Why I Do It

At the beginning of every school year, I am reminded of why I school my two kids at home. Brian and I had said we would "never" homeschool our kids - before we had any. **raging laughter** We only knew one homeschooling family, and we loved how their kids were and how their family functioned as a unit, but that was not for us. At that point in time, we were not on the "let's see what God has to say" plan in our lives. I could digress here, but I won't! Let's just say, if we had been, we would not have been wondering in the wilderness for several years...thankfully, not 40!

I was feverishly reading every parenting book I could get my hands on when my two were babes. At one point, I was reading a Dobson book which gave some advice on little boys and school. He talked about how many boys are not ready for Kindergarten at the age of 5 or 6. He spoke of how boys like to play and move around, not necessarily sitting at a desk for 7 hours a day. Dobson suggested homeschooling was an excellent option for boys in the early years of education. He went on to explain the benefits of homeschooling for children, and that got my antennae up to what the Lord was trying to tell me for our family.

Don't you just love to eat your words, especially when you spoke them so vehemently?! I will say, I have learned not to say "never" about life decisions, because I have eaten too many "nevers" in my life!

When I felt like the Lord was leading me to homeschool, I was very timid to tell my husband...because we were in the "never" mode, remember? One evening when he came in from working late, I brought the subject up. "I know you will think I am crazy, but I think God wants us to homeschool the kids." He looked at me and said, "I am so glad you said that! I have been feeling like God wants us to homeschool, but I didn't know how to tell you because it will all be on you!" (How right he was!! ;)

So the journey began with a decision to obey God. We knew it was not for every family, but it was for us. When all the moms in the neighborhood were discussing the best preschools, my conviction only grew. When all the moms in the neighborhood were discussing private or public school, my conviction grew all the more. When Kindergarten came for my oldest, I cried for the moms in the neighborhood who were missing their kiddos. I said a prayer of thanksgiving to be able to keep my two at home.

Is every day easy? No...a thousand times no! What I can tell you is being obedient to what God has called our family to do has brought me too many blessings to count. I would not trade this time with my kids for anything!