Welcome Mama! Whether you're just exploring, new to homeschooling, or a seasoned homeschool mama, welcome to our second workshop in the Cultivate summer series!

My hope and desire for you is that this workshop will refresh and encourage you as we learn, grow and cultivate the soil of our hearts. Mom life is busy with little "me" time so as we open the Word, let's discover what it means to be Rooted in Truth and dig deep to weed out all of the things that we allow to take root in our hearts that hinder our growth.

Let's pray.

Cultivate: A deep sense of churning, digging and breaking up of soil.

• Definition: To prepare or use
• Biblical Context: To nurture or develop

A recap from Sowing on Good Soil: Soil Matters!

• The condition of the soil we sow upon will determine the outcome of what is planted.
• Seeds don't have to work hard to grow, they just need the right conditions.
• A seed contains everything it needs to become what it's designed to be.
• Sowing on good soil is essential in developing deep roots.

• They anchor the plant. Roots hold the plant firmly in the soil so it can stand and keep standing when external conditions change.
• They absorb water. Roots take water from the soil and transport it to the rest of the plant.
• They absorb nutrients. Roots are the lifeline for the plant in that it takes in essential minerals and nutrients that the plant needs to grow.
• They store food and nutrients. Roots can store carbohydrates and other resources that the plant can use later.
• They support growth. By anchoring the plant and supplying water and nutrients, roots provide a foundation for healthy growth above the soil.

Roots grow first and are the foundation for healthy growth.

A seed has no chance of developing unless it becomes rooted first.

When a seed is planted, growth is unseen first.

Homeschool Mom Application

When the soil (your heart) is prepared, God can grow something internal before the external is visible. Something begins to happen beneath the surface. Growing roots produce shoots that develop when exposed to the light (God's Truth).

Life Application

Like roots are essential for growth in a plant, the Truth (the Word of God) helps us to:

• Be anchored! When we have the Word planted in our hearts it will sustain us when life circumstances change. It's the only constant in our lives. When you're wondering: Am I doing this right? What if my child isn't learning enough? Am I doing enough? Return to these truths instead of allowing questions like these uproot you. Your confidence doesn't come from having it all figured out, it comes from knowing Who you're rooted in.
• Absorb water! Water is essential for growth. Jesus throughout Scripture refers to Himself as the living water. When we are immersed in the Word we are purified and cleansed. The Word refreshes our soul. We weren't designed to flourish by constantly pouring out, we need to be filled too. Mama if you're constantly giving, you're going to run dry. Where are you being filled? Allow God's word to pour into you.
• Stay connected to our lifeline! The Word is living and active. It's our firm foundation in which all other things are able to grow in us. There is life application that we find in the Bible that helps us to learn how to handle conflicts, make decisions, prioritize what matters and how to best respond when there are struggles. Take time to discover "What does God's Word say?"
• Storing the Word in our hearts! This will always be our greatest resource not only for the now but when we need it later too. It's unchanging and able to nourish us in the deepest parts of our heart. Sometimes God gives us truth today that we don't realize we may need for tomorrow. Making Bible reading a part of your daily routine will set the tone for your day. Children can memorize scripture too from a young age if you put it into a song. One of my favorites is: Be kind and loving to each other, be kind and loving to each other, be kind and loving to each other Ephesians 4:32
• Growth happens in us naturally! The more we are grounded in the Word the more we begin to live out Truth. The visible growth of a plant depends on the invisible work of its roots. It's easy to become focused on what everyone can see: Is my child reading? Are they learning math? Are we keeping up? Are we doing enough? Mama, your roots may be invisible to everyone else, but they matter. The time you spend in God's Word, the prayers you pray, the truths you speak over yourself and your children and the moments you trust God instead of allowing fear to overwhelm you, all of that is root work.

Being rooted in truth means having a firm foundation and anchoring ourselves in the unchanging Word of God and what He says is true.

Being Rooted in Truth helps us:

• To stay anchored when we feel dry
• To absorb God's Word as our source of life
• To be strengthened and nourished as we grow
• To return to God's promises daily
• To be firmly grounded in healthy soil

A plant that has been sown in good soil will struggle if the weeds creep in around it. Weeds compete with the plant for the very same things it needs to grow.

• Compete for water — they absorb water from the soil that the plant also needs.
• Compete for nutrients — they take nutrients from the soil that could otherwise nourish the plants.
• Compete for sunlight — tall or dense weeds can shade a plant limiting the light it needs for healthy growth.
• Compete for space — a crowded root system doesn't have as much room to develop and grow.
• Can weaken the plant — plants that continually compete for resources result in stunted growth. It may still grow but it's not reaching its fullest potential.

What weeds need to be pulled?

A truth I need to plant in its place:

Look closely at the roots of this tree. They are not neat. They are twisted, exposed, weathered, broken-looking and some are even going in different directions yet, they are still doing their job. Roots don't grow in perfectly straight lines and neither does our growth in homeschooling, motherhood and our faith. Growth can be messy and still be growth.

The roots of this tree have had to navigate rocks, soil, water and everything else around them. They didn't have a perfectly prepared path and yet they simply kept growing. Deep roots help you to navigate what's around you but just because a plant or tree has deep roots doesn't mean that everything growing around it is helping it. Weeds are toxic, get rid of them!

Just as a healthy plant with deep roots doesn't merely survive — it bears fruit and overflows with life — a heart rooted in Truth naturally overflows with thankfulness. When we pull the weeds and plant God's Word deep, gratitude has room to grow.

Overflowing with thankfulness in our homeschool looks like:

• Thanking God for the growth we can't yet see, trusting the roots are forming beneath the surface.
• Choosing gratitude over comparison — celebrating what God is cultivating in our own garden.
• Praising Him in the mess and the meltdowns, knowing He is working all things together for good.
• Remembering that He who called us to this journey is faithful to complete what He started.

A simple way to grow together with your little ones.

Plant a Seed & Talk About Roots

• Have each child plant a seed in a small clear cup.
• As they plant, share about how seeds are alive and once they are planted in the soil they will grow with the right water and sunlight.
• Seeds need to be cared for.
• When God grows a seed, the roots grow first. Just because we can't see them doesn't mean they aren't there.
• Soon a little sprout will pop up through the soil, and we can watch it grow.