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Welcome to week four of the homeschool prayer challenge. My name is Sarah and each week this year
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I'm sharing some reflections on a different area of homeschooling and a prayer to encourage you
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to pray specifically for your homeschools and keep God at the center. If you're new here, I'd love to
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have you join this challenge and get the free printables I share each week. After the video
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please check out the link in the description below for more details and to officially sign up. This week's
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video is even more special because I'm taking part in a collaboration between some other homeschooling moms who are
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all chatting about homeschooling during the hard times. Hard times will mean something different for everyone
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It will look different for everyone. So I will share my thoughts here today and I will leave the playlist link in the
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description as well so you can check out the other videos. This collaboration is hosted by my friend Ashley from Gathering and Grounded and
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Nikki from Blessed Homest MESS. They have a new joint channel called Two Homeschool Moms that you might want to check out
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I will link to that down below as well. So this week we are going to be talking about homeschooling through the hard times
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specifically when those hard times show up in forms of fear, worry, and discouragement
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Feeling inadequate, like we're not doing enough. Have you ever been able to relate to that
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I vividly remember the moment I realized God was calling me to homeschool my kids
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I remember the emotion of the moment. some excitement, but most of all, the feeling of inadequacy and fear. I remember thinking
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Lord, you're asking me to what? How in the world can I do this with everything else already on my
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plate? What will I teach? How will I know what to do? Will I be good enough for my kids? I don't
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think I'm good enough for this. I remember divulging these thoughts to my dear friend a few days
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later She spoke truth to me that I cling to even this day years later If God has called you to it he will lead you through it What a blessing this truth was to this scared new homeschool mama heart It revealed me where I was
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lacking in faith and that I was putting my hope in the wrong place when I lingered on those thoughts
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The beautiful words my friend shared have been continually reinforced me through God's word
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God will go before me and be with me as I seek his guidance. To me, that encouragement didn't mean
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that this new homeschooling adventure would be a hundred percent smooth sailing, but it did mean that
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I could be confident that our sovereign lord would acquit me as I sought him and walked obediently
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When facing new challenges, we can be caught up in fear and worry, the feeling of inadequacy
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Sometimes it can paralyze us from moving forward at all. Do any of these thoughts ever run through
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your head or something similar? I'm not very good at this homeschooling thing. Everyone else seems
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to have their act together much more than me. know you want me to do this God, but I just don't think I can anymore. Someone else would probably
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be better qualified to teach my kids. I'm not sure I'm doing enough with my kids. What if I don't
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give them a good enough education? If so, you're not alone. There are moments sometimes weekly
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that I struggle with doubt and worry whether or not I'm capable of what I know I've been called to do
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There are multiple examples in the Bible of people that God used who also felt inadequate
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about what God was asking them to do. We see the end of their stories and the amazing ways in
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which God used them. In seeing that big picture, we may wonder how they could question God in the
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first place, what blessings came from their obedience. Because we can't see the big picture in our
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own lives as they play out, because we can't see exactly how God is working, that fear and insecurity
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can creep in for us as well. What comfort it is to know that God is the alpha and the omega
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He sees the beginning and end of all things and has a purpose and a plan for everything he leads us to the fear and doubt that can cripple us is not from the Lord In John 1010 Jesus said the thief comes only to steal kill and destroy I have come that they
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may have life and have it to the full. God doesn't want us to live in a state of insecurity
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On the contrary, he wants us to rest assured that we will be made complete with all that we need to
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live according to his will. This week, I was drawn to the following verse from Hebrews in which
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the writer is praying for persecuted Christians to persevere. It says, now may the God of peace
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who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus
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that great shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will
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and may he work in us what is pleasing to him through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever
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and ever. And that's Hebrews 13, 20 through 21. I'm sure those Christians felt a lot of fear
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about the challenges that they faced and wondered if they had what it took to carry on doing God's will
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The prayer in Hebrews 13 is that God would equip them with everything good that they needed
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working in them through Jesus. He was working in them, and as Christians, he's working in us right now
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to conform us to the likeness of Christ and have the desire and ability to do His will. How amazing is
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this promise? We don't have to remain fearful or insecure when those thoughts creep in. We can run
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straight towards our Savior, knowing that he will equip us and be with us
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every step of the way. I hope that this truth encourages you this week as well as the next time
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you feel overwhelmed or inadequate in your homeschool or anything else the Lord has laid on your
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heart. Let me pray for us. Heavenly Father, I am so thankful you know my heart and have called me
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to homeschool. I confess that sometimes I lose trust that I have what it takes to do this
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and lose sight of the fact that you will provide for us and equip me for the task. I need your guidance
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and I want to rely on you more than I already do. I pray that you open my heart daily
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hour by hour to follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit to do your will Work in me what is pleasing to you so that Jesus Christ may be glorified in our homeschool In Jesus name I pray amen I hope that so far
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you have been encouraged by these weekly prayers. I'm so thankful that you are joining me here
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It's encouraging and motivating to me because these are all words that I need to hear repeatedly
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myself as well. Make sure you check out the links in the description below so you can log into
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the actual prayer challenge website. and print off the prayer. You can hang up in your home this week, along with some printable
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Bible study sheets. Go ahead right now and set a reminder on your phone or in your planner
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wherever, to check this each week so you don't forget. You'll get a new video in printables
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every Monday. Okay, so this week, here is what your printables will look like. We've got
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week four called and equipped. You've got your prayer. And then each day is broken down with just a
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couple of questions that you can reflect on as you read the scripture. So you've got Monday on that
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page. The next page has Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday. There's space for you to jot down any
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specific prayer request, how you saw God working in your homeschool this week. And then there is a
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whole page to write down your prayers for the week, any of your own prayers. So those printables will
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be in your dashboard along with a separate PDF of just the prayer you can print out if that's the
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only thing that you want to grab. I would love to hear from you in the comment section below
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Have you had feelings of doubt as a homeschool mom? How have you leaned in to the Lord and his
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strength during these challenges? Or how might you remember to do this when hard times do arise
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And finally, don't forget to check out the playlist below for some more homeschool encouragement this week. I'm sure you'll be blessed by what the other moms who are contributing
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how to share about homeschooling through the hard times. Okay, that's it for now. I'll see you next week
