Homeschooling and Taking Care of Our Marriages

First of all thank you to all of you who are praying for the loved ones of all those killed over the weekend in the recent helicopter crash .
Also I want to apologize for my strongly worded warning to spammers you see in the comment section. Usually I just roll my eyes but what set me off was the person who left a long spam comment ( who obviously didn't read my post) on my prayer request post. I doubt if I'll stop getting spam but I hope it will at least reduce the amount of spam comments that come through. As a matter of fact a spam comment came in this morning. Delete!

I've been thinking about writing about marriage and homeschooling for the past several days and asking the Lord what He would have me share. This post won't be long and I realize not all who read my blog homeschool but know moms who do.

Back in Santa Barbara, CA our family was part of a great Christian homeschool group. We had lots of activities and believe me, our children were very much socialized. But what I find upsetting is that several marriages over the years ended. Now please, please understand! I'm not blaming homeschooling on the destruction of these marriages. I know Christian couples who have sent their children to private and public school and have divorced.

So I want to offer some  marriage tips for those who are in this homeschool journey or are thinking about it.

 The first thing I believe is to pray with your husband about this issue. It's much easier if you both are on board when it comes to homeschooling because it is a lot of work.
If your husband is not a believer you still need to talk to him first and let him know what you would like to do. If he is absolutely against you homeschooling your children, then you must submit to his wishes and leave him in the hands of the Lord.

Another thing I really need to press upon homeschool mothers is Make. Time. For. Your. Husband.
You've been with your children all day and he needs to know you are still there for him. Grading papers can wait.
 Have date nights. Dates don't always have to cost a whole lot of money. That is something I wish I had learned during my earlier years of homeschooling.
Go for walks around your neighborhood.
Make a pot of coffee or tea and go sit at the park or beach and talk. Take this time to pray for each other and the children.
Put the children to bed early so you two can have time alone together.
Make a special dessert for just the two of you to share. If you are not great at making desserts you can get those single serve brownie in a mug desserts. Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker makes them and they are really good. Ask me how I know.😄
If you both like board or cards games then by all means go for it. 
Something else that just came to mind is ministry.  Our first priority is to our families and is our ministries. Ministries that involve us spending a lot of time away from our husbands and children can have a devastating effect on our marriage if we are are not careful.
I'm not saying we shouldn't get involved in activities like Bible study, teaching children's Sunday school etc but we just need to be careful we aren't choosing these over our family.
 So these are just some things I want to share with you homeschool moms and even if you don't homeschool, I hope you have been encouraged to spend more time with your husband.