Homeschooling

I heard recently that one of my favorite radio stations (91.7 WBGL) was hosting a special contest where parents or kids could nominate their favorite teachers.  It made me think about my journey from "official certified public school teacher" to homeschooling mom.

People often ask how long we will do this (like it's some kind of experimental thing), or when we will send our kids back to school, and I just tell them that we take it one day at a time.  Honestly, whenever I think about placing them back in public school, it is because I am starting to doubt my ability, or I have some "selfish ambitions" popping up.  I still don't fully understand the reasons for this calling God has placed upon me, but I can tell you that it is the most challenging call I have ever answered and there is no way I could do it without Him.

Homeschooling is an all-consuming endeavor--a call to completely give of ourselves not only as parents, but a those preparing and providing an education.   The blessings of homeschooling are sometimes hard to see, and probably much of the fruit of our labors won't be seen for many many years. There are no salaries, no financial benefits, no accolades.  There is no start or end to the day, no planning times, and very little "alone time".  There is no point in even attempting to base our worth on performance as we might be tempted to do in any other setting.  Sometimes we homeschoolers start to feel unsatisfied, thinking that other parents have it all figured out and we don't, thinking that this job would better be left to someone else, wondering if our kids "measure up".  And then we are reminded that as far as God is concerned, our worth is based upon the life of Christ in us, our hope is in Him alone, and God's grace is more than sufficient.