31 So, as the Scriptures say, “Whoever boasts should boast only about the Lord.”
For over two years, I have longed, dreamed and yearned to homeschool my kids.
It wasn’t that the school experience was dreadful or that our kids weren’t fitting in. It was that I knew that things could be done so differently. That education could be fun rather than stressful.
I am also a bit of a rebel. I do not like to have to conform, or fit into the proverbial ‘box’. And I cannot bear the thought of my kids having to slot into the ‘box’ of schooling, which is a system that I feel is overcrowded, uncreative and rather uninspiring.
At first, this dream began as a need to spare my kids from 12 years of this ‘system’.
But my husband was not at all fond of the idea. Yet the desire and passion continued to grow.
Reluctantly, I watched them go to Grade 1. It was a lovely community school, the one which I attended for Junior school, so it was my first choice, but it was torturous to see them struggle with the enormity of the school. The school policy is to separate twins, so they were in different classes for the first time and although the one had a very nurturing teacher, the other had a bit of a tyrant and each morning we had to tear a sobbing child from us for three quarters of the year.
And so my determination to homeschool grew. I really did not want them to return for Grade 2, but my husband was still not on board with me, so back to school they went.
For the second year in a row, our daughter was placed in a class with a very ‘shouty’ teacher. This brought on a whole new set of anxiety issues which we worked through and prayed through and have now seen breakthrough, but it was not a nice journey and all the while I was asking myself ‘why do we have to put our kids through this when there are other ways of doing school.’
At this stage, I was actively investigating homeschooling. I joined a Facebook community page, I read up on curriculum and I met with other homeschooling moms. The more I learned, the more excited and determined I became.
I began to realize that more than just trying to ‘save’ our kids from a dreadful schooling experience, I was really excited and passionate about teaching them – or rather going on this journey of education with them.
But I also worried that this was just my little dream and not actually God’s plan for my life – for our family.
So very reluctantly, I lay it down before the Lord and trusted that if it was something that He had placed in my heart, then He would give it back to me.
Several times, I ‘lay down’ my dream before the Lord, because my husband was remained vehemently opposed to the idea, but my passion and sense of purpose for this, continued to grow. I know that God is a God of love and peace and it would never be His desire to lead me into something that would cause a relationship breakdown between my husband and myself, so I continued to believe that He would make a way.
Until I grew exhausted from all the dreaming and longing. So I sought out confirmation from friends husband, who I know hears so clearly from God through pictures, dreams and visions.
And He asked God the simple question. ‘Must Linda homeschool the girls or not.’,
God gave him a resounding YES. It is Gods desire for me to homeschool the girls. he placed the desire in my heart!
But there was still the issue of my husband. How would I get him to accept this truth. He Is a believer, but he is not at all comfortable with ‘the spiritual realm’ so although my friends ‘prophetic word’ was confirmation for me, it did not reassure him in any way. He was still adamant that we leave things the way they are.
Mortified, I went back to the Lord in prayer.
How could this be? God had brought us together. He had given us our twins and He had placed this homeschooling dream in my heart. How would I ever move forward in it.
But God said to me, in the most loving and patient way, that His Holy Spirit would touch my husband’s heart and bring him to a place of agreement.
So I continued to trust and believe and finally, the miracle happened. In fact, he has not only agreed to homeschooling but he is excited about it. There is such a lightness about him when he talks about it and he is actually looking forward to the journey.
There only way to explain this turn-round, is by the work of God in his life. It truly is a miracle! God has been intricately involved in this process right from the beginning – when it became firstly a dream in my life, then a desire in my kids life and finally a joy in my husbands life. Now, we are all super excited about our ‘freedom’ in our journey ahead.