A Homeschooling Mom's Anxieties
...and how I deal with it.

    While planning another year of homeschooling that old familiar fear seems to creep back into my thoughts and heart. The magnitude of the responsibility that comes with it brings more than just cold sweats and self doubt. It is a burden, a burden of fear I have to bear...or do I?

    Fear of failing as a teacher and parent. All the fears both big and small steal my sleep and threaten my peace.  I want our kids to grow up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. I also want them to know all their ABCs, 123s, Psalms 23 and not to forget the Constitution and Bill of Rights too!

   I have 3 homeschoolers and an overactive 2 year old who is a full time job in itself. How do I manage my anxieties and fears? The Lord has taught me much in my 5 short years of homeschooling.

 ** First of all. I take my burdens to the Lord and leave it there.
I call upon the Lord, I take my burden to Him in prayer.
  "Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”
He commands us to FEAR NOT.
“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
  So in that bundle of a burden I leave my anxieties and fear, I hand it over to the Lord and leave it there.

 **Second I do what is taught in the Bible to DO.
   "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory,  ...Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.”
    I search for Him early in the morning, before the day gets busy.
    I plan my days ahead of time but to rely on the Lord each and everyday I have to start it early in prayer and in Bible reading.
  To do what is right I can not wake up and check Facebook, I have to wake up and search for God’s face and read HIS book! All the answers to absolutely EVERYTHING, is in that.

   Then I think of Him throughout the day. I listen to hymns, speak to Him. Talk about Him, my lips praise him and His lovingkindness, power and glory. I ask for a verse or a song that will help me get through the day, then I meditate on it all day long, with joy in my heart that shines through my face.
 

 ** Third and lastly. I TEACH.
  "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 thy way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up."
 
I want my kids to see me rely on the Lord and praise Him throughout the day, sometimes I pray and sing out loud, and when we come to a problem that I do not know how to fix, we pray for His guidance!
    While teaching my children the ABC’s and 123’s I teach them God. God’s grace, God’s goodness, God’s wrath, God’s judgment, God’s sacrifice, and God’s love.  I teach them to be thankful. As I teach, I also learn.
     My Mom always taught us to be thankful in EVERYTHING! Sometimes it is not fun to open that math book, or history book and do reading and writing and arithmetic, but thank the Lord for the ability to do just that! Brains to learn, hands to hold that book, eyes to read, a chair to sit in and a belly full of food that feeds our growing minds. Now I teach that to my own kids. Thanksgiving and praise goes along with learning and growing.
    It's hard to drown in a puddle of fear when you are soaring in ocean of praise!

     I have all I need to fight that burden of fear, and when the devil tries to throw it back on my shoulders, I get on my knees again and hand it to the Lord. Because it is no longer mine to bear!