Sometimes I find myself living in the future. Like instead of focusing on what is right in front of me, I'm planning what I can do this afternoon or how I can make tomorrow better and more productive. Do you ever do that? Maybe for you it's focusing on the future so much that you feel the future is better than now. Maybe it's focusing on the past and its good times or even its mistakes. The thing I realize with myself though is that, while I'm so busy planning how I can make tomorrow better, I forget to live in today. I think about the possibilities to serve God tomorrow, but I'm not fully focusing on the opportunities to be a good sister and daughter, to be a loving friend, to grow closer to God, to witness to others, and to learn more that are right under my nose. That can be quite literal too! Sometimes, I do things like sit at the table with my family too busy thinking about how I could get more school done tonight or how I could be a good friend to someone at work or church, that I'm not focusing on spending time with the people around the table with me in that moment. Or maybe I'm watching a video for school, but instead of focusing on all that I'm getting to learn from it, I'm thinking about the neat things I might get to do and learn if I go to Bible college next year. That just sounds counterproductive, doesn't it? Why do I do this? I can't help but realize, especially lately, that it can put me in a position that is where the devil might like me to be. It's a place where I'm too preoccupied thinking about doing great things later that I'm not fully invested in the moment I'm living in. "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." ~Matthew 6:33-34
We only have one life. These moments with our siblings, our parents, our co-workers, our friends, (maybe for you your husband or kids or nieces/nephews), and even with doing our schoolwork or chores or whatever work you have in your life, won't come back. Let's cherish each of these moments and the people in front of us in each second of our life. And let's start today. What can we do in the moment we're living in to invest in people and make it count for Christ? Do you ever struggle with living in the moment? Is there anything specifically that helps you to overcome this?
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There are alot of myths about homeschooling out there. I think they've been debunked more often now that homeschooling has become so popular, but they're still out there. I've even heard some of these in the past four years that I've been homeschooled! So, with the help of my own experience, researching online, and asking some homeschooled writing friends, I've gotten to compile a list of common myths about homeschooling. Here they are! 1) Homeschoolers are socially awkward and have no friends.This one is so false though! By being homeschooled, we have the opportunity to be around all sorts of people by doing things during the day like attending homeschool groups, participating in clubs like 4-h, taking classes outside our home, volunteering in church ministry or in the public, or having a part-time job. We can also join after-school programs or sports teams. Homeschooling can actually give us the opportunity to be even more socialized than those who go to school, because we tend to have more opportunity to be around people of all different ages. 2) Homeschoolers don't like being homeschooled. I can think of three people right now that didn't/don't like being homeschooled, and I know alot more homeschoolers than three! Each of those three were also kids that went to school at first and began homeschooling when they were older (like I did). Most homeschoolers that I've met like being homeschooled and don't sit around wishing they could go to public school. Homeschooling is just alot of fun. We tend to love being able to learn in our own style; know our siblings well; and go out in the middle of the day to do things like going on field trips, volunteering places, or going to the park. 3) It's expensive.
4) Parents can't teach advanced classes. Homeschool parents aren't always the most confident in their teaching skills. Things can get even more tricky when it comes to middle school and high school classes. Something about a teacher with a degree gives people confidence. But, speaking as a high school homeschooler, my parents know me better than a teacher at school would. They can better match things to how I like to learn, which gives them an advantage that a teacher often doesn't have or can't take because of needing to focus on the other students as well. Combine this advantage parents have with the fact that there are so many resources out there to help with advanced classes (including friends or family who specialize in certain areas) and homeschoolers can have pretty awesome classes, even if their parents don't know hardly anything about the topic. 5) Homeschoolers are disadvantaged at college or in the workforce.
6) They are behind in learning compared to other kids their age. Statistically, it is actually quite the opposite! I won't get into all the statistics and all, but it is interesting to read about if you want to explore that topic online. Being able to learn from someone who is able to focus on you and the way you learn can help tremendously when it comes to how well you do learning and retaining material. 7) Homeschoolers are nerds. 8) Homeschoolers are lazy and have no schedule to their day. The lack of a schedule can be seen as a pro to homeschooling, but in reality, it doesn't really work that well. I can't think of a single homeschooler I know right now that isn't trying to make their school smooth through the use of a schedule. Homeschoolers tend to be busy people (sometimes that can become a problem that we have to control!) who have to have the self-discipline to manage their schedules and get their school done while doing the extracurricular things that they still want to do. 9) They can't form a line or a circle. Okay, this one might be true in some cases. I asked in a group with some other homeschoolers about what came to their mind when they thought of homeschooling myths, and this was one that got mentioned. It's not necessarily that homeschoolers can't though. It's more that they just don't usually do it and might find it to be more awkward or to take more effort. But I don't think this one really contributes much to college or job success, do you? ;P 10) Homeschoolers just read from books all day to learn. 11) Homeschooling takes too much time. Homeschooling can be just as short or as long as you want to make it, as long as everyone is still learning what they need to learn. Some families take just as long as a traditional school day, others take longer than a traditional school day, and still others may choose to focus on it for three or four hours and then pour time into other things. How long it takes is really up to you. Have you ever heard these homeschooling myths? Are there any others that you've wondered about or have heard someone else discussing?
March was a busy month! It felt like there was more variety to the schedule, not to mention the variety of spring coming in. Some days were colder, but then the last couple days or so were pretty warm. Birds are flying around and making nests. We've even seen some go into the bird houses that we hung up a few weeks ago. But anyway, here are some of my favorites from the month of March! I'd love it if you shared some of yours down in the comments! Some Favorite Happenings
The couple that was going to host it at their house are known for giving birthday cards to the kids and teens in our church with gift cards in them. It's been a special thing for the last few years. :D We found at the teen event, when one of our youth leaders brought out a cake, that she had ordered a cake for just all the teen's birthdays to have at the event. So we still had it at the teen event. That just struck me as special. <3
Later, I noticed that the bird was back on the porch, like Blaze had gone and gotten it like "You forgot it! You didn't finish it yet!" So I got it with a plastic bag (which I then threw away in the outside trash bin). He was rolling over all happy-like on his back over the spot where the bird had been like he was quite pleased with his gift. :P A Favorite Book
A Favorite Verse"Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began" ~2 Timothy 1:9 A Favorite SongWhat were some of your favorites from the month of March? What did you do for Easter/Resurrection Sunday?
Last week was a different kind of week for me, which is probably alot of the reason I didn't get a blog post finished up for this week. So, today, I was just gonna share a verse that I was reading last week that caught my attention. Then, Lord willing, we'll have our monthly round-up next week and then that post I was working on for today! "Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him." ~Isaiah 43:7 Is there a specific verse that has stood out to you lately?
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