Double-minded Homeschooling
Posted in Daily Focus on Thursday, May 22, 2014
"A double minded man is unstable in all his ways" (James 1:8).
How many times have you doubted your decision to homeschool — one, two, ten, more? I lost count on the number of times I failed to trust in God's provision and care. As a Christian parent, I knew we would never succeed if I continually allowed my emotions to be tossed around each time something went wrong. Doubt may be a natural human response, but either God had shown me to homeschool or He hadn't. Instead of looking at the waves of adversity, God asked me, "Will you walk by faith and trust in My leading?"
Like the man looking for help to heal his son in Mark 9:24b, I cried out to Jesus, "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief."
Meeting me in my limited faith, the Lord gently showed Himself faithful as I sought His wisdom to homeschool each day. God first encouraged and empowered me with the truth of Deuteronomy 6:7 and other verses where God commands parents to "teach them (Scripture) diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." Next, He provided constant encouragement through several loving homeschooling families. Facing doubts of their own, we found strength together in prayer to fight unbelief (Matthew 18:20). Most of all, the supernatural answers to prayer and the Holy Spirit's guidance confirmed that our family was indeed walking where God desired.
If your doubts are outweighing your faith in homeschooling today, the Lord is waiting to show Himself mighty to you. Like Thomas, He doesn't want you to doubt any longer. Simply cry out, and He'll show Himself to be Lord of your homeschooling. "But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed" (James 1:6).
Father God, thank You for Your grace in leading our family on this homeschooling adventure. Please, increase my faith and help me to see Your perfect plan for our family. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Comments(22 comments)
STEPHANIE P 05/25/2010 14:40:09
New to homeschooling...thanks for the blog. We will be pulling our daughter out of public school this coming school year, she will be a Sophomore. I have wanted to do this for about 3 years but have always lost my nerve.
I really believe that this is what God wants for her, I know exactly where I was standing when I heard the call to homeschool...( dramatic I know).
I have never had the nerve and since then we have had an unease in her academics... She is a good student..Honors Eng...but struggles in Math, which means a struggle at home. I keep praying for God to give me a clear answer and at the same time I keep hearing ...\" I\"ve already told you\"...
So we are going to take the leap!!!
Thanks for letting me ramble and thanks again for the words of support.
Stephanie
CARIN M 05/22/2011 10:17:40
Stephanie, I just prayed for you. God Bless you and Congratulations on your choice to follow the Lord\'s lead to home schooling. Rest in him, follow all His leading, and he will bless your efforts.
TERESA E 05/22/2011 14:07:22
Stephanie,
Hi! My teen and I are learning together. We\'re learning geometry, learning to take homeschooling one step at a time, and learning to trust God. Like Carin, I prayed for you too
DAVID C 05/23/2011 07:01:59
These daily devotions have been such a blessing to me. This year has been very difficult. I have a debilitating disease and two dyslexic children. We are seeking summer help for them, but having a difficult time finding it.
Where God guides he provides and I know we will either find it or receive the wisdom to do it ourselves. We covet you prayers.
Karin C.
SUSAN S 05/23/2011 07:02:53
Like Stephanie, it will be a big leap for our family this year to home schooling from public school. I have 2 boys that will be in 6th and 8th grade. I too have wanted to do this since my oldest started Kindergarten and have struggled with regret and guilt. Today\'s devotional has been such a blessing. I have been working on making a conscious choice to change my thoughts, when they come, from guilt to accepting God\'s forgiveness and looking toward what he is providing for our future. This devotional is so encouraging, I\'m so grateful for this service. God is so good.
HAYLEY K 05/23/2011 11:00:13
Thanks so much for the devotion. New to Homeschooling also, I have four children and the first in our family to homeschool. We have a lot of church family that homeschools, but I have still been so very overwhelmed at how much your own family can act like you are from a foreign land once you have made a decision to do this. We have made the decision to pull our oldest daughter 8 out of public school this year. When anyone around makes a comment about something they are doing, on the inside I get upset because I doubt what Im doing yet, I feel as if the Lord is leading me down this path. So I understand how Stephanie feels and I will be in prayer for you as well!
Hayley F
CRIS D 05/22/2012 04:13:15
The reasons I started homeschooling 4 years ago are different than many of you, but I still believe it was God leading. My husband\'s income took a dramatic dip and I fell into ill health which combined made the effort to take them to the nearest Christian school too much. I have seen the Lord bless our home with the homeschooling, I have seen our worships turn into something that only the Holy Spirit could have orchestrated. I have seen my children learn many things, and have been so relieved to see them do so well in their achievement tests which is an unbiased measure of their learning.
But after 4 years, I am at a crossroads. The children want to be with their friends. With themgoing into 6th and 8th grades, I fear I don\'t have what it takes to keep them on track.. It\'s not the job, it\'s the hours. 24/7 with a tween and teen who bicker and fight becomes overwhelming. My spouse (who is not christian) has never been fully onboard. He is the first to criticize what he perceives as subpar behaviour or work. I\'ve substituted at the local christian school, and realize my boys are very advanced academically. So my husband\'s assesments are discouraging.
I also find that homeschooling can be a lonely place to be. Random people will ask how my handsome boys are doing in school, and when they answer they are homeschooled, more oft than not I get the \"professional\" opinion of the check out lady, or bagger, receptionist, etc, and usually it\'s a negative comment. It undermines the process. It makes you feel like you are doing something wrong. My knee jerk reaction is to say how \"well\" the boys are doing. I usually leave feeling like I had been interrogated, and never satisfied with my response.
When I read the \"double-minded\" message for today, I realized that I need to be \"all in\" or \"all out\". Homeschooling is not for the faint of heart, and no matter where you go, there will be nay sayers. (I believe orchestrated by the enemy)
Let\'s pray for each other. I certainly need your prayers, and knowing what I know about this big job you are all doing, you need my prayers too.
Cris C.
DIANA L 05/22/2012 04:28:37
New or veteran, we all face these doubts as we let our guards down and take our \"God glasses\" off. We are in our 3rd yr of homeschool, 1st year I was plagued with these doubts, 2nd yr, I started to trust more, 3rd yr also went well until the end of the school yr, (currently) I know this was our calling for our family but as my children started to get a little more advanced and beyond the \"Elementary teachings\" I found myself comparing their level of achievement to those in public and private schools, \"was I teaching them ENOUGH\". I still need to go back to Him and ask his guidance to trust and have faith. Not quantity but QUALITY. Thank you so much for these daily devo\'s. We ALL need these reminders, we are also still learning alongside our children.
KATHY S 05/22/2012 07:30:55
Prayers for all.
LEXI B 05/22/2012 09:43:25
Oh boy! I am a first time homeschool mom. I received the last bit of curriculum in the mail yesterday and woke up this morning thinking, \"What am I doing??\" and a flood of other doubts came over me. This devotion is just what I needed. Thankfully I knew this would happen so I referred to the list I made of all the reason I decided pull my kids out of public school and to homeschool my children. So Thankful for this reminder!!
JAMIE K 05/22/2012 19:53:47
I was so double minded that I home schooled, put kids back in school, home schooled again, put them in a Christian school, and now I am finally pulling them out for good! They did not come through this process unscathed. His mercies are new every morning and I am praying for God to redeem the time that I lost with them. I have 10th grader and a 5th grader.
JAMIE K 05/22/2012 20:17:36
Also if anyone here hasn\'t watched the movie \"IndoctriNation\" yet, watch it! It will help with some of the doubts and just cemented for me that I was making the right decision to homeschool. Most of us have met the naysayers and critics. We have to remember that we are called by God to bring our children up in His ways not the world\'s.
MARISA M 05/25/2012 09:10:52
Wow, where do I start... I thank God for this word today! My husband and I have been back and forth and back and forth over homeschooling for the last three years! I am so grateful for this reminder and the Lord\'s word. It brought tears to my eyes reading this, because this is me and I am so tired of the double mindedness...it\'s time to make a decision and stick with it, no matter what! Please pray for us, that we will go forth in the Lord, trusting Him no matter what. Thank you!
HEIDI T 05/29/2012 08:43:33
I am new this year to homeschooling and have had a rough year. I have a pre-k, K and 1st grader. They constantly bicker with each other and me. I have thought about giving up on this homeschool thing and sending back to school on a daily basis. I just feel as if I am not giving them enough and going to fail them. Please pray for us, I know homeschool is the right choice but don\'t know if I can make it work
TRISTA J 05/31/2012 20:39:49
Heidi, I have boys the same age as your children and I have felt just like you do many times the past year! Try to remember that this too shall pass and then much too quickly they will be middle schoolers and you will have a whole new set of challenges. Some of the bickering is probably related to their ages more than to anything else, but homeschooling is the ultimate opportunity to model and teach the behaviour you would like to see in them! Sometimes I feel as if I spend all day, every day, correcting the same behaviours over and over and over and then I have days like today where I see what wonderful people they are growing into, and that the lessons are really taking hold in their hearts. Hang in there! I will pray a special prayer for you and your family.
ANNE GEE 05/22/2013 14:26:05
WALK BY FAITH, NOT BY SIGHT. This is my daily mantra, and here I truly have realized this verse, fleshed it out. We made this leap from public to homeschool last September. We are at the end of our first year with a 5th and 4th grader, a boy and girl. I can tell you that yes... there was bickering, yes we've had horrible days, yes there have been incredible doubts... but as I write this I see my daughter washing a potato, eager to begin shredding it to make hash browns for breakfast. She begs to make breakfast every day. We would never have had time for that before. She is learning to serve, learning to cook and clean, AND yes, learning math, writing, etc... I could type a myriad of stories to illustrate the moments I thought "YES, LORD! THANK YOU!" in spite of those inevitable troubled days. But I have to be brief here. I recall that recently I have noticed that ALL my kids (I have a 3 yr old also) are SOOO much more close. After several months, I am noticing that my "training" them through the bickering, unkindness, selfishness is starting to take shape and make a difference. Academics: My daughter struggles in math, and although it was very hard, we "backed up" to adding and subtracting when we started and relearned everything from the beginning. It was very, very hard to have the patience to do this, but I am thrilled that we did. It's not perfect, our homeschool picture. But it is IN that imperfection I have truly learned that I am learning how to walk by faith in the darkness, truly walk by faith. Rubber is meeting the road... and what more could please the Lord? The more faith your situation requires, the greater the opportunity to please HIM, because your reliance will be on HIM alone. I will pray for all here who are just making this leap. I pray the Lord will continue to make it clear that He has lead you here. Never ever forget that clarity, you will refer back to it in your heart to keep you fixed on the narrow road. We love homeschooling, our children are really growing in ways that they couldn't have anywhere else, and I will close so that I can go get on my knees, lifting my day before Him once again. :)
Starr LaPradd 05/22/2013 18:00:01
We are in our 16th year of homeschooling. Our oldest is 23 and a successful young man with a great job. Our youngest is 10 and in 5th grade. I can tell you that it has been hard at times due to my health issues, but when other people question me as to why I don't just make it easy on myself and put my child in "regular" school, I always have the same answer. God has called us as a family to make homeschooling our lifestyle. When God calls you to do something, he equips you to do it. He has never failed me or my children. You have to take the good with the trying times and know that you will accomplish God's will when you remain obedient. As a veteran homeschool mom, I want to encourage all of you to hang in there and keep moving ahead. God will not let you down! You can be assured that he will sustain you every step of the way! Thank you for this wonderful article today and I hope you all will trust God and continue to do what he has called you to do in His name! Prayers for you all!
ANNETTE STEWART 05/22/2013 18:02:23
We have been homeschooling for 14 years. Our oldest will be a junior next year and our youngest will be in the 8th grade. It hasn't always been easy. I promised God that if he blessed us with children I would bring them up to know Him and his son Jesus. Homeschooling had allowed us to do that. God has blessed what I promised to him by always providing the finances, patience and strength to homeschool. I count it a privilege, a blessing and a joy to homeschool our girls. Even our worst day of homeschooling is better than sending them off to someone else. The sacrifices are worth it. To God be the Glory for it all; the good, the bad and sometimes the ugly.
Annette S.
Laranda Carnahan 05/22/2014 19:01:38
I am in my first year of homeschooling. I have a 6 year old in kindergarten. I have been struggling with the decision to keep homeschooling her or put her back in public schools. I have followed my heavy heart and decided to keep faith in myself and god that I am doing the right thing by continuing homeschooling my children. It has been a rocky and emotional first year. I know in my heart this is right for us, I am trying to stay strong and pray for guidance and patience.
Christie Cockrell 05/22/2014 22:49:20
I believe if God has led the husband to homeschool the children , and he wants their mother to teach them, God will lead and enable her. Remember Deuteronomy 6. Yet, if like my husband, the father thinks they should go to school, a wife may make a wise appeal. If he still wants to put them in school, I would, now, after years of begging, manipulating,etc.. Finally trust God. Today I will cry out for mercy and wait upon Him. Similar to what Abraham must have felt like taking Isaac up Mount Moriah. Homeschooling without your husband's support is like homeschooling without God's support. I do not mean if your husband says " yes" to homeschool, but is busy running a business, or other jobs he must complete . Therefore, the home education is added to your list of jobs as a "keeper at home" , and is very difficult, but not impossible . The best situation is to have a godly father and godly mother BOTH taking part in the spiritual education of the children.A wonderful ministry ,and amazing blessing has been the Steve and Teri Maxwell Family at Titus2.com. They have been used by God to help multitudes of families for many years. I highly recommend their website and resources. May we all keep our eyes on Jesus. May we faithfully go to The Word of God who IS Jesus . May we trust Him and Obey. Praying for all of us.
Karen Snyder 05/25/2014 02:45:19
I just ordered this devotional. I have been homeschooling for 12 years. The past couple of years I felt like I was losing my joy for Homeschooling. Instead of having joy, I felt like it was something I just had to do it and get it done. Every day I ask the Lord to restore my joy for homeschooling. I saw this devotional and read some of the samples. It is exactly what i need. I know in my heart that God wants me to home school and He will give me the strength and joy back.
Haipeng Liu 05/27/2014 03:18:49
I am a Chinese christian father. I am really moved by this article. My wife and I have homeschooled our 13-year-old daughter for 4 years. It is really a challenge because there is few homeschooling families near us. And all the responses we had is negative towards our homeschooling. Since I graduated from public school, I often fall into the habit of comparing the achievement of my daughter with those kids of my neighbors' in public school. Sometimes I worried that if we can offer a better education than the public school. Now I realize education is more than academic grades. It also include the spiritual growth in the Lord. We hope our daughter can go to the USA to receive a christian university education. But the tuition is huge. I often worry about if we can afford it and become double minded. Please pray for us to have go forward in this tough homeschooling way with enough courage.
David