If you've been a long-term reader of my blog, you may have noticed that it's been a long time since I posted one of my "sermonettes" (which isn't exactly a word). So, it's time. Get comfortable, pour a cup of tea/coffee, and get settled in. This is gonna take a while :).
We are beginning today our 4th full week of homeschool. It took the entire first week and half of the 2nd to find our groove, but we're grooving right along now. I'm certainly not doing everything perfect; just hoping not to mess my kids up for life :).
Homeschooling makes for interesting conversation. I have a close circle of homeschooling Moms for support, but there are many, many others who find the idea a little, well, foreign?
One response I seem to hear a lot of is, "I could
never do that! I wouldn't even try." And behind my polite smile I'm thinking, "Nope, you sure couldn't--not with that attitude". Now I know that homeschooling is not for everyone. But a few years ago, maybe even a few months ago, I had a similar attitude. The truth is, I didn't have the desire to homeschool. I rather looked forward to the day when I could send my kids off to school and enjoy a few hours of kid-free-ness. Wow, think about how much I would get done!
But when I gave it a good, honest look and prayed about it, I realized that was not what was best for us at this time. Or maybe never? Not sure yet. Anyways, I'm doing something that I never thought I
could do. And if I'd never tried, I'd never have known what I was capable of. Doesn't the verse say
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" ? (Phil 4:13).
Now, let's apply this spiritually: What's your greatest challenge, spiritually? Is it exceeding your {or establishing a} daily prayer time? Is it understanding the Scriptures? Witnessing, getting to church on time, forgiving the one who has wounded you, having love for the unlovable? You know what it is--that wall that you keep beating your head up against, that you can never conquer. Allow yourself to think, for a minute, about what life would be like if you
could. If you could let go of that weight, how much faster could you run?
You've shaken your head and said, "But I don't have the
energy, I don't have the
time, I don't have the
personality to do
THAT." But what if you did? What if you
went beyond yourself and did it anyway? If you will take the first step, He will equip you with whatever you need to keep going. When we stand in judgment before a holy and just God, we're going to be devastated when He shows us the great, the awesome, the mind-blowing things He wanted to do with our lives, but we drew the line and said
no. I. can't. I'm going to share something pretty personal, but I feel like it fits here: A few years ago, I was in a place where I knew I had taken some steps back in my experience with God. On my knees, I prayed, "God, please make me what I used to be." Now, I'm not a person who goes around claiming God speaks to them all the time, but at that moment he stopped me and said, "I don't want you to be what you used to be. I want you to be what you've
never been before."
He is doing it. I'm seeing things unfold in my life that I've never seen before. Because I'm stepping out of the boat, making small, but consistent and faithful steps to climb higher, to go further, to
TRY.
You CAN do it!
Through Him. The question is, how bad do you want it? How far are you willing to go? Close your eyes and JUMP IN! The results will take your breath away.
