Building Community at Lightning Speed

I just wanted to share with a recent revelation I shared with my clients. You see besides being a homeschooling mom, I am a marketing coach. I usually tell people I am a mom who has a business. They understand that my kids come first. When I started to seriously consider the homeschooling concept, I was skeptical and wanted some reassurance that I would not hurt my children in the process. I did what I do best, I went to my support group on the world wide web. I was surprised to see how many mom's are like me; they are entrepreneurs and homeschooling moms. I suddenly felt empowered and really researched it with a belief that I could do it.

Today is September 15th and I feel a "peace that surpasses all understanding." Honestly after only three weeks of serious homeschooling I am impressed. Here is what I think helped me take the leap: I prayed without ceasing, I got quiet and listened for answers (very hard for me to do) and then I started to reach out and ask for direction. It was not hard to do, I just logged onto Facebook and within minutes I had replies. I have great friends.

Within a month of opening this door I was fully involved and knew there was no turning back. The beauty is with the internet and the advent of social networking, you can have answers to any question within minutes.

If there is anything holding you back, follow the three steps I outlined above and get busy. Don't wait for all the stars to line up, line them up yourself. You can do it and you do not have to do it alone. I am sure there is someone out there to help you.

What does spaghetti sauce have to do with it?

I find inspiration in many places. Recently, I stumbled on a rich array of videos on many topics. The one I want to share with you today is a presentation made by Malcolm Gladwell who discusses the psychology of marketing by way of spaghetti sauce. In this clip entitled What we can learn from spaghetti sauce Malcolm explains how we went from marketing what we wanted to market to the masses by creating focus groups with leading questions to asking consumers to try many varieties of options to see which best suited their tastes. At first it is not clear how this is so significant, and as you watch this entertaining clip (about 19 minutes), you begin to understand the significance of this one revelation. Enjoy the clip and let me know what you think.

So what does this have to do with children? I am glad you asked. What if we offered more options and let our kids choose what they want? What do we normally do, we ask questions like: would you please go and get dressed? What we want is our child to get dressed; the problem lies when they answer the question in a way we don't want. So you ask the above question and they say "I don't want to." Now we are backed into a corner and this now becomes a confrontation. What if we became more resourceful and planned a little better. Then we could say: Which would like to do first, get dressed or have a snack? Then let them do both successfully.

Yes I know that seems like a lot of work, but if we can get into the habit of empowering our kids to make good choices, I believe they will rise to the occasion. Just a thought from this homeschooling-business mom.

How to make God Laugh . . .

Tell him your plan! Yes, this has been the year I have realized that I need to truly understand what it means to surrender. It took a very difficult summer with lots of doctor visits, lab work and major medical expenses to realize that God has a different plan for me and my family. At first I fought the plan, spent time in denial. Then I realized it was time and I gave into it. An amazing thing happened. As I truly started to let go and give in to God's leading for my life. The peace that surpasses all understanding was released in me. Also, people have fallen upon my path to help me down this new road. I feel content, energized even though I am completely out of my comfort zone.
It reminds me of a song where there main chorus is Life is Hard, But God is good. So true! Today I am grateful for learning to trust and to try to work on my ability to surrender and be obedient. I know it will take time, but I am in it for the long haul so I am just enjoying the ride.