If It's Broke, Fix It

I was so excited about this devotional I ordered last year in Canada. Being a conversation/discussion starter style study, I thought it would work really well for my family. The thing was, though, the content. As much as I wanted character qualities to be focused on---our devotional time just started to feel too planned, or like we were now talking about responsibility, even though that's the very thing had been the focus of many issues that week. I find that when we are already emotionally connected to an issue, having a devotional that is also coinciding with that topic feels like Mom has an agenda she wants to get across.. does that make sense? It's like when a glaring issue is happening in your church, and suddenly the pastor's newest topical study is now on that issue. Nobody appreciates that. At this time, I've shelved this book, as good as it is. It just isn't working for our family. I may use it as a resource to help me approach certain discussions, kind of like a springboard of ideas. But we won't use it as a basis for our Bible program.

Instead, we have gone back to a favorite of the kids, Indescribable. We had used this on and off a couple of years ago, and the kids have taken turns using it as part of their own independent study. What draws me to this, in our season of homeschool, is the devotionals are short interesting and factual rather than discussion based. It sounds strange, but with all of the discussions we have around our house, it's better for now to have a devotional that is not relying on discussions as much.

Moral of the story.... don't be afraid to make a change when something isn't working! Even if the resource is good. It just might not fit for your family in that particular season.