“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear”. ~ Mark Twain

Brave homeschool Mama, you’ve got this, even if you don’t feel like you do.

Are you walking around feeling weak, insecure and a little scared?  If you are, then you are not alone.  I spent a lot of my homeschooling years feeling that way.  And you know what, that’s ok. You see, being scared is part of it.

When I started my journey, I only committed myself to six weeks- one grading period.  I had no idea as to whether homeschooling would work for us.  I was a former public school educator who felt in her heart that God wanted her to homeschool, yet had all the nagging questions.  Would I ruin my kids?  Would they have friends?  Would I have friends?  Would I lose my mind trying to do it all?   And on and on my insecurities went.

Fast forward 27 years.  Both of my kids graduated from high school.  One is an English teacher (yes she graduated from college with honors, if I may brag a little) and the other is a part time worship leader who works in a manufacturing facility.

In answer to the above questions, I did not ruin my children, they have friends, I have friends, and I did not lose my mind.

Deuteronomy 31:6

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

These are some steps that I walked through when I felt scared while parenting:

1.  Listen to that still, small voice that God places in your heart.  I was successful because I listened to God, not because of anything great within me.
2. Don’t let fear, worry, insecurity, or any of the negative emotions stop you from doing what you know is right.  Do it, no matter how you feel.  Just do it!!
3. Do you research!  Whether it means researching homeschooling in general, curriculum, support groups, etc., just do your research!
4. Be prepared and organized.  By being organized, organize yourself your way.  Some people have their day mapped out using a block calendar, some have pages and pages of “to do’s”.  I made a semester plan of what I wanted to cover and then a weekly  “bullet list” with the nuts and bolts of how to cover everything, whether it was pages to cover, books to read, activities to complete, etc.  I always included time for field trips and social activities.  Sometimes I covered everything and sometimes I didn’t.  When I didn’t cover everything, I simply picked up where I left off and continued plowing through.
5. Pray until your knees hurt and then pray some more.    I prayed over my homeschool everyday, many times most days.  I prayed about everything.  Sometimes I felt like God was getting tired of my prayers LOL.  Anyway, you get my drift.   And sometimes I felt like I didn’t know how to pray.

To receive my ebook 7 Scripture Prayers To Pray Over Your Homeschool, scroll down to the bottom of this page, fill out the short form and a copy will be sent to your inbox.  This blog post is an extension of the Day 1 Prayer,  PRAYER FOR WISDOM, STRENGTH AND COURAGE.