Redeeming the Time in Our Homeschool. How the Lord taught me the truth of this verse: But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Matthew 6:33

I remember waking up for the 59th time in one night and it was now daytime, so stay awake I must. Coffee in, parenting out.

Running on 4 hours of accumulated sleep per 24h wasn’t ideal but it was the only option since I had MADE THE CHOICE TO RAISE MY CHILDREN. That plus being a full-time caregiver of my disabled children, homeschooling them all, and not losing my mind. How was this possible?!

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I knew it had to be possible because I believed that it was God’s will and He knew what He was doing when He said things like “bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4) and “thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” (Deuteronomy 6:7)

And He has also promised that “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”. (Philippians 4:7) and “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” Isaiah 26:3

If all of these things were true (both the raising up of my own children and the keeping of my sanity) then I needed to find a way to do them well. But, I felt hopeless.

My days were full. I was super busy.

Even though I literally stayed home with my kids I was pulled in a thousand directions at once. I was cooking every meal + snack, cleaning, doing laundry, teaching phonics and math, reading out loud, changing dozens of diapers, being pregnant and giving birth to babies (8 in 9 years’ time), running an online business, and being a wife.

My mind was exhausted, let alone my body…

Articles and social media said I needed self-care and alone time but that wasn’t practical or feasible most days. Yeah, I went to the grocery store alone once a week and counted that towards both, but who was I kidding? Grocery shopping was stressful in and of itself, so that was barely any help but rather just another kind of mental/physical burden.

In the midst of all of it, I clung to a few truths.

• I knew I loved my husband and children.
• I knew I wanted to be a godly wife and mother.
• I knew that God’s Word was solid Truth.
• I knew that in a world of loud voices, His was The only Truth that mattered.

So, somewhere in the chaotic days/nights His voice made its way through the noise and whispered in my heart.

The joy of the LORD was my strength. I needed to claim that for myself.

I saw a vision of joy, peace, and calm inside of me no matter what was happening around me. I grabbed hold of that and clung to it, making it my own.

I knew the answer to my being able to not only survive – but thrive – as a wife and mom were in God’s Word. He had set the standard and He had provided the way to meet those expectations.

I looked at my life and saw every second taken, packed full of caring for the needs of my husband, children, and home. How could I carve out time to read God’s Word? However, I knew that I HAD to be in His Word to make the most of my day, time, and life!

Redeeming the Time in Our Homeschool

Desperate, I started reading/hearing the Bible in any way I could.

• I put the Bible going on audio while I was doing other things.
• I determined to start our homeschool day by reading the Bible, just one verse.
• I started writing down Bible verses and taping them on my kitchen cupboards and bathroom mirror.
• I used an online Bible to quickly look up a word in the Bible to read several verses related to the word (hope, strength, joy, etc.).
• And, then I started expanding our morning Bible reading to an entire chapter before starting our homeschool day.
• Eventually, I was reading at least one chapter every morning AND evening!

And I started realizing something amazing.

I did not lose time in my day. I did not have less time for everything else.

In fact, I seemed to gain time, or at least be more productive with my time. It felt as though taking the time to read God’s Word multiplied my time.

It was like I was giving Jesus my little broken pieces of bread and fish and He multiplied them into more than enough! It was as though, He was redeeming the time.

Not only that but I was being transformed from the inside out. I was trading my frustration, irritability, and grumpiness for a joyful, meek, and quiet spirit that felt peace in the chaos.

It was a slow process. Sometimes it was 2 steps forward and 1 step back. But, I felt the difference. I knew that the more time I spent in God’s Word, the better I felt and acted.

It never subtracted from my ability to fulfill my roles and obligations, it only increased my abilities to accomplish more … or, to think more clearly so as to rid myself of unnecessary expectations and standards. Living for God was all I wanted to do!

He had made me a wife and given me children and He was the source of both the expectations and abilities I was meant to fulfill. The more I gave myself to Him and others, the more He gave back to me.

I am now able to say that I have experienced His faithfulness through losing my mom, son, and daughter. I have experienced His faithfulness through broken hearts and long days/nights.

Clinging to Him was never the wrong answer. Living for Him has been hard but always the best.

There is hope for every worn-out, worn-thin, and worn-through Mama/wife. Dedicate your time and life to Jesus and He will never leave you or forsake you.

Numbers 6:

²⁴ The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:

²⁵ The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:

²⁶ The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

So, when you do not have time for anything, just read the Bible.

When you don’t have alone time, just read the Bible.

When you can’t get up before your children because they are the ones waking you up all night, just read the Bible.

One of the best things to do with your children is, just read the Bible. They will see where and to Whom you go for strength, joy, peace, hope, and the answers to hard times.

This was the start of me being intentional with my time and starting our homeschool day with purpose. This was the start of our Morning Time.

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