Homeschooling to the Glory of God

2007 was a year of new revelation for me. I got a glimpse of my true purpose in life...To glorify God in everything that I say, do, think and feel.

Now this may seem simple and trite. But I assure you that this is no small task and I fail frequently. But I am being transformed by the renewing of my mind. And I am ever more mindful of of my sinful ways and my sinful motives.

I am constantly asking myself, "Why are you acting that way?" "Why are you feeling that way?" "Why are you doing things that way?" and "Why are you saying things that way and with that tone?" and finally, "Are you bringing glory to God with that thought, word or deed?"

And bottom line is if it not for the glory of God, then to me it is sin .

So, I've been digging deep into my heart even in regards to homeschooling. And I thought I'd share some food for thought:

Why am I homeschooling?

In all honesty for me, it has always been to avoid the negatives of traditional schools and gain the positives of homeschooling. The positives were close family relationships, better character, ability to train my kids in the way we thought best (using the Bible), and academic excellence. The negatives were avoiding peer pressure and accessibility (and frequent contact) to sinful attitudes, behaviors and actions (disrespect, rebellion, drugs, promiscuity, etc),

And if I look even further into my heart, I would see some even uglier things--like wanting my kids to be a trophy of some sort (better, smarter, kinder, with godlier character). And I find that in the end it all leads to sinful pride.

So what is the remedy? Christ alone! You see Jesus is not interested in what's in it for me and how He can make me look better (or even my kids to look great). It's all about the glory of God. When I teach my children, it should be to the glory of God. What am I teaching them? How am I acting towards them? What am I saying to them?

On a daily basis, I need to put away such futile and fleeting thoughts about how great my children are. Of course I love them and think they are great. But what is the purpose of my training? It HAS to be for the glory of God, so that He can use them to bring glory to Himself. Otherwise, I'm just teaching them to be prideful, arrogant, haughty, self-righteous, and even lazy. And these attitudes will do nothing but lead them astray.

When we focus on ourselves and what's in it for us and how we are better than others, we are only following our sin nature and our flesh. And I would even venture to say that when we compare ourselves to other kinds of schools, many times we are doing that as well. We need to be careful of such thoughts and words for we do not know the paths of others that God will use to bring glory to Himself.

So my question to you today is why are you homeschooling? Search your heart and see what's really in there. And if you, like me, are convicted by what you see, I pray you will repent and ask the Lord to change you from the inside.

May we always seek to honor and glorify the Lord in everything we do, say, think and feel.

The NEA vs. Homeschooling

I found this recent information interesting...
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The National Education Association recently held its 2007 convention in Philadelphia and passed a number of resolutions, including one on home schooling. Below is the national teacher's union's position on what should be adopted by each state regarding home education. This is a reminder of why we must be actively on guard to defend our freedom to homeschool.

"B-75. Home Schooling. The National Education Association believes that home schooling programs based on parental choice cannot provide the student with a comprehensive education experience. When home schooling occurs, students enrolled must meet all state curricular requirements, including the taking of assessments to ensure adequate academic progress. Home schooling should be limited to the children of the immediate family, with all expenses being born by the parents/guardians. Instruction should be by persons who are licensed by the appropriate state education licensure agency, and a curriculum approved by the state department of education should be used.

"The Association also believes that home-schooled students should not participate in any extracurricular activities in the public schools...."
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As my children near high school, I've been questioning myself about the homeschooling journey.
What if they could get better academics in a different institution? (Public or private)
What if they could have access to better extracurricular activities?
Is homeschooling the BEST option for where we are in our lives right now?
Should we continue to homeschool through high school?
And the ultimate question-- why are we homeschooling?

As I've been searching my heart, I've had to figure out what is most important to me. Do I just want smart children? Or do I have a higher goal?

The NEA doesn't seem to think that we (homeschool parents) can provide everything that our children need for a "comprehensive education experience." And I wonder what they mean by that. Perhaps I won't be able to provide the absolute best academics in every subject or access to all extracurricular experiences. But what I can provide is much greater! A stable home environment where they can learn to love God and serve others. A place where they can learn more about our Lord and where they can learn how to defend their faith against the attacks from the world instead of having to fight those fights before they are ready.

In 2003 NHERI (National Home Educators Research Institute did a study and found that 75-85% of CHRISTIAN youth who attended public schools renounce their faith and/or quit going to church within 2 years after high school graduation. While 93% of homeschooled students continued to attend church and 94% of homeschooled adults strongly agreed to the statement: "My religious beliefs are basically the same as those of my parents."

And for me, I realized that my ultimate goal is to raise children who love the Lord and want to glorify Him in everything they do, say, think and feel. Not that they always attain that goal, but that they want to. And homeschooling provides the best odds of them succeeding in the ultimate goal of knowing God and learning how to serve others.

And so I've been asking myself, questions like "So in light of my ultimate goal, does it matter that they may not get the latest, most-up-to-date Science with fabulous labs? Does it matter that they may not have access to multitudes of opportunities for extracurricular activities? Does it matter that I don't have time to do everything that I want to do with them? And how can I make my priorities line up with my ultimate goal?

And I don't have all the answers yet. But I did talk to my dh about this and we are in agreements that our ultimate goal is to raise warriors for the Kingdom of God and that homeschooling is the BEST option for us to accomplish this goal. Of course we don't know what tomorrow will bring, but best case scenario we will continue to homeschool through high school despite what NEA or anyone else may think.

And lest anyone, think that I am slacking on academics...ask my children or my friends. ;-)