School’s out.

Forever. You’ve heard that Alice Cooper song. If not, go watch Grease 2, trust me. That’s how I thought my children would feel when my husband and I decided to homeschool. I thought my parents would think we were crazy and I feared my in-laws would think I wasn’t qualified. I asked everyone to pray about it for at least 6 months. I prayed, waited, doubted, prayed, questioned, prayed some more… you get the point. It’s a HARD decision for some of us!

It’s not like my 3rd grader is being bullied, or my senior is failing. They’re actually ‘A’ students with friends and smiles and extracurricular activities. They thrive by most people’s standards! Even by MINE! We love our teachers and staff. We will miss our bus driver. He’s a great person and puts a smile on my child’s face. Priceless, right??? I love the fact our schools are connected so my senior and third grader are in the same “spot” and can actually run into one another during the day. But after the big guy graduates this year, we don’t plan to be back.

I’ve already began teaching my youngest (age 5) at home instead of registering her for public school. Next year I will have the two littles at home, together, and that makes my heart happy. I found an amazing community of other homeschooling parents and children where I felt peace the minute I walked in. God’s answer isn’t always a shout. Sometimes it’s a seed planted by a friend, watered by another until pretty soon it’s just washing over you.

So if everything’s great, why are we doing this? We want to spend more time with our children than away from them. We want to be more of an influence on them than their friends. We need extra time to shape them to be like Christ instead of the world. We want them to learn HOW to think, not WHAT to think. And we want them to be confident enough in their own skin to share what’s truly in their soul.

God laid all this on my heart when He said,”wait,” when my daughter turned 5. I just didn’t know that’s what He was putting in motion. I figured we would just hold her back and have that extra year together. But it suddenly hit me. My senior has been in day care or school since he was 6 weeks old. He’s independent, he loves the Lord, he’s smart and incredibly charming. I simply don’t feel like I know him as well as I’d like to. We are close, but I can’t help wondering if we would be closer had I gotten more time with him. He’s about to leave and I don’t feel like I got enough time. When my oldest left I felt the same way (maybe all moms do). But he and I still talk almost daily so that helps. With these little ones I’ve been given an opportunity to do things differently. That’s a blessing I can’t ignore.

My children ARE excited about it, but there were no musical numbers to celebrate. My parents and in-laws ARE incredibly supportive and NOBODY seems to think I’m nuts. So this may not be as big a deal as I made it out to be. So what if I’m not qualified to teach a class of strangers? God gave THESE children to my husband and I. He trusted ME with them. And i trust HIM completely. We all know He doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called. What better calling is there than building up our children in such a way they are prepared for the world? Y’all, I really don’t think I’m screwing this up! That being said, if you see me without makeup, messy hair and house shoes or I’m mumbling to myself, just say a prayer in passing and know I’m doing my best!

Psalm 127:3