Mission Impossible
Posted in Daily Focus on Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Have you been weighing the pros and cons of homeschooling and trying to decide what to do this year for your children's education? Although the idea of schooling your children at home seems like a daunting task, you can successfully teach them. Planning schedules, purchasing curriculum, and making lesson plans may sound foreign to you right now, but God will help you if you simply pray and ask for His leading. Not only will He send the encouragement and support you need from homeschooling families, but He'll also show you where to get the ideas, resources, and supplies you need to complete the task.
Abraham's servant in Genesis 24 also knew about facing a huge undertaking. Under oath, he was sent by his master Abraham to search for the perfect wife for his son Isaac. Imagine trying to find a woman who would be willing to return with a complete stranger from a foreign land to marry a man she had never met! In today's world, that would be considered "mission impossible." Abraham's servant was no fool and knew the obstacles facing him. Knowing he could never succeed without God's divine intervention, this servant prayed for success and started the long journey in faith. Fortunately, his mission had a happy ending when Rebekah proved to be the answer to his prayers and the right woman for Isaac.
God is waiting to give you success in homeschooling, too, but you must first obey His call and step out in faith. Even if you don't receive the answer to every homeschooling question you have right now, God will prove Himself mighty and guide you each day, one step at a time. As you see the Lord's divine leading and specific answers to prayer, you'll praise God like Abraham's servant. Most of all, you'll be thankful you didn't allow your doubts to cause you to self-destruct before seeing homeschooling's many blessings. "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Hebrews 11:6).
Father, my faith is weak, and I'm fearful about committing myself to teaching our children. Please, show me how to homeschool and lead me to those people who can help me get started. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Comments(19 comments)
Bridhett G 08/13/2009 06:06:23
As a homeschooling parent, I always pray that I am doing the right thing with my girls, however, my oldest daughter just confirmed that what I was doing as a homeschool parent was the right choice, because she just
GRADUATED from high school courses in July of this year. But, my youngest child stays so sickly that when she was in public schools, she was missing so many days of sc hool, BUT, with her being homeschooled I don't have to worry about her missing school because I can work around her being sick and she never has to play "catchup" when returning to class, that in itself is worth the experience of homeschooling. So, even though sometimes it feels impossible, trust your inner feelings and look to God for guidance and you'll see that all it takes is a little leap of FAITH!!!!!!!!!
The Gill Family
TRACI C 08/05/2010 11:12:32
This was truly a blessing!!! Thanks for sharing!!! By God\'s grace I plan to homeschool my 6 year old son and 5 year old son for the first time. This post reminded me to keep trusting God in this new journey He has called me to....
BRENDA C 08/12/2010 05:29:35
As a veteran homeschooling mom of 25+ years, you would think that each year would get easier. In some ways, it does; however, in other ways it doesn\'t. This year, in particular, I was struggling with this whole \"Mission Impossible\" thing. Thank you for reminding me of my dependence on God and that my \"Mission\" is not over. (I still have 4 to graduate.) With God\'s guidance I will continue on what others view as an Impossible Mission.
mandie d 08/12/2010 21:49:44
boy, God listens to doesn\'t he! I was looking at my stack of Teachers Manuels and thinking to myself , \" How am I going to teach language arts to my three kids who are in 3rd,2nd,and kindergarten all at the same time?\" And then I thought I will go online and read my Daily focus and there it was. Just trust right! That\'s what we need to be reminded of all the time! Trust God that he will help us through and he will lead us in times when were just not that sure how it will all work out! Thankyou for this daily focus, what a Blessing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
S. DAWN C 08/12/2011 05:56:48
How timely... I was just so frustrated yesterday I was considering giving up and putting them back into regular school because I just couldn\'t do it any more. And then I see this :)
CARLA D 08/12/2011 07:32:35
Just as I began to feel overwhelmed, I read this. Thank you, Jesus.
NELDA G 08/12/2011 08:46:16
I feel like I am doing the right thing now that I see it is much better for me to be teaching them than a stranger in a big classroom with 29 other kids...I was very nervous and scared at first...but hey I still am at the beginning every year....it always brings something new.
LAURA W 08/12/2011 23:03:59
Thank you so much for the encouragemnt on Aug. 12th. I just happened to read Genesis ch.24 this morning! I know the Lord is speaking to my heart. He will help me with this enormous task of homeschooling and raising 8 children ages 3 months to 15 years. He will give me the strength and grace I need for the job. Let\'s all remember, He has confidence in us that we will raise these precious souls for His glory or He would not have given them to us! He will help us each step of the way.
Laura Little Rock, AR
NANCY S 08/13/2011 05:32:59
I am a brand new home-school mom. I have a lot of thoughts swirling around in my head about homeschooling....Am I adequate to teach my children, what are the neighbors going to think, am I going to keep adequate records and so on. I\'m starting my first whole year of teaching at home in about a week and half. I\'m thankful for the support from AOP and other home school moms. This is just what I needed. I can tell I\'m going to enjoy the Daily Focus.
REBECCA M 08/13/2011 06:15:37
Wow! God is so good. Yes he does listen. Thank you for everyone\'s testimonies. My husband and I were just talking 8 hrs ago about sending the kids to school. I have a 3 kids, one in 4th, 2nd and preschool. I am so amazed how God works. If I would be just patient and stand still, he works it out every time. The next step is to trust God and Pray hard. Thank you God this is just what I needed this morning.
Becky Benton Harbor, MI
LISA B 08/14/2011 19:53:18
These Daily Focus emails always seem to be just what I need to read when I need to read it!
I was beginning to be overwhelmed at the beginning of this school year, and here was this email!
Thank you God, for those who are sending us these encouragements and prayers!
Lisa B., Glenside, PA
LORI A 08/18/2011 08:29:28
After having homeschooled for 16 years, I still feel nervous and sometimes overwhelmed by the task. But God encourages me every year to keep going. This year, I saw a book on my son\'s book list that I had used several years ago. I normally sell our books on Ebay after we are done with them and I remembered that this was one of the ones that was ordered but never paid for so I still had it. At the time, I was annoyed and upset that someone would do that, but the Lord knew even then that we would need that book again!
Thank You, Lord, for your faithfulness and unchanging love!
Lori, Corona, CA
HARRIETH S 08/12/2012 06:04:33
HELP!! I have three children all have been home schooled all their lives. My oldest is 15yrs and about to star 10th grade. It is not easy to find the best High school curriculum and I have soooooo many questions from my family and friends about sending her to public school. She wants to continue at home and I want her to, but I have ofter worried that I may not be giving her enough exposure.
She is an average student with great potential and I want the best for her. I need your prayers and advice. I know with God all things are possible! I dont want to give up after all these years. HS, GA
KATHY S 08/12/2012 08:02:32
God is amazing! Last 1/2 year that I taught my son, I really was just managing on prayer. It was my 1st time teaching him and I pulled him out mid year. I bought curriculum that we ended up starting all the way from the beginning of the books, because they were different from what his previous teacher was using.
It worked out fine, Happy child, school work was good, and we made it through by God\'s grace.
This year, I will of course continue to pray, but I\'m going to try to actually lesson plan ahead of time and be a little more organized. Last year we were kinds thrown in, this year, I have everything I need for the year
( I hope) and will be trying to do the best job I can.
Harrieth;
If someone offered me a million dollars to put my son back into Public school, I\'d turn them down.
It sounds like you have been doing great with your children. Don\'t let your family and friends influence your decision. I\'ve been getting those questions from family and family friends as my son will be ebtering 8th grade with me and they are all so concerned about \"Am I qualified to teach my son high school courses? And \"How will he get Social interaction?\"
And my one cousin ( a Public school teacher) who questions me the most, completely perplexes me as she sent her daughter to Public High school and her daughter wrecked 2 cars, was partying and ended up pregnant and married by the end.
So, I\'m trying to figuire out why my cousin wants me to take my very shy special needs son and throw him into a High School with bad influences?
I\'m a single Mom, things happen, and God forgives and we move on. I\'m not trying to criticize her daughter, I feel very sorry for her, she has 2 children now and an alcoholic husband who is abusive. This all could have been avoided had my cousin thought of homeschooling her, or at ther very least putting her into a private christian acadamey.
I will pray for you & don\'t give up!
HARRIETH S 08/12/2012 12:10:22
Thanks for your words of encouragement. I just went to university website and saw an ad for AOP they displayed a comparative chart about some of the curriculum I have used in the past!!! God is so awesome!! I came back to give this testimony and saw your message. I continue to educate my children, please pray for me and I will keep all the moms on this post in my prayers.
TABITHA J 08/12/2012 14:28:19
My sister and her husband have this attitude of treating the public school system as if it is a free babysitter in order to \"get rid\" of their kids for a few hours each day. With the way the world is behaving (cussing, teenage pregnancy and parenthood, girls dressing immodestly, bullying, etc), the best course of action to HOMESCHOOL. When I told my sister\'s husband that we are planning on homeschooling, he was totally against the idea of homeschooling. I told him that I want our kids to have good morals and that we want to protect our kids, in other words, be PARENTS. Thankfully, my husband\'s parents are supportive and they homeschooled 4 of their children.
GWYNETH K 08/12/2012 19:10:42
Praise God! This was just what I needed : ). I taught our first week of the year this past week, and all went well, but because we had a very busy weekend I was very tempted to not do anything but vegetate! So tonight I prayed that Jesus would take away my insecurities about teaching this week and, after an uninterrupted bath I feel better. It was a pleasure to read this and know I can trust Him who created me and called me to homeschool! God bless you all, praying for all of you to be strengthened by his love!
CAMERA R 08/12/2012 22:40:26
These last few days of Daily Focus have spoken to my heart. I think almost daily about placing my 2 in pulbic school (6 & 8). It is so challenging - after 3 years I still can\'t get organized and that seems to be evident in the behavior of my children. I do need to seek God more and be faithful - I am so struggling in this right now. Thank you for these timely messages.
Tanya Hill 08/13/2013 13:10:18
I have listened to the devil put doubts in my mind for 6 years telling me I couldn't do it, I wasn't smart enough. But all these years of me not following God's direction, my son has suffered from being bullied not only by his classmates but the teachers also. Last year was the deal breaker. I couldn't sit back and watch my son who seemed like he was slipping into depression and it was physically making him sick to where he was missing so much school that he ended up failing a couple semesters of his freshman year. With the knowledge and help from a pastors wife, and my dear friend Teresa, I have him set up and ready to get started in full swing next Monday. He started a few classes already last week to get the feel of things. So far so good. It is overwhelming but I know he will do much better and he is right where God wants him to be!