory and honor!

MAYA T 08/28/2011 14:54:41

I really needed this one today! Thank you for sharing!

BARB S 08/28/2011 16:50:03

You are blessed to have children who love school that much. When the brown delivery truck leaves our driveway, my teens run away saying, \"Ugghhh, school work.\" While they definitely appreciate homeschooling over traditional school, it makes me sad that they don\'t love learning. I wish I knew what to do about it. It\'s tough for me to get motivated about teaching them when they have no self-motivation. Anyone have any ideas or advice?

CARL V 08/29/2011 07:43:54

Barb,

It may be the beginning of the homeschool year instead of the end, but here\'s a link to an article on \"End-of-the-Year Motivation Secrets\": http://www.aophomeschooling.com/blog/homeschool-view/ten-year-end-homeschooling-secrets/ Hopefully, something in there can be of use to you. God bless!

JENNEKE D 08/29/2011 18:25:10

Great analogy. I am new to homeschooling and I am just wondering what you use for your kids and what your kids ages are. Ours are boys: 16, 13 and 12.

Thanks JDJ

BARB S 08/29/2011 20:50:37

Carl, thank you for the encouraging article. These are great and relatively easy ideas to break up the routine and keep it fresh. I will put them into practice! Thanks!

KATHY S 08/28/2012 07:19:38

My son isn\'t jumping for joy to start school either. But, when we do get going, he really does enjoy all the attention I give him while he\'s learning, and loves the time we spend together, which makes the learning more enjoyable.

There are days that he\'s not as motivated as others. This devotional was perfect timing as always. Just yesterday I had a talk with him on how this year is going to go.

First I let him know that I would never send him back to a Traditional school of any sort until College age. ( I wanted to talk to him, not scare him or give empty threats.)

But, I did let him know that the more effort he puts in to his work and the more he completes, the sooner school can finish for the year.

That seemed to do the trick! He said \"You mean if I finish all my schoolwork before June, were done and summer begins?\" \"Yes\", I said.

That shed a whole new light on this year. I hope it works!!!

And ministering to others, I don\'t have alot of opportunity, especially since all my health issues, we are home quite a bit now.

But, even on FB I put a picture of snoopy with a little heart floating down, and I captioned it

\"Jesus sends his heart down to us, all we have to do is reach out and take it\".

I suppose that seems silly to most. Most of my friends are from our church, but some are not, and any way I can bring up Jesus to others, I try to.

My one friend asked could she come to church with us. We took her, 2 of her chidren and her Mother in law, and they LOVED it!

God works through each of us in a different way. I\'m just thankful I can still be of some use for the Lord.

Thank you Jesus for every day that you give me here. Amen.

Jon & Ava Reimer 08/28/2013 13:19:11

Jenneke D, I use the switchedonschool for my 10 year old, ( it's from gr. 3-12 and computer based curriculum). I really like it. And Lifepac for my 7 year old. The Lifepac is a more hands on curriculum.


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