I’m sure you have heard the illustration about how on an airplane, if the cabin should lose pressure, you should put on your own oxygen mask before helping someone else, including your own child. At first glance, it seems selfish – I mean, I’m a mom! I should put my own needs last, right? And yet, common sense affirms that if I pass out from lack of oxygen, I won’t be able to help my child. The “selfish” choice is actually the wisest and most loving choice to make.
Have you ever thought about how this truism applies to your homeschooling journey? If you are following this series, then you are concerned about making your home school Christ-centered. Perhaps you are seeking the HOW of that goal – what curriculum can you use, and what activities can you help your children pursue? What Bible studies? What mission biographies? Is there really such a thing as a Christ-centered math curriculum, beyond word problems that talk about fishes and loaves?
All of these are valid, important questions, but it is possible for me as a homeschool mom to get all of these questions answered and still miss the goal of having a Christ-centered homeschool. Why? Because it is far too easy to get caught up in what a Christ-centered homeschool looks like, and then seek to imitate that, and in so doing, lose our focus on the one on whom we should be centered – Christ Jesus himself.
As a homeschool mom, I want Jesus to be the source of all we learn and our reason for homeschooling in the first place. I want our lessons to ultimately bring Him glory, and for our hope not to be in increased knowledge but in a closer walk with Jesus both here and in eternity. I want these things, because I want my children to live Christ-centered lives! But every year that I am a parent, I realize more and more that I cannot model these things for my children, and cannot infuse our homeschool day with them, if I am not centered on Christ myself.
Like the mom on the airplane, it’s hard to help your kids get their spiritual oxygen if you are struggling to breathe yourself, and it is SO easy to overlook your own spiritual needs when you are trying to do all the things for your family. I know I do! I mean, in an average day I consider it pretty amazing to just squeeze in a shower or a private trip to the bathroom! I need more than that, though. I need to make sure I am grounded in my relationship with Christ if I am to lead my children, both as a parent and as their teacher.
A passage that helps give me direction on this is Colossians 3:1-17. In it, I see four main ways that I, as a homeschool mom, can center myself on Christ, so that I can then lead my children in the same path.
Be intentional
Paul tells the believers in Colossae to set their hearts and minds on things above. It won’t just happen by accident. I need to be intentional about staying centered on Jesus, determining to fill my mind and heart with thoughts and feeling about him. For me, as much as I may rationalize against it (because I am so not a morning person), it is easiest to be intentional throughout the day if I start in the morning.
Put off and put on
Paul tells his readers to put to death anything related to their old, earthly nature. This means having discernment to recognize what is inconsistent with the life of someone who follows Jesus, having the commitment to stop those things, and finding the strength in the Holy Spirit to follow through on that. But it doesn’t stop there. We are to “clothe” ourselves with God-honoring virtues, especially love. How much time and thought do we put into our wardrobe choices each day? We need to do the same in determining how we are going to present ourselves to others, with Christ-honoring attitudes.
Let Christ flow through
Twice, Paul uses the word “let” – let the peace of Christ rule your heart, and let the message of Christ dwell among you. It is as if, once we are intentional about focusing on Christ and about putting off the wrong things and putting on the good, we need to let the Spirit do his work. Experience his peace, be thankful, teach and admonish, and sing while you do it! Will the life of a Christ-centered homeschool mom be easy-peasy and peachy-keen? Well, no…but we should not be surprised if starting the day focused on Him fills our day with a bit more peace and music in our souls! What a beautiful promise!
Do it all for him.
Paul tells his readers to do all things in the name of Jesus. That has so many facets to it, especially the idea of doing all things in his strength and for his glory. As I go throughout my homeschool day, I need to be checking myself from time to time and asking, “Am I trusting in my strength right now or his?” or “Am I focused right now on what is best for me or for His glory?”
As you explore different ways to make your homeschool Christ-centered, make sure you are taking personal inventory, and personal time, to focus on your own walk with Christ, and your own Christ-centeredness. Breathe deeply of His love and peace and glory. Then, in the strength of all He is, enjoy the Christ-centered homeschool that He will build.
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Kristi Bothur is a pastor’s wife and homeschool mom to her two earthly blessings. She and her husband also have five babies they will meet in Heaven, and they are the founders of Naomi’s Circle (www.naomiscircle.org), a ministry for families who have lost babies during pregnancy and early infancy. You can get to know Kristi better on her blog, This Side of Heaven (www.thissideofheavenblog.com).
Tiffany
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