The Journal

When anyone asks about why I choose homeschooling, I try to do my best to explain to them that we yearned for a "one-piece life" with no division between secular and sacred.  A life lived to glorify God Sunday through Sunday.  Now that I am in the thick of it, I have found that sometimes our one-piece life gets lost in the laundry and all that is clean is our underwear.  Maybe that's too wild of an analogy for all of you...  :)

I went to a conference this weekend that was so uplifting, challenging and encouraging.  It gave me the chance to stop and think about all we have accomplished so far this year in school and in our family.  I took a look at what we say are our priorities and what really gets most of our time.  I stoked the fire yearning to knit our lives together with Christ above all, and set to making a plan to find a new center (hint, it was not how many school subjects I can squeeze into one day).

The result?  "Our Family Praise and Gratitude Journal".  We are going to record as a family either by words, pictures, or things we can paste in the binder, different ways that we see God at work each day.  We are striving to be awake to the gifts he perpetually gives.  The Bible tells us in Psalm 89:14-17,

"Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim You,

Who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord,

They rejoice in Your name all day long;

They exult in Your righteousness.

For you are their glory and strength."

So we attempt to awaken to His glory, His work, His presence among us in all we do, and to give it back to Him.  And the natural way to demonstrate the acceptance of a gift is through thankfulness.

Our list today:

1. Warming hearts with the Word and tummies with hot chocolate

2. A house to live in (Becca)

3. Our toys (Robby)

It will be exciting to see how the entries change over time, and if we will have a habit of looking for gifts from God.  Hopefully we run out of paper naming them all!

~Karen