Psalms 9:1
"I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
I will recount all of your wonderful deeds."
I will recount all of your wonderful deeds."
WoW!! I am overwhelmed with gratefulness! The fruit of home-educating has been more bountiful than I predicted when we first started! This is evidence that self-educating has become a way of life for them!
Let me recount...
A lesson I have learned through undertaking this homeschooling venture is that the promise of Matthew 11:28-30 is true indeed!.
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Obedience to God's word was our objective concerning godly education. But I'll admit, the start up seemed a daunting task. I have had many come-a-parts along the way. What saved us was the enabling of the Holy Spirit to be courageous enough to break free from unnatural and unnecessary traditions by culling old strategies and habits learned from the current and unbiblical academic patterns. We needed to bend and conform to the commands and principles the Lord provides to the Jews and Christians for teaching and training children. We needed to get out from under our yoke with the world (2 Cor. 6:14) and accept the invitation to put on the yoke Christ is offering. That is when we got a big surprise!!
Today, I humbly celebrate with all thanksgiving the fruit of our labor under the yoke of Christ. Our children are self-educating as a way of life rather than a chore when so many have lost hope that this is possible.
Who knew obedience and conformity could be so liberating!?! This is one of the great paradoxical mysteries revealed to followers of Christ. As we subject our pursuits under biblical scrutiny and modification, we find a treasure-- a manageable schedule rich with productive and rewarding outcomes beyond proportional measure. The verse above describes this phenomenon as a yoke that is easy.
Think of it like swimming in a stream. Rather than feeling the burden of swimming against currents of God's design, we get to focus our effort on staying afloat as we cooperate with the water's natural current to carry us to our destination. I am not implying that homeschooling children doesn't require effort. I am saying the effort is of a "gentle" sort. It is rewarding, not draining. It is motivating, sustaining and full of hope!! The effort involved is more manageable than you would expect.
Some have said to me, "I don't know how you manage to teach your 4 children, all of them different ages!" No doubt, it doesn't happen by osmosis, but I would like to challenge with this reply. I don't know how folks have the patience to bear through government school for their children with all the trouble that comes with the package: unpleasant habits, words, attitude learned from the other children and delivered right into your home; misleading and, often, blatant lies taught in the text books; trying to keep up or slow down to a pace of learning that is not natural to your child's needs; not having time to let them pursue their particular interest; Spending too much time on unnecessaries; protecting them the barrage of subtle and enticing humanistic philosophies that corrupt our understanding and society... I could not manage all that!! I'm getting "weary and heavy laden" just thinking of it!
There is still much improvement needed in our walk with the Lord, but we see Him working!! Our only hope is in Christ!!
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