begin to act by faith: Take a R-I-S-K and do
something spontaneous.
You'll discover that the Lord's yoke is easy. His
burden is light. The rhythm of homeschooling in
His grace is a gentle rhythm that you can
maintain mile after mile. Homeschooling is a
marathon—not a sprint. The
prize doesn't go to the one
who gets out of the starting
blocks fastest. Rather, it
goes to the one who can
pace herself at a sustainable
rhythm. That requires
"margin." Too often
homeschoolers plan their
school year or teaching day
with absolutely no margin! If
anything unexpected
happens, (and it always does!) their plans fall
apart. They become anxious, angry, and
discouraged.
We need margin in every area of our lives. We
need margin for rest. We need margin for prayer.
We need margin for intimacy with our spouse. We
need margin in our classroom. We need margin in
our finances. If we plan a budget that accounts
for every available dollar in our paycheck, there
will rarely ever be a month that we don't have
unexpected expenses come up which leave us
strapped for cash at the end of the month and
angry. We need margin. If your paycheck is
$3000, develop a budget that only accounts for
$2200 each month in pre-determined expenses. I
can almost guarantee that you'll have several
hundred dollars in "unexpected" expenses come
up this month when the lawn mower breaks, the
car needs a new battery, and your daughter ends
up with two cavities that cost
$180 to have filled. If, by
God's mercy, you do end up
with several hundred dollars
left over at month's end for
your depleted savings
account or to share with
someone in need, hallelujah!
Plan your school year exactly
the same way. Plan for
unexpected interruptions.
Plan for fewer than the maximum number of
hours you expect to have available. Plan for quiet
times when the Lord can determine your steps in
unexpected ways. And then ask Him and trust
Him to use those minutes wisely.
My guess is this: At the end of the year, you'll
look back and discover that most of the very best
experiences you had were during those quiet
moments when you took a risk and God
answered. Maybe you were talking about how
many people died during World War II in a history
discussion. And suddenly, during the quiet time