Pray, then plan

Every July I plan for the upcoming school year. I gather materials, look over what I have, order what (if anything) I need, and write out all the lesson plans for all the children in each and every subject area. It usually takes me about two weeks, and I look forward with excitement and eagerness to my planning time. We've homeschooled for 18 years in six different states, and this "plan of attack" has always served me well. I'm not a natural organizer, and I've found that spending the time organizing the entire school year before we begin it makes everything flow more smoothly in our household.

This year I'm struggling to feel anything at all. I'm just disinterested. But I still have to do it. So I'm taking this week, plus an extra day, to pray and pray and pray. For two days I'm also fasting while praying. And I'm asking Steve for prayers, and for his guidance and wisdom.

I'm also reading some in a few of my favorite homeschooling resources. They're all books I've read completely before (some more than once) so this week I'm just dipping in and reading a chapter here, a few pages there and getting a few ideas.

But the book I'm spending the most time reading is this one:



I'm convinced that for encouragement, wisdom, guidance, and excitement, it will motivate me the most.