Setting Our Children Up For Success!

Our homeschool support group hosted Linda Werner last night. (Author and speaker of “Strength’s Defined”.) Whoa! We had two hundred homeschooling parents and children sitting in our audience, and I knew that lives were being changed as I listened to moms rustling through their purses for tissues to wipe away tears.

The overwhelming theme of Linda’s message is that we need to embrace and squeeze EVERYTHING out of every single day. Time goes so very quickly and all too soon our children will be on their own. She talks about learning to live a “Strength’s Based” lifestyle where you find out what your children are GREAT at, and then help them discover who they were made to be!

How do you discover these things? Well there is a very specific test you can take, but today I am going to share her simple and practical suggestion to get the ball rolling in that direction! Mom should do it FIRST and then as she begins to catch the fire, she turns and does it with her children. If you have young children (unable to verbally/cognitively participate) she suggested making observations on your own and journaling them on an on-going basis.

Here’s the Question:

What Energizes You? What makes you WANT to get out of bed? As my oldest son and I came home and made out our lists we realized that we ARE fulling engaging in our strength's and living our dreams. However, my husband saw that in his busy work schedule he was skipping those very things that feed his soul, those things that make him wake up and come alive!

I’ll share some of our families discoveries and then I hope you will share YOURS! (Remember that this is going to look different from home to home and that’s perfectly okay)

“I” am ENERGIZED when I..., Spend time reading my bible, Spend time with my husband, engage and do things with my kids. Nothing fuels my fire more than Homeschooling, Teaching at our co-op, Writing, Speaking, Blogging, Taking Pictures!

My “husband” is ENERGIZED when he..., Works out, Lifts weights, plays guitar. His fire is FUELED when given the opportunity create solutions where there seems to be chaos.

Our oldest “son” is ENERGIZED when he..., hangs out at youth group, interacts on Facebook, goes to Co-op and takes discussion based classes, His fire is FUELED when he talks on the phone with Friends and is given an opportunity to help the work through struggles

When I look at my list I am so encouraged that I am getting to live my dream! I am actively involved in all the things I’ve listed. I am also thrilled that I see my son is getting to engage in those things that feed HIS soul! The things he LOVES to do. However, we realized that my husband was skipping many of his passions because of his strong sense of responsibility. We are now able to regroup and relaunch!

Let me close by telling you what I thought was the most important aspect of our evening. Pursuing Strength’s does not mean that we only do what we want. Pursuing Strength’s is a “heart” issue, it’s a way of “thinking”, “acting” and “doing”.

Working in area’s that are not your strength’s such as math for my oldest is not so hard when he is giving ample opportunity to fill up his heart pursuing his STRENGTH’S and PASSIONS!

Our family LOVES to plug in to the amazing homeschool activities in our area and yet I want them to have a SOLID foundation in their basic skills. Time4Learning has allowed us that privilege. Whether I have children who are Dependent or INdependent learners, Time4Learning meets their need. They get to work independently, but because of the the interactive graphics it helps my “dependent” learners engage actively so that they feel a sense of fellowship and relationship while they are learning.

So let me leave you with this question:

What Energizes You? What makes you WANT to get out of bed?