Change is hard. I remember when we moved to our home here ten years ago. We left our old neighbors and our old church family and our familiar surroundings to come to unknown territory. We loved the house, but how would everything else work out in the long run? We sure missed everything and everyone we left behind. Well, I can thankfully say that after ten years of being here, we would have done it all over again. Why? Was it easy? No, but the things we have learned, the people we have met, the joy we have experienced could never have happened had we not moved.

Change can be very good, and in the case of this e-Newsletter, it is! We are combining all of our e-Newsletters (with the exception of our Homesteaders e-News and The Homeschool Minute) into one new Schoolhouse Support e-Newsletter. You will still be receiving the devotional articles you've come to expect, PLUS new topics such as Special Needs, Single Parenting, Lapbooking, Science, and Support for Homeschool Leaders.

And, as always, we will have our popular monthly contests. So you see, we are not saying goodbye to the Devotional e-Newsletter but are adding to it, with the added goal of not overloading your email boxes with so many different newsletters. Now, they will be ALL IN ONE PLACE here. And to keep it shorter, not every topic will be covered every month. As always, you may unsubscribe from this e-Newsletter at any time. Just use our link at the bottom.

This month, you'll notice a theme of confession and humility running through each article here, two things I definitely need more work on in my own life. I know you will be encouraged as you spend time with us today.

We hope you'll join us as we ride this wave of change and look forward to a bright future of Schoolhouse Support. One of our primary missions is to be a support to you in any way we can and let you know that wherever you live or move, you are in a community of like-minded friends right here with all of us at The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.

As always, let us know how we can serve you,

I often tell people that the reason I am homeschooling is because God knew I needed to be homeschooled and my parents didn't think of it sooner. Homeschooling seems awfully unconventional as a single mom. It certainly doesn't fit the model that our culture hands us of what is best for children or for families, because you have to do without a lot of things in a single-parent family in order to homeschool. What I have found, though, is that single parenting offers a unique opportunity to teach my children about deeper, spiritual things like humility and confession.

First of all, even within the church, being a family parented by a single can be at times a humbling experience. Regardless of the circumstances that got you there, it is humbling to sit in church watching husbands with their arms around wives, and daddies holding children in their laps. It is humbling when I can't fix the broken drain or don't know what to do about the newest bug attacking the lawn. It is humbling to be waiting at the hospital alone, wishing you had grabbed your purse so you'd have a little cash for a vending machine and wanting so badly to have someone to comfort you as you comfort a sick or hurt child. It is humbling to have the worst homeschool day ever, and not have someone coming home for dinner to remind you of all the successes you've experienced. It's also humbling to have Dad vehemently opposing your decision to homeschool when you yourself think it's kind of a crazy idea, or to have people in the church wondering why they should help support your efforts to stay home and disciple your children when all the other single moms just put their kids in school and go to work.

One thing I have discovered in all of these experiences is that my kids get to see me relate to God the way I used to relate to my husband. When there is no one else, He becomes much more my first thought and my first love. Hopefully my children are learning to put Him in first place as well. Often we have to go to Him for the kinds of things for which we would go to daddy. I pray they are learning to see God as the daddy they so long for but don't have right now in their earthly dad. They also understand better that I get my direction from God and that what He calls us to do He enables, no matter how crazy the call seems. Humility is doing something hard, or even impossible, because you know God has directed you to do it and you trust Him for the results. My kids are living this kind of humility and faith.

Confession is another thing my children are learning from living in a family with one parent, because I have to do it a lot! Confession flows out of humility. It is the acknowledgement of whom and what we really are. As a single mom, I find I fail a lot. Not that I'm necessarily more of a failure than my married friends, but I just don't always have a husband close at hand to help me catch mistakes before I make them or to tenderly correct me when there is sin in my life. I pray that my children will see a contrast in my life as I am honest about my struggle with sin. They need to understand that all sins have consequences and effects; some of those consequences just hurt more and are harder to "fix."

My children have witnessed some of the most painful consequences of sin, but they have not only witnessed them as observers, they have experienced the consequences in their own lives. As a Christian single mom, it is imperative that I talk to them gently of their dad's sins, but in teaching them about dealing with sin, I must be very careful to make sure they see mine as well. I don't have to bad-mouth their dad to teach them this; I just need to answer the questions they ask as we study Scripture together, as they continue to wonder aloud what happened with Daddy, and as we minister to other people who are in situations similar to ours.

Part of my philosophy in homeschooling my children is that I am equipping them to face real life. In real lives, we get hurt and we hurt others. We sin and we are sinned against. As believers, we are commanded to forgive and to take responsibility for our sins. As I teach my children to add, to read, to understand Latin, and to make scientific hypotheses, it is even more important that I equip them for the relationships they will have in life. Approaching others with humility, confessing their sins, and forgiving others no matter what are school subjects that will have ripples into eternity, as well as blessings in this life. They are the greatest benefits of homeschooling, and they make this crazy endeavor well worth the work and sacrifice.

Emotions get the best of me. Sometimes all it takes is discovering one transgression from my kids and I am like a raging fire. The spark is set to the kindling and suddenly my once calm demeanor is a distant memory, and smoke is engulfing me. Fighting mad I exclaim, "I can't believe you did that again!" ("that" being whatever it was that had already been addressed 99 times).

This time it was the shed door being left open. It wouldn't have been such a big deal, but there had been a torrential rainstorm and it came pouring in through the open door, drenching the camping gear we just packed away ... AND, by the way, the backyard gate was left open again and the dog got into the potato patch AGAIN and trampled the plants. Dad is going to be SO mad! I found myself shouting at the kids: "Why can't you learn this! I have told you over and over and over ..."

James 3:5-6 says, "Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things.  Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!  And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell."

"I know just how you feel" the soft, still small voice speaks through my anger. "Yes, Nancy, I know! My own children disobey me all the time! But I don't always pour out my wrath on them like you are doing right now."

My lands! Pouring out my wrath on my children? That is exactly what I was doing.

Isn't it amazing how the Lord can speak to us in our most ungodly moments? Whether it is because of a rush of mixed up hormones, lack of sleep, selfishness, or just poor training on my part, I KNOW when I am saying the wrong things to my kids. Sometimes it just spews out of me like an acetylene torch! But where is the fuel coming from? "For of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh," the Lord says (Luke 6:45). I quickly find myself asking: Is there so much wrong in my heart that so much wrong can come out of my mouth and char my children's hearts?

During this particular incident, suddenly I could sense that the Lord was going to put the fire out. First He had to show me how to stop fueling it. I sat still, just thinking of the wrong I had done and asking God to forgive me and show me what to do. He refueled my spirit with His Word. Confession before the Lord brings peace.

James 3:17-18 says, "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace."

After a bit, I gathered the children around me. I told them that although I had a right to be upset, I didn't have to explode the way I had done, and that I was very ashamed of myself. We prayed together and I asked them to forgive me. They did.

Love covers a multitude of sins, and the Lord's refining fire willburn out those wildfires smoldering in an unwashed heart.

We Need Your Help! Click Here to see a reader's question about homeschooling and give your input.

Haptoon

I don't know about you, but we tend to be a bit more lazy and watch a few more movies in the summertime. Unfortunately, finding family friendly films can be a bit of a challenge. Therefore, I was very excited by the recent addition of videos from Franklin Springs Family Ministries, to The Schoolhouse Store. If you're looking for some quality family viewing (and a bit of inspiration) you'll want to take a peek at these!