More of Him Monday

I have noticed lately that a very common problem for Christian homeschooling moms is the “Martha Stewart Syndrome.” We know that perfection in every area of our lives is entirely impossible and unrealistic. For one thing, we don’t have enough time to be everything and do everything. Yet we still try and end up feeling depressed and overwhelmed when we “fail” – when the house isn’t clean enough, the meals aren’t healthy enough, and our children still don’t know enough history. I am not immune to this dilemma.

How do we bring everything down to essentials?

I believe we are called simply to please God. Exactly how do we please God? By nurturing a close, personal, and loving relationship with Him. Such a relationship will naturally result in obedience and an eternal home in heaven. He said that we obey Him if we love Him (John 14:21). That’s because obedience follows love.

Our attention is not focused on getting to heaven. God does not want us to serve Him for a reward any more than we would want our children to obey us just for a reward. I enjoy my husband’s company and wish we could be together forever. In the same way, spending eternity with Jesus is a wonderful byproduct of our love for Him.

Our attention is not focused on ministry. What God longs for most is our love and adoration, not our service. Service will naturally flow from love. There were times I longed to do more but didn’t know how. Then, I found that when I drew closer to Jesus, I stopped worrying about it. Instead of looking for ministry opportunities, suddenly they came to me. I saw opportunities everywhere. In one of our Christmas cards I worded this experience something like, “Where there once was a small window I now see thousands of shining doors.” I didn’t worry about what to do, it just sort of flowed naturally to me. God would bring something to mind, and I’d do it!

Our attention is not focused on being good wives, daughters, mothers, sisters, grandparents, friends and mentors. Rather our eyes are fixed on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, our precious Saviour, the One who died for us! Take our eyes off Him to look around, and we start to sink! If we have the kind of relationship with Him that He longs for and that we long for, everything else will fall into place.

I feel that what Christian Homeschooling moms need to focus on is their own personal relationship with Jesus. He needs to come first. Praying, reading His Word, talking to Him all day long, praising Him at every opportunity…

Recently I read on someone’s blog that she is working on being a Mary instead of a Martha. That’s exactly how I feel right now! Lately I’ve been distracted by many things and have not spent enough time on my personal relationship with Jesus. It has been weighing on me the last few days. Please pray for me as I work on this!

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