Yesterday I shared how much I had learned about education and homeschooling. Today I’ll share how God tapped me on the shoulder and straightened me out a bit.
We did Bible study and had memory verses and all those right things, yet something was missing. I knew that I was doing what God wanted- after all, I was doing this for Him, for His glory! Right? Oh boy, God was to show me how wrong I had been. After a few years, in His right time, He stepped in and didn’t leave me to wander for too long.
I had mapped out a course to get to the destination; I knew where I wanted to get to. I had gathered the tools for the journey: knew how I wanted to get there. I loaded the plane, buckled everyone in and took off! I turned to my co-pilot and asked him to bless the journey and to look out for us. After awhile, things got a little bumpy and I turned to my co-pilot and asked Him to help…but He was quite relaxed and had, in fact, been waiting for me to look to Him for help. I came to see that I was trying to take on the role of pilot when instead I am only the co-pilot and God is The Pilot. God knows the destination of each journey for each child. God knows what tools they need for the journey. He knows how to fly that plane better than anyone else: all I had to do was to recognise this and go to Him. I’m so thankful to God that He called me to a process of renewing my mind…to seek His design and not man’s. I had wanted to seek God for His plan for our family, but I got lost in the myriad of information regarding homeschooling.
I experimented on my girls with all these methods I was revising my educational philosophy, my dreams, goals and ideals for the children. In actual fact, my dreams and ideals drifted away from God and more to providing a ‘superior, successful, academic education‘. But deep in my heart I knew that something was missing.
A New Chapter
So began a new chapter in my homeschooling journey: that of putting God first…depending solely upon Him. I wanted Him to show me what to teach and when to each child. I was literally asking ‘What would Jesus do? What would Jesus learn? How would Jesus teach?’ Have you ever asked who is responsible before God for teaching your child? How about searching the Bible to see what God desires us to teach them? Hmmm, how about asking the when question? When to teach them? On the weekend? After school? Next question I asked was how do I teach them this then? I’ve always been one to ask questions (it’s how I learn) and so I wanted to know a few things…things that would impact every aspect of my family and the way I approach the concept of education. I have asked and studied these questions and I’d encourage everyone to do so- it’s a great topic! (I use the 5W’s and a H to learn most things and to teach most things. See my free download here; The Observation Sheet!)
God has a special plan for our family, for each of us and for our homeschool. This will look different to other families! But it is supposed to… I’ve learned that rather than look at what other’s are doing, I need to look only to the Lord. If I want Him to guide me, then I must seek Him, not man. God placed our children in our family. He wants me to diligently teach them His commands all throughout the day, every day, using ways and means that convey His eternal truths and build solid, loving, healthy relationships between me and them. He knows my abilities and theirs. He knows my strengths and weaknesses and theirs. He also knows my needs. I’ve learned that I can turn to Him, I can rely upon Him, die to self and trust in him for peace and assurance. This isn’t just something that I’ve learned about on Sunday, it is a result of trusting in God for everything, even homeschooling. Tomorrow I’ll share the ‘how’ we developed a Gospel based, discipleship approach to our family life and homeschooling.
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:4-9
