Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12
We started back to school in July, but have missed several days due to a little bit of everything. I knew that this tended to happen during July and August, so I didn’t fret too much. This is one of the reasons we start early.
We also like to take quite a bit of time off during Christmas and finish by the end of April or beginning of May. Without starting when we do, it would be rushing for us to get everything accomplished and our hours in. My boys don’t complain about the start date because they see what they’re able to do when they have their time in before it’s absolutely necessary.
Our school doesn’t have excuses like being sick, going to a doctor’s appointment, a death in the family, or even delays for snow. The benefits for us far outweigh those minor issues, but it’s something we do need to take into consideration. Having the extra time already in allows us to roll with the punches when something unexpected comes up. I can’t handle the stress of scrambling to get in hours at the end of the year; I’d much rather be on vacation!
I knew that at this point, it was necessary for me to pull out the calendar and actually schedule our days for the year. We knew what days we’d like off for holidays, birthdays, and planned vacations. It’s beneficial for my boys to see what they need to do in order for them to get their time in by the end of April. This keeps schoolwork out of weekends (except homework) and during those special times we have planned off.
This really gives us motivation to get in an hour or two here and there. By doing that, it allows them to take an extra day off or even erase days to the end of the year. We’re all working together to reach a goal instead of the teacher (making it even harder because I’m “Mom”) dictating the schedule. They don’t want those days off now when it might cut into their summer break!
We finished the calendar before my oldest went back to bed with a sore throat. There wasn’t any need for us to panic because we’re missing school, since we already have it taken care of! I can only imagine the overwhelming doubt that would come over me if I thought I wouldn’t be able to get everything covered I wanted to for the year or wouldn’t have all the hours in we need.
Flexibility to our calendar and an action plan allows us to reach our school goals. This is a necessity in our life in order to homeschool successfully. I know what it takes in order to keep things from feeling out of control on the school side, but what about the spiritual side? Am I so organized with my time there?
It saddens me how it’s normal to push things back with God. Just like having a set number of days in a school year, we have only so many days here on Earth. We seem to think that because there isn’t someone holding us accountable now for the time that we’re wasting with Him, we have free reign to push things back another day, another week, another month, another year…until we’re just out of time!
There’s so much that we’ll miss from Him and He’ll miss from us if we don’t make it a priority now. It’s never too late to go to Him, but don’t wait until your last days and cram because you simply didn’t plan ahead. Sure, like our evaluators, He’ll help pull our stuff together at the last minute, but what awesome things we’d be missing along the way!
Today, make Him as much of a priority as getting everything else done by your deadlines. You’ll find that all your other priorities just got much easier.
