I haven't blogged in a while. I guess I've been thinking a lot. Thinking before I speak maybe. A wonderful idea from the Bible. The whole "slow to speak" thing. I think I am more known for being quick to speak, plentiful with words, blurty, impetuous, opinionated.
What's that got to do with Kayaking you ask? Or education? Or kids? I'm just sharing these pictures of my Mothers Day kayaking adventure along with talking about something I've been thinking about for several years now.
And that is the topic of education. My goal is to not say a lot of words about this because quite frankly, it's really quite simple.
Pray and do what God leads you to do.
See my problem is, I spent many years being indoctrinated by people who believed home education was the ONLY, the BEST, the GODLY choice. And, probably because I liked homeschooling, I fell for it....hook, line and sinker.
I started noticing something though. Something that was a real problem with that line of thinking. Here's what I noticed: Godly, thoughtful, prayerful, wise people I knew didn't ALL home school their kids. And lots of godly, thoughtful, prayerful, and wise Christians I knew hadn't been home schooled. And they were OKAY.
When our homeschooling journey took an indefinite pause (it's still on pause), it was my godly, thoughtful, and prayerful husband that suggested we enroll our boys in the Classical Christian School that met in our church.
And two years later....I can look back on these past two years and see how God led us to make this decision and the many good reasons why. Do I miss homeschooling? I do. But I am so grateful for ultimately God leading and directing the education and rearing of our children. I know he is shaping them into the adults he wants them to be, I know that HE knows the plans he has for them. He knows the calling he has on their lives and exactly what tools he needs to use to mold them.
(little side story---so two years ago, on the eve of the boys first day at school, I was feeling a little low. And, well, God has a sense of humor. One of the things I was going to miss the most was all the missionary biographies I used to read to the boys. So I said to myself, I am just going to go over there to the shelf, pick one of those biographies out and start reading it to them right now. And so I did. Low and behold....the very first few pages chronicled the story of an African mother whose son was PRIVILEGED to go to school....not at home, not across the street, not across town, but rather in another village. Her TEN year old son had to traverse a three day journey through the JUNGLE to get there, and she would ONLY see him once a year. This child was the subject of the book for he grew up to be a great missionary. All of a sudden, I felt very grateful for my children's school down the street, and I thanked God for giving me a new perspective!!!!)
Education....for some kids its a combination of different types of schooling, for some it's all public school, for others all Christian schools, for others its all homeschooling. The point that I've learned is that they are all tools in the Potters hands....and I know of no more capable hands than His.
And I have loved that for them. I have also loved having a baby and being able to focus just on my baby and my preschooler, rather than try to figure out some way to "occupy" them while I homeschooled older children. I'm not "downing" this....but it just is one of the difficulties of homeschooling.
So there are things I miss about home schooling, and there are things I'm grateful for due to the fact my children are going to school. God's will is GOOD. Always good.
I think Samuel agrees! He will attend kindergarten three days a week next year! And for the years ahead? We will continue to follow the trustworthy leadership of God!
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