Some women are born natural moms. I have friends who are so at ease and natural with a house full of children, that I know they were born to be moms. I, on the other hand, was not born a mom. I knew that I always wanted to be one, but it seemed so out of reach. When I was younger I was bad, like really bad. I was a party girl, a druggie, and severely aware and conscious of my weight. I did not want to ruin my figure by getting pregnant. When I became a mom I thought something magical would happen that would make me a good mom. It was really shocking to me that I was still the same person, only now I had a kid.
As the months passed I began to fall deeply in love with my child. I loved him so much that I wanted his needs met above my own. I wanted to protect him from everything and shelter him from the cold, harsh, fallen world.
Then I had more kids. In that time the Lord began to change things in me. I have known a lot of women over the years that tell me they could never stay home with their kids all day. I actually know what they mean. I am the same type of girl. But because the Lord required something of me, He gave me Himself to be the change that needed to happen. Don't get me wrong, I didn't change. I am still not a "stay-at-home-mom" type, but Christ in me really loves it wants it. If I was not meant to stay at home with them, there would be no way in heck I could do it. Beyond that, the Lord has us homeschooling. I don't care if others send their kids to school or have them do school at home. I don't believe that one way is wrong and the other is right. A year ago I wouldn't have been able to say that, but I truly believe it today. Homeschooling is not the right choice for christian families, but it is the right choice for this christian family.
When I knew that we were meant to homeschool, it was the same deal as when I became a mom. The Lord had to do it through me and be some things in me that I naturally wasn't. I was scared, but the Lord in me was excited and grateful. I remember the day all Thing 1's pre-school supplies showed up at my door. I refer to it each year as "box day" and it's like christmas to a homeschooler. As I pulled out all my workbooks and teacher manuals and charts to hang on the wall, I knew that the Lord would be so proud of how obedient I was being. My kids were going to be so smart and I was going to have them winning all kinds of academic awards and spelling bees and one day the presidential election.
Little did I know at the time that our homeschooling had very little to do with academics. I am going to give a little warning here... I am about to talk about why we homeschool. I have learned that not everyone likes to hear about why people do things differently. I am by no means putting down another's choice. If you put your kids in school and feel bad or insecure about it, or if you feel good and just don't like to hear a difference of opinion, proceed carefully and consider yourself warned. What I am going to write is my very strongly inspired, passionate reason for homeschooling...
Yes, academics are very important. As our taxes increase, literacy level drop, and academic standards are being dumbed down to cover up school ineptitude. Being smart just "ain't" what it used to be. In equipping my little Things for their futures, I want to give them the highest quality education possible. But, this is NOT the main reason we homeschool. Not even close.
The Lord has given Chris and I a strong conviction that He designed our family for the purpose of nurturing an training our children,a model that cannot be replaced by an inferior alternative. Like a classroom. I don't want my little Things to develop unhealthy appetites for peer relationships above parent and sibling relationships. Another reason we hs is that my little ones learn better away from the desk. The school's formula has them confined for hours and so much of it is wasted time, waiting for others to finish. My little students have so many interests and passions that are beginning to sprout. I want them to have time to nurture God given talents. If they went to school all day and then did their origami classes or zumba classes in the evening, then when would we get our family time? Thing 2 goes to speech therapy at the public school 2 days a week. A half an hour each day. What a fricken' inconvenience these therapy classes have been! About a third of them get cancelled, but I don't find out until we've been waiting there for 15 minutes. Even when they do happen on the regular schedule, our morning and our schooling is disrupted by the school's schedule. I can only imagine how much our family would be disrupted if it was an everyday ordeal.
Something that has stood out to me in the last couple of years is how successful the schools have been at removing Christ and maintaining a politically correct stance towards other world religion and cults. My Things love to begin the day with song and prayer. Even when I foolishly want to hurry through those things to get to the academics, they know what's most important in our day.
The most important reason we homeschol is this... Saints are no loger under the law. Saints have freedom in Christ. A Saint's freedom should never be used as a license to sin and/or cause another to stumble. Notice how Brother Paul speaks of the "weak." I became humbly, but powerfully convicted in that my children are the Saints that fall into the category of "weak." They are still growing in their faith, knowledge, and revelation of Him. Unless schools are a completely different entity than they were when I attended them, why would I ever send them to a place that clearly would cause serious harm to their bodies, minds, and souls?
I claim to have no knowledge of God's desire for any one's family but my own. I know some good kids that come out of public school. I don't hate the school system. I wanted to put my kids in school and I am a mom that is okay with that. Unfortunately/Fortunately, the Lord changed me. He changed the plan for these young years of our family. Christ wanted something out of me that I was not capable of doing, so He became the change in me to do it.
That's why we do it.
Thanks for reading!
Love,
Jackie
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