Hope for the Exhausted

by Becky Wyand

1. Hope for the exhausted

Matthew 11:28 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Notice:

1)      Jesus gives you the invitation to accept His rest.

2)      His followers may expect to need rest.

3)      He assumes your labor, maybe even to the point of heavy laden. Take a deep breath now and express your gratitude to such an understanding Lord.

2. Joy for the obedient

Psalm 16:11 “Thou wilt show me the path of life; in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”

            Notice:

1)      For joy to be present I will accept the path He chooses

2)      Joy and His presence are closely linked.   

3)      God does intend pleasures for us. May you experience His joy at this moment.

3. Family

I want to use this opportunity to remind you of a few things we have been considering about “family”.

1)      Work to realize the value of the family unit. Encourage one another to agree with God on purpose for family.

2)      Help each person grow in understanding his position. There is a divine reason for one person being the father, another a first born and each in his/her position.

3)      Work to develop servants in each member. Some will be servant-leaders others may be merciful servants but to be Christ-like, we will be all improve in understanding and exercising servant hood.

4. Evaluation

If you are not participating in testing with one or more of your students you may want to do this simple self-examination.

1)      Look at the dated papers in your portfolio.   Check:

a)      Is the penmanship improving?

b)      Is my child learning to follow directions?

c)      Does the work (spelling, math, etc.) show improvement?

d)      Is there evidence that concepts are being mastered?

2)      Choose a graded reader at the level you think your child can succeed.

 Look for :

a)      Fluency with oral reading.

b)      Oral expression.

c)      Comprehension with oral or silent reading. (A few basic questions can check comprehension.)

d)      Phonics ability to sound a new word.

3)      Using the spelling program that you used all year, call words at random to                          check for “real” learning. If you used word lists, choose one or two words per list. The “test” could take several days, especially for young children.

5. Read Aloud

Continue to read and re-read excellent books to your children. Use this reading time to enjoy one another but also to share your philosophy of life.

6. Discipline

One of the hardest reminders to hear is, “Let God work.” So often in the lives of our children we want to pad their fall and what god had intended as a great lesson is lost.

7. Should I continue to home school?

This is the time of year that you may be asking this question. Many of you are absolutely certain that God has told you to home school and you are determined to be obedient.

But for a few of you that question may be real. Please consider:

1)      God has a purpose for you, your child and your family.

2)      Wherever your child is in school YOU by God’s design are responsible for his training. Maybe you could carry out that responsibility best if you had full authority over schedule and activities.

3)      If things seem better when you and your child are separated, that improvement is probably a band-aid and not heart surgery. Maybe you want to keep training until the surgery is complete.

4)      You and God are a team that would be difficult to improve on for the training of your child.

5)      You may get sincere Biblical help for the major crosses you bear in the training of your child, without pushing him out of the home.

8. Projects for learning

As you go into the summer with the fun projects you have planned in math, reading, gardening, Christian service and closet cleaning keep your heart and mind open for changes you might want to make in your winter schedule.