Not long ago, if you had asked me what a spiritual discipline is and how many are there, I would have given you a pretty short answer. “Well, it is a way to connect with God. There is Scripture, prayer, going to church and…. Some people fast.” Yeah, that was about all I had. Then a friend gave me this amazing resource on spiritual disciplines called the Spiritual Disciplines Handbook by Adele Calhoun. It has like 50 spiritual disciplines to learn about and practice. I’ll give you the same advice my friend gave me. Don’t try and read the book through. Each discipline is about 3-4 pages. Check out the…
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Homeschool: Multiple Ages
Okay, parents, I’ll just let you know. You aren’t going to love this. I’ll just confess now, it wasn’t me who first said what I’m about to say. So if you do end up liking it, I don’t get credit. In the more likely event that you hate it…it wasn’t me. How do you homeschool with multiple ages? That’s the million dollar question. Especially when you have a toddler running around, this can seem impossible. How are you suppose to take care of a little one while also helping the older ones get through math, language arts, history and science? I was at a conference on homeschooling with my wife.…
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Homeschool: First-Timer Ideas
A friend who is homeschooling for the first time shared some ideas that are helping his family manage this new reality. Like many, he and his wife are working and homeschooling. They have two primary requirements for each day. Finish School Work Finish Chores After these, they then have added, to keep themselves and their children sane… One Hour of Reading One Hour Outside One Hour Creating The one hour of reading is outside of school work. Let them find something they love and go at it. The one hour of creating, could be anything. My friend mentioned learning to play the guitar, painting, whatever kind of creativity that sparks…
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Healthy Habits: Stay Active
One of the best things we can do when working and schooling from home is to stay active. Exercise has an enormous amount of benefits for our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual selves. Really! If you are new to working or schooling at home, it can be very disorienting. In some ways, you have more time than before. However, it seems to slip away somehow. Getting into a steady rhythm can seem impossible. Exercise can help! If you don’t know where to start, check out these free videos for adults and kids put out by the YMCA. What are you doing to stay active while at home?
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Jesus Rose From The Dead
Today, around the world, followers of Jesus Christ celebrate that a dead man rose to life again. He even predicted his own death, burial and resurrection. Because of this, we believe the other things he said. Because of this, many of his followers were martyred. Because of this, we have a relationship with God and share this with others. Because of this, we serve. Because of this, you can know God. Jesus died and rose again. This is the most important thing we believe. This event in history changed everything. If you want to know more about God, ask a friend whose life has been changed by Jesus Christ. Don’t…
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Jesus Died
Today, Christians celebrate the death of Jesus Christ. He did this in order to bring us back into relationship with God. If you have never read about this event, check it out here. Here is a shorter version.
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Homeschool: Raising Readers
One of the best things we can do as parents is to plant in our kids a love for reading. After all, reading is foundational for all other types of education. It is the building block on which everything else is built. Two things, before we continue. First, learning to read is not the same thing as loving to read or identifying as a Reader. I have known how to read for decades but only recently became a Reader. Second, no, you do not have to homeschool to raise Readers. Our family loves homeschooling, but it is not for everyone. This is fine. However, since you are homeschooling right now,…
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Listen: Pray Without Ceasing
Prayer is kind of boring. I know I’m not supposed to say that in a post about prayer. For most of my life, though, this is how I thought of prayer. It is simply that thing some people do before they eat. It is part of a transition in a Sunday service so the next person can get on stage while everyone else closes their eyes. It is a long list of requests we make to Santa, I mean God, when we are desperate. Prayer is a one way conversation. If you are like me, you did not grow up with a big emphasis on prayer in your life. Perhaps…
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Healthy Habits: Working from Home Rhythm
For most of my career, I’ve worked from home. Some people can’t imagine working from home, but I love it! In general, I find there are two kinds of people, those who thrive working from home and those who thrive in an office setting where they travel to a building, have set hours and a boss. Well, now almost all of us are working from home. I thought maybe you could use some encouragement as you continue on this journey. Our family also homeschools. So if you are getting that double blessing, I know how it goes. One of the best things you can do to be productive while working…
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Listen: Prayer and Scripture
Two primary ways to hear from God are through the Bible and prayer. A lot of my Listen posts this month will center around reading Scripture and praying. I will share some of the things I do, ideas others share with me and resources I have but may have not tried much yet. I’ll include some other spiritual disciplines also. To start off, check out my previous post on Lectio Divina. This is one of my favorite spiritual exercises. It includes prayer and Scripture. If you are like me and prayer was not a huge focus growing up, this will be challenging in a good way. Let me know if…
