Say a Little Prayer

February can be a tough homeschooling month.  If you live in a snowy area like many  Canadians it is easy  to get a little cabin fever.  This year we have had lots of snow, some very, very cold days and a real absence of sunshine.  All  these things can contribute to feeling a little down in the dumps.  As I was reflecting on this I thought about some of the things that I found most encouraging over the years of homeschooling.  Today I want to share one of them with you.

Our family was always part of a homeschool co-op group. The kids loved it. They saw friends and took part in many great activities.  I established and led a local support group for many years.  The meetings were enjoyable and very encouraging.  While these were great for the family and myself I would have to say that there was something else that encouraged my heart more than any of the previous things.

After we had been homeschooling for a few years, I met two very special ladies who became dear friends. I am not sure how we got the idea but we decided to start a prayer group.  The purpose of our group was to meet and pray for our families.  This included time for our children, our husbands, ourselves and other local homeschooling moms.  It was a small group, never more than 4-5 of us at the most.  This was not because we wanted to exclude other moms but because we all had to bring our children when we met.  If there were more of us moms crowd control would become an issue.  Our children learned that this was "mom time".  While there was the bonus of spending time with friends, the older children knew that their prime responsiblility was to look after the younger children. 

We met once a month.  This was a safe place where we could share what was on our hearts. We could share the difficult things and the victories. We could weep over our errors as a parent and know that there was no condemnation. Each time started with a time of sharing and then an equal time was spent in prayer. We got to know each other very, very well.  Something that was very interesting about our little group was that doctrinally we would not have all been on the same theological page. However, that was never an issue.  We all loved Jesus and counted it a privilege and a blessing to share with others who felt the same way.

In the early years we sometimes had very noisy prayer times as there were still lots of babies crawling around.  Over time this changed.  Sometimes we would invite a mom who really needed prayer to come. We would love on her and pray for her. Our visitors rarely stayed more than a few weeks and so our group remained much the same for almost 15 years.  While our group is no longer functioning as our children are grown and we have moved on to other things, these ladies remain some of my dearest friends. One of them continues as a prayer partner with me to this day.

I believe that this prayer time also taught our children some good lessons.  They got to see prayer in action beyond their home.  In addition, they learned to serve and work together  as they babysat and they too built friendships that are lasting a lifetime.

I think the intimate connection is what made it work. We knew each other so very well.  If this sounds like something that would interest you I encourage you to pray that the Lord will direct you to a couple of other ladies so you can begin your very own prayer group.

May God bless you as you seek Him.

Unless the Lord Builds the house they labour in vain to build it.