Do you know what it is to be unrestrained?  I do.  My husband says without him in my life, I am a loose cannon.  You just never know what I might try to shoot at next… 

When I don’t have a clearly delineated vision guiding my decision-making, my life becomes chaotic.  I waste time looking at all my options and heading down paths with no destination in mind.  I meander aimlessly from day to day and accomplish nothing of eternal or even temporal value.  I become “double-minded” and  “unstable in all my way,” rethinking decisions, choices, and options over and over again and growing weary and discouraged. 

The goals I’ve listed corral me in.  They are the parameters I need for assessing my options – and not just whether to home school at all or not; but also in considering these things: 

• What curriculum to use
• What courses of study to cover
• What activities to engage in

A Vision Fuels Our Motivation  

Further, these goals get me refocused when I am discouraged by the day-to-day grind.  They are the source of my motivation.  I would have skipped labor during the birth of my children if there had been a way (I asked!) –but I chose to go through it time and again because I had a vision of the joy at the end of the journey. 

The same holds true in choosing to home school (some parallels to labor can be drawn, I must admit).  But the picture I envision of my children grown, loving to learn, and serving the Lord from the sincerity of their hearts fuels my motivation.  And that energizes me daily to do what I can to make that vision a reality. 

One More Time, Class  

If you are just getting started home schooling, or even if you have been at it awhile, have you determined your destination yet?  You can’t skip this part and hope to succeed.  This isn’t a self-help strategy –it’s a biblical principle.