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Greetings!

Deborah Wuehler and family

Did your schooling and schedule take a nose dive like mine did this last month? All those performances and parties and people and holiday plans took over the entire month! And it looks like we are going to continue our lack of school schedule through the next two weeks before we can buckle down again. I want my schedule back! I think?!

Some of you have already started the academics up again, and some of you have tried to start but are finding it very difficult. You are tired. You are a little restless maybe. And you just don't have what you need to see it through. You are stuck in the mid-winter blues. Don't be alarmed, it happens to most of us.

In thinking about winter, I am reminded that things are not always as they appear on the outside. As you look outside your window and see bare trees, remember that there is still life in those trees. God holds us even in the mid-winter seasons of our lives and produces new life from what has been dormant.

Is there seemingly no life in you or your homeschool, in your marriage, or in your walk with Christ right now? Hang on-there is still life in those bare winter trees. Don't give up; look up. The sun will shine again, but in the meantime, dig deep into God's reserves of fortitude and grace. Put one foot in front of the other and do the little things that bring big rewards.

Go ahead and hunker down and take it easy for a little bit until your energy returns. Use this "down" time to read aloud to the kids while they play or color or build. Have those fun devotional times together that you've been wanting to have. Make that project that's been on the back burner. Finish a puzzle even if it takes all day. Instead of getting out the books, get out the flash cards and make this a time of reviewing and playing fun games. Your energy will return soon enough and you'll be too busy to stop and play.

Maybe this is the time to take a day or two to get rid of chaos and organize those things that are out of control. Remember what bugged you before the holidays, and try to find out how to fix that before you start again. Or maybe you just need fresh encouragement and ideas to really get you going. (Hint: Read a couple great articles from the January issue of TOS!)

If you are like me and have a hard time getting back into the groove of things after the Christmas break, here is something to listen to on the subject.

Feel like you are you in a place of death in any area of your life? Ask the God who created everything from nothing. He not only defeats death, but produces life from it, as Jesus Himself exemplified.

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a kernel of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit" (John 12:24).

As you are blessed to keep your children Home Where They Belong, don't forget that nothing is impossible with God and with Him you can beat the mid-winter blues.

~Deborah

TOS Senior Editor

SeniorEditor@TheHomeschoolMagazine.com  

Diana Waring

Relational Homeschooling

www.DianaWaring.com 

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year! May this new year be filled with ever-increasing joy for you and your family.

Before I share a few thoughts about today's timely topic, we want to let you know about our Winter Kick-Off. Celebrate 2013 with 20% discount for the next 2 days or 13% discount for the following 3 days when you buy our reinvigorating, revitalizing, reminding-yourself-why-you're-doing-this downloadable collection of encouragement for homeschool moms! It begins today!!

Now, unlike homeschooling moms in the southern hemisphere who are just getting ready to start school (it is mid-summer there!), you are probably facing a wall of inertia at the moment. I mean, didn't you just give every ounce of energy into creating a fabulous Christmas experience for your family? Not only that, only a few months ago you launched a new school year for your kids! Whew!! No wonder an insurmountable wall of inertia is looming over you.

So, what's a mom to do? Here are three suggestions that come from my own struggles to get through that wall, particularly when January is so grey and tedious. 

Here's the list: 

• Inspire 
• Analyze 
• Energize 

First of all, Inspire. When facing obstacles of any sort, it has been remarkably helpful to read someone else's story about how they overcame the odds, broke through the wall, and achieved their goals. Inspiration provides that first step of getting our hearts to believe that it is possible to keep going.  That is why we love stories of people like Joni Eareckson Tada and Corrie ten Boom, because they remind us that there is incredible blessing on the other side of our pain. So, I want to encourage you to read or reread another family's story of homeschooling, one that will inspire you! (If you aren't sure what to read, check out my Once Upon A Time E-Book, part of our downloadable collection.)

The second step is Analyze. Take some time--alone, with your spouse, or with an encouraging friend to ask yourself specifically what factors are weighing you down. Are you the Type-A driven homeschool mom who can never say "no," and who thinks that if maxing out is good then adding a few more pieces would be even better? (I can speak from experience on that one: simplify, simplify, simplify!)  Do you have a child who is not thriving on that expensive curriculum, but you are determined to wring every bit of value you can out of it? (Simply put, which is more valuable, your child or the money you spent on the curriculum?) Are you suffering the exhaustion of trying to keep up with the homeschooling version of the Jones's? (Ah, dear one, no one keeps up with those guys. Did you know they don't really exist?) Write down the specific issues and then prayerfully and carefully consider your options. What can you put out with the trash??? 

Finally, Energize. As a Homeschool Practitioner, I am going to write you a prescription for beating the winter blues. Make lots of room in your heart, your mind, and your schedule to add in great doses of humor, fun, and games! It will provide an energizing zest for both you and your children, making each day easier and more profitable for all.

That's it! Happy New Year!!

Remember, stay relational.

Diana

P.S. Don't forget to check out our 5-Day only Winter Kick-Off discount!

Raising Real Men

www.RaisingRealMen.com  

Hal & Melanie Young

January. Melanie's birthday is in January and she always hated it. Everyone's broke after Christmas, and they're tired of parties, and the weather is awful even if they wanted to come. Ho hum. We tend to feel the same way about starting school back, don't we? The party's over. No more sausage balls. It's time to work. Ugh.

There's another way of looking at it, though, and that's the way we're going to approach it ourselves this year.

Remember all those plans we had in September? Are feelings of failure crashing around your head like they are around ours? No matter! Here's a chance to start fresh. Even if you got almost nothing accomplished in the fall, if you start hard now and don't stop until you're done, you can finish in time to start in the right place next year.

Is the weather awful? Good--there's less temptation to get distracted from home and school. We'll just drag our blankets downstairs, cuddle up, and start reading good books together! Who wants to go out in that mess anyway?

God is the master of redemption, of new starts, of forgiveness, of restoration. He's the one who ". . . will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten . . . " (Joel 2:25). That gives us hope in our homeschooling and parenting. Even when we fail, our Savior is there to stand in the gap for us. It's a good thing, isn't it? And it makes even January look like it's going to be full of grace!

By His grace alone,

Hal & Melanie

Join us in just a couple of weeks in Anaheim, CA, for the free Exploring Homeschooling Conference! Click here to find out more! http://www.raisingrealmen.com/anaheim 

Not in that area? You can not only hear us speak, but ask us all the questions you like at our exclusive interactive online series for parents-Boot Camp 9-12: Getting Geared Up for the Teen Years www.RaisingRealMen.com/bootcamp and Marriage Retreat Online www.RaisingRealMen.com/marriagebootcamp. The next sessions start in just a few days, so sign up now at a $15 discount!

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