We have all wished, at one time or another that our children would just FOCUS! However, do you think God has ever wished for our focus? Where is your focus? As home educators, we can easily get focused on what the world, state, relatives, etc. believe we should teach our children. We tend to (at least on some level) focus on how our children compare with those who attend public or private school. We focus our curiosity on how well our children would score on state mandated standardized tests. We focus self-evaluation on whether or not we, as their teacher, are providing them with all the tools, skills, and information they need to be successful in the world.

Recently, God gently revealed that, although the above-mentioned concerns can be valuable to a degree, we, as teaching parents, have to focus on ONLY ONE objective to ensure the 100% success of our children!

Please allow me to take a few moments to help you, who have already grown up, to fully grasp the benefits of first learning this concept as a child. Have you ever been frustrated with your children? Sure you have, and so have I. Okay, have you ever been angry with your husband? Yep, me too. One more... have you ever been exhausted with the mundane tasks of wife and motherhood? Yeah buddy... we all have. However, during those times, where was our focus? How much valuable time and energy has already been lost in your lifetime during your own seasons of "unfocusedness"? Do we want our children to experience that same unnecessary loss?

So, what does our own focus have to do with helping our children be 100% successful? Understand that I am not talking about the kind of temporary focus it takes to complete multiple digit multiplication, long division, or even quadratic equations. I am, however, talking about a focus that will allow them to accomplish their ONLY assignment while upon this earth... completing God's plan for their lives.

We all know that it is easy to tell our children what they should or should not do. We all know that it is easy to buy the perfect book for them to read that explains how others have chosen the right path. We all know that it is easy to take them to church and allow the preachers and teachers to give them theological directions through life's journey. However, we are called to teach our children God's ways "talking about them when you sit at home, when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up" Deuteronomy 11:19. This scripture does not instruct us to just tell our children or give our children a book or even send them to be taught by others. Scripture does not meekly request that we teach our children only if we feel up to it. Scripture does not quietly plea that we teach our children only if our own lives are smoothly sailing along. Scripture does not timidly imply that we should only teach our children if we are not too tired. Instead, this scripture commands us to do the job our selves anyhow, anytime, and anywhere!