Starting Over Again

This time of year always has Jeff and I reflecting on the past  year.  What direction should our family go this year?  What worked this past year?  What didn't work?  How can we be more effective in our family life as we learn to serve each other and those that we come in contact with?  What type of family ministry should we be involved in?  What books should we read?  How much should we expect from the children? What character traits do we need to work on?  Get the drift?  Lots to think about and reflect upon.

Two verses we always try to keep in mind as we set our goals and our plans for the year are as follows:

Psalm 90: 12   So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.


Ephesians 5:15  See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.


It is so important that we make every day count, that we don't waste our time and energy doing things that don't really matter.  We want to make wise choices for ourselves and our children, carefully choosing how we will spend our time each day.  In these days  and weeks that we have been off of our routine it has been so easy to get sucked into spending too much time watching movies (no matter how wholesome) and being sucked into the internet.  I feel a need for a few days of fasting from the media or at least greatly limiting out time in front of the screens.

We have now cleaned up, boxed up and stored the Christmas materials.  Today I am focusing on getting the house back in order....dusting, scrubbing bathrooms, vacuuming and mopping are on my list of chores for the day.  The rest of the week will be spent in planning for the upcoming session of school:  looking through new resources, making copies of other items, writing lessons plans, making reading lists, organizing the school room to better serve our needs, filling in daily assignment sheets and putting worksheet copies in weekly folders.  I even have new ideas for my blog that I am eager to work on, but my family needs must come first.

So tell me...Do you set new goals and make plans for the coming year during this season?  What are you doing these days between holidays?   Do you need some encouragement to get motivated for this next year?  When You Rise Up:  A Covenantal Approach to Homeschooling by R.C. Sproul will be sure to give you a needed dose of conviction.  It's on my desk now to re-read in the next few days along with my new copy of Large Family Logistics:  The Art and Science of Managing the Large Family  by Kim Brenneman.  No matter how much time I spend in trying to organize and establish routine there is always room for growth.  There is much to learn in this fabulous resource...no matter if you are a homeschooling family or not...no matter if your family is large or small...there is a wealth of information for any family to help their days run more smoothly.