Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. - 1 Corinthians 9:24 (NASB)
You just think you're teaching your children.
The truth is, homeschool is as much an education for you as for your children. You're all in training, which is a good thing, though not necessarily comfortable. A certain disservice has been done to parents by those portraying home education as a kind of perpetual wonderland of discovery. It is that at times, but not without lots of plain old hard days. We are given the impression that if our children are not always having fun, it’s because we are too structured, stiff, and formal. While it's possible to overdo the boot camp mentality, and certainly there should be time for fun and pure adventure, parents should be prepared for many tedious days. This in itself is not inherently evil. Children need to gradually learn how to stay with a routine job and see it through.
This takes time, effort, and creativity. It requires prioritizing this calling above other interests. Let someone else chair the church committee. Be your own health and welfare department and ditch some of the outside responsibilities during this season of your life.
Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. -1 Corinthians 9:25
Commit yourself to doing one thing well.
It's hard to lay aside our own ambitions for the season of child-rearing. We've been told for too long that we're not fulfilled unless we work and serve outside the home. There is also the financial cost of letting go of the extra income. Those decisions will vary from family to family. It's an amazing feeling, though, to resist the pressure to get involved in too much busyness.
Free your heart to commit to one thing. Free your mind to do it well.
Those who achieve great goals in sports, the sciences, music, and other fields do it through single-hearted concentration on the finish line. What goals do you want for your children? Understand the commitment it will take. Be prepared to pay the cost. Trust God to take your weakness and be the strength you will need for the daily battles.
Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified. - 1 Corinthians 9:26-27
Never apologize for the time you take for your family.
When I began homeschooling, I soon learned it wasn't going to work unless I dedicated my energies to my children within a certain timeframe each day. Without apology. People eventually understood I wasn't generally available to chat on the phone, babysit, or run a church ministry outside the home during those hours so I could devote my energies to my family. Though most were skeptical of this venture, many were gracious. I did get the "smother mother" talk from one or two well-meaning (I assume) folks at church. The surprise was the guilt trip foisted upon me for not attending the women's ministry activities nor taking on leadership duties at church.
Not attending the church luncheon was a no-brainer because it was in the middle of our school day. But the criticism about abandoning the church stung, because I was following the call of God and could have really used the support. Leadership is about going first. Taking new ground for the gospel. Leaving the comfort of the barracks and the safety of the mundane for the dangerous road to the mission field in my own back yard.
Here I learned my first lesson of homeschooling: Be sure of God's calling and steel your soul to walk in it. Through these interactions, God opened my eyes to my life-long tendency to be passive in my relationships with others. I needed validation and generally strove to please people. This new journey ripped through that charade and taught me much about discerning the voice of God through the cacophony o of opinions sounding in my ears.
While it’s vital to include a broader community in your homeschooling and take time for your own emotional health, trying to “do it all” will do you in. Set your eyes on the prize, commit yourself to the race, and put on spiritual blinders to keep you from getting distracted.
This is a marathon, not a sprint. Prepare for the distance. Along the way, you'll discover a kingdom truly wondrous.
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