Why We Home Educate

When I was pregnant with my son I grew tired from the resistance about my desire to homebirth.  Family and friends questioned our decision for me to be a stay-at-home mom on my husband's small salary. Then people's eyebrows raised when I nursed my children longer than a year.  Little did I know that those things were only preparing me for the many conversations I would have about home educating.

Many times my heart is saddened after talking with other parents about our decision to not send our children to school.  Not sad for them, or for me, but sad because so many times we look at other people's choices as an indictment against what we have chosen for our families.  Our choice to educate our kids at home was very difficult decision to make.  Anyone who knows me personally can attest to this.  There were many insecurities, many prayer requests made, and many, many times of complete resistance to the responsibility of training young minds.

Ultimately, the Lord broke me over one thing.  My husband and I wanted our children's foundations to be built on the Word of God.  We believe Scripture to be infallible, and sufficient in all areas of life.  

Let me explain that last part a little bit.  The last few weeks we have spent memorizing and studying Psalm 23.  From Psalm 23 my children have learned about the Great Shepherd, shepherds' roles historically, sheep dogs, what it means to be a lamb of God, Jesus as the lamb, actual sheep, pastures, different bodies of water, and on and on I could go.  We also do phonics, a math program, many life skills, and Montessori activities.  However, I love that all of our curriculum is built on the Word.

My husband and I have said that each year we will pray about what the Lord has for each of our children the following school year.  We are not committed to our plans or our ideals, but what God is leading us to do as parents.  We strongly believe that God cares more about what our children learn than we do.

We also do not home educate out of fear.  Our children do not stay home with us, because we are scared people will make fun of their foil hats. ;) We continually ask the Lord to keep our hearts focused on what we are for rather than getting on a soapbox about what we are against.  

It is only by grace I get through the days as a teaching Mom.  There isn't a teacher bone in my body, but I have continually been met at every point of need by God and sometimes through people.  In obedience I started out on this journey, and it is by daily obedience we will get through one year at a time.

Super Mom vs. Abiding Mom

Confessions of a Homeschooler posted a blog that is being circulated around Facebook, and the internet, that is both encouraging and convicting, but not just for homeschool families.  How often do we, as women, find our identity in the works of our hands?  How often we scheme and plan instead of pray?  The Lord cares more for us and our children than we ever could, and yet we find it hard to rest and enjoy the blessings of being a woman. This will be framed in my house by this weekend:

Super Mom	Abiding Mom
Does	Is (Psalm 46:10)
Tries to impress others	Pleases the Lord (Eph. 5:10,Proverbs 29:25)
Is controlled by an agenda(curriculum, schedule, etc)	Is controlled by the Holy Spirit: (Gal. 5:22-26) (Uses curriculum & schedules as tools for orderliness so she's more free to follow the spirit)
Her self worth is found in her accomplishments (clean house, perfect kids, the perfect bulletin boards, etc.)	Her self worth is found in an accurate view of who she is in Christ Jesus (Eph 2:10)
Her peace is found in the “perfect” environment	Her peace is found in Jesus in the midst of any storm (Is 26:3)
She is discouraged by failure	Failure reminds her that God's strength is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9-10)
She expects perfection from herself and others	She practices grace with herself and others (Eph 4:32)
She teaches her kids to be good	She teaches her kids to be Godly (Proverbs 22:6)
She is frustrated with her lack of spiritual fruit	She abides in Christ and bears much fruit (John 15:5)
She does things with her children	She builds a relationship with her children (Deut 6:6-7)
Her perspective is based on what is seen	Her perspective is based on what is unseen (Col 3:2)
She chooses quantity of activities	She chooses the most excellent Way (I Cor 13)

Printable Version

Iced In

Today marks the third day of being inside the house because of an ice storm.  It is all the city, and apparently bloggers, can talk about.  Well that and the Super Bowl.  I digress.  Not being able to go anywhere, and reading endless Facebook posts from around the country, has continually reminded me of something.  We are a society starved for intimacy.

We plan and organize the endless activities and responsibilities we have as women.  For some, it is figuring out how to work outside and inside of the home while spending enough time with their children and/or spouse.  For others, it is trying to manage extra-curricular activities, sports, their homes and time with their husbands after school and work or on the weekends.  For an even different group of people, it is trying to balance homeschooling, housework, co-ops, and being an attentive wife.  Throw in Facebook, weekly sitcoms, blog-stalking, smartphones, and running errands, and of course we think we don't have time to be still.

A pastor I really respect, John Piper, once posted, "One of the great uses of Twitter and Facebook will be to prove at the Last Day that prayerlessness was not from lack of time."  We have time to pursue the things most important to us, but do we make the time?  Many days I don't.  I don't spend (enough) time in prayer or reading my Bible, I fail to pursue my children's hearts instead of looking at them like a responsibility, I choose to get on Facebook instead of tending to my home, and I justify why I am not engaging my husband.  No one can do all of these things perfectly, and nearly all of us fall short in one of these areas daily.  The point is we have time if we make it.

What a blessing to be able to spend a few days with our kids and have no where to go.  As young parents we are told frequently to cherish the moments of our kids' childhoods because it goes so fast.  How often do our lives get slowed down enough to enjoy the fruit of our labor and toil?  

Tattered Cape

On any given day if you were to drop by my house you would find me running around in a t-shirt, jeans, and my hair back in a pony-tail. Dishes would be soaking in the sink, kids projects strewn across my kitchen counter, a quilt and couch pillows thrown on the floor by my toddler, and you would have to step over kids toys in the entry. It would not be long before my 6-year-old was showing you a Lego creation, my 4-year-old would ask you to pick him up, and my 2-year-old would have you convinced she was hungry an hour after breakfast.

On a good day, school starts at 8 a.m. after I have spent time reading my Bible, drinking my coffee, and a load of laundry has been started. A patient Mom would be sitting on the couch praying and starting our lessons in the children’s Bible. We would move on to the theme of the day, math, phonics, calendar, and classic literature. My kids would be following along and listening. Lunch and dinner would be plates loaded with healthy, balanced and “whole” foods. These are many of our days.

However, on a bad day 8 a.m. comes and goes and I am still in my pajamas. My kids are running through the house, and my husband is shushing them and handing out books. I am gathering materials, and trying to figure out where I placed my lesson plans. When we start 30 minutes late I am frazzled and the kids are wound up. A bad day usually involves many “steps” (time-outs), and Mommy losing her patience and yelling. Bad days mean hurried lunches, and dinners I put no thought into preparing or making. While these days provide plenty of opportunity for spontaneous prayer, and asking each other for forgiveness, they also humble me.

Friends ask what my days look like as a homeschooling Mom of three kids 6-years-old and under, and while I would love to say it is always a joy the truth is is that it is not. There are moments where I feel overwhelmed, and nights when I am discouraged. At times I wish my brain would shut off, and I could stop researching health and holistic living issues. The Lord is so good to me though. Not once has there been a time when I have gone to God in prayer and confessing my weakness that He has not taught and helped me.

I am not “Wonder Woman” nor am I “Super Mom.” Like many of you, I am a young woman raising three kids, and trying to figure out how to honor God in what He has called me to do. As I blog, and get to know you, I hope to both share with you the things on my heart, what I have learned, mistakes I have made and how I manage my home. ”Medley31” is not just about me and my journey though – I want to know you. My prayer over this blog is that this is a place of encouragement, sharpening, and learning.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope we have more time together.