A Cup of Koinonia: Being A Mother-Teacher & Connection

Grab a cuppa and find a comfy seat. Welcome to my home, friend. Let's chat about the hard work of motherhood and how we sometimes need to regroup and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us back to a place where we are connecting with our children.
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[@Mamato12_blessings-md8xw]

Lovely talk. Thank you for sharing your heart. I love the “put down the rope” idea. It is so true.

[@kindletogetherness]

So glad it was helpful! Thanks for leaving a comment.

[@kaitlinjones5440]

Thank you for being vulnerable and sharing your heart! Very encouraging! In a similar season of life and homeschooling and God has been leading me to similar heart convictions! When we simplify and reorient our focus to what matters to God, he gives us a heart after His heart and we allow Him to fill us and be used as His instrument in the lives of others. I'm a lifelong learner and get so excited to learn alongside my children that I have found myselt getting overzealous and neglecting the primary role of exemplifying God first and parenting my childrens heart. He gently guides me back and it often means letting go in the process. He had called me to submit to His plans press pause - push the books aside and go after the heart. (even daily if I need to). This doesn't mean there is something wrong or we are behind and we shouldn't be frustrated by our plans being altered but THIS is the plans He has called us to. Often that means sacrificing our daily lists and what success looks like in our day to day and realizing that abiding in Christ and sharing His heart with our kids is the true work of education❤

[@kindletogetherness]

100% It is easy to prioritize the other parts over their hearts, but the end result won't be what we hoped for if we do that!

[@csmith2411]

Thank you for sharing this. My heart was heavy over these same thoughts this morning and this was the first video I saw. Thank you for listening and sharing what God is speaking into your life.

[@kindletogetherness]

Wow! Isn't it amazing that God can use literally anything (even YT) and anyone (even me) to speak to us! I give Him all the glory. May you continue to hear His voice as you seek to honor Him in all you do!

[@leacummings885]

Thank you for having me over friend! It has been so nice visiting with you and hearing your heart. I always find so much encouragement in your videos and will be praying that the Lord will encourage you as well ❤️.

[@kindletogetherness]

Thanks for coming! I wish I could share a nice pot of tea with you!

[@leacummings885]

@@kindletogetherness Likewise ❤️❤️❤️

[@IndiBex86]

Sarah Ruth this spoke to my heart. I think so many of us homeschooling mamas just need to voice our struggles or fears about being the guides for our children. I often forget that other mamas are struggling too, and hearing your story from the heart speaks to me in such a deep way. So many of us feel the same. And the connection with out children is the most important thing. Thank you for opening up your home to us. ❤

[@kindletogetherness]

I’m so thankful for a little space to share openly and invite my friends to share too! May God work in our hearts as we set the atmosphere of our homes!

[@ksong777]

Thank you so much for sharing what the Holy Spirit has put on your heart. Last night and this morning I prayed specifically on mothering and homeschooling, as I feel I’ve been in desert as of late. This was on my feed, and your words softened and inspired my heart.

[@kindletogetherness]

WOW! All glory to God for His faithfulness to speak to us!

[@NivesScott]

Oh, this spoke to my mama heart so much. These are the exact realizations I am going through right now and if I can be honest it’s a struggle, I need to constantly remind myself to slow down and be kind, be loving, be connected to them.

[@kindletogetherness]

It’s hard work to be mindful when we have so many things to manage and keep up with. Hang in there!

[@Featherwise]

Thank you Sarah Ruth, that was a lovely talk and I needed to hear it… I have been homeschooling my own children for 17 years,my oldest is at the end, and i have two (6 and 8) coming up that i am desperately trying not to repeat some of the mistakes i made with the oldest on. We are recovering unschoolers, so i had to laugh at that part… But for real, my oldest child, i never had any issues with “connection”. I was a single mom for the first 9 years of his life and it was just the two of us. Best buddies. We played and traveled and read books and made things and build lego sculptures and gardened and went on adventures and to concerts and that was basically his “education”… the connection was wonderful and is still rock solid. The problem is that I never put in the “discipline”. He didnt do textbooks or workbooks, He nev ear wrote a single essay or lab report. He never had to do anything that required the disciple to do what you don’t WANT to do… like ever. And Now at 17 he is struggling so much in certain areas. He lacks the foundation of math beyond anything but basic arithmetic… he doesn’t understand how to collect his thoughts and then present them in a cohesive written or spoken presentation. It breaks my heart what a disservice I’ve done him in these regards. I’ve been trying to correct it for a few years now, but its nothing but a struggle, and a lot of “i dont know HOW” about everything. With my younger ones, I have been trying to start the book work portion early for a few years now… its going okay, but man is it a struggle to find the discipline without losing the connection. Many days i find myself just trying to power through. Or obsessing about how “behind” they are in reading skills, or math. And setting these crazy goals for them to try and push through to quickly. Im so afraid that they will end up disadvantaged in the same ways that my oldest is, that I’m now realizing that i might give them the opposite disadvantage: a lack of connection. THank you for the real talk that I needed. There has to be a balance and ultimately, the connection IS the most important. If my oldest had the book skills all those years, but we didn’t have the CONNECTION, he wouldn’t know God right now. I raised him pagan for the first 13 years of his life. When i came back to Christ in 2020, my son came willingly with me because our connection was so rock solid and his trust for me and my good judgement was so great that he KNEW that I wouldn’t be making these radical changes if it it wasn’t TRUE. He was baptized as a believer of his own free choice this past New Year’s eve… SO praise God for what He can do for our children through the strength of our parent-child connection! Of all of the things i did wrong my first 13 years of parenting, that was the ONE sure thing that I did right. Thank you for the reminder this morning that no matter what happens in my homeschool, I can’t lose sight of THAT. And the Lord.

[@kindletogetherness]

I cried reading this beautiful journey you shared! Glory to God that you returned to Him and brought your son along! What a testimony. While I value academics and lean a little more academic personally, my husband is NOT academic. He left school before grade 8 and finally went back as an adult. He did get a degree in his mid 20s and I was so proud of him, but he is still not academic. I feel like while we are educating our kids, it is so easy to feel like all success is measured by their learning - BUT IT IS NOT! Success in life will be so much more. It will be based on their character and their walk with God. Keep going!

[@Mamato12_blessings-md8xw]

What a beautiful testimony♥️. Remember that the Lord will restore what the locusts have eaten if you ask Him and wait on Him. There are things you can do to help correct course with your oldest. Start where he is and go from there. Teach him how to continue where you show him. (And with the big talk on unschooling lately, this is the testimony people need to hear. Thank you for sharing. )

[@ourevergreenhome]

Thank you so much for sharing this Sarah Ruth! I love what the Lord has been working on your heart recently and it really encouraged me greatly too, He is so good! Love your work! Blessings, love Steph

[@kindletogetherness]

You are so welcome, Steph! Thanks for responding wholeheartedly. May we all live our lives under His watchful eye and in the light of His love!

[@caewing85]

We love the Goops! I need to pull that back out and read it to the kids again. This was good.

[@kindletogetherness]

It's a lot of fun for a quick poem during tea time.

[@wholeheartedhomemaking]

This topic has also been on my heart. Thank you for sharing how you are approaching this short time!

[@kindletogetherness]

Glad it was helpful! I hope you will share some of your ideas as well.

[@kingdomhealthwellness]

I loved this and it was super encouraging ❤ Thank you!

[@kindletogetherness]

I’m so glad it was encouraging.

[@sheena7626]

Absolutely love this!❤❤❤❤

[@kindletogetherness]

Thanks, Sheena!

[@aworkofheart_monique]

Absolutely loved this❤️ Worth my time!

[@kindletogetherness]

Thank you for telling me!

[@raisingsixarrows6140]

Thank you for sharing this was what I’m going through and feeling as well with my boys and little girl. Thank you for the reminder to hit the pause button. I love what you said about tea time we use to do it and have not in so long and I think I need to bring it back. I also want to join your family for tea time sounds beautiful fun and so wonderful ❤

[@kindletogetherness]

Everything sounds great on the internet. 🤪 Our tea times have spills and tiffs and whatnot too!

[@raisingsixarrows6140]

@@kindletogetherness you wouldn’t be a mama of boys if you didn’t 🥰 It still sounds like a beautiful time and amazing memories for you and your boys. Thank you for being vulnerable and honest in how it can sometimes look and how you still do the things no matter how it may look and you embrace the time with your boys

[@Mamaisawake]

I have these thoughts in all kinds of discipline choices. We pick our battles of course and I often make different choices for each child based on mostly motherly instinct. What is this child really feeling or thinking right now? What is not being said that I need to understand before I act? I am often imperfect after the end of a long day with 3 kids 5 and under, but I do think more often than not they know mama will listen and care and treat them as a whole person.

[@JessicaJosie]

Loved this video (love all of your videos!). I enjoyed the heart to heart and encouragement you offered. I like the “put down the rope” concept…I need that with my wild boy. Mine are 4 and 6yo so we’re just starting our homeschooling journey (finishing up kindergarten🎉). Do you school through the summer? We don’t do tea time but we do poetry picnics on Friday’s (snack time on a blanket either outside or sometimes on the kitchen floor). Any little kid poetry yours have loved?

[@kindletogetherness]

So kind, Jessica. All glory to God that you have gleaned something from them! We do year round schooling because we like to break at birthdays, camp, and travel throughout the school year. I do offer a longer break from full days of lessons for about a month during the summer. However, I still have them read, write, and practice math daily. It is just must more child lead and shorter. I really love introducing classic poetry from the beginning. I like Mother Goose, Edward Lear, Lewis Carroll, A Child's Garden of Verses, and The Goops for younger kiddos.

[@carlyk4532]

I love your high tea Sarah! 🫖 And we've memorized The Goops here hehe...its a beautiful reminder for everyone. 😅 Random question...Where is your castle in the back from? It oddly looks so familiar to me, but I can't remember where I've seen it before.

[@kindletogetherness]

Hi Carly! So glad you guys know The Goops - they are so funny and entertaining. The castle is a Melissa and Doug toy that I simply can't part with yet. I no longer see it on Amazon or I would share a link.

[@carlyk4532]

@@kindletogetherness I thought it may be Melissa and Doug! Wonderful...and don't part with it, I would keep it for my grandchildren 😅😅

[@carlyk4532]

I should say *future grandchildren* lol. My youngest just turned 2 😂