Do you ever resist change?
If so, you aren’t alone! Today I want to share the struggle with change we faced as we decided to begin homeschooling, in hopes that you will be encouraged to take that step you have been hesitating to take. Untold blessings could be just around the corner, but you have to leave your comfort zone and begin the journey to experience them.
Twenty years ago this fall, we began our homeschooling journey. It wasn’t something I had always wanted to do; in fact it was something I had to be convinced to do. To be honest, I’m not sure I even knew it existed until people started asking my son if he was starting school that year and he would very confidently reply, “I won’t be old enough to start until next year, but I’m not going, I’m going to stay home and let my mom teach me.” I would get embarrassed and explain to the person asking that I don’t know where he got that idea. Repeatedly, I told him that was weird and we weren’t going to do that, but he kept giving that same answer whenever asked.
You know how it is when the Lord is convicting you of something, you can’t escape it no matter how hard you try. He had already gotten my son on His team and then He really began to get my attention. I would turn on the Christian radio station and there would be something about homeschooling, I couldn’t escape it. I would pick up a magazine in the waiting room of the doctor’s office and there was an article with glowing reviews. It was everywhere!
I still feel a twinge of guilt when I think of the sweet homeschooling mom I met one day when I was really digging in my heels over the decision, she patiently answered all of my homeschooling questions (accusations would probably be more accurate). Her children seemed well adjusted and happy and she was so calm and nurturing; they were not at all like the strange creatures I envisioned homeschoolers to be. That sweet soul will never know the impact she made on me that day, and how our family has been blessed by her kindness and patience with me. I wish I knew who she was so that I could thank her personally!
As you can see, my earliest opinions of homeschooling were very negative, not because they were based on any real evidence or facts, but because it was different and I was unfamiliar with it. I couldn’t understand why you would want to keep your children away from all the fun of school…until it was my child that was facing all that fun. Then my mind was full of thoughts of the bullies on the bus that yelled and cursed at the bus driver, threatened physical harm if you sat in the wrong seat and exposed so many young, innocent minds to the ugliness they constantly spewed forth. Because of where we lived, my children would have spent about three hours a day on the bus enjoying this kind of socialization, not to mention the whole school day with equally charming influences. Added to the horrors of the bus ride was the fact that my husband would hardly get to see the children during the week because of his work hours and he would miss them so much. Hmm, these issues alone made homeschooling worth looking into.
As soon as I began to consider it an option, I began to research and look for others that were doing it. Twenty years ago, that wasn’t nearly as easy as it is today, but the Lord brought people into my life that had been studying and researching far longer than I had. Some of these people became close friends and they willingly shared with me all the information they had gathered. Uncertainty about the changes, the results and my abilities all took residence in my mind and almost made the decision for me. Thankfully, my husband encouraged me to trust the Lord and get started.
So we began what I thought would be a short time of homeschooling, two years to be more precise. I had a plan to build a good, solid foundation and then put them in school when they were older and more prepared to face the challenges they would face- at the ripe old age of 7! Needless to say, here I am 20 years later, still homeschooling! What wonderful change these twenty years have brought to our lives. I am so thankful that I didn’t let the fear of the unknown keep me from ever beginning this journey.
As you sit on the brink of making a decision, be encouraged that the Lord will lead and direct you as you seek Him. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Share your thoughts with us below, we enjoy hearing from you!
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