Cup of Water
Posted in Daily Focus on Friday, August 1, 2014
“Why would you want to stay at home with your kids? Are you NUTS?” Have you ever heard these questions when you told someone you decided to homeschool your children? Most homeschooling parents have at one time or another. We are a different breed that receives little or no recognition from the world for our efforts. Expecting applause or appreciation for teaching our own children are dreams we have long since given up, along with paychecks and promotions. So, how does a homeschooling parent cope with the lack of support and affirmation he needs to continue educating his children at home?
God’s Word gives us the answer in Matthew 10:42: “And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.” Although the world does not value a homeschooling parent, God says that even giving a drink to a thirsty child has a reward. How much more God has planned for us parents who have chosen to sacrifice our dreams for our children’s future!
Knowing that our heavenly Father sees and cares is enough to encourage us to remain faithful. Even though no one else understands, we can choose to respond to His promise: “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:23-24). Let the Lord’s love be enough for you today as you start another year of homeschooling. Someday you will receive a full reward for all you have done. “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time” (1 Peter 5:6).
Father, forgive me when I feel sorry for myself or complain that no one appreciates me. I know You love me and value my obedience in homeschooling my children. Help me to remain faithful and humble to give You the glory in all that I do. In Your Son’s name, Amen.
Comments(12 comments)
CHERYL D 08/01/2009 20:21:09
I was in tears reading this devotional. This word of encouragment was exactly what I needed. Just last week I was very discouraged when my oldest son told me that my sister in laws and mother in law all told him that they thought he should go to public school. I took offense at first, then I was discouraged. My wonderful husband encouraged me and this devotional re-encouraged me. I know that God is who I answer to and not man. I see the fruits of homeschooling in all my children and I cannot let other people's opinions to distract me from doing what God has called me to do, Thank you for the daily email devotionals. They have helped me so much!!!
glenn n 08/01/2010 20:11:38
Need some help please. Am new to homeschooling. Have 5th grade daughter and 7th grade son. Would like to go with computer based curriculum. Switched on Schoolhouse looked promising, but some reviews for math portion are less than stellar. Aleks math looks promising. Any thoughts? Thank you.
RYAN E 08/02/2010 06:44:05
Hi Robin,
Thanks for your question and welcome! As you probably already know, one of the great advantages of homeschooling is you can customize your child's curriculum. What you could do is purchase four subjects of Switched-On Schoolhouse and use Horizons math for your 5th grader and LIFEPAC math for your 7th grader if you plan on using SOS for both students. Many customers I talked to at a recent homeschool convention had great feedback about Horizons math.
LORRIE C 08/01/2011 03:37:53
DItto and AMEN! Family and friends don't have a clue about this homeschool journey of FAITH. I don't fault them for this, but the subtle and sometimes blunt remarks can either trip me up or spur me on to dig in deeper in fulfilling this calling with my whole heart.
God bless you for this encouragement today.
THANDI N 08/01/2011 07:32:49
This part sums it up for me "Although the world does not value a homeschooling parent, God says that even giving a drink to a thirsty child has a reward. How much more God has planned for us parents who have chosen to sacrifice our dreams for our children's future!" When I was in varsity,I could not study what I wanted to study.Now that I'm married and have found a supportive husband,I still cannot study what I wanted to study because it would mean I could not homeschool. Once again,my dreams have been dashed.Homeschooling, for some of us,is a principle. We would rather sacrifice our dreams than lose our children. Because we love them..and love God who we believe is calling us to do it.Yes,sometimes I get sad, but it's worth it.I wouldn't have it any other way.
CHRISTINA L 08/01/2011 12:35:38
When we started homeschooling in 1996, we were told we were nuts and our children would be socially backwards and not amount to anything with out an education.
I am happy to say that our biggest critic is now our biggest fan, the reason for this is simple our children have intergraded themselves into our lives and the lives of our parents.
Our oldest son has spend some time with his grandfather and listened to his stories over and over to the point that he did family tree reseach.
Our daughter at 17 started her own rescue business and on a regular bases calls on her grandfather for help.
Our youngest son has also spend time with his grandfather and learns to do different things under his instruction.
None of my father's other grandchildren have spend so much time with him and he enjoys getting together with them with or without us along.
Our youngest son resently helped his sister out at show for her rescue ranch by bring her food, and talking with other people about her rescue ranch.
MICHELE F 08/01/2012 06:51:48
Good morning Glenn N,
I'm using A Beka Academy (streaming and DVD'S) for all 4 of my "school-aged" children, including a Senior. I highly recommend considering it.
God bless you.
KATHY S 08/01/2012 07:08:58
I just purchased the "Switched on Schoolhouse" Math program for my 8th grader to make our lives easier this year.
Now I'm a little concerned from the reveiws above.
What is it that makes SOS math undesireable?
The rest of the curricilum that I have is all in book form.
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I have had critics too about homeschooling, we started last year and I had alot of battles with family friends ECT.
My Mom and brother were very supportive, which was nice.
But, Ultimatley, I really didn't care who thought what. I do this for my Son, and the Gratitude and Thanks that he expresses are more than enough to keep me going through highschool.
I am pleased to hear that I am pleasing God as well and that there are extra rewards in heaven.
Ultimatley, my joy is that my son is safe and happy and with me.
DARLENE N 08/01/2012 08:17:15
Praying that we follow God's Will concerning homeschooling our last child. My son was enrolled on AOA in the winter and will finish school in Dec. Best decision ever!! Public school hides the standard of curriculum that they use and if we hadn't been obedient to God and left him in PS, we would have never know how much his was missing. His grades were fine in PS, so we had no idea. Now with AOA, he had to do some catch up work in Alg and Chem, but passed all the junior classes with high B's and A's. Now as a Senior, he is currently holding straight A's. AOA uses SOS, the Ignitia program. So, now our last child is begging to be homeschooled!! We can't afford AOA at this time, so we are researching AOP for the right fit. Our child is OK in math, stronger in LA and History. What program would be better for her, since she really needs a very good math curriculum that spells everything out but doesn't have an enormous amount of problems?
TRICIA B 08/02/2012 12:54:05
I have used SOS for 13 years. My children used all grades from grade 3. I have one graduate, a rising senior and my niece is a rising 5th grader. We absolutely love SOS. It has only improved through the years. My oldest son graduated a year early and entered a Computer networking program. He earned nearly a perfect score on his math college placement test. The only supplement we used for math was an ACT practice course he did during his senior year because he took Trig in his Junior year of high school. I have been very pleased with all the SOS subjects, including Math. I have one average math student, one struggling math student and one advanced math student. All are doing well with SOS. Also AOP has rewritten all the math courses at least twice since I started using SOS in 2000. Each revision has greatly improved the curriculum. Grades 5-7 were recently revised to align with the Core Standards to better meet our needs.
Be careful when reading reviews of SOS, whether it is math, another subject or the features of the curriculum. You may find you are reading a review of an old subject or feature that has been fixed or improved. Rest assured that problems I encountered in 2010 have been resolved by 2012!
april Pierce 08/01/2013 13:11:22
The 8th grade SOS math is great. Just be ready to relearn it! There were many times Arieal asked questions and I would have to do some research of my own, learn the concept and then teach it to her. 8th grade math is hard. Though I am glad she was challenged.
Also, the sentiment shared in this devotion is not only true of homeschooling moms, but any mom who chooses to stay home with the kids is weird. The pressure to have the perfect job, kids, marriage, and to be in many ministries is crazy. There is a season for everything, we don't have to do it all at once. Many blessings!
Laura Mauldin 08/01/2014 12:14:03
I just wanted to be reassuring that the SOS curriculum will be fine. I have been using horizons for math up to 8th grade, but have a high school student this year. He is going to use SOS. I am a certified teacher, and when we did our research we were comfortable with SOS at the price point we could also afford.