As I posted yesterday, the small homeschool group I belong to had a mom's support meeting last night. The idea around the meeting was that some of the younger homeschooling moms were wanting ideas and suggestions about homeschooling. You can read their questions in the post entitled: Long Day.
Well, the group had a field trip and picnic today. Some of us "older" moms were talking about the topics and it reminded me of the devotion that I read today. It was called, "No pain, no gain" The verse for the day was:
Hebrews 12:11 "All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
The idea behind the devotion was that we would all like to have the faith of Moses, the heart of David, and the spiritual impact of Paul; without going through the 40 years in the wilderness, the blisters from shoveling sheep manure, or the five times Paul was beaten 39 lashes. No pain, no gain. "In spiritual terms, your stomach is the residence where courage resides. Courage makes tough decisions---hard choices. It is said of a courageous person, "He has guts." But our soceity is flabby at the waistline. We don't want to go against the flow; we want comfort."
Now here's the jump....
As I talked with some of the older moms today, we talked about how every child is different, Every household is different. There is no perfect schedule and no "normal" household. Some may look at our kids and see good kids and say "how did you do it?" There was trial and error along the way. We had to find out what works for us. The Lord was growing us when we were young mothers and because things may look easier now, they weren't always easy. We were being grown and disciplined by the Heavenly Father, as we tried to grow and discipline our children that He blessed us with. We are still being stretched as our chlidren may all be potty trained and may have cut all their teeth, but there are different issues and circumstances to deal with as they get older. The gains come, but not without the pain. We are all on the journey and the grass is not always greener. Receivng someones tips or suggestions may not magically make your household calm.
The best solution for raising children and being a godly wife is the PRAY. Pray about everything. The God of all creation wants that close relationship with you. It's when we are seeking HIM and following after HIM, that we are pruned into being more like him and we "yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness."
