DIY Homeschooler

The key to finding time in today’s busy world is to prioritize. As a Christian woman, I know that I am given specific tasks. And these should be my top priorities.

While older women (those who no longer have children at home to raise, frequently considered age 60 and above by Bible scholars) are to train the younger women, according to the Bible, the younger woman have the following priorities “that the word of God be not blasphemed” (Titus 2:4–5):

• To love their husbands.
• To love their children.
• To be sensible (prudent, circumspect).
• To be pure.
• To be workers at home (or managers of a home).
• To be kind.
• To be subject to their own husbands (falling in line with or meeting the needs of their husbands). [Obviously, entire books have been written on this one. Just quoting the Bible here.]

Zeroing In on Priority Number One

While there are many things we can do (putting God first, of course), as a mother everything else I do must come after serving my family. There are many hats I can wear, many tasks I can accomplish, interests I can pursue, ministries for which I can volunteer, things in which I can become involved — even “good” things. And many of these things I will likely accomplish. So it isn’t necessarily a question of what I should do so much as in what order. How do I prioritize what needs to be done?

If in the doing I am too busy, frazzled, or out of sorts, then perhaps my priorities need to be examined. Perhaps I have taken on some things that were not on my priority list.

As Christians, our job here on earth is to glorify God.

I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.

John 17:4

Taking care of our families is the work that God has given mothers to do. We have a certain, limited amount of time available to train our children. And while during that window of time we may do many other things, this is our first and major priority.

…He was able to make that amazing claim, “I have finished the work You gave me to do.” This was not the same as saying He had finished everything He could possibly think of to do or that He had done everything others had asked. He made no claim to have done what He wanted to do. The claim was that He had done what had been given.

This is an important clue for us. The work of God is appointed. What was given to the Son to do was the will of the Father. What is given to us to do is also His will.

There is always enough time to do the will of God.

Elizabeth Elliot, Discipline: The Glad Surrender

Be assured, we have adequate time to get the things done that God has given us to do.

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Additional Resources

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen.
Getting Things Done is an organizing system for all of life. I found this particularly helpful in identifying those things I should give my time to.

Finding Balance
A nice counterbalance to the above. Homeschooling requires finding balance. With all of the the focus on being productive, our complete focus on getting things done is killing us.