Who Inspires Your Homeschool?

This week I've been reflecting on who inspires me as I homeschool these two cuties. I'd love to hear who inspires your homeschooling!

The Holy Spirit

My number one source of inspiration as a homeschooling mom is the Holy Spirit.

There are moments when I want to scrap my plans for our school year and throw my money into a snazzy, new curriculum, and the Holy Spirit whispers, "Stop. Stay the course."

There are days when my five year old begs for a phonics lesson at 7 am, and it's not in the schedule, and I haven't even had my coffee yet, and the Holy Spirit nudges, "Just go with it. You'll be glad you did."

There are times when I am frustrated with how little progress we're making, and it feels like every little thing is taking 1000 times longer than it needs to, and I want to push my kids to just get with the program, and the Holy Spirit invites, "Slow down. Step back. Go for a walk. Get some fresh air. Trust me."

And there are seasons when I just want to pull the covers over my head and I can't bear the thought of facing one more day, and the Holy Spirit encourages me, "You don't have to do it all. Just take one small step today."

I cannot imagine undertaking this enormous endeavor of homeschooling without the all-wise, never-failing friend who is the Holy Spirit by my side.

Other Moms

My second source of inspiration for our homeschool is the other wise and wonderful mamas who have gone before me on this homeschooling journey.

The mothers who have made it to the other side and lived to tell about it, like Sally Clarkson and Susan Wise Bauer. Homeschool pioneers who have discipled their children to maturity and now share their hard-earned wisdom with us younger mamas here and here.

The life-giving, joy-chasing ladies of the Wild + Free community who remind me that planting small seeds of truth and beauty each day over the long haul will yield a rich harvest.

From Sarah Mackenzie of the Read-Aloud Revival I've learned that sometimes all you need is a 25 cent spiral notebook to bring order to the chaos. That if you have more items on your to-do list than hours in the day, some of what you're doing is not God's plan for your life. And that a good read-aloud can turn even the worst day around.

Through Rachel Rainbolt of the Sage Parenting I've been reminded that just because something has been taught doesn't mean it has been learned and that it's a healthy connection with our children above all that will serve them as they grow.

What I'm Reading

Lastly, I draw inspiration from the books I'm reading to feed my Spirit and expand my thinking.

An example from one of my current reads:

I got my hands on a copy of The Eternal Current by Aaron Niequist when it first released this in August and I quickly realized I wanted incorporate some of his ideas into our daily Bible reading and prayer times.

The central theme of Niequist's book is an invitation to participate in the life of the Kingdom, which he describes as follows:

"A great and mighty River flows throughout history toward the healing and restoration of all things. If you have read the Bible, you know how the story ends: love conquers death, a new heaven and earth are established, and the God of love and justice finally puts all things to rights. Our Creator is carrying every corner of creation into a beautiful future. Jesus Christ referred to this River as the kingdom of God. Jesus Christ invites us to join God in the River of grace for the sake of the world. It's the flow of real rest, true freedom, and recovering our lives as well as the life of the world. It is pure gift, but it is not passive. As we follow Christ, we get to participate in that eternally flowing good work through practices that allow God's Spirit to do what only God can do."

One of these practices is an embodied expression of the Lord's Prayer, one where we use the movement of our bodies to express the prayer of our hearts. Moses and Abigail have loved adding this embodied prayer to our morning quiet time. You can see Aaron demonstrating the prayer with his own young children in the video below if you'd like to add this practice to your homeschool day.

Who do you look to for inspiration?



Lord's Prayer with gestures at Mars Hill from A New Liturgy on Vimeo.