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WEEK 8: Homeschool Prayer Challenge | Sibling Relationships in Homeschooling
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Jun 19, 2024
Be intentional about praying for your homeschool — join me in the Homeschool Prayer Challenge! Link to sign up for the Homeschool Prayer Challenge (it's FREE!): https://homeschoolcourses.thrivecart.com/homeschool-prayer-challenge/ Log in to the challenge: https://homeschoolcourses.thrivecart.com/l/ Homeschool Prayer Challenge Playlist: https://blessedhomeschool.com/prayerchallengeplaylist Favorite Bible study tools & resources from Amazon: https://amzn.to/41H1kwf ********************************************* Boring Legal Stuff: • This video is not made for kids. • I occasionally have sponsors for videos. However, all thoughts or opinions shared are always my own. • I also sometimes share affiliate links where I earn a small commission. This costs you nada, and helps support my blog and channel. Thank you so much! • FTC: Blessed Homeschool is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
View Video Transcript
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One day when they were younger, I remember catching a glimpse of my son and one of my daughters
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sitting together on an armchair, playing a video game together, and laughing. Seeing them playing
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together, enjoying one another's company brought me so much joy. I will forever treasure
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memories like these and I'm thankful for so many situations like this I've witnessed since then
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It isn't the reason we decided homeschool our kids, but the opportunity to help them form close
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bonds and strong relationships is definitely a benefit. For many families, this may be a big
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reason in their decision to homeschool. However, close sibling relationships are not an automatic
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byproduct of homeschooling. If only it worked like that. In today's world, God's design for the
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family is constantly under attack. We have a real enemy that wants nothing more than for our kids to
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bicker and loathe our efforts to create unity in our family. The assumption is that it's normal
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if brothers and sisters fight. But God created the family unit and gave us our families to learn
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grow, and love together. Family relationships should be strong, and we absolutely can go to God in
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prayer for our hearts and our hardships in this area. What an opportunity we have to help our kids
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foster strong relationships with their siblings through homeschooling. And this is going to be our
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focus in prayer during week eight of the homeschool prayer challenge. Thank you so much for
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me in praying for our homeschools this year. Some of you may have been here since the beginning
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or maybe this is your first time stumbling across this video. If you don't know me, I'm Sarah
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and I run a homeschool blog called Blessed Homeschool. A couple of years ago, it was laid on my heart
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to begin an email challenge where I would send out a prayer each week along with a little
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devotional and some Bible study questions. Well, that grew to me publishing a devotional
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journal last year for homeschool moms, and then to this video series this year. I know that it's a
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commitment to watch each week, which you certainly don't have to do. But I also know how hard it can be
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to stay focused on the Lord and Kim at the center of my homeschool amidst all the other things vying
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for my attention each day. It's my hope that with these focused intentional prayers each week
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it will help keep you and me accountable to this keeping us mindful of our thoughts and attitudes and staying connected to the vine through Bible study and of course prayer So that being said if you aren signed up officially for this free challenge please do so at the link below
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Each week you'll get a printable prayer you can print out and hang in your homeschool room or
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kitchen or wherever to remind you of that week's prayer focus. And if you happen to miss the week, that's okay
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The videos and printables will always be there for you to grab when you need them
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Okay, let's get back to this week's topic. Our kids and their relationships with their brothers and sisters
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Now, we certainly can't just sit back and assume our kids will be close because we're homeschooling
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and they're simply around each other so much. In fact, our kids being so close all the time can
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actually make bickering and fighting worse. While we are by no means a perfect example
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what family is. By God's grace, our kids tend to get along pretty well much of the time. There are a few
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tips I would love to share with you that have helped me navigate the sibling dynamics in our house
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and then I will talk about how we can specifically pray for our kids this week
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Okay, tip number one, respond to issues immediately. Kids need to learn how to navigate problems that arise in their relationships
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When one sibling gets angry or hurt by another, it can be tempting for them to disengage or
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ignore each other instead of trying to find a solution to the problem. This can allow anger and resentment to build, and the issue never truly gets resolved
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We are teaching our kids that it's important to try to resolve conflicts as soon as possible
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It's okay to be upset, but they must use appropriate ways to express how they're feeling to their siblings
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We do a lot of redoes in our home. When I hear a conversation getting a little bit out of control and temper is rising, I'll ask my kids to stop and think about if they're using words and actions that are honoring their brother and sister
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Then we'll start the conversation over, have a redo, choosing calm and kind words to express themselves
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They really love it when I act like a movie director and yell, action before their redo
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With the opportunity to homeschool, we have a front row seat to a lot of sibling interactions and a lot of teachable moments
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Mamas, let's make a conscious effort to intervene when necessary and take the opportunities given to us
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Teach our kids how to appropriately communicate with each other. All right. Tip number two, cheering one another on
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Our kids are fearfully and wonderfully made by our loving Heavenly Father, each of them unique and each with their own talents, purpose, and interests
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It important that we as parents recognize this and support them and it important for their siblings to do so as well I try to coach my kids a bit in this area I encourage them to give compliments to one another do something nice to cheer one another up when they feeling down
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or encourage each other when they're facing something challenging. We all show up most of the time as
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schedules allow to cheer for one another at sporting events. I desire to make it a part of our family
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culture to spur one another on in love and good deeds. Some kids know instinctively how to do this
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but teaching them and training them to show kindness to their siblings and support their accomplishments
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is an effort worth making. Okay, tip number three, serve others together. Serving as a family is not only a
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great way to train our kids to be selfless and giving, but can also be a great way to bond and make
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lasting memories. Not only can you work together to serve and volunteer in your community, but you can start
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right inside your home and encourage your kids to serve one another. I'm going to leave a link to a sibling secret
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agent printable I created in the prayer challenge course website, which you can print off and have your kids
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complete this month. It's a really fun way to encourage them to serve their siblings. Tip number four
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teach your kids how to pray for each other. Prayer is so important and what a privilege do we have
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to lift one another up. As we pray for our children's sibling relationships this week, let's also
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teach them to pray for each other daily. We can teach them to make this a habit by modeling
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consistently. Pray before bedtime each night, during family devotions or even at the dinner
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table, ask if anyone has any prayer requests or how you can be praying for each other
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When we pray together, I often remind them that we are told to pray continually and that we can talk to God throughout the day anytime
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Teaching our kids to pray for their siblings will help bring them closer together as they build up love in their hearts and seek one another's well-being
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So how can we specifically pray for our children's sibling relationships this week
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There are a lot of wonderful scriptures you might refer to, but here are a few of my favorites
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2. Peter 318 says, But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
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to him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. So we can pray that our kids grow in
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the wisdom and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, that they would be well equipped to handle
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challenging situations with each other and learn to understand and empathize with one another more
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each day. Ephesians 432 says, be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another
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as God and Christ forgave you So we can pray that their relationships with each other are kind tender and full of grace and forgiveness that they would promote peace among each other and encourage one another Psalm 1914 says may these words of my mouth and this meditation
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of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my rock and my redeemer. We can pray that the things
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our kids say and think to each other would be pleasing in God's sight, that they would look for ways
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to put others before themselves and have a selfless spirit. And Romans 15, 5 through 6, may the God who
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gives endurance and encouragement, give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ
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Jesus had. So that with one mind and one voice, you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
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Christ. So let's pray that they realize the sacrificial love towards each other, the kind of love
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shown to them by Jesus, that this love would fill them and overflow to their siblings, manifesting
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in their thoughts, attitudes, and actions. And let us pray for opportunities for us to teach them
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and guide them from scripture while they are under our roof in our homeschools
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Pray for patience each day as we help them grow and nurture their relationship
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Fostering strong sibling relationships takes intentional work, prayer, and allowing the Lord
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to guide us. Pray for His will in the lives of your children this week that they may know
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a strong relationship with their siblings and glorify God in their lives. Let me pray for us
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Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of my children. In your infinite wisdom, you chose them
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to be siblings. And I pray for opportunities to do. day to help them build strong bonds through our homeschool. You know the dynamics between my children
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and all of the challenges they face. My desire is that they have unity and peace in their daily
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decisions and interactions, loving one another as you have loved us. Let my children not look only to
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their own interests, but to the interests of their siblings. Inspire them to outdo one another
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in showing brotherly love. May the Holy Spirit fill me with kindness, patience, gentleness
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and self-control as I teach them each day that they may see Christ in me as a
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an example to them. Let your word transform them daily. May you be glorified in their
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relationships with one another throughout their lives. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. All right
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friends, thank you so much again for joining me today. If you haven't already, set a reminder
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alarm on your phone to log in on Monday each week and check for new printables and videos for this
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challenge, or if you're on YouTube, just hit that little bell to receive notifications. I will see you
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next week
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