Motto for Life

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Image source: simplyconvivial.com

   

    The summer months are typically a break from the regular school schedule for my kiddos.  As a homeschooling mom with seven grades to prepare for, my summer is pretty full of lesson planning for the fall.  I have learned the hard way that the more I prepare ahead of time, the smoother the schoolyear goes for all of us.  

    Charlotte Mason was a Christian educator from England in the late 1800s who provided guidance and educational resources for parents and teachers.  Her books and methods have gained renewed following among homeschoolers and other educators in recent years, although they have been used for decades.  I often use one of her quotes as a motto to encourage my children to always do their best.  Sometimes I hang it on the wall where it is easily seen each day.  Sometimes I print it for the front of their notebooks.  It reminds them of who they are and where their source of strength is. Furthermore, it encourages them to choose to do their best and choose the right path.  It is a very simple motto: 

"I am, I can, I ought, I will."  

This is a simplified from a series of 4 longer statements. As I was preparing lessons, I was thinking on this and, while it is motivational for children, I realized that I need these reminders as well.  

"I am a child of God."  This is the foundation for who we are, what our purpose is, and how we live!  Ephesians 2:10 tells us, "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." I have a job to do, which God planned out before I was even born.  This means He has equipped me with everything I need to accomplish what He has for me to do. Understanding who I am leads me to strive for excellence as I live out this high and holy calling.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  Philippians 4:13.  Next is a reminder to look to Jesus as the source of our strength at all times.  If He has made me for a purpose, He will supply my every need to ensure that I can accomplish that purpose!  What peace, what encouragement that is to my soul!  I need this reminder daily.  

"I ought to do my duty to God and others."  Mark 12:30-31 delineates what our duty to God and others is:  "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'  There is no commandment greater than these. "  Jesus tells us very simply how we are to live.  So often we try to make things so complicated, don't we?  It is not as difficult as we make it out to be.  Love as Jesus loved.  Love Him with all of our being.  Love others as He called us to. Everything else is secondary.

"I will choose the right."  The Psalmist says, "I have chosen the way of faithfulness, I have set my heart on your laws." Psalm 119:30 .  There is a choice before us every moment of every day.  The choice is simply to follow the way of faithfulness, or not.  I must choose the right if I desire to see Him accomplish His will in my life.  Following His paths lead to blessing and fulfillment.  

These simple reminders help me to maintain my focus on how I live life daily.  Charlotte Mason was just a Christian lady, who had a lot of good ideas for teaching children to become literate Christ-followers.  God is still using her long after she has gone to Heaven to point me and many others to the Word and helping teach a new generation to choose the right path.  

I pray that this simple, timeless motto is a source of encouragement to you today as you face the world with all of its chaos.  Choose the right, knowing that you are a child of God and He will give you all the strength you need!

💓Heather Sparks💓

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