During our first two years, we carried our homeschooling responsibilities around like a big sack of rocks–and oh, that sack felt heavy! Eventually, we learned to make homeschooling who we were instead of what we did. We wrote out a goal for ourselves. 

We believe that we should spend our lives praying for and pursuing our goal: 

That we, our children and their spouses, our grandchildren and their spouses, and every succeeding generation live as Christians on earth and live forever in Heaven with our God and with each other. 

I made a list of specific objectives to help us reach that goal. As we continued to homeschool with defined purpose and freedom, we met our state course requirements, but meeting those was not our primary purpose. There had to be a why behind what we did. The why made all the difference. 

My prayer is that God will help you lay down any sack that feels heavy on your back. If you are feeling discouraged about homeschooling, I encourage you to pray and to focus on the things that are most important—eternally. That is something we are still praying for our family.