~~ A Word of Encouragement ~~

Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty,
but from the strength of an ox comes an abundant harvest.
Proverbs 14:4
While considering this proverb, I began to weigh in the balance... (where there are no oxen) an empty, silent house from 8 - 3:30 everyday.   Housework done daily by 9:30, leisurely lunches with friends, lots of intricate craft projects, time to scrapbooking every photo, monthly redecorating, an alphabetically-arranged spice shelf, color-coded cds and video tapes, ... the list goes on.
However, we have chosen a different path.  Our homes are far from empty and rarely silent.  We have made lifestyle choices for our families and among those, is homeschooling.  Many, not solely because of a passion for teaching, so much as a commitment to a strong education for our children, based on our Christian faith and educational philosophy. 
Some of us have bananas growing bacteria on our windowsills and incubators humming, full of precious eggs, all in the name of Life Science.  Some of us have budding entrepreneurs working at their first business or alongside their father in the family business.   Another might be building a wildlife observation center, another writing regularly for the local newspaper, still another working with a church drama/puppet ministry, another doing little craft projects to cheer an elderly neighbor...  It's never boring.
:-)
As with any seedtime and harvest scenario, as one is sowing the seed, one rarely gets to partake of the harvest at the same time.  Seedtime can be a labor-intensive time, long hours.  As we homeschool, we are in that season of life.  And, I might add, it would be witless to engage in the task of sowing, if there was no expectation of a harvest.
Many of us are seeing the fruit of our labor already.  Open and warm communication with our kids, strong academics, character development, strong spiritual lives ...   We must keep foremost in our hearts, we are raising our children to walk in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord, fully prepared to serve Him in whatever destiny He has planned...strong for the harvest.
The key is "while it is still light, sow! "
Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
Deuteronomy 11:18-19