About a year ago when we moved in from a tiny 2 bedroom apt right after our third son was born to the small 3 bedroom 2 floor apt we are now in, I had contemplated making the small bedroom downstairs the baby's nursery, but my husband thought it was a bad idea because we would be waking up and going all the way downstairs for feedings, etc, and I am so glad I listened because I can't imagine having baby that far from me, so we decided to put all 3 boys in one bedroom and it has worked great, the older boys have a bunk bed and baby has his crib, they wake each other up sometimes but it has worked just fine. So then, we had the little bedroom downstairs, what are we going to do with it? of course my husband immediately decided it would be his office, the kids wanted it to be their playroom, it seemed like they all wanted a piece of it! and why not? it became just that, a playroom/office. (story and details of the room makeover with pictures in part 3! :)
A few months after that passed by and knowing my oldest would be finishing preschool at the Institute where my husband works, I began stressing about my son's future education, I wished the preschool would last forever, it had been a huge blessing, they are an advanced school with godly teachers. I looked into all the Kinder schools close by and only felt comfortable with one of them, so I scheduled a tour and my husband and I went, this was around February, by the end of the tour I had convinced myself he would be just fine attending the charter school (public school with a twist, really) so we left there with a false sense of security, my husband felt he would be okay but had always wanted me to homeschool our children, yet I didn't, homeschool? me?! no way! that's for teachers who went to College and got a degree, I felt very inadequate for the task, that's huge, that's my child's future! how was I supposed to give him at home what he had experienced in his beloved preschool?
A little background, I am a Mexican with America in my heart also, I was born in Mexico and then raised in Texas, I spent the first years of my life in Tx and then my parents moved my sisters and I back to Mexico, I had two cultures always inside of me but I had never heard of such a thing called homeschooling, not until I married my husband who was homeschooled, he told me about his experience but I always in the back of my mind thought "that's great for other families, not me, I wouldn't be able to"
I had this battle within me, I continued to pray about the school we had visited and yet I couldn't find that peace I wanted, God was so very gentle with me in leading me in His will (Isaiah 40:11 "He gently leads those that are with young"), He took me to this passage in Scripture:
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from WHOM you learned it and how from CHILDHOOD you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you WISE for SALVATION through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for TEACHING, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2nd Timothy 3:14-17) *emphasis mine
Wow, I felt like God had pointed those verses right out to me and given them to me as a task, it was MY job to do this, it was OUR job to not only educate our sons, but to be their main influence in life and in the shaping of their character and faith! He told me that His Word would sustain me, encourage me, not only teach me but help me teach them, He told me that this is what He wanted for my sons, that they might become men of God, complete, equipped for every good work. That late night (I'm a night owl, God knows ;)) I KNEW God Himself was asking me to homeschool and knowing that for sure in my heart, gave me the courage to say yes to my Savior's request, because I know His will and desires are what is best for my whole family.
That decision made my husband very happy and at peace, we both knew we didn't want our son to be away for 8 hours a day at only 5 years old, we didn’t want teachers with their own philosophies to be investing in him for that long, some of the teachers we met had very different moral values than we did, we wanted to know who his friends were, it wasn't daycare, I was home and had the privilege to be with him and get to know him, so why not? There are many reasons I can think of why homeschooling is the best fit for OUR family during this time, yet I remind myself to take it one day at a time and to commit to this year, who knows what the next one will bring. For now, I am fully committed and I know by God's grace and mercy, I will be the best teacher my son will ever have, because nobody cares more about his education and character more than we do and I now have the confidence given by God for this task and supernatural peace.
This is our story on how we ended up making such a big decision and we’re not looking back. On a side note, I understand not every family is called to homeschool and that is okay, it's not about homeschooling families being better than the others who don't, it's about obeying God's call for your family, no family is alike! you must know what the Lord is calling you to do and go for it.
Will you share your story with me? how did God lead you to homeschool your children or did He lead you not to?
leave me a comment. :)
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