Several months ago I decided I wanted to simplify our Bible time and instead of looking for bible curriculum or a picture Bible (which I think are great) I wanted to just sit with my kids and read to them directly out of my Bible. I can't even remember why we started in Mark, other than the fact that I wanted to read one of the Gospels with them. We began reading a short section each day at the breakfast table. As much as I want to say it's been full of wonderful and precious moments, the reality is that many of the times I have had to tell Davis to get back into his seat (about 100 times), or to tell Ellis to stop screaming at all of us, or to ask them to stop asking random questions in the middle of a verse. But, even with devotion time not being a quiet and everyone in their seats folding their hands kind of moment, I still love studying the Bible together.
We just finished Mark last week and so we decided to begin a new Gospel and I chose Luke. We thought it will be interesting to see if there is information given that wasn't included in Mark and vice versa. What really peaked the boys' interest was when we were towards the end of Mark reading about the persecution, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus and noticed some new facts that we had either never read before or never paid close enough attention to. That's what got us flipping around in the other Gospels to see what other information we could gather.
So currently we are in Luke 1 (we take our time) :) and it is talking about the coming of John the Baptist. We got to the part where Mary (pregnant with Jesus) goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth (pregnant with John). Prior to her visit, the angel who came to Mary is talking with her, and the angel says, "Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month." (verse 36)
I thought that was interesting to see that the Bible clearly lets us know that Elizabeth is ahead of Mary in her pregnancy. I think back on my friends who had babies before me and remember how I had about a million and one questions for them. Because they were ahead of me they were the greatest resource I could possibly have! I am so grateful to have others who had gone before me.
This visit between Mary and Elizabeth peaked my interest so I looked in a commentary to see what was said. It talked about that there will always be those that are "6 months" ahead of us. It said to find someone who is a little bit ahead of you in the area about which you're wondering or with which you're struggling, and hang out with them just as Mary did. Verse 56 tells us that "Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about 3 months and then returned home".
I had the opportunity this week to hang out with a mom who is "6 months" ahead of me....in parenting, in homeschooling, in life! It was wonderful!!! In reality she is a few years ahead of me, but she was able to gently speak some truth into my life. As I was sharing about how our school year was going and some of the changes I've made to our schedule and the challenge it is to school with little ones....she simply said "I think you're doing too much". Immediately I felt a weight lifted off of my shoulders. As soon as she said this she started talking about sitting and reading with the kids, which is my very favorite thing to do by the way, and the one thing I seem to never have time to do because of our busy schedule. One of the struggles I had been facing is that I feel like our mornings are spent divided. I try to get the littles entertained in another room, while I sit with the older boys and begin to work through our schoolbooks in the schoolroom. The reality is that we have to get our math done and other important subjects, but there is a vast amount of knowledge gained through reading books and that is something we can do together. In the past it's been a favorite time for us. We all hang out in one space and while the little ones are playing, and sometimes the big ones too, I sit and read and read and read.
This time with my friend gave me insight into something I was really struggling with. She gave me a lot to think about, and I know that the Lord used that time to help me step back and re-evaluate what is working, and what is NOT! :)
Last night I stayed up until midnight researching, looking for, and ordering books that we could use. I found a list that corresponds to our history subjects for our co-op and is already scheduled week by week. I am so excited to make it a point to allow reading to take center stage again with the kids.
We went to church last night and it was a great teaching by our youth pastor on David and Goliath. I would love to do a post about just that alone later. Several things he said really hit home, but one of the quotes he shared was....
God does not call the qualified,
God qualifies the call.
I don't have to be qualified to teach our kids, but God called me to do this and I will not be alone. He will use different methods to support me, strengthen me, encourage me, challenge me, teach me, guide me, etc., etc. This week he used a friend, next week it may be something different. My prayer is that I keep my eyes focused on the Lord so that when He speaks I hear him.
And just because I loved getting to worship to this song last night I wanted to share this. Enjoy!
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