I think homeschooling is a journey, and each season will not be the same as the next. For those of you with littles underfoot, your ministry may be very close to home.karlafoisy wrote:So, do you guys feel like you have time to focus on anything besides your kids? I feel like if I am doing school in the morning, and just simply going to the weekly church potluck/bible study and the wednesday night kid's club, i would be burned out and not energized to do anything else. Is that true? Or do you feel like homeschooling is not as strenuous and energy-consuming as I think it might be?
But I agree that it's an important thing to think about.
There are some ministry idea threads here:
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewforum.php?f=5
Ministry can look like a lot of different things, as you probably know already, but helping you think thru ministry & homeschooling, it could look like:
* Very occasional service, such as being on the list at church for making a cake when there is a funeral. Have the kids help you and come with to drop it off.
* Service when you're "already there," such as signing up to help at Sunday Service or Sunday School in some way, since you'd be over at church anyways. In fact, someone advised me early in my parenting years that having a "job" at church would help motivate us to get the kids out of bed on Sunday mornings :o)
* Service as part of a family tradition, such as David Hazell's story about making sandwiches for the poor on Christmas Eve.
* Service just for the summer, such as visiting a shelter or a nursing home regularly over the summer.
* Service within your own neighborhood, such as the times when my son is called on to help our elderly neighbor out during the day.
* Service via being the light for neighborhood kids. A second one of ds's friends just chose to be baptized this month. Who knows what may be reaped as we have welcomed different neighborhood children into our home almost full-time over the years, under our watchful supervision. Of course, my son often looks at it like just playing with friends, but there are those times when he invites them to church or stands up for his faith... Those are precious moments.
* Service within your homeschooling community, including your "virtual" community. Encouraging moms that God and academics don't need to be mutually exclusive, and supporting one another through struggles -- that can be service, can't it?! I'm sure children can become a part of this in some way, too. Crystal's daughter has done a read-a-thon to raise money for Bible translation -- an idea which I believe was sparked by a conversation on these boards?!
Just some ideas for thinking,
Julie