The Simple Life at Home: The First Step

8:22 AM | Posted by Lori ~ The Simple Life at Home | | Edit Post

Yesterday I was trying to think back to how things got so far off track. How did we go from being a happy, Christian, loving family to this creation I don't even recognize? The constant arguing, the sniping at each other, the antagonism - I look around and am heartbroken.

The cause could be any number of things. We have gone through major changes in our lives over the last two years. Moving overseas has created a lot of turmoil and even some resentment. Putting the kids into school for the first time has exposed them to a whole world from which we had always tried to shield them. My return to full-time work has left our home without a full-time "manager" and has left things in low-level constant chaos. Hormones are raging through my soon-to-be 15 and 13 year olds, creating mood swings which take us all by surprise.

The first step in rectifying all this mess? Resume our daily time of Bible reading and prayer. When we homeschooled, it was always the way we started off our day. But lately we're all in such a hurry in the mornings - packing backpacks, preparing lunches, getting out the door on time - that our daily time with God and His word has fallen by the wayside, I'm ashamed to admit. I feel like we have lost our focus as a family and this is where our focus should be - on God.

It might not solve all our problems overnight, but it is the firs step in the right direction.

"Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the LORD swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth."

Deuteronomy 11: 18-21

3 comments:

Misty said...: oh, lori, your post has me a little sad for you. i'm just now returning to blogging and as my oldest will be 4 soon, i'm beginning to put a lot of thought towards homeschooling and have been perusing the beloved internet for starting points. i'm sad that your time in doha has been so hard on your family, especially w/ all the disappointments that must raise their head at times. i pray that y'all get back to prayer and family time and that it truy is a healing time for you. big hugs... misty; March 21, 2010 at 11:52 PM
Nancy M. said...: That is definitely the best place to start!; March 22, 2010 at 2:32 AM
Leeann said...: I agree with you. A great place to start. That is a lot of change in a very short period of time. To return to something that you value as a family will be a sweet salve.

xo; March 22, 2010 at 6:34 AM