Time Out from Organizing to Get Rid of a Little (or a lot of) Sin

The last two weeks have been crazy-full of preparing for the new homeschooling year, plus getting my older two (oldest 2 of the youngest 7? whatever..) ready to launch on their post-high school endeavors.

Then last week was even worse - I was forced to actually start teaching. Everything was going so great until the students showed up :)

 I've confessed before that the planning and organizing (and purchasing!) is much more fun for me than when my children come into the picture and start messing with my plans and my organization and my purchases.

Here's a few pictures of my messy schoolroom. I have no excuse - this room is great. It's the reason I wanted this house. A library with orange grass-cloth wallpaper and two walls of glossy black, built-in bookcases. And it's amply big (that farm table in the picture is 9 feet long.)  Don't hate me if you're doing school in your dining room. This is my 25th year of homeschooling. I consider this room part of my survival package.

I'll try to redeem myself by posting some "after" pictures when I've put everything away. Our guest bathroom is in this room - so I usually keep it fairly neat. But not during the first few weeks of school. I just pray for No Guests those weeks. At least not guests with small bladders.

 They say that homeschooling is a lifestyle - but my goal is always to get to the place where it's just a part of our life and not the crux of it - translation: I don't want to have to think about it on the weekends. Especially not on Sunday.

All that has very little to do with this post I'm linking to for your reading pleasure - and definite edification...and possible conviction.  I doubt if I'm even in the target audience for The Gospel Coalition blog since I believe it's aimed at full-time Christian workers (which is actually all of us, right?!), and the authors are over-the-top intellectual, so sometimes I spend too long looking up their words in dictionary.com and I forget what they're talking about.   But I don't unsubscribe because many times one of the posts REALLY, REALLY speaks to me and answers some sort of deep, theological application question that's kept me up nights. (Yes, that is exactly the kind of spiritual mom I am - the type who ponders deep issues as her head hits the pillow at night ...  unless I'm wondering what to cook tomorrow...or if my children will be abducted...or sneak out.)

The question/fear/anxiety this post answers for me is "Will my children be sanctified young adults since we  go to a less exciting, yet God-centered, church where they hear the whole counsel of God preached, in adult-speak, sans crafts and drama and easy-to-sing praise tunes?"

Wouldn't they have a better chance to walk the narrow path if we went to the fun church with the Discipleship program and the T-shirts and the accountability groups and the culturally-aware Pastor who cracks (appropriate) jokes and wears clothes they've seen on commercials?   Don't get me wrong, I love my church. Every single solitary sermon speaks of Christ; Who He is, and Who we're not  - and occasionally our beloved Pastor (who doesn't read my blog, praise Him!) even hints at application - but many, many Sunday lunches are spent trying to bribe my children into remembering something....anything (!)  from the sermon. (We used to offer dessert to those who could tell us what they learned...but we got tired of eating cake alone.)

I realize my real problem is a lack of trust in God's love for my children..and me. And His abundant provision and mercy and plans to prosper them...In His timing. But a mom's gotta fret over something other than how many meals she can get out of a whole chicken, right? (and the answer to the chicken question, at least for our family, is....half a meal. A whole chicken is practically a snack food around here.)

Since I know some of you will not click on the link and read the article (the non-commenters are probably non-clickers :)  - Even though the author basically tells us how to put away sin -  Here's a small part of the blog post from the beginning....

"So when we preach or teach passages that exhort our listeners to turn from unrighteousness and pursue holiness, to put to death their patterns of sin and walk in godliness, inevitably, we will get questions along these lines: But how do I change? How do I stop looking at porn? . . . losing my temper? . . . despising my husband? I want to put to death my sin, but I can’t."

And this part towards the end...

"Should we conform our minds to the truth of the gospel and remind ourselves of its truth? Yes. Should we bring to bear all the imperatives of the Bible, with the knowledge that Christ has already qualified us for heaven? Yes. But let us also open up our Bibles and search for Jesus, meditating on his glory, rejoicing in his perfections, tasting and seeing his goodness, and, then, let us put to death our sin as we are being transformed into his image, from one degree of glory to the next."

Now go read the whole thing! And come back and tell me whether you agree that knowing God, and showing Him as irresistible, to my precious children, is the answer to all my fears.