Effective Way To Handle Anxiety in Homeschool

The previous post shared about how anxiety has been a problem for us during homeschool:

To read previous article, click here.

HANDLE ANXIETY BETTER

One of the main things we started doing to handle anxiety better on purpose at the start of our homeschooling days is by opening up with praise and worship. This one thing helps us in so many ways. The main thing praise does is to prevent anxiety before it can even get us going each day, but it can also help sweep it away after it has started.

3 Truths Praise Helps You Remember

Praise and worship helps you remember who and whose you are.

1. Stay Grateful

Praise reminds you to keep an attitude of gratitude, instead of complaining when things don’t go as expected. And with all the unexpected that happens daily in homeschool, praise has become a NEED for us. It is not just a good idea, but an actual craving and need. Ever heard of the hymn that says…

“As the dear panteth for the water, so my soul longs after you…”?

2. Father God Loves and Never Forgets You

Praise reminds you that you belong to the Great and Only Wise and Loving Father God who never leaves you and never forgets the details about your homeschool or life needs.

3. God’s Love Flows Through You For Others

Praise as a group reminds you that you are not just connected by blood, but also by the blood of Jesus. This helps us live out the True Love Walk. Being reminded of our divine connection with Him and each other helps us walk in grace and love with each other. This shapes how I parent, how I teach and how I partner with my husband. It sets the atmosphere of our home and homeschool and reduces anxiety not just for me, but for the children, too.

Resources For Praise And Worship

Vevo.com

We are creating our own video playlist of songs that include the lyrics to help us sing along. I have to set this up for them because this site has other music that is not parent approved, too. If you use Apple TV, you can show your video playlists on your tv and enhance the worship experience for yourself and your children.

WeAreWorship.com

The children have found some songs that they love on this site which is totally focused only on providing worship music. They have been able to find some great videos as a result of using this site. We prefer not to use YouTube directly, but using the weareworship site helps us find great YouTube videos that don’t have the ads and other video previews and thumbnails that we don’t want the children to see.

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Music Education

The children enjoy making their own instruments (usually they’ll use closed containers of grains or salt as shaker noise makers). They also love using instruments that they have received as gifts to play along during some songs. They also sing along, sometimes by using videos that include the lyrics on-screen. And, of course, they love to dance, too. For the most part, I step aside and let them enjoy this experience together, but sometimes I join in with them. However, if I take part, I try to stay in the background as a participant and allow them to lead it out. Each child is required to choose and lead one song.

How Do You Celebrate God’s Love In Your Homeschool?

Please use the comments area to share how your family stays reminded of God’s love and grace and mercy over your lives. What works well for you and your children to stay focused and avoid anxiety … or to deal with anxiety after it has started rearing its ugly head?

THANKS. PLEASE. SHARE.

Thanks for stopping by. Please use the sharing buttons to let your friends know about this discussion, too.

~ Donna Marie, The Mommy of Butterfly Homeschool

Please follow our blog at ButterflyHomeschool.com for inspiration and information that can help you in your homeschooling journey.

Successfully Recognize and Overcome Anxiety in Homeschool

This article shares about how you can overcome anxiety in your homeschool journey.

One of the things that you may not often see homeschool families blogging about is their struggle to overcome anxiety – both for parents and for children. This is part of the ugly side of homeschool. People don’t like to talk about it openly because it shows that we are only human and that we need God’s help, just like everyone else. If you have weakness, how can you maintain that “Super Mommy” image?! LOL 🙂

The good news is that God loves being our Super Everything. Leaning on Him is the only thing that has helped us to successfully recognize and overcome anxiety in homeschool. And I am good with that: laying aside all pride, I have surrendered to the Lord to guide my parenting and homeschooling.

OUR BACK STORY – STRUGGLE TO OVERCOME ANXIETY

Our family struggled with overcoming anxiety for years. When I say struggled, I mean that we didn’t recognize what it really was, AND didn’t deal with it well. One of my children had major issues with anxiety that pushed my patience to the limit. My inability to deal with it in my own strength, as a professionally trained therapist, left me feeling helpless and hopeless.

But that is a very good place to be because it forced me to seek Father God’s help. This challenged me to learn how to be better for my children’s sake, not in and of myself, but in Christ by renewing my own mind. Allowing the Lord to transform me from the inside out in a whole new way has changed the whole atmosphere of our marriage, parenting and homeschool learning.

RECOGNIZING WHERE YOUR HELP COMES FROM

I am grateful for my local church and excellent teachings by my pastor on how to take authority over your emotions from a grace-based mindset.

Grace = undeserved and unearned favor and help from God; no condemnation because of Christ’s Sacrificial Blood; unconditional and non-judgmental love – He takes us as we are right now

I am also grateful for prayer and accountability partners, and for the AOP homeschool devotional called “Daily Focus”. All of these have helped me to daily remember who I am and whose I am.

God has come alongside of me and supported me through His Word and through His People. He has not come down from Heaven and sat beside me in flesh form to help me deal. He has sent me all of His Ever Present help in all of my time of need. I embrace and welcome His Help in whatever way He chooses to send it.

In our case, we didn’t get to the point of seeking medical help this time (we have sought pro therapy help in the past when I had post-partum challenges), but for some people, this may be a part of your journey. If that is something that you need, then by all means, get the medical help that you need for yourself or your child.

AN ENCOURAGING WORD FOR YOU

Looking back on the very challenging and sometimes overwhelming times of high anxiety for myself or for my children, I am amazed that this is now rarely a struggle for us. I can look back now and see how our trust in the Lord has grown. This transformation in our mindsets basically boils down to daily (and sometimes hourly) remembering this promise from His Holy Word:

There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and [so] he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love [is not yet grown into love’s complete perfection]. 

~ 1 John 4:18 AMP

This scripture has come alive to me in recent months more than ever, even though I have been reading and hearing it for years. It helps me remember that because God loves me AND I choose to truly trust His Love for me, I have nothing to fear or worry about ever. I know that He does not miss any details and never leaves or forgets about me. He has all of those bases covered.

That truth has set me free emotionally from bondage/slavery to fear so that now I just live, love, learn and have fun with my husband and children like never before. What a feeling!

Now these changes have empowered me to set a better example for my children in this, too. I am truly amazed at how the Lord is helping them to learn how to turn to Him for help when fear or anxiety starts to rear its head. They calm down faster now and are more teachable. I am also overjoyed at the increased peace in our household which helps our homeschool learning progress better and faster.

HOW AND WHERE TO GET SUPPORT FOR HOMESCHOOL

If you would like support as a homeschool parent, here are ways I recommend that you can get support online and locally in Atlanta:

• Read the encouraging articles in the Christian Homeschool Moms Blog at ChristianHomeschoolMoms.com.
• Join The South Fulton Homeschoolers Support Group in Atlanta at the Wolfcreek Branch Library Every 4th Sunday @ 2:45pm – 4:45pm.
• Join us at World Changers Church International to hear the awesome good news about God’s grace in Atlanta, satellite church locations all over the world or online.
• I would love to pray for you. To send me your prayer request, leave a comment below or on the contact form at my main website.

God bless you and your family.

Shalom!

(This means “total peace/wholeness” from God so that you have nothing missing nor broken in any area.)

~ Donna, The Mommy Butterfly

Mother Of A Brown Boy Speaks – Open Letter About Social Justice

{Mother Of A Brown Boy Speaks} Open Letter About Social Justice

One of the main things that has been on my heart lately is about social justice for our children. As a mother of a young brown boy in America, I cannot ignore what has been going on with social justice in the USA and worldwide, in recent years and for centuries, in regards to the treatment of men and boys with darker toned skin – our brown boys. If you do not want to hear about this topic of civil rights and social justice, please stop reading now. I will be sharing very strongly because I know how important it is for mothers (and grandmothers) of brown boys to speak up, in America, and everywhere in the world. Civil rights is important for the whole world to talk, think and pray about. It is not just an American thing.

PROMINENT LEADERS PROTECTING THEIR OWN FIRST

When certain prominent children do the most heinous of crimes, even murder, certain prominent leaders rally and cover it up, even at the top levels of government. They hide the video. They declare it an “accident”. And the responsible prominent youth are never found in the unsolved cold case mysteries in police files all over our nation and world.

When our young brown boys do lesser crimes or any kind of crime, they are pursued fiercely by deputies of the justice system who are brought on board by our prominent leaders. The child had no chance from the moment the deputy spotted him walking in the street. He was either going to be in jail or dead that night. Most of the prominent leaders would not advocate for the young brown boy, like they do for prominent children.

Because the justice system’s prominent leaders protect their own first, there is no slap on the wrist for overzealous (or scared) deputies. These deputies don’t know how or choose not to do anything beyond using a gun or other methods of deadly force. They just get a pat on the back for a job well done “keeping the peace”. Keeping the peace to the prominent leaders equals using deadly force, with no other options being considered for young brown boys and men. Prominent leaders protect their own from this treatment, but they leave no room to consider the civil rights of the brown boys and men.

BLAME AND SHAME FOR BROWN BOYS

There is not even an expression of remorse by the leaders for the lives of young brown boys and men. Only blame and shame are expressed by the prominent leaders. But for prominent boys who commit devastating crimes, there is barely and rarely a reprimand. This is why most incarcerated boys and men are mostly brown.

The prominent leaders’ messages are loud and clear to a mother of a brown boy in America:

• Prominent leaders don’t plan to ever change. Status quo must continue.
• Deputies assigned by the prominent leaders must keep brown boys in their place as an essential part of “keeping the peace”. And deadly force is the go to – it is their main choice for keeping peace. The laws are set in place to ensure that even the grand jury can uphold this status quo for them.
• So, Mamma’s teach your boys right. But, if they mess up, and they will mess up because brown boys are like animals, expect the harshest treatment possible to come to them directly and swiftly. It doesn’t matter how minor or how great the mistake was that the young immature brown boy has made.

Mothers And Grandmothers
of Brown Boys Please Speak Up #ButterflyHomeschool

BROWN BOYS’ MOTHERS MUST SPEAK UP

And as long as the brown boys’ mothers sit back and say nothing, things will stay the same. Violence is not the way. However, we, mothers of brown boys, have options:

• Use Your Voice – Silence NEVER works.
• Boycott is a voice in and of itself – Money ALWAYS works.

Only Father God can give real justice. And, He does that through using bold fearless leaders, including brown boys’ mothers, to peacefully and persistently protest. We must not give up and must raise our voices.

This mother of a young brown boy protests. Things in the institutions of our nations’ communities, and in the international community, must change. Prominent leaders and their deputies must find other ways to keep the peace without continuing to funnel the brown boys either to jail or to the grave. Leaders need to want to find a better option than these two. Their hearts and minds will only change as we keep speaking up; as we keep boycotting.

We won’t resort to violence. And we won’t stay silent either. And we will find ways to re-direct our money into the influential leaders’ businesses who are also willing to stand up and speak up for our children, the young brown boys.

MOTHERS AND GRANDMOTHERS: Keep paying attention, praying and speaking up, as Father God leads you to do so. Some of us moms are not brown, but our children, and other children we love, are brown. All of us moms must use our voices and our money to help our leaders know that we expect them to make better choices; that we expect them to put pressure on prominent leaders to make the changes our society needs to move past this persistent problem.

We love all of our children, no matter what they look like. And continuing to advocate for the brown children will help the whole world. We can even see that with South Africa and with America’s civil rights movements. They have rubbed off on nations all over the world and shaped social justice movements worldwide. Social justice for brown boys will have an impact on proper justice for everyone. We are all connected. Please choose to pray and get involved, instead of ignoring and staying silent about this.