Simply put, returning to a routine is hard. After a 2024 that frankly kicked me in the tail on so many fronts I made the choice to slow down the last three weeks in December. Travel slowed, school slowed and we focused on reading, discussing great literature, working on sewing projects, learning math in practical real life vs from a text book, reading books (lots of books), and working on character building. It was awesome. I needed the slowness. My family needed the slowness. The afternoon coffee on the couch, the house project when we felt like getting to it. The getting up and having play time first vs chores.
Then January hit and all the realizations hit with it. I am responsible for educating these four little beings. I am responsible for feeding, clothing them and teaching them how to be productive and positive members of society. All the realizations came but somehow the motivation to re-enter the day to day grind did not. We were all enjoying the slowness.
Realizing that sitting drinking coffee all day and just letting my kids be feral isn’t what I am called to do. So how to go about motivating myself to motivate others? My first thought was “suck it up” and “you can do it” but as a believer those thoughts are not where I should go when motivating myself. The first part of the equation should not be me, “what can I do to help myself” is flawed. Yes I should try and have a drive in life, BUT here’s the kicker. My motivation, my source of strength to move forward, my help is not inside me. My ultimate help is inside my relationship with the Lord. So when it comes to finding motivation to do life and to motivate others who may just want to play all day (ahem, those four strong personalities I’m raising). I need to look to the Lord for His help and to seek out his strength. He will move me forward.
