P is for Pray before Planning!
I have to admit it. I love to plan. I love to organize. It may seem contradictory to admit that most of the time, my home and especially, my office, is not organized or neat! It’s because I spend so much time planning that I don’t have time to straighten up I guess!
Planning is an essential part of most successful homeschooling families. Yet, the extent to which formal planning is done runs a pretty wide gamut of perspectives. As a Catholic, it is imperative that I pray BEFORE I plan! When I switch priorities, especially because I am simply excited about the planning process, I put the cart before the horse and then when things start to diverge from the “plan,” I often feel frustrated and disappointed. But if I have prayed first, and truly seek to implement what God is laying on my heart for each of my children for that day, then I have faith when the plan goes awry (whether it is because we have lingered on one topic, digressed into tangential issues or simply changed course because of current day’s events, moods, or happenings) that God will take whatever I have offered Him this day and transform it into God and use it for Good! And for me, prayer time in the morning is crucial!
In our family, I start by praying for God’s guidance in formulating my homeschooling plans — from the macro-year long vision, down to monthly goals, down to our basic daily unit — the 24-hour day. In the past few months, I feel so strongly that God has graciously guided me from the frantic focus on the year and the months — the wide-angled-visionary-from-the-trees type of planning— to the very near-sighted focus on the single, solitary day set before me. The more I started focusing on appreciating and living fully THIS DAY, the more I realized what God was telling me. It was similar to taking off my glasses (I am terribly near-sighted) and instead of seeing everything before me with clarity, I can only focus on what is near. But what is near is so beautiful simply because everything is blurred in the background! Focusing on this day, these hours that God has given me to live on the earth, these minutes of existence and trying my best to infuse them with Charity, is clear-focused revelation that God has provided!