Same Place, Same Time
Once upon a time, when our children were growing up, we had a standing appointment every Thursday night. That appointment was with each other. Thursday night was family night.
Our church met on Sunday and Wednesday nights and we said yes to Tupperware® parties and meetings and such on other nights of the week, but Thursday nights were different. They were special. Thursday night — that was for family.
My favorite memories from Thursday nights were the times when Ray read to us aloud. Often the girls and I were busy with some kind of handwork and John was in the floor with his Legos®. Book time often followed homemade pizza time.
One of the biggest blessings of being a homeschooled child is that you are part of a homeschooling family. Just as some mothers get so bogged down in the homeschool part of being a homeschooling mama that they sometimes neglect the mama part, it’s easy for homeschooling families to neglect the family part of being a homeschooling family.
As homeschooling has become more popular, opportunities for homeschoolers have exploded. I encourage you not to let those opportunities pull your family apart. This is your one chance to rear your children — your one chance to build memories, your one chance for your children to grow up in a family that is an active part of a church, your one chance to enjoy a weekly family night.
Many, many times your children need you more than they need one more outside activity.
Family is God’s chosen method for children to learn the most important things. That can’t happen if families are not together. They have to be at the same place at the same time. They can’t obey the instructions of Deuteronomy 6 and 11, if there isn’t enough time to sit in their houses together, to walk along the way together, or to lie down and get up at the same time and in the same place.
This week Christians around the world are remembering how Jesus spent His last week before the triumph of Resurrection Morning. Before Jesus went back to heaven several days later, He spoke a promise:
I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
Matthew 28:20
What a priceless gift from our Savior. Being with your children is a priceless gift to them, too. It’s also a priceless gift to yourself.