How to Have a Heart Study- Introduction

I've joined an online group to go through this book above together called "How to Have a H.E.A.R.T For Your Kids' by Rachael Carman.

I was so excited about reading this and gleaning everything I could from it. This week's goal was to read through the introduction portion of the book and blog about what we thought of it and what stood out.. Here are my thoughts on this section.

I want to first off say how wonderful it is to see Rachael open up as she did in the introduction. How transparent she was in explaining her life and how she started homeschooling. This story was not beaming with happy thoughts, it literally made her unpleasant in many eyes, but she wrote it anyway. She showed us herself, raw and vulnerable. It was awesome.

Some things she said really stuck out to me. One was this quote "I still did not need God; He was only fire insurance." I can honestly see myself saying this. Now and in the past. Sometimes I feel like I put God on the backburner and just pick Him up when I need Him most. I don't want to live my life like this. I want Him front and center. I want Him a part of my everyday life, not only when necessary. In truth I need Him everyday. I've just been to blind to see that.

Another quote was about how she looked at other homeschoolers. At the time she didn't homeschool and had no intention of doing so. She said "I thought the choice to homeschool meant these mom's had nothing better to do, that they had no passion, no dream, no drive."

I can't say I've personally felt this way about homeschoolers but I sometimes feel like I've had to let go of some dreams I've had in my life to homeschool. It changes you when you make this large of a committment. You truly have to see what's important and what's not. Focus is important and you have to have drive, and passion to even want to homeschool. Without these you just won't succeed. She was focused on the dreams, passions and drive for things outside of homeschooling. I look at those three and see that you need all of them TO homeschool.

She goes along and speaks about her relationship with her children. She says "I knew their favorite cereal, ice cream, and cartoons. But what else had I taken the time to learn? Not much. I didn't see my children as a trust or a blessing or a gift. Perhaps in words, but not in deed, not in my heart."

WOW! That is powerful and true among a lot of mothers including me. Even though I am around my children 24/7 sometimes I lose the relationship with them. I guess my excuse is I am with them all the time, that should be enough, but it isn't. I need to purposely BE with my children, to truly know them, interact with them on their level and be with them with my heart. This was something that really tugged on my heart in this chapter.

The biggest thing that grabbed at me was when she said "You have given them everything-toys, trips, trivia, teams- but you've given them no target, no testimony, no Teacher." That was like a slap to the face.. You know the one that wakes you up from your drowsy fog right after a deep sleep.. I guess I've been in a deep sleep because I've given my kids all that she said but I am lacking in the most important thing.. Teaching them about Him. I truly need to make this more of a priority. I have been doing better than I have in the past but I can't skimp on this. I know this has a lot to do with the first quote I mentioned. God only being fire insurance. He just can't be. For the sake of my faith and for my children.

They NEED me to show them the way to Jesus. Nobody else here on earth will invest in that for them. God is trusting me with them.

I am really excited about digging into this book. I am already learning so much and taking away so much from just this introduction. I can't wait to see what comes out of the first Chapter this week. I will post next weekend on what I've gleaned.. Until then...