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Has it been one of those days? Maybe weeks?? Maybe months? Possibly your ENTIRE life?? Do you feel like you could just give up sometimes? I know going through the pressures that life can bring can sometimes wreak havoc on your soul. That is why it is SOOOOOO important that we get in touch with the Lord each day.
It isn’t enough to just go to church every Sunday and take that ALONE to feed and nourish your soul. Can you go by eating on Sunday and then letting that hold you through till the next Sunday rolls around? Just as your body needs literal food and water to replenish lost nutrients so does your soul need a continuous stream of life from God.
I have been personally guilty of this in my own life. I just thought I was too busy to take the time to get into God’s word. Yes, I was busy, I had many little ones to constantly take care of, schooling of the older ones, and a household to run. Oh wait, I also had a husband that needed his wife. Seems that I could never take the time to get ALL that I wanted done in a day’s time. I frustrated myself over and over again. Took my “crying” days and days of feeling like I didn’t want to do anything but just snuggle up on the couch and watch movies—to drown out my weariness.
But those days are gone. I don’t feel the need to be sad. I don’t feel the need to think my life is TOO hard. I changed the way I did things by instilling NEW HABITS into my life.
I now make it a habit of waking up each morning and taking my time in the Word. I found a great broadcasting show that comes on each and everyday at the same time. I KNOW that if I do not wake up I will miss my time in the word. I have even stepped it up a little more and decided to go to bed earlier—my old blog time, and get up before my bible time to do my blog. I know that if I DON’T wake up before my bible study show, then I WILL miss out on my blogging time. My blogging time is something I enjoy very much. I look forward to encouraging and sharing what it is God has in our lives to encourage others.
But it all had to start by changing a habit in my life. Yes, it was hard waking up at 5 each morning. But was it impossible? No it just took the habit of doing it over and over again. If I do sleep in, I miss the opportunity to do my writing and that usually encourages me even more to get up the next day.
We are all motivated by our successes in life. What drives you? What is it that you enjoy doing? Finding what you do enjoy and make time to do it is important.

There is always a way, we just need to adjust our old habits and make some new ones.

What we need is a RESTORATION of our soul. We need to be built back up from the inside out. It doesn’t help to start working backwards. We need to get into the Word and let God work on us from the inside so that the outside of us can get fixed. If we are getting in the Word each day, Our bodies are eventually NOT going to feel like they need to take days or weeks off from “reality” because life is too hard to cope with.
I love Psalm 23 and used to have it on our bathroom walls which I could read each day. I used to think it dealt with death because they use it at every funeral I have ever attended. But I got a new vision for what it means.
Living in the mountains, I enjoy being out in the morning when the sun is just starting to peak up over the mountain tops. It is a beautiful sight to behold. It starts out all dark and then as the light starts to come up over the peak, the LIGHT starts to fill in on the darkness. You get to see the true beauty of the mountain tops and all its glory.
Think of these verses as you are a sheep in life. Having your shepherd lead you along this rocky path of life.  You are tired and hungry walking among all the rocks and crevices which are the bumps of life trying to reach the top of the mountaintop. He is constantly in charge so you have no fear of wolves coming to attack you.  You just carry on letting Him lead.    Suddenly you come up over the side of the mountain and you look out over the horizon and see the sun shining among all the grass.  You made it, you are NOW able to lie down and rest on all this wonderful grass.  You eat from this bountiful feast and drink from the cool water.

The struggles of our daily life can be hard, know that you can take comfort in your shepherd who is leading you.

Psalm 23

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
 I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me  in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

It’s back to school time.  We have enjoyed the looooong break that we took to enjoy the holidays.  For some of my children, it was a welcomed break that led to a renewed spirit and a willingness to continue with their school work and get it done.  For others…..it has only brought more pencil tapping, more daydreaming, and more of me constantly nagging to get their work done!!!

Why is it not ALL children learn the same way??  Why can’t ALL my children learn from a textbook and work out the required problems for the day in a timely manner and somewhat enjoy it?  Guess if life was easy, everyone would take this route.

Unfortunately some of our children may not focus, maybe they are ADD or ADHD.  I am NOT big on labels.  I am sure you could label a few of our family  members as having ADD or ADHD easily, but do we?? No, we are spent on knowing that Lord has knit each and every one of us with the exact intrique details necessary for us to fulfill our roles in life.

Having being labeled with ADD or ADHD is NOT a bad thing.  Let me say that again, HAVING ADD or ADHD is NOT a BAD THING.  There let me get that out…….there  is so much negativity brought upon by the “labels” that doctors put onto children.  They just want to drug up your child so that they will sit like programmed robots in a classroom day after day.  They are setting up our world for a complete uniform society.  But that is NOT what makes our world work.

Most that have ADD or ADHD are the creative ones in our world.  They are the movers and the shakers in our society.  When they see something not work, (or work) their brains will figure out a different and sometimes better way to do it.  They are the inventors of the world.  They usually have LOTS of unspent energy.  Which works great for being on the go and doing stuff.  Who wants to sit around all day??  They want to get out into life—and enjoy it!!!  They are the “friends” that you WANT to hang out with because they are fun to be around.

Okay, I got it, my child is fun, and will do many creative things in his/her lifetime, but what about now??  What do I do as a homeschooling mom?  How do I cope with a child that has a hard time focusing? Help is on the way….

 GRACE

I think the single most important thing we can do for our children that have a hard time concentrating is show them grace.  Think of how much grace the Father gives to us when we are failing at something in our life. Know that your child is going to need a little bit of adjusting and time to get back into the routine of school. SMILE—–do this more than ever now—fake it if you have to.

The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;

Numbers 6:25

PATIENCE

When they don’t get something—DON’T belittle them.  Say, “I know its difficult to understand, let’s try it another way.”  When you see them not focusing, DON’T YELL—take a breath and SMILE gently remind them to keep working.

DISTRACTION FREE ZONE

In our home, it is sometimes difficult to keep distractions to a minimum when we are doing school.  When I see that a child is having a difficult time understanding something and there are multiple children making loud noises, I try and say,”shhhhhhhhh, we need to be quiet while I do this lesson with John.”  Sometimes little ones need that reminder as well.  SHUT the MUSIC off.  Even having Christian music going on in the background can be distracting for some.  If you can’t find a centralized location that will work, let them go into a separate room to do their school work.  I know of some families that give their children those sound proof headphones—-hmmm can I get a pair of those?!?!!?!

I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.

1 Corinthians 7:35

BREAKS

If you find your child is still not focusing and having a hard time doing his/her work DON’T be tempted to tell them to buckle down for the hundredth time.  Tell them to get up and run around the house 2 times.  Have them get up and do 20 jumping jacks.  When my son was younger for his spelling words, I would have him start at one end of the house and spell them one by one.  As he spelled them correctly he could take a step forward.  Play catch with a tennis ball. Bounce it to them as you are giving them a math fact.  They bounce it back as they give you the correct answer.  I have found that the amount of time, I did yell (yes I know I terrible?!?!?) it was taking more time to get them to finish.  If I just gave them a break and we moved for a minute, then went back to book work—it helped regain their focus so much better.

SCHOOL DIFFERENTLY

If you have a child that has a hard time doing book work and that is all you have ever done—-change it up.  Play some games, do some hands on schooling, watch a movie, or go on a field trip.  Children can learn things in so many different ways.  Take ALL of your opportunities and turn them into a learning experience.

SNACKS

I assume that we are not starving our children deliberately.  But sometimes I know I have one that will choose not to eat if they do not like that particular meal.  If I am aware of this, I make them grab something to eat, even if it is a few bites of something just to get some nutrients flowing into their bodies.  If you see them daydreaming and it has been a few hours that you have eaten—give them a handful of healthy snacks.

Every second brings a fresh beginning

Every hour holds a new promise

Every night our dreams can bring new hope

Every day can be what you choose to make it.