Seasons of a Mothers Heart - Chapter 8

I am reading Seasons of a Mothers Heart by Sally Clarkson and linking up over at Home With The Boys. Remember you can also follow tweets about the book by using hashtag #momsheart.

I am getting caught up yay!

Chapter 8 - Freedom from Guilt
I know I have guilt and LOTS of it. By biggest guilt is that for 5 yrs I worked outside the home and was not able to truly be the mother I had always hoped. I am trying to get over this guilt daily despite now being at home. The biggest reason this guilt is holding on is because of the discipline issues which I feel stem from the fact that our kids were being raised for the most part by others.

The second guilt I am carrying around daily has to do with me quitting my job to be at home. CRAZY right??? Considering I wanted I wanted more than anything was to be at home! Since being at home I have been feeling very guilty about not being able to provide for the children like I want. Going down to one income has been difficult for us and we are constantly telling our children NO you cannot do that or NO you cannot get that. Because we are now having to provide 3 meals a day instead of 1 or 2 we are not eating as well as I had envisioned. I was hoping that when I was home full time I would be able to actually cook healthy well balanced meals but that has not been the case. Even Christmas is going to be much lighter than normal (thank goodness for my luck at winning giveaways because that is where most of the presents are coming from).

Despite carrying around the guilt's above I am so happy to be homeschooling our children and despite negativity from some I have not experienced guilt when it comes to homeschooling because I know it is right for our family. There are days that have been rough (again dealing mostly with the behavior issues) but because I have a wonderful network of friends both online and not online I am provided daily encouragement, help, affirmation and prayer to raise me up. We started out our year (we are now 12 weeks in) with a routine and schedule of what each day would hold. But over the past 4 weeks that routine and schedule have fallen to the wayside. Because I realized that my children are enjoying learning and learn something new everyday. I have learned that they don't need book and worksheets work everyday to learn. They just need guidance and support. They are each individuals and they will learn differently and at different paces than their peers. We have been doing a lot of reading lately and the children have been choosing to some degree what they want to tackle for the day. If they seem frustrated with something that I have placed before them we move onto something else.  

My Life:
Definitely going to give this a try! Personal application: In your quiet time this week, ask God to show you and burdens of guilt you may be trying to carry unnecessarily. Whatever their sources, use 1 John 1:9 exercise to cleanse your heart and give  you a fresh start on living by faith. 1 John 1:9 exercise: Write down on a sheet of paper any known sins in your life including areas of self-condemnation, judgement, or failure. Then write 1 John 1:9 on the top. Next wad it up and throw it away, claiming the forgiveness and freedom in Christ. 

Quotes and Scriptures that really hit my heart:
-The good news is that you are free in Christ and do not need to be under the Law- or under the yoke of someone's Christian Law. - pg 158
-If homeschooling is indded God's will for our lives, then it is "good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:2, NASB) - pg 160
-We tend to carry around man-made rules and regulations because we have been told they will enable us to please God. It is a heavy and unnecessary burden to carry. - pg 161 

Do you deal with guilt? If so how do you get past it?