DAILY BLESSINGS

Jesus gave 100% of Himself every moment of every day during His precious life on Earth.

In this beautiful vocation of Matrimony and Home Schooling, He is asking US to give 100% of ourselves, as wives and mothers and teachers every moment of every day.

While it's understood that life's circumstances often throw a "curve ball" into our daily schedules and plans...whether it's a whiny child, or a sleepless night spent cuddling a newborn, or unforeseen phone calls that couldn't be overlooked...

It is still possible, throughout the obstacles, sufferings, and trials to "take up our cross" and follow Jesus in His example.

I believe that there are a few ways to help us fulfill the desire to give our ALL to God and our families each day:

Although a mom who has not slept all night will not want this first suggestion (and, in all fairness, she is not OBLIGED to follow it...we must act according to our state in life, and a new mom must sleep WHEN SHE CAN...thus, exempting her from #1)......

1) RISE BEFORE YOUR FAMILY!

Many are familiar with the woman in Proverbs 31...who is up and busy before her family each day. I have found this little step to be CRUCIAL in helping me give 100%...and crucial also, in helping the day run smoothly!!! I can not stress this enough...and if you haven't tried it consistently, over time...PLEASE DO!   Ideally, 1 hour is a good amount of time to allow you to prepare your heart, mind, and soul for the day ahead. However, 45 minutes, a half hour...or even TWENTY MINUTES to start would help greatly.

For those who say that they struggle to find "quiet time with the Lord"...or "time to myself" during the hustle and bustle of a home schooling day...THIS IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY!

Being up before the children, you can shower and be refreshed, dressed, and ready for all that lies ahead...you have time to actually EAT A NICE BREAKFAST if you choose (rather than scarfing down those crusts of toast left behind on the Littles' plates, LOL), and most importantly, this is the PERFECT time for you to pray and BE WITH GOD. Whether you sit out on the porch and listen to His glorious world come to life, or read Scripture, pray a Rosary, write in your journal, listen to some music, or just SIT IN SILENT MEDITATION (BUT DON'T FALL BACK TO SLEEP, HA HA!)...you will find this little bit of time to be a GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING throughout your entire day! Once you are used to waking at an earlier hour, you can take another step in greeting the day ahead (and your children) with LOVE and JOY, by setting a nice table for their breakfast, or having some children's Bible songs playing softly, or even lighting some candles and placing a little note by each plate that says, "Good Morning! I LOVE YOU!"...very small gestures that reap very great rewards...for you will find that MOST times, our children will follow our example in morning attitude...if we appear rushed, unrested, and grumpy...they will often "catch" the same attitude and throw off the rhythm of the day before its even begun. So TREAT yourself...take time to "rise and shine" before the others...you won't miss the sleep after a while, and you won't regret your choice when you see the blessings it brings!

2)SURRENDER ALL to GOD!

Resolve at the beginning of each day to offer ALL that you THINK, SAY, and DO to the Lord...and OPEN the day to His Holy and Perfect Will. Decide that you will accept each moment, as a gift from Him...whether that moment be joyful, exciting, or troublesome, or sad...He has allowed it, and therefore He can use it for His Glory, IF we let Him...This surrender helps us, especially in t hose moments of trial that come with almost EVERY home school day, to TRUST that God is working in each and every soul...and that bad moments do NOT equal bad mommy or bad teacher...chaotic days do not mean we are failing, or that our children should not be home with us...but rather, these times, when surrendered and accepted, become a path to spiritual and emotional growth...a way to holiness and ultimately...JOY!

3) LIVE IN THE MOMENT!

It is very difficult to give 100% of ourselves to our vocation if we are thinking and preoccupied with a hundred different tasks and issues at once. While MOST home schooling moms I meet have an uncanny ability to multi-task (we HAVE to or else we couldn't teach English, change a diaper, and play with a toddler all at the same time, LOL!!!)...I am referring here more to "where our thoughts are" as we go about our day.

If we are always jumping ahead in our minds to the list of things that beckon our attention in the hours to come...then we will be giving LESS of ourselves to the MOMENT'S NEED. (side note: It helps us to LIVE IN THE MOMENT if we don't clutter up our days with endless appointments and outside activities!) We must try to embrace each moment of our day as though it were the only one! Again, I mean in the disposition of our souls, in an INTERNAL way...If we are helping our third grader with Math, and the phone is ringing...LET IT RING...if we didn't get dinner into the crockpot because a little one fell and got hurt in the morning...MAKE SANDWICHES FOR SUPPER INSTEAD...

Realize that we can't DO IT ALL...and instead, do what the Lord brings to you in the moment ...and embrace it 100% It is easy to feel "unproductive" or even "useless" when the days are filled with almost nothing but cleaning up spills, wiping bottoms, and folding laundry, and trying to find pencils that have erasers on them...but if we truly give 100% of our hearts to these SEEMINGLY unimportant moments...we allow God to BLESS us...for HE accepts our willingness and our faithfulness as a beautiful offering...no matter how small or insignificant the task!

4)LOOK FOR THE JOY!

This is one of my husband's most frequent reminders to me...he'll say "Don't forget to look for the JOY...it's all around you".

(Thank you Lord for my wise and loving husband!)

This little piece of advice is CRUCIAL to giving 100% of ourselves to our vocation. Many times in Scripture we are told that Christians will be known by their JOY...and that, by virtue of the knowledge of the fact that Jesus Christ has saved us from final damnation...we are to be JOYFUL! I think, sometimes we take our blessings of home schooling for granted...the very fact that we are FREE to home school (do you know that it's ILLEGAL in Germany?) is reason for JOY! We have all seen how quickly time goes by with our little ones...they are born...we BLINK...and they are grown...these days of bustling activity, messes galore, endless questions, and never-ending chores are fleeting and passing away...EMBRACE THEM WITH JOY! For every moment of frustration in the home schooling day, there is a moment of awe, a moment of innocence, a moment of kindness, a moment of FUN and HUMOR, a moment of the pure smiles of babies or teens, a moment of LOVE...so to give 100% of yourself...try to look past the trials and sufferings (and I know they can be many and they can be IMMENSE)...and LOOK FOR THE JOY...for it is there all around you!

5)FOCUS ON THE PRIORITY OF RAISING YOUR FAMILY!

In my own family, I have found and must admit, that when things begin to fall apart, and stress takes hold over the JOY...and everyone feels overwhelmed...it is usually due in SOME way to my own SLOTH. When I get lazy in giving my attention to the priority of raising our family, things begin a very fast and furious downfall...For instance, when I have let the duties pile up, and feel rushed and overworked...I will not tend to the needs of the children like I should. If I am trying to get those things done, and I hear a problem ensuing in the other room...rather than GOING IN THERE, setting my task aside, and GIVING 100% TO THE MOMENT in assisting or disciplining or guiding as needed...I will find myself barking out orders and complaints and requests from a few rooms away.

Then, when the situation is not resolved, I immediately feel frustrated or angry or resentful (often toward older children whom I think at the time should be able to handle it)...and the hours quickly begin to add up in stress and the PEACE and JOY of the home deteriorate. This is a selfishness on my part...and I make excuses like "I can not be everywhere at one time!" or "I give and give and give...and have nothing left in me"...or "If only someone would help", etc...The ugly TRUTH of this situation...is that in those times...I have stopped giving 100% I have let outside issues and activities steal my attention and focus...I have become fatigued or lazy in my duties. Though our children are being raised to be independent, self-sufficient, helpful, and honorable...they are STILL CHILDREN...and the majority of the situations that call for intervening MUST BE MY RESPONSIBLITY...(I highly recommend reading Raising Godly Tomatoes, by Elizabeth Kreuger which speaks in depth about this topic)...I must be willing to stop what I am doing, no matter how long it takes, and GIVE 100% to the moment and need of my family. ALL ELSE IS SECONDARY!

6) PRAY UNCEASINGLY!

Most important in our ability to give 100% to our vocation, is our communion with the Lord during our day. While formal or rote prayers and devotions are good and enriching to our spirits, it is not necessary, nor possible to spend every hour of every day doing this. Thus, I am speaking here more of an "INTERNAL COMMUNICATION" with God...ABIDING IN CHRIST...so that He may ABIDE in YOU! Knowing that He is present in your home, and at work in the souls of your family...you may REST in the comfort of that presence and LEAN ON IT for strength, perseverance, and guidance in your day!

REJOICE! FOR HE IS WITH YOU ALWAYS! In this way, your very LIFE and the LIVING OUT OF YOUR VOCATION becomes PRAYER....UNCEASING PRAYER! And when we live in the presence of OUR SAVIOR, we are more willing and able to GIVE 100% for HIS SAKE!

7) LOOK FOR CHRIST IN OTHERS!

It is easy to let our human nature get the best of us during the day. If a spouse has irritated us, or children are exceptionally whiny and cranky or disobedient...we, as a fallen people, begin to "puff ourselves up" and feel an outcry of injustice, or resentment building up  inside...In our desire to give 100%, it is important to see our spouses, and our children THROUGH GOD'S EYES...see them as the BELOVED CHILD OF GOD that each of them is! And, when you see them, LOOK FOR CHRIST IN THEM! HE IS THERE, for you have raised your family as a FAMILY OF GOD...Think of how you would most willingly tend to JESUS if He manifested Himself in your home...Think of being at His feet, lovingly and willingly serving His every need and desire! Knowing that He told us that  whatsoever we do unto others, we do unto HIM...we can embrace our spouses and children as though we are embracing OUR LORD HIMSELF...is it not EASY to GIVE 100% to our SWEET SAVIOR?

8) EMBRACE YOUR STATE IN LIFE!

"Unto everything there is a season"...these are familiar words to most of us. But, do we abide in them? In order to give 100% of ourselves, we must be willing to accept and embrace our current state in life with JOY and WILLINGNESS to serve!( A couple of years ago...when my now 2 year old son was a newborn baby...I found myself with SIX children under the age of SEVEN! Just caring for them was a complete job in itself each day, without the addition of school lessons, a marriage, parish life, and household duties.

This was a time of "stripping away" in my life...I truly wanted to give my ALL, and surrender to God...and I found that He was taking away ANY moment for myself... He brought me to a breaking point...on my knees...in the form of a single flower one day...I had wanted to plant a flower...and no matter how I tried, or how I begged the enlisted help of the older kids...it was JUST not working...I ended up in tears on the phone to a friend saying, "Is this REALLY what God is asking of me?!? Does He want SO MUCH OF MY TIME that I can not even take the time for myself to plant a single flower?!? My friend replied, "Yes Judy...this is REALLY what He is asking of you...are you willing to give it to Him?" And she quickly added, "BUT KNOW THIS JUDE...if you DO give it to Him...He will one day GIVE IT ALL BACK TO YOU AND THEN SOME!"  That blessed conversation was a turning point in my life!) If God has given you many babies close together, or a marriage that is suffering and CRYING OUT for help and attention, or a sick elderly parent or friend that needs care....then THIS IS YOUR STATE IN LIFE...and we must give up the other things that interfere with our ability to focus and serve where the Lord is calling us. So we might not be able to join soccer, or go to Moms Nights, or take that aerobics class we need in order to shed those last baby pounds....If we believe that God knows what is best for us...then we must ACCEPT OUR STATE IN LIFE AS A GIFT FROM HIM! Once we do this, we can open our hearts to giving 100% of ourselves each day!

I am sure there are many other ways and insights that would help us along this journey...and aid us in being willing and able to GIVE 100% of ourselves to our vocations each day. But, these eight things above, I KNOW have helped me in my own life...and so I have shared them with you in the hope that they will inspire, uplift and encourage you to GIVE 100% of yourself EACH DAY for the GLORY OF GOD!

HE WILL BLESS YOU FOR IT!

PEACE AND JOY TO EACH AND ALL OF YOU IN YOUR BEAUTIFUL FAMILY LIFE!