As a homeschooling mom, the chaos of our days, fullness of our schedules, and mounting responsibilities can seriously drown out our JOY. In fact we don’t even look for it in our days, we just hope to make it through until bedtime and have done at least something school related, something house related, and pray that our kids aren’t losing brain cells from all the video games they are playing while we try to have a break from the noise and just get that laundry pile folded that has been on the couch for too many days. There has to be a better way, we think, then we binge watch Netflix after the kids go to bed and wake up groggy and cranky in the morning from lack of sleep, and do it all over again. Dear friend, it is time to stop the madness. There is a better way.

Let me just preface what I am about to say by saying that I do NOT have it all figured out, it is a daily struggle, a daily decision to choose the better way. Maybe you are the super organized planning type and have your days scheduled out way in advance, you follow your schedule but at the end of the day you still feel lost and joyless. Or maybe you are a fly by the seat of your pants type, wondering at the end of the day what happened, and how you can possibly do it again tomorrow. Whichever type you are or somewhere in between, I want to encourage you that there is hope in this homeschooling journey. You can get your joy back, or find it for the first time!

As we work to create the perfect education plan, home schedule, and life for our family, we forget about ourselves. And that is a serious problem. So today I ask you to ask yourself, what do I need in my day to be fulfilled? Remember the jar of rocks and sand analogy. After you put in the big rocks the small rocks, and the pebbles, the sand and water all fit to fill the jar. If you try to put the big rocks in last, they don’t fit. Those big rocks are so important and when we forget them, we face burn out.

The biggest rock first. We all know what the biggest rock needs to be: our time alone with the Lord. I admit, I fail at this! So many days I miss time with my Savior, I let life crowd in and forget to seek Him. We will not have peace and joy in our days if we do not first seek Him. Now when I say first, your main quiet time does not have to be first thing in the morning. For many of us this is not possible. However, if we can grab a few minutes first thing in the morning, a verse to meditate on, a prayer, so we can start off soaking Him in. Don’t stress about it, this doesn’t have to be super formal. It can be while you are in the shower or making breakfast for your family. Have some verses on card that you can read and recite, a prayer book to read over a prayer, to just get your mind and heart focused on Him. I also encourage you to do the same thing at the end of the day before you drift off to sleep. Again, do not let this stress you out! And don’t beat yourself up if you skip a day. Remember His mercies are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness!

Now to the rest of your big rocks. These are NOT your kids’ school schedule or any housekeeping things, or even that big event or field trip you have planned. These are the things that will fill you up. Things that make you excited, that bring you joy! Grab a piece of paper and think about what you would do on a daily basis, or even a new skill you would learn or a job you would have if you could. If it was just you, what would you do? Now some of these big rocks won’t be every day things. But they need to be a part of your life at regular intervals to keep your joy. Here is what I mean by that. Two of my big rocks are reading and going to the beach. Now I can probably find time to read each day, but we can’t make a trip to the beach every day, maybe not even every week, but if I wait for that time to come, and am not proactive about making it happen, it might not happen at all, or maybe only once a year. So what is on your paper, what are your big rocks? Is it working out every day? Devouring that novel that just came out from a series you love? Is it taking a class, earning a degree, attending a ballet, going to a museum? What are your big rocks, for you? I’d love to hear what your big rocks are in the comments! Next post we will talk about the big rocks of our school days. What do we want in our school days to bring us joy?