by Christa Svoboda

This time of the year always gives me reason to pause. It usually comes in waves: when creating our daily schedule, when praying over the hymns we’ll be singing, when looking with great expectancy at the stack of books we’ll read together, and finally, that night before school starts and our first day of school activities are out and ready for the fresh start of the new year.

How could the Lord choose me for such a great responsibility?

I am obediently living my life according to His command as I am discipling while we walk along the road, when we lie down, and get up (Deut. 6:7 NIV). As I am in awe of this privilege, I can also feel the weight of the importance this calling has!

• What if I don’t do enough?

• What if one child doesn’t get enough of me?

• What if we’re overcommitted without enough “home” in our “homeschool”? or What if I’m missing a greatly valuable opportunity?

It is in this moment that I must take every thought captive as Paul commands (2 Cor. 10:5). I do not have to “what if” about any of these! I can hold my well laid plans up to the standard the Lord laid out for us instead of mine.    

Do I not claim to believe that He is my Wonderful Counselor (Is. 9:6)? That He directs my path (Prov. 16:9)? And that I carry His easy yoke (Matt. 11:28-30)? 

Jesus, our Master Teacher, told us to “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you as well” (Matt. 6:33).

Do my plans reflect His clear direction? When am I seeking Him? Have I planned my own time with the Lord into my days? If I’m expecting my time with the Lord to slip into moments where I happen to be free, it will be missed. Martha is a prime example of this (and possibly looks more like us than we would like to admit). When Jesus was literally AT HER HOUSE He told her, “You are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken from her” (Luke 10:41-42). We have access to sit still with the Holy Spirit, open up the Word of God, read the very words of Jesus, and speak to God at any time. Perhaps it is the confidence that He is so very accessible to us that causes us to not prioritize our time with Him as we should. 

Our selflessness as mothers also shapes our priorities in ways that may not actually be obedient to the Lord’s leadings. As a homeschool mom, I have learned time and time again to put aside my own selfish desires as I serve my family. But if my time with the Lord has taken a backseat, my plans are not in accordance with His directions that He gives us in Deuteronomy 6. As referenced earlier, we live Deuteronomy 6:7 out well as homeschool moms when we are discipling our children in the ways of the Lord from morning to night, in and out of our home.  But verse 6 begins with a clear instruction, “These commandments that I give to you today are to be on your hearts” (Deut. 6:6). They are to be on our hearts first! It is after this, in verse 7, that we’re instructed how to impress them on our children.  

I have heard it said that we can’t pour from an empty cup, and I can attest to that truth. When my cup is dry and I am not going to the Father to fill it first, my children get leftovers at best. I want them to drink from the living water that overflows from the fullness of the Lord’s work in me.

Once I intentionally plan when I am spending time each day with the Lord, I must consider when I am leading my children to the feet of Jesus. I’ve considered their learning styles and areas of interest as I chose curriculum for our reading, writing, and arithmetic, but have I taken seriously our study of God’s Word? If someone asked my children what we do every day, would the studying and memorizing of God’s Word be quick on their tongue? Or, has it lost its primary position?  

Seek first … and all these things will be added. May we not get it backwards because we fail to plan well for ourselves and for our children. May we not put “all these things” first and hope to slide in “His kingdom and His righteousness” where space allows. 

May our pauses at the start of this new year be Holy pauses. As we pause and consider the deep and lasting value of this Holy work and high calling the Lord has placed on our lives, may we reflect on what we are planning to seek first on our own as daughters of the King and alongside our children this year.

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ABOUT CHRISTA

Christa is a CHEA Convention workshop speaker. She has six children, aged 1 to 14 years. A second-generation homeschooler, Christa received her master’s in elementary education and loved being a classroom teacher before beginning life with a new mission of motherhood. She recently hosted a podcast, Seek Wholly Living, where she had conversations with other expert moms who choose to pursue motherhood with hope, joy, and purpose!