A Good Little Funnel Cloud

Like all good mothers, I constantly worry about my children. Am I providing them with enough? Too much? Are they involved in enough activities? Do we spend enough time together as a family? Do they pray enough? With enough piety?

Then, as a homeschool mom, I also worry about academics: are my kids studying enough? Are they studying the right things? Do I overteach? Underteach? How can I fit it all in??????

Each year, as I'm sure all homeschoolers do, I restructure things a bit as we have more kids learning more things at higher levels. It's always a balancing act, and in the past, I've been sure to give time in our schedule for all important areas: Religion, math, reading, science, etc. I even patted myself on the back when there was some overlap. Writing during history time? Crushing it! Math during science lessons? Awesome! I always made sure to supplement history lessons with religious books and topics.

Recently, as I was reading this book I came across a description of what the Christian life should be.

A funnel cloud. 

Jesus is the center and everything else spins around Him. We've all heard it before, and perhaps too often, but this time, it sunk in. I had been giving God His time slots, but that's not what it's about. My whole life--marriage, schooling, personal relationships, housekeeping, work, mothering--needed to be ordered AROUND Jesus. If I truly made Christ the center of my life, the rest would fall into place. Life has been so much more peaceful around here. (Usually. Overall. Not perfect.) What does that look like in our schooling?

For one thing, I realized that I had to adjust some things in order to make going to daily Mass a priority. We restructured our learning time, simplified the curriculum, and I started to teach multiple levels at once. Religion is not just a box to be checked off.

What does this mean for writing? This year, I've vowed to add more, and a greater variety of, writing into our days. Creative writing, formal writing, writing in response to a prompt. We also have been writing letters to God and journaling prayers. This overlap has allowed us to accomplish more in our schooling days while keeping God at the center. Incidentally, my children have continued to do creative writing on their own time, in addition to what I require.

God is my priority, and helping my kids grow in holiness is my first parental priority. I don't want to let that order slip. I strive to be faithful to Him, and He will take care of the rest.:

Also: be sure to check out tomorrow's blog post where we will have a story by this week's writing contest winner, and I will announce next week's genre.