Taking Up the Shield of Faith in Our Homeschool and Public School Journey

     

Our first homeschooling experience was in 2012 when my oldest son was in kindergarten. At the time, I was the only one among my close local friends entering this new journey. Our oldest daughter was also 2-years-old and it was hard keeping her occupied while we completed our "academics" for the day. While it was challenging, amazing and tremendous growth still occurred. Among the many things I did learn was my relationship as mom needed to be priority over my relationship as my son's teacher. 

        I wanted to continue homeschooling my boy but after just one year of homeschooling, our relationship was struggling. As the school year came to a close, the Lord was showing me our neighborhood public school was a perfect option for us. So, we took a leap of faith and stepped onto that campus. Little did we know, by the middle of that school year, we would have a two-year-old added to our family through foster care. Even though my heart was sad to see our son go to school, the Lord was making space for amazing plans in our family. Our time was quickly swallowed up with multiple weekly parent and social worker visits and emotional care of a hurting child. In that process, our son thrived in school and our relationship healed. 

        While we marched forward, I never saw myself stepping back into homeschool life. We loved our school and grew in our relationships with the teachers and families there. However, I started receiving homeschool nudges from the Lord when my oldest daughter was in 2nd grade. The nudges sounded like this, "you're daughter loves the arts, drawing and creating but we never have enough time" or "she's so smart but is struggling in math." So, we took another leap of faith and started homeschooling during her 3rd grade year. AND unknown to us at the time, the Lord was once again making space for the challenging plans He had for us. 

        One month into our homeschooling year with our daughter, we were divinely interrupted through foster care again. This time we welcomed in a sibling set of 3 and practically doubled our kiddos overnight. I contemplated placing our daughter back in school but the Lord gently showed me that extra time together was essential. So, I enrolled two of our foster babes into our local school and marched forward into His plans one faithful step at a time. As the year continued to unfold, the Lord met needs we had no idea would transpire. With weekly foster care requirements and temporary family growth, the Lord new my daughter would need extra time at home with me. As the school year came to a close, our foster loves were reunited with family and we celebrated another growth filled school year.  

        We continued loving our neighborhood school for our then preschooler, kindergartener and 6th grader. However, I was uneasy about Jr. High quickly approaching for our oldest son. It was fall 2019 and I started receiving soft nudging from the Lord that we should homeschool him again. The biggest challenge to that was a son completely against the idea. So, there was nothing to do but to leave it ALL in the Lords hands. The Lord is continually reminds me of Paul's wisdom to the Ephesians as he wrote about the armor of God. "...Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one." That word "taking" implies action on our part as believers. Sometimes that action is taking one step at a time not knowing what comes next and sometimes it means waiting. So, in this case, I prayed and waited. 

        Enter March 2020 when Covid literally shut the world down and brought us all home. It also brought home three of our kids that were still in public school into a virtual learning world that was REALLY DIFFICULT. Things in the world were so intense and I foresaw this virtual learning continue into the next school year. It wasn't something I wanted for our family. So, I took up that shield of faith and pulled them all from our lovely public school and jumped into suddenly homeschooling all four kids. It was a rocky start with tears and feelings of inadequacy but here we are two years later...in a routine and (mostly) enjoying our time at home together. I knew I wanted our son's Jr High years to be homeschooled years and, with God's grace, the Lord soften my son's heart towards the idea as well.  What an amazing God we serve...I can't help but point to our divine creator as the orchestrator in fulfilling that desire. 

        Discovering the joy of homeschooling my four kiddos has honestly been a challenge. Like any job, we have really fabulous days and "we need to start this day over and go back to bed" days. My phrase for 2020 was "Show up." For whatever God had in store for me, whether is was challenging behavior or a joyful discovery, I wanted to show up for it and be fully present. While never perfect, I'm confident in that fact that the Lord gave me the strength to do just that. As our 2022 school year comes to a close, I'm once again having to actively take up that shield of faith as our son begins to step into the world of high school. 

        Trusting the Lord for His plans, we have enrolled our 15 year old at the local High School for next year and will continue to homeschool our other three kiddos. We've already made multiple trips to the high school through academic counseling, tours, sports meetings and open house. We're excited and (honestly) nervous about this next journey. However, when I look back at the Lord's faithfulness from the kindergarten beginnings until now, I have full confidence He will continue the beautiful work He started. As you move through these academic years, may you also know He moves in powerful and creative ways and may you take up that shield of faith each step of the way. 

Sharing the days of childhood to display the importance of motherhood. 

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