Blessings, Not Educational Burdens...

Homeschoolers are a hard-working group. You get up early, stay up late, read, reread, pray and think, all to find the best curriculum, co-op or class for our children. Nothing can keep you from the pursuit of giving your best effort to train and educate your children. Sometimes the intense focus on these tasks can change your perspective, often without even realizing it.

Scripture is clear. Children are blessings from God. While you may know that in your heads, sometimes the responsibilities you feel to do your job well can turn your blessings into your educational burdens - your problems to solve, your children to fix, your people to make adequate, or even superior. Looking at your child as a task rather than a person with a plan from God can cause you to miss the blessings intended for you through your relationship.

It's an easy mistake to make, and just as easy a mistake to fix. Like hitting a reset button, determine to see things in a new way. Remember:

1) Children are a gift from the Lord. Don't become so focused on the responsibilities of homeschooling that you forget to receive the gift God has given you in your child. Make sure you are enjoying your time together (and it will be fleeting!) and that you are building that life-long friendship as well as functioning as  a diligent parent.

2) God has a plan for your child's life. It is not your job to come up with a plan for your child. It is your job to get in synch with the plan already in place, made by your child's loving Creator. Spend time seeking to know the gifts and talents placed in your child and considering how to encourage those gifts.

3) Don't make conformity with the world your goal. More and more I am concerned that we as homeschoolers have made worldly success our driving concern. More important than what your neighbors do or think is following what is best for your child - how they learn best, building their character and building an enjoyment of learning that is lifelong.

God did not call you to homeschool just so you could impress the world. He has a much bigger plan than that. Encourage your children to follow God's plan for their lives, no matter where it takes them. Model that truth for them now by putting your trust in God's plan, not in your ability to create the most impressive credentials possible.

Rest assured that God will faithfully guide you as you lead your children. When He calls you to do something, He also promises to bring that thing to pass Himself (I Thess. 5:24). Rest in the calling God has given you to homeschool. He is the author of all wisdom and knowledge and He knows where your children are going and how to get them there. Meanwhile, enjoy the blessings He has given you.