When I began homeschooling in the early ’90s, most people didn’t know it was legal or if it was possible. Parents had a lot to prove to society, especially since professional educators had convinced parents that only qualified “teachers” were fit to educate children.
Well, we worked hard to prove that parents could educate their children thereby disproving their decades-long messaging. It was a tactic used to make parents doubt their ability to educate their children. After thirty years of shaping a movement, parents are still told they don’t have what it takes to teach their children. Something I find hard to imagine. Thankfully, millions of parents don’t buy into that argument anymore.
In this episode, Durenda Wilson, author of The 4-Hour School Day, shares what she has learned along the way. We debunk myths surrounding homeschooling and discuss the positive elements of children learning at home. Our goal is for you to have a positive attitude towards parenting and motherhood.
The 4-Hour School Day
You homeschooled all eight of your children; what advice do you have for parents just starting to homeschool?
You are qualified.
You can teach your child.
Don’t underestimate your ability.
Ignore the naysayers.
Don’t give up on hard days.
You’re on an adventure.
Work from a place of nurturing.
What advice do you have for parents who have been teaching at home for a few years?
Choose purpose over performance. It’s easy to fall into the performance trap, but you will be more likely not to get overwhelmed or stressed out when you keep the big picture in mind.
What are the major benefits of homeschooling your kids?
Parents decide what to teach, when to teach, and how to teach their children.
Parents can customize their education in such a way that their children thrive.
You are offering a fresh perspective on homeschooling; what is the biggest myth about homeschooling you want to debunk?
It doesn’t have to take all day. Homeschooling can be done in a 4-hour school day.
Socialization v Socializing: There is a difference!
Many parents feel they are not qualified to teach their kids; is that true?
No, it’s not true. You can teach your child. You play a valuable role as a parent. *No one cares more about your child’s education than you do.
What is the number one lesson you want readers to take away from “The Four-Hour School Day?”
That providing an excellent education doesn’t have to take all day. And that your role is valuable. Your children will gain a sense of security and safety with you as their primary educator.
Remember, you can choose purpose over performance as you homeschool your child!
About Durenda Wilson
With more than twenty-five years of home education experience, Durenda Wilson is a trusted voice and resource at homeschooling conventions and on The Durenda Wilson Podcast. Durenda and her husband, Darryl, have eight kids and six grandbabies. As an author and speaker, her greatest joy is helping moms discover God’s grace—and with it the courage to put their full trust in him, moving forward in faith and confidence.
Do you know you should be praying for your kids but don’t know how? Or do you wait to pray when life is difficult? I have. Do you want to be a praying mom? So why don’t we pray continually?
Join Brooke and me for a conversation about her new book Praying Mom: Making Prayer Your First and Best Response to Motherhood.
We know we should pray for our kids, but for various reasons, we don’t. Here are a few common reasons:
Fear
Not knowing what to pray
Lack of time
Too much chaos to make time to pray
God doesn’t hear my prayers
I can’t pray until I get my life together
“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”
Ezekiel 36:26
God is the one who works and changes the hearts of His people! It is God that instructs us to be faithful. Part of being faithful is to practice praying for our kids even when we feel inadequate. When we pray for our kids, we are practicing obedience to the Lord.
“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
James 5:16
Our prayers accomplish much. Don’t discount the power of prayer in cultivating the right heart in you and your family. They are watching how you live.
There is no need to stress out because you don’t know how to pray. We simply must trust in the One who does know the plans He has for our family.
If you have older kids and haven’t established a routine of praying for them, it’s not too late. Start right now! I keep a prayer journal and pray specific prayers for all of my adult kids. They know I pray for them and will ask me to pray for something specific. It brings me enormous joy to know I can go before the Lord on their behalf.
If you want a copy of Praying Mom, you can find it at many local retailers and online. And don’t forget to download the free chapter and other bonuses Brooke is offering!
If this episode blessed you or encouraged you to pray scripture over your children, let me know. I’d love to hear from you.
Thank you for joining us here at Equipped To Be!
xoxo, Connie
About Brooke McGlothlin
Brooke is the cofounder of Million Praying Moms and the author of 5 books, including her latest, Praying Mom: Making Prayer the First and Best Response to Motherhood. She’s a wife and mom to two teenage boys who make their home in the mountains of Appalachia, calling southwestern Virginia home.
Are you a fan of goal setting? Do goals matter? They should because God has an assignment for you to complete! It’s one only you can fulfill if you are willing to accept it.
People often ask me how I know what goals I’m supposed to set. That’s not always easy to know at first, so I start by paying attention to what God is leading me to do.
Another common question is how to make goals achievable. Making a goal achievable isn’t the goal—not really. The goal is to help you move in a specific direction.
Initial Steps
Pay attention to where you are right now. If you aren’t, why not?
How do you plan to reach those goals? Jot down thoughts that come to mind.
Start with an idea that you believe God wants you to pursue.
People don’t understand how much setting goals matter to fulfilling His assignment. Setting goals is more than a mere exercise that needs to be accomplished. Goals are vital to the overall well-being of you and your family.
How do you achieve a goal? First, you must make them realistic. Sure, you can set big goals, but you can become discouraged if you have no chance of achieving them. As you write down your goals, be willing to pivot as the Lord leads you. A goal is something you aim for. Stay focused on your race.
Once you’ve set some goals, move forward by making the most of the opportunities right in front of you. Sometimes, we discount the people we know or what is around us that God plans to use to help us.
Some Things to Consider About Goal Setting
Assess what is before you.
Determine if God put the desire in your heart.
Decide to be diligent and reliable.
Work as hard as you can.
Never think people are above you or beneath you.
View others as equals.
You must be humble
Pray, and then work as hard as you can towards the goals. When your children, spouse, and colleagues see you working as hard as you can, it inspires them to follow suit.
Think, discover, and be honest. When you understand who you are and how God designed you, you are more likely to set yourself up for success, not failure. Therefore, it would be best if you started where you are and move forward.
Talk about what God is leading you to do with others. God works through people. Ask them for help when needed. In turn, you need to help others run their race.
If goal setting is new to you, start with simple goals you know you can achieve. Once you have measurable success, you will gain greater confidence in the Lord and yourself to make bigger goals.
I’d love to hear about your goal-setting process. Let us know how we can help you. ~Connie
Have you been torn between deciding when to step away or push through a difficult situation? Sure you have. We all have. Making tough decisions is part of life.
Life decisions aren’t easy for most of us. It takes time to wrestle with the possible outcomes—I call them ” what if scenarios.”
Well, what if I told you there is freedom in the pivot. You heard me! Freedom comes after you decide to pivot. That freedom is something you need to consider.
In this episode, I’ll share three keys that will help you with the decision-making process!
3 Keys to When to Step Away or Push Through
Trust the Lord
Seek Wise Counsel
Ask Yourself Why
Once you decide, embrace that decision with full confidence. Don’t keep second-guessing yourself. It’s time to move forward.
As you age, you grow and change. This growth happens spiritually, emotionally, physically, mentally, and relationally. It’s a natural part of maturing. We don’t stay the same—not really. Sure, our hard wiring and strengths remain, but how we use them changes. Life has a way of forcing such change upon us.
As you consider the possibilities, you must keep what is important to you a priority. It can be easy to lose sight of what matters while chasing a dream or letting go of something. I’ve found it necessary to remember that God doesn’t have a second best for you. You will be tempted to think you might miss out on the best, but you won’t. Not if you are faithful to do the next right thing. As I said in episode #66, you must run your race, not someone else’s race. Fear of missing out or quitting too soon can cause you undue stress.
Learning to step away or push through takes time. As you pray about what you need to do, keep in mind your limits. You have the same 24 hours as every other person. How you spend the time is up to you. So, start with what is best for your family. When you keep your focus on what matters most, trust the Lord, seek counsel, and know why it matters, it becomes easier to make your decision.
If I may encourage you in this one thing, don’t be afraid you’ll miss out on God’s best. That’s not how it works. There will always be opportunities for you down the road.
If this episode blessed you, let us know. We love hearing from you. Also, if you have read Parenting Beyond the Rules, would you do us a huge favor and leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, and other places where books and reviews are accepted. They can be short or long, but I’ve learned that reviews are important. Thank you! ~Connie
Are you running your race with confidence or looking around at what others are doing? Do you know why running your race is important? Do you find yourself looking at others and trying to imitate them?
How you run your race depends on your season of life. A twenty-something runs differently than someone in their forties or sixties. Why? Life experience, the demands of children, and physical health. It is wise to accept the realization that your race will change as you age. God designed it this way.
Every runner knows the speed at the beginning of their race will get slower the further they run. It’s natural to slow down. This is true of you. It is true of me. Understanding this reality early in life will profoundly impact how far you can go later in life.
But running your race with confidence requires you to consider a couple of truths. You can’t run your race if you are in someone else’s lane. And you have to know what race you are running. Life is not a sprint; it’s a marathon. Sure, there are times one needs to sprint, but the amount of energy it takes to sprint can’t last long. Our bodies are designed to run a marathon at a sprint pace.
How Do You Start Strong?
Discover who you are. It’s more than temperament and Enneagram type. God made you a one-of-a-kind original. You aren’t a copy of someone else.
Take an honest look at your talents, then decide which of them you are passionate about developing.
Focus on becoming excellent in a few areas. This takes time and lots of practice.
Be willing to pivot. Change does not mean you are wishy-washy. Your race will require you to change. As your season of life changes, so does your ability to run. It is wise to be aware of this.
Your race is unique to you! You can’t do what everyone else is doing.
How will you run? There is a bit of strategy in preparing for a race. A runner has to know what they are capable of doing.
Get serious about learning more about yourself. Be intentional about your discovery process.
What are you doing to develop the talents God has given?
What is your season of life?
Running your race with confidence will not allow you to miss God’s best for your life. You aren’t missing out when you focus on being faithful to doing your best in your season of life.
If you don’t run your race with excellence, who will? No one.
How Can You Discover More About Yourself?
Pay attention to what excites you.
Listen to the stirrings of your heart.
Start journaling. Write down God’s subtle whispers.
Don’t be afraid to try something new, even if you are afraid.
When You Run YOUR Race with Confidence
You aren’t tempted to look at what others are doing.
You are more focused on your training.
You don’t feel compelled to compare yourself to others. It loses its appeal.
Do you see what I’m seeing? Parents and leaders across the country are noticing the character crisis permeating our communities. Lying, marginalizing, undermining, and spreading partial truths all seem okay now. Are they? Not according to God’s standards!
The character crisis we see on display doesn’t mean we should partake. Actually, we need to do just the opposite. We need to be more diligent in living a life of integrity. The ends don’t justify the means. Never have, never will.
As a believer, our behavior should be a reflection of what we know to be true. God puts a great emphasis on character.
“Don’t do anything today that you will have to lie about tomorrow.”
When we choose to live a life pleasing to God, we don’t need to lie, practice shady business deals, tell falsehoods about others.
Overcome the Character Crisis
Here are three points to ponder about how you can overcome the character crisis in your community:
Do the right thing even if others don’t. Don’t do what others do if it doesn’t align with God’s Word. Teach your children it takes intentionality to live a life of integrity. You can help your children learn to have discernment and avoid others who lack wisdom.
Being a person of character and integrity might cause others to mock you. That’s not your problem. Teaching your children not to fear being ridiculed for doing what is right will serve them well throughout their lives. I know it can be hard for some of your children, especially if they are people pleasers. But helping them learn to be God pleasers, not people pleasers, is a critical aspect of raising children.
You are not responsible for what others do or say. You and your children are responsible for your actions! Others will do what they do, but your family must choose a different path. Remember Jesus was mocked. So, teaching your children to understand the difference between God pleaser and people pleaser will require consistent training.
Remember:
God isn’t finished. The character crisis can be changed because of your actions.
God is still in control. He will guard and protect your family.
Don’t allow a lack of character in others make you rationalize a lack of character in your children or yourself.
You can change your community and overcome the lack of character around by choosing to live with integrity and character.
Thank you for tuning into Equipped To Be! I appreciate you and want to support your journey. Please tell a friend about the podcast.
If you are looking for a speaker for your next event, please let me know. You can fill out an inquiry form on my speaking page at ConnieAlbers.com/speaking.
