Being Changed by Contentment

As a homeschooling mother, the last 4 years, there has always been a little voice quietly whispering behind everyday.  That voice, while not from one particular person, has been created from a compilation of the questions people have often asked me. That quiet voice has included thoughts like:

Why are you homeschooling? 

Are you truly doing what is best for your children? 

Are your kids going to grow up and ask, "What were you thinking?"

Are you holding them back from what is best from them? 

Are you homeschooling out of fear?

While those questions are valid and need to be thought through and answered, living under them everyday is not healthy.  Especially, on the days when I am a cranky homeschooling mother, because then the guilt can really pile on to me.  The thing is too, that these questions have been answered, with both my husband and I being in agreement.  And yet, I've allowed myself to live under "this other voice" who never stops asking and is never satisfied.

I've been reading through Monk Habits for Everyday People by Dennis Okholm and I want to share some quotes, which for me, have directly addressed "this voice" and I look forward to a school year freed from living under it.

A comment by Henri Nouwen, "Wherever I am, at home, in a hotel, in a train, plane, airport, I would not feel irritated, restless, and desirous of being somewhere else or doing something else.  I would know that here and now is what counts and is important because it is God himself who wants me in this time and place. (from chapter 8: Staying Put to Get Somewhere)"

If you've read my post, "Taking Back Life" you know that this has been a theme for me this year.  As I walk through this area where God is strengthening me, I get to narrow down and actually apply it to specific areas.  There is such a relief and a freedom in knowing that I can be content right where I am at in what I'm doing.  The only voice I need to be answering to is God's voice.  So, I am learning to be content where I am placed.

But it doesn't stop right there.  God's purposes in where He has placed us aren't arbitrary.  He is shaping us and molding us in Him.  Any situation in life has the potential of affecting you and changing you.  As I stated, one of the times I hear this "other voice" more clearly is when I'm a cranky homeschooling Mom.  It would be much easier to run away and say, "I'm not cut out for this."  However, when I do this I am not giving God the room or place to bring about change in me:

Conversion and growth in character happen when we remain, not when we run (from Chapter 8).

Sister Irene Nowell said, "the daily willingness to turn and be turned together, the willingness to be a good example, to live every day in humility and wisdom and peace, praying all the while that Christ bring us all together to everlasting life.(from Chapter 8)"

These thoughts have brought freedom and excitement to me.  I am excited that God's desire for me is to be content right where I am placed each and everyday.  I am excited that I don't have to run (and one of the ways that I run is by thinking maybe I'm not doing what I am supposed to be doing).  Instead, in my contentment with where I've been placed, I can allow God to work on me, refine me and change me to be who He has created me to be.

Stability means being faithful where we are - really paying attention to those with whom we live and to what is happening in our common life (from Chapter 8).

"Many issues in our lives could be sorted out if we gave up some control of our environment and allowed God to surprise us by using the contexts and communities in which he has placed us.(from Chapter 8)"

In Christ,

Homeschooling: Science Update

Hello All,

I know I said I only try to talk about homeschooling once a year but my last post left one subject hanging: science.  I was reading my friend Amber's blog the other day and she off-handily mentioned the science curriculum she was using: R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey.  I decided to check it out and I am super-pleased!  This is the perfect curriculum for my personality type and to satisfy the unquenchable desire of my daughter to learn science.

So far I've been impressed with everything I saw.  The website is well-designed and does a great job explaining the curriculum.  They also have a generous section of "try before you buy" samples.  We already did two lessons this week and all of us enjoyed ourselves!  This is a HUGE thing because I normally dread doing science.  The beginning of the curriculum lists all the materials you will need to conduct the labs.  I looked at the LIFE Science curriculum and we already have 90% of what we need.  I love that.  But it also makes it easy to plan ahead and be prepared, which I also need.

The best part of all is that they have e-books!!!!!!!  I am so impressed by this, especially in this day in age.  The e-books are 25% off this month, which makes this curriculum very affordable - which I also love!!!

I was so excited, I had to share.

In Christ,


Disclaimer: This is just a personal review of stuff I came across on my own.  There is nothing in it for me.

Bridges

In Sonlight, we are currently studying the section of American history where two worlds are converging. Reading about it, has been heartbreaking. Sonlight, does a good job of allowing you to see things from both sides (the Natives and the Europeans) and to show the many errors of man's ways in the events that took place. One of the books that we are reading is the The Incans, Mayans and Aztecs by John Holzmann. This book approaches the study of these cultures from a Christ-centered perspective. One of the interesting things I learned as we studied the Aztecs is that the history of them settling in Mexico had many parallels to the story of Abraham settling in Israel. As I read this, my heart broke for the inability of the Spanish people to bring the message of the Gospel to these people. I could see so many ways where they could have taken what the Aztecs were already doing religiously and point them to Jesus, how He fulfilled the law and that they no longer needed to make sacrifices to cover their sins. It would have been such a beautiful, freeing message for these people (especially for families who no longer wanted to sacrifice their relatives to satisfy god). Instead, all the Spaniards could see, besides gold, was the Aztecs ungodliness and they were hell-bent on destroying it. Instead of using the Aztecs search for God and their longing to be righteous, as inroads to bringing the Gospel, the Spanish, only saw their sin and they went about destroying it man's ways. The Incans even had a “god” that only a few worshiped that they said was the creator of all mankind and the world. However, they believed this god was unknowable. Oh, if only the Spanish could have been like Paul who walked the streets of Athens and told them that “the God of the unknown” they worshiped, has made Himself known to them through the person of Jesus Christ (Acts 17:16-34).

So, the question becomes, does this in any way shape or form apply to us as believers today? The main pastoral influence in my life right now is Erwin McManus of Mosaic Church. His Sunday gathering has entered into a study called "The Truth Between Us." They began the series on September 11, and started with the topic, Islam and Christianity. I must say that when I heard about the study part of me was cringing with fear and the other part was curious with excitement. I debated in my mind, whether the series was even worth listening to or if it was something that I should skip. But, as I mentioned in the beginning, the Holy Spirit has been priming me with questions completely separate of this series.
My initial fear, after hearing about the series, was that the Gospel and beauty of who Jesus Christ is would be watered down, overlooked, compromised and/or excused when looking at and comparing it to Islam. However, another way God has been teaching me and preparing me to listen to this series started in John 1 (I told you I love that passage right now):

John 1:5

The Light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness has not overpowered it.

You see, Jesus is Light and darkness does not overpower Him! As Christians, we do NOT need to be afraid of entering into darkness. We carry the Light, and the Light of the Gospel has the power to change and overcome the darkness that it encounters. What I love about this series and what Erwin has done through it, is he has challenged us to encounter peoples of other religions to find bridges, in which we can bring the Gospel of who Jesus is to them.

It is so easy for me to look back 500 years ago in history and see how the Spanish blew it. That there were so many ways they could have used what the Mayans, Incans and Aztecs already believed to draw them to the beauty of who Jesus is. However, it is nearly impossible for me to think that anything Muslims, Buddhists, Atheist, etc believe or do has anything to do with God. The main thing that keeps me from even going there mentally is fear. I cannot do the talk justice, because it was beautifully laid out, but what I learned is that we do NOT need to be afraid to sit, discuss and listen to people's of other faiths. If we believe we have the TRUTH, the LIGHT of the world in us, then the truth that we bring and the light that we bring is more powerful than the darkness.

My challenge to myself as I listen to and through this series is to take God at His Word. First, God says He has created every human being with a longing for eternity (Ecclesiastes 3:11).  If that is true, then every human being is finding a way to fill that hole.  We also know that we have an enemy who masquerades himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14).  So we should not be surprised when other religions have enough truth to bring them to some sort of temporary satisfaction.  Many of the things they do, desire to do and try to do are attempts to quiet the hole within their hearts.  Instead of running from people of other religions and beliefs we need to take Jesus at His Word and GO into all the world and make disciples. Do I believe Him enough and believe the power of the Gospel enough that I can enter in discussion with people's of other faiths, listen to them respectfully and have confidence that God will reveal bridges that I can cross to show the beauty of who He is to them?

If this discussion in any way piques your curiosity then I would recommend that you take time to listen to Erwin's message: The Truth Between Us: Islam and Christianity.

In Christ,

What are you feeding your kids?

This morning I woke up thinking about Daniel 1:8

But Daniel purposed in his heart

that he would not defile himself with the portion

of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank.

Therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs

that he might not defile himself.

In case you do not know the story, Daniel had been taken captive to Babylon.  He has been selected by the kingdom to be trained in the Babylonian ways.  One of the ways of training was for them to eat the food of the kingdom, but the foods presented went against Daniel's principles.  So Daniel purposed in his heart to do things differently; to do things God's way.  Here was the result:

Daniel 1:19-20

And the king communed with them, and among them all was found none

like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore stood they before the king. 

And in all matters of wisdom and understanding

that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better

than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm.

This story has always been inspirational to me.  Daniel was given a huge opportunity to be influential in the kingdom of Babylon.  I have no doubts that the food was delicious and very tempting and he could have easily blended in and probably did just fine, but he said "No, I am doing it God's way" and the result made him head and shoulders above the rest.  My challenge from this post will be for us to ask ourselves if we are raising our kid's God's way?  Are our kids standing head and shoulders above their unsaved peers?

Babylon was one of the most influential kingdoms of the time and to be given the opportunity to eat the food  that the king provided had to be huge.  There was probably a choice of a WIDE variety of the very best foods.  But Daniel chose not to look at the opportunities being presented to him, but rather to look at the principles of God and to filter his choices through God's way.

In America, we are incredibly blessed with a wide varieties of opportunities.  Around every corner are things that appear to be very beneficial.  Like Daniel, our kids have the opportunity to "eat" from the very best that this world has to offer right now, but are we as parents willing to step back and choose to do things according to God's principles and not the world's?  Are our expectations in line with His expectations or are they in line with what society says is normal?

I am often amazed when I talk to Christian parents who state the norm in their house is for their children to fight. Our society teaches that there is such a thing called "sibling rivalry" and that this is normal.  As a result, many people tolerate this sort of behavior between their children.  The Bible also taught (first) that yes, we have a sinful nature BUT we have to learn to overcome it with God.   I am also amazed by the common thread in our society that our "kids will outgrow these negative behaviors" and we call these negative behaviors "stages."  While I totally understand that our children do go through stages of negative behavior, the Bible does not call us to laugh it off, wait until the stage passes and/or look the other way.  Instead, as parents, we ARE called to train and discipline our children, and this training can and should produce a DIFFERENCE.

Proverbs 22:6

Train up a child in the way he should go,

and when he is old he will not depart from it.

I am not saying that the proof you are doing this will be that your children are perfect little angels and never do anything wrong, but rather I am asking the question: are we training them?  The word "training" implies work.  If you have ever exercised and lifted weights you know that it is tiring and not easy, but WHEN you do it there is positive results. Our children should be known for their character. 

Proverbs 20:11

Even a child is known by his doings,

whether his work be pure and whether it be right.

Is that a goal you have for your children in their youth?  That people would know them for the good and the right things that they do?

God challenges us to some pretty big things are Christians: 

Romans 12:18

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

We are to love our brother and sisters in Christ, serve one another and live at peace with everyone.  What better place for our kids to practice and learn to live this out then in our homes?  As Christian parents, we have been given the opportunity to give our kids a HUGE head start in life and train them on HOW to love, how to live at peace and how to be kind starting right in our own families.

Psalm 127:3b-5

Children are a heritage from the LORD,

offspring a reward from him.

 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior

are children born in one’s youth.

 Blessed is the man

whose quiver is full of them.

Our kids should be a blessing to us, their brothers and sisters and then to the world.  We shouldn't be holding our breath until they grow up to see if they become people of character.  Instead, we should be able to shoot them out of our homes into the world, like a warrior shoots an arrow!  When they leave our homes they should be ready to cause DAMAGE to the kingdom of darkness.
 

Psalm 127:1

 Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain.

Deuteronomy 6:6-8

These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.

 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home

and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads

Beloved, we truly need the Lord to build our houses for us. In His Word He has clearly told us how.  What we say we believe on Sunday with our hands up in the air, needs to be walked out on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday....  It needs to be a part of our lives from sun up and sun down.  And guess what, applying the Truth of God's Word into our lives, including how we raise our children should, can and will make them different.  So as the title of the post says, "What are you feeding your children?"  Are you feeding them the principles and expectations that this world has to offer or are you feeding them God's way?   As Christians, our families should be DIFFERENT, our children should be DIFFERENT.  The difference should be good, it should be noticeable and when people begin to ask why, we can say with confidence that it is because we are feeding them God's way.

For all my thoughts on parenting click here or for specific issues see the following titles:
Training Children: more of my thoughts on what it means to train our children.
The Fruit of the Spirit: Gentleness: Is gentleness one of the attributes you possess in your parenting style?
Be Referees: If you are having trouble working with your spouse when it comes to parenting.
Lessons from my Children 1: Valuing Relationships & Lessons from My Children 2: Why we have relationship: Sibling Rivalry?  Here are some thoughts about it.




In Christ,

The Ministry of Jesus

The events in China due to the One-Child Policy are heart-breaking and at times it is possible to get discouraged and lose hope.  But when we stop to consider the heart and mission of God we can press forward.  Hebrews 12:1 states:

 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

One of the “witnesses” to encourage us can be found in the life of Gladys Aylward.

In case you don't know anything about Gladys here is a little information.  Gladys was a missionary to China.  She went to China out of obedience to a call from the Lord without support from anyone.  She went through extreme hardships and trials to get herself to China.  One trial was walking through Siberia in the middle of winter by herself for 3 days straight.  Needless to say, she almost died.

I wanted to share one story from her life that captured my heart and totally confirmed and revealed to me the power of the ministry of Jesus:

Isaiah 61: 1-3 &; Luke 4:18

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,

because the LORD has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim freedom for the captives

and release from darkness for the prisoners,

2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor

and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn,

3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—

to bestow on them a crown of beauty

instead of ashes,

the oil of joy

instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise

instead of a spirit of despair.

Gladys had come to China without the ability to speak Chinese and without a backing from a missionary organization.  The missionary she had been working with died and so she found herself all alone in China.  She owed money to the Madarian, which was like the governor of the land, and she didn't have any money to pay him.  One day  he came to see her, and her Chinese companion fled because he thought Gladys was going to be arrested for not paying her taxes.  What happened next, was absolutely astounding.  The Mandarian came to her asking her to do a job for him.   This was amazing first of all because it provided the money she needed and secondly because of the job she ended up doing.  He was commanding her to go throughout the land and enforce a new law that had come from the head government.  It was commanded that all girls under the age of 12 could NO LONGER have their feet bound.  It was her job to make sure every village in her area was following this rule.  She informed the Mandarian that she would be preaching the gospel while she performed her task.  He said it was fine.  He gave her second in command status for that area and her word was to be followed.  She had the government's permission and support to travel throughout the land preaching the gospel and unbinding little girls feet breaking a horrific tradition that had gone on for generations!

The story recollected the first time she entered a home to unbind feet.  She sat down on the ground and took a little girls foot and began to unwind the cloth that had her feet bound so tightly in half.  The foot was completely white.  She began to massage the feet of the little girl and the blood began to flow again.  As she came into people's home with the authority of the government she also had the opportunity to share about the God who loved them so much that He sent His one and only Son so that they could be free.

Do you remember the ministry of Jesus, to set the captives free?  For generations Chinese women were in captivity and extreme pain because of this horrible tradition.  How beautifully appropriate that a daughter of the King of Kings would be called out to break this terrible curse in such a beautiful and personal way.  I don't know why generations of Chinese women had to endure the pain and why freedom didn't come earlier.  I just know and can see that WHEN the ministry of Jesus is given the chance to come it is done in a most glorious and beautiful way.

What I've learned from reading Gladys' story is that it is WORTH pushing through the pain and the hardships that try to stop us from going where God has asked us to do.  It is WORTH being a willing vessel and that Jesus will use us to bring His freedom to the captives.

The ministry of Jesus is still in effect today and His ministry flows out of His people.

Let it flow.

In Christ,



Homeschooling: Curriculum review

I know the following post will probably not apply to most of my readers; however, homeschooling is a huge part of my life so I couldn't be quiet about it:) If homeschooling does not apply to you in any way, shape or form please feel free to stop reading this post (or better yet, pass it along to someone you think it might apply to:).

This has been my family's 3rd year "homeschooling." I have absolutely fallen in love with homeschooling. You can read some of the reasons I homeschool in my post Why I Homeschool. I am going to share with you the curriculum we used this year. I have a four year degree in Elementary Education, so it is hard for me to break from tradition. Therefore, our schooling includes many traditional aspects to schooling, including workbooks.

The core curriculum we use is Sonlight. I absolutely love Sonlight; it is a literature based program. We used Core One with Intermediate readers this year. I chose Sonlight because as a former school teacher I did not like story time. The readers our school used were completely boring and I often wanted to fall asleep while the children were reading. Since I was homeschooling I wanted to choose something that was enjoyable for all. Sonlight hit the nail on the head. My son would regularly beg me to allow him to continue reading his chapter book, and I literally would have to say no we will read more tomorrow.

The benefits Sonlight offered us:

• It has a 4 or 5 day schedule. We went with the 4-day schedule which worked well and allowed for flexibility in our week.
• It includes History and Geography. I learned more about these subjects this year reading with my kids than I remember learning in all my years in school.
• It has a hands-on Science curriculum.
• It has each day scheduled out for you, so there is no pre-planning needed on your part.
• It is designed to be used with multi-age. Since I have a four year old this was great. She was able to sit in with all of the stories, enjoy them and glean what she could out of it. One of the things she learned this year was the Sphinx when we studied Egypt. This whole year whenever she saw a picture of a Sphinx she would point to it and say, there is the "Phincks."
• We loved Bible: Leading Little Ones to God. It has a great format that is easy for children to understand, and it answers all those questions that children like to ask about God in a Biblically correct way.
• Sonlight includes books you read to the children everyday. Out of the whole year, there was only one book that was too boring and so we quit it early. Other than that, we loved them all and the kids still bring up the stories.

A little tip: I mostly use E-bay to purchase my school items. You can save a considerable amount of money, plus you can resell them when you are done and in the end it costs very little to homeschool.
As a teacher, I taught with Abeka. I loved the phonics base of Abeka and so I had to incorporate it into my homeschooling life. This year we used their Language 1, Phonics 1 and Spelling 1. I did purchase the teacher's guide and Handbook for Phonics to go along with it. As a child, I grew up under the Whole Language philosophy and as a result, I am a horrible speller. I learned so much when I began teaching phonics. I think Abeka does an excellent job providing a solid phonics foundation for reading and spelling.
For Math we used Christian Light Publications Grade 1 Math. I don't remember how I found them but I am so glad that I did. They have an astounding math program and it is cheap!!! I highly recommend this program.
Those were the materials that I used this year with my 6 year old son. My daughter who is 4 grew into homeschooling this year. The first half of the year she mainly just listened in during story time and did art while James was doing school. As the year, progressed she began doing workbook pages. I used Rod and Staff's Preschool books with her. She could handle about 2 workbook pages a day. We recently began working on reading using a free Phonics online program called Progressive Phonics. The stories are adorable and enjoyable for all 3 of us. She reads her words and James enjoys reading the rest to her.
I could say so much more!!! If you have any questions about homeschooling feel free to e-mail me forhisgloryalone@ymail.com and I would be happy to answer them. One site I highly recommended that is devoted to homeschooling is called Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. Kris is currently going through a series recommending curriculum for the different grade levels. She also does lots of curriculum reviews throughout the year. This is a great place to get hooked in to homeschooling information.
If you made it this far; thanks for reading!
In Christ,

Why I Homeschool

I thought you might be curious why I homeschool but before I start I want to say there is no judgement if you don't homeschool. I certainly don't believe homeschooling is the only way or that it is for everyone. In fact, in our home we are taking homeschooling one year at a time and it might not be the only way we do our kids education. However, I would like to clear the air a little on behalf of homeschooling because when people hear the word "homeschool" a lot of preconceived notions jump into their heads of what "homeschooling" is and why people homeschool. Part of me wants to come up with a new word for homeschooling because there are so many negative thoughts attached to it (any suggestions?). If we lived in Europe I could say my kids were taught by a private tutor and everyone would be in awe and think we were rich!


I think most people believe that the primary reason people homeschool is because they are scared of the "world" and are being "over-protective." While the world is an issue for me it is not the primary reason I homeschool. I am homeschooling not because I am trying to run away from something rather I am trying to run towards something.

As you probably gathered, I think my kids are pretty special (in fact I think all kids are special). As a former teacher I have had experience in traditional classroom settings. As a result, I personally have some issues with the current education set-up in America. In a classroom of 20 plus kids the individual can not be fully appreciated. Maybe I wasn't a fantastic teacher but I always felt like I was teaching to the "middle kids" the "advanced" kids suffered because they were held back waiting for the others and the "lower" kids suffered because they always felt like they were behind. If you were a "middle kid" school was probably okay for you.



The other problem with a traditional classroom setting is that all kids are being sent through the same filter and all the gifts and talents of the individual are being lost or at least they are not being cultivated to their full extent. As I said earlier, I think all kids are special and have gifts and talents that are individual to them. Our current education system leaves a lot of people feeling invaluable because their personalities don't excel in a traditional classroom setting.


What I love about homeschooling is that we can take the time to cultivate our kids individual talents. I only have two kids but let me tell you they can be as different as night and day. James would fit well in a traditional classroom because he loves books, learning and producing "the right answer." Mercea is only 3 but I can already tell she would probably struggle in a traditional classroom. She is very kinesthetic and a dramatic individual (even as I write this James is on the computer and she is dancing around the room on her tippy toes singing and dancing). I already think it will be "difficult" trying to teach their 2 very different personalities and there is only 2 of them not 20 of them!


My hope and plan with homeschooling is that I will be able to allow time for them to develop what they are good at. James has already shown a bent towards writing. He has already written a book called Darby Goes on Safari and now on his very own idea he is currently "writing" the Bible. One day he asked me for a journal and started writing in it the Creation story, then he retold the story of Cain and Abel and he now has started Noah. It thrills my heart but I honestly did not tell him to do this, he asked to do it and he is the one who pulls it out whenever he wants to write. I know if I had him in school, he would not have the time to do these things because by the time he got home, we would eat dinner, then there would be homework... We do have official "school time" at our home but my kids do have plenty of opportunity to be creative and to pursue and cultivate the desires of their heart.


Another reason I homeschool is because I think life is about a lot more than what we spent 12-16 years learning about in our current educational system. The perspective I learned from the educational system was to get good grades so I could go to college and become a successful career woman. What I did not learn in school was what it would take to be a good wife and a stay-at-home mother. I did not learn that I would be spending 90% of my time caring for other people and doing monotonous activities such as laundry, cleaning and helping kids grow up. I did not learn that when I had kids my life would turn upside down and I would be filled with an incredible love for these kids that would make all the things I thought were important not nearly so important anymore. If I had done college the way a lot of people had I could have ended up with $30,000 in school loans that would have forced me to need to work to pay them off. I wouldn't have been able to afford to be home with my kids. "Luckily," I was able to work and pay my way through college and I chose to live at home so I didn't rack up a ridiculous amount of debt before the majority of my life began.

I now have the opportunity to speak into women's lives and it is very sad to see how many women are unhappy right now. Those who choose to stay at home often feel invaluable because they are not "producing" something seen as valuable in our society. They went through a school system where they were rewarded for what they produced and now they are at home, where the rewards can be few and far between. They are now confused on how they are valuable in the this world. Then there are those women who choose to work and they feel guilty because they have a huge heart for their kids (which no one told them about) but they either don't know how to be home with their kids or they can't afford to be with their kids and so they live in turmoil everyday.

Homeschooling is beneficial to breaking this negative cycle because we time to can place other values in our kids. It is my sincere hope that James will allow his future wife to stay at home if she desires. He will have seen a model for this and he will have learned the financial planning and sacrifices that need to take place in order for this to happen. I hope Mercea will also desire and be able to stay at home and this won't be a foreign, scary or overwhelming concept to her. It is not that I am against college or that I don't expect both of my kids to attend college but I do want them to have a full perspective on life and not to think that having a job and making money defines success. The large amount of America ~ I guess even the country itself is in huge debt trying to achieve those ideas of success we learned about having in school but what has been lost in America is what really matters ~ relationship.

Well, I could go on and on with more reasons but I hope you noticed that there are many life-giving benefits to homeschooling and that it is not all about hiding in fear from the "ideas of the world." People state that homeschoolers are being sheltered and won't be prepared for the real world. While I do hope that one benefit will be that they were spared some unnecessary heartbreak I do not intend for them to be ignorant about the cruelties of this world. Rather I view one of the benefits of homeschooling is that they will be training for battle in the real world. An analogy that I have come up with is a homeschooler is like being trained to be a professional boxer. How is a boxer trained? By throwing them into a ring with other people who don't know what they are doing and let them keep swinging at each other until one is left standing ( and hopefully it will be my kid still standing)? Or is a successful boxer trained by working with an expert for hours on end and by practicing on inanimate objects? Then when the boxer is fully trained he is released into the ring and he fights and fights well. I hope my kids will be well trained fighters because I believe we are in a world at war but I don't believe that they have to fight in the "ring" until they been well trained to fight.

So that is some of the reasons why I homeschool. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest!