Notes from Jill: Responsibility, Relationships, & Rough Seasons

Notes from Jill Ekberg, 

A re-cap and encouragement for the heart

From January's PSP meeting

We were blessed to have former homeschool PSP mom, Jill Ekberg, share with us at our January meeting a few months back. Her words were saturated with truth and soaked in encouragement. Here's what she had to say if you missed the meeting or are in need of the reminder and encouragement once more. 

Responsibility:

• Discipleship takes time, be willing to put forth the time in your kids but allow yourself grace in knowing it is a process. 
• Make the main thing, the MAIN thing- it's Jesus. Keep Him central for you and for them.
• Preach the gospel to your children every single day. You can never have too much of it. Preach it to yourself as well, we all need the truth!
• When there is conflict in the home or between siblings, work at getting to the heart of the issue or the root of its cause. Be relentless that they may disagree, but not fight- there is a big difference in the state of the heart between those two. 

Relationships:

• Enjoy your kids, it's a privilege to be a mom and a teacher, so do it with joy.
• Remind your kids that their siblings are a gift, teach them to view each other in that way. (She mentioned that her family celebrates "Sibling Day".... have fun incorporating that!)
• Continually pray for the salvation on your children. 
• Model for them grace and repentance whenever you blow it or sin. 
• Share with them the life lessons you are learning so that they may see how to properly deal with things, what a gift you will be bestowing upon them and what a leg up they will have in life!

Rough Seasons:

• We learn obedience through what we suffer, our kids are watching all the time how we handle our suffering and discouragement. Let them in (to the degree that's appropriate) and allow them the privilege of seeing you walk with the Lord. 
• When we homeschool our children, they experience what we experience, they see all of life that's going on around us and them, they are not tucked away at school. Use all of if to disciple them and prepare them for life- it is real life training on the front lines! 
• It's ok for rough seasons to look different. There might be seasons you find yourself taking care of aging parents or different health issues or family needs- just keep pressing on, teach the gospel FIRST and foremost, everything else is just extra!

Tidbits and Nuggets:

• Jill recommended the book "Training Hearts & Teaching Minds" by Starr Meade if you are looking for a family devotional.
• She also recommended "Grandpa's Box" for some good read alouds and also encouraged parents to have their kids draw pictures or tell back what they have heard.
• Needing help with Reading, Writing or Arithmetic? Jill recommended "Why Johnny Can't Read" and "Take Back the Land".   

Jill has been such a blessing over the years to the PSP community, we are so thankful for her continued support and encouragement and for the wisdom she has shared with us! I hope you found this refresher encouraging to you wherever you are today!

For more encouragement, ideas, or resources, don't forget to check out CHEA!