Motivation

What motivates you? Well, personally, I find my first motivation and inspiration from God's Word. In addition it is really awesome to have literature around my home and environments that continue to speak to me in favor of the direction that I am headed into. "Motivation" is a big topic, and it can be explained in many ways. Most of us have both internal and external motivations in any particular direction. I guess that is why it is so very important to choose our friends and our associations wisely. Because external motivation is a true and real factor, we want to be sure we are not hearing things and seeing things that will motivate us in the wrong direction.


The Scriptures say that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Rom. 10:17). If our faith is built up (or broken down) by hearing, we should be sure to make sure that what we hear is coming from God's Word or supported by God's Word. If your faith is built up in a particular direction, you will be convinced to act on it. Thus, you will be motivated by it. If your faith is broken down in a particular direction, you will be convinced to act on that instead...and be motivated (or unmotivated) by that exposure.

Something funny that I realized the other day as I was getting dressed interested me. I was in my closet and I looked down and saw my teaching books. Well, I used to keep my teaching books along with the student books in our homeschool room in my home. Well, not too long ago, I moved (or had the children help me move) all of the teachers' manuals to my closet. So, if there is a spelling book that has an accompanying manual, I keep the manual in my closet. The same goes for most all subjects. So, I have two crates in the bottom of my closet and I see them each day as I get dressed. Well, I found that to be motivating...don't ask me why! I didn't know, at the time, that it would be motivating for me. I just moved the books for convenience. However, each day, as I am dressing for the morning, I look down and am inspired by the book spines. I see "math", "history", "writing" topics staring up at me and it gets my brain percolating on all of the fantastic topics there are to teach my children today! Simple, yet gratifying motivation.


Another thing that motivates me is accomplishing one thing early. If I am able to accomplish Bible studies with my children, or songs, or chants, or dancing, etc. early on, it is so enriching and motivating for the rest of our day. Early rising is a sure motivation, too (but I am realistic to know that my children and I will probably need to nap by mid afternoon). My husband works a rotating shift, so sometimes that throws us off a bit. Our schedule usually moderately mirrors daddy's schedule, even when we don't try to. So, "early" for me might not be "early" to you. But it is about getting us up and getting us moving with good attitudes and a positive outlook.


For meals, it is sooo motivating to have clean countertops and floors! I just love that. If dishes have been set to wash in the dishwasher (or before we had a dishwasher, just hand washed) and I had a clean counter and a moderately clean floor, I was ready to create a meal! Who says it has to be a gourmet dish? It just needs to be good, nutritious sustenance for my family. That is so motivating for me. Normally, our kitchen is somewhere in between clean and dirty; because it gets so much use. I'm so totally over any false hopes of having a "sterile" kitchen. It is a working room, all day. It is not a museum. So, I am just really motivated when I can have a moderately clean place to work in there. Middle and little children are really good at helping do meal clean ups if we train those little hands to work. Big kids are fantastic at actually cooking parts or entire meals for the family, too! Again, it comes down to training. All of the children can learn a lot by just watching mom (or dad) in the kitchen everyday. The best apprenticing is "watching".




It is very nice to have like-minded believers to help us to stay focused on our callings in the Lord. Sometimes it is me motivating another believer, and other times it is another believer motivating me. Either way, it is a wonderful thing to be motivated towards our goals and encouraged that we can do it!







...Still trying to remain motivated in my goals and focused on Jesus!

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