It Began with a Prayer

Even though we've only been doing this homeschooling thing a year and a half, I've become quite familiar with the two most popular questions homeschoolers ask each other: "What curriculum do you use?" (if you're curious, check the sidebar) and "What made you decide to homeschool?" I thought answering the latter would be a fitting first post in my first ever blog.

When someone asks me why we homeschool I can usually rattle off several different (but all truthful) reasons. It was our back-up plan in case the school thing didn't work out for our autistic son. We wanted to slow down and really spend time with our kids. We liked the idea of being able to tailor curriculum to each of our children's individual needs. We didn't feel like we were spending enough time training our children spiritually, because we had kind of let their Christian school and our church take over a big part of that responsibility.

But none of these are the true reasons why we are now a homeschool family. To reveal what really happened I need to go back several years. I'm not exactly sure what year it was -- I think it was after Ryne was born, but before Grace was born. Marc was a leader in a men's Bible study, and one night he came home and told me about a conversation he had with another one of the leaders. This other man was a homeschool dad and he said to Marc, "My wife and I are praying that you guys will decide to homeschool your kids." My reaction was similar to Sarah's in the Bible when she overheard she would bear a child in her old age -- I laughed and thought never in a million years. I think I made some joke that they were praying for the wrong family.

It's not that I had anything against homeschooling. I knew very little about it. But all I had to do was take one look at my messy house and my kids glued to yet another Veggie Tales movie to see that I was not a good homeschool candidate.

And here we are. Homeschooling...and loving it! My house is still a mess, and everyday I contemplate getting rid of the TV for good. But despite my weaknesses, God has enabled our kids to learn and grow in amazing ways.

So I blame that family and their unsolicited prayer for completely changing our lives. And I thank God for prompting them to offer up that prayer.