Don’t you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.
One of my favorite lines from a favorite movie — You’ve Got Mail.
I love the pulse of back-to-school season. Here at home, I’ve been reshuffling books, moving last year’s books to lower shelves and replacing them with this year’s stuff. Backpacks have been reorganized. I’ve replenished our stockpile of spiral notebooks and lined paper. And I’ve begun laying out this year’s school schedule.
We are, amazingly, going into our 16th year of homeschooling.
When God called us to homeschool, I really struggled with the decision. My oldest two were in a sweet, small Christian school and we were zoned to an excellent public elementary school. Though I was used to being at home with my kids, taking on their education was seemed gargantuan.
I remember telling Dan that I’d do it, but he’d have to let me get out of the house a lot because I’d be a crazy woman by 5:00 p.m. every day!
But as I prayed through the summer, God clearly called us to home educate. The verse He continued to set before me was Deuteronomy 6:4-7:
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
And so we plunged into the great unknown.
I had no idea what my homeschool philosophy was (that you could even have one!) and I certainly had no long-term vision. I was taking it one year at a time and I had little clue what the routine of our days would look like.
With so much to learn and to figure out that year, the ONE thing I did right was to start our day with Bible time.
I really only had an inkling that we needed to steward our day just like we stewarded our money by setting aside the first part for God.
So I gathered up five little children, put the baby on my lap, and opened the Bible to Genesis 1.
I didn’t have any curriculum. It was pretty simple: we read and asked questions and applied the fresh Word that God had for us that day.
Slowly we worked our way through Genesis and then through the next book and the next.
On so many days, I woke up preoccupied with the day’s long to-do list. Math work loomed. The telephone always rang.
And as the years of homeschooling went on, the lure of pressing academics pulled even more.
But – knowing I needed to but not yet seeing its full impact — I protected that Bible time.
I realized that if nothing else got done that day except our Bible time, it was a good day.
And something happened as we gathered each morning. It became my favorite part of the day.
After getting up and dressed, eating breakfast and doing chores, we pushed pause on the day’s rush to open the Word together. Morning after morning turned into months and then into years.
We memorized verses, worked through a catechism, read and discovered and discussed and applied. We prayed for missionaries, looking up their countries on our globes. We prayed for family and friends and people across the world.
There have been days when we got the phone call and dropped everything to tend to an immediate need. There have been days when academics stopped altogether to work on character and days when science didn’t happen because mom forgot to buy insulted copper wire and a 6-volt battery.
But if we’ve gathered the family together to open the Bible together, it’s a good day.
In the mysterious economy of God, He blesses the rest when we give him the first. And as the days have turned to months and now years, I can see that.
Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Matthew 6:33
P.S. If you’d like encouragement delivered right to your inbox, subscribe here and I’d love to send you my free 100 Days with Christ study & journal.
Lisa
Great post. I think if we all made the Bible time in the morning as a priority like you have, then our own seasons would be amazing also.
Frank
This is a great reminder as we begin our year. Thank you!
Kiki, you’re walking it with your family! These rising seniors…did they have to get so big so quickly?!
There IS no better way to start the day! Thank you for all of the nuggets of wisdom and encouragement you are giving our family through your inspired writing. The Lord is using you in a mighty way. Praying continually for you and your family! xxoo
You are an encourager Rhonda. Thank you always for your prayers. <3
This was soooooo encouraging and convicting… I’m in my first year of being a homeschool mom to my 6th grader with two littles at home as well… What a challenge and reminder of what’s most important in our day!
Laura, What a great thing to learn in your first year! That time I have had with my kids has hands-down been my favorite. Would not trade it for anything. Many blessings for your school year!
I do devotionals with my kids after breakfast. But we didn’t start homeschool that way we grew into it. They are headed to public school for the first time this fall and we’ll be getting up in time to do devos. A kind of firstfruits like you said!
This is a great reminder! This is my second year homeschooling and I’m realizing the importance of putting Bible first and foremost in our schedule. One of things I really loved about your post was you didn’t require a ‘curriculum’ or a purchased system on how, you just opened the word.
Bonnie, yes! We have every now and again used Bible studies or books, but my absolute favorite is straight from the Lord to us; no filter. Thank you so much for your comment and encouragement.