Learning With Style

We are still really new to this whole "we are responsible for our children's education and spiritual well-being" thing. It may seem strange, but two people who grew up in church and were already Christians when we got married...didn't really get it. It was around 2 years ago that I started researching homeschooling. You know, "just in case" we ever became missionaries and I "had" to homeschool. Because that was the only acceptable reason in my mind to do such a freaky thing. :)

And I started noticing people like the Duggar family, who I didn't really understand, but I admired because every single thing they did in their life was shaped by scripture. Hmmm. Read the Bible and change your life according to what you read? Interesting. Wasn't the Bible just supposed to be kind of encouragement? Weren't you just supposed to crack it open and find a verse that applied to whatever life situation you were going through?

It wasn't just the Duggars. I started reading too. I read about families who did things differently and I began to understand that homeschooling, at least for some people, wasn't so much about education as it was a parental responsibility as Christians. I had no arguments for that one.

And truly if public school were not what it is--it might be acceptable to me to send my children. Private Christian school would be better than that, if it were affordable. But I really did begin to see that there isn't a neutral way to teach kids. They either ARE being taught about God and his ways for 8 hours a day, or they are NOT being taught His ways. I didn't feel like we could make up the difference in 4 hours each evening.

And as my husband always says, we have no idea what kind of world we are preparing these children for. It won't be like it was when we were young adults, and it won't even be like it is now. It will likely be much, much worse. So their spiritual training is not just important. It's not just a priority. It's not even just a responsibility.

It is imperative. It will make the difference between life and death to them.

So it happened that God made a way for us to begin homeschooling. (Thank you, Lord!) And as I got used to spending every waking minute with my children (which was an adjustment) I began to see just how long they had really been away from me when I was working. I feel like I have gained their childhood back. I'm not saying that to make any working moms feel bad--I'm just saying that there really are a lot of hours in the day to talk about God's word as we walk through our days. And I'm starting to feel a renewed responsibility for that.

So, I have felt the need for something a bit more formal than just walking and talking about God's word. And reading it.

And look at that--I've rambled on and haven't even made it to my point. So now the title seems silly. Well, next time I'll finish.