Prayer for schooling

[jenntracy]

Hello all,
I really feel in my heart that i should continue to homeschool.
I spoke with a lady at my church who was very encouraging about it.
I would just like more confirmation that i am supposed to homeschool. I do't want to follow my flesh that wants to homeschool or the advice of parents or Christian friends who say I may have to put kids in public school or Christian School foro my sake for a time.
Really, i don't see much benefit.
I go back to my reasosn of why i don't want public school even if we are now living near a "good" public school. I know from past emails i have read here, that many of you have regretted sending your kids even though you thought it was the best choice at the time.
If i was able to get scholarships for Christian school, it would be interrupting my day with getting them there and back etc,
I will have a 3rd grader, 2nd grader, 4yr old preschooler and a 17 month old come August 1st ( that is when we start and end our homeschool year).
My parents and some friends, who have suggested something other than homeschooling,more the Christian friends than my parents, grew up in a different time and they don't have young children at home any more. I want someone who actually sends there kid there to be able to give me feedback.

Please pray for confirmation and peace.
My husband is bipolar, and has struggles with "self-mediciating.things really took a turn the beginning of April.
It is too much to go into right now.
I jsut want to do the right thing for my kids and myself and not feel guilty going either direction with schooling. I want to know without a doubt it is the Lord's leading.
thank you all

Jenn D.

[mommybelle]

We have just started our homeschooling journey with our oldest 5.5 yo, so I cannot offer up any advice for homeschooling vs. public schooling, but I will definitely pray for you! As I read your e-mail, my heart did ache for what you must be feeling and going through right now. I, myself, do question whether this is me wanting this in flesh or if this a true calling from God. I would encourage you to continue praying constantly, every single day, that this is what God is calling you to do. And keep in mind that the enemy will do anything to discourage us from doing God's work! With prayer, I am confident that God will lead you and you will see signs of His calling for you as well as His love and grace. And know that your children are still very young, so just move at a pace that is comfortable for everyone. Some days will go better than others! I will be praying for you though!

[Molly]

I will pray for you, too.

One thing we have found is that if the doors start closing in one direction, God is giving us a message that it isn't what we are supposed to do. With home educating, whenever I have wondered if it would be easier to put the children in school, something wonderful appears in my way, the last time it was HOD. And I think the message then was that we will be home educating until they are ready to move on from high school.

With other things in our lives, the doors have opened quickly and rapidly if that is the direction we are meant to go in. I think God wants us to just be willing participants in the path he has planned for us. We are experiencing this sort of thing again with regard to our work and housing situation. It is moving far more rapidly than either of us thought, and to think a month ago we were happily living our peaceful happy life on the farm. He is amazing, and He will guide you and remember the heart feeling often is more important than we give it credit for.

I do pray you have peace and confidence in your life, even through the tough times.

[psreit]

FB Post - HOD Tidbits

Have you read this HOD post by Mike Austin? I'm not sure how to directly get you there. You will have to search it. This is probably my main reason for homeschooling. I do not want to miss all that time with dd. I can tell you from experience that time goes way too fast. They are gone before you know it. Our older three started out in ps and some Christian school, but I am thankful that I was able to home school later until they graduated.

And, I feel I'm dd's best teacher, because God gave her to me, so why should I hand her over to someone else to do the job. But, I'm also concerned about the peer pressures and influences she would have in ps or Christian schools. She is vulnerable. While homeschooling, we can instill spiritual values in them that they would not get in school settings. HOD has provided so much to help in that area. Yes, I'm only homeschooling one, so I know your situation is different. But, if you really believe God is leading you to homeschool, He will provide the means and give you the grace to do it.

[mom23]

I have been praying for you since I read your post yesterday. I still have no advice for you. I do have a family member with mental illness, and she does homeschool, but she is also currently stablized with medications. I do know that during the time she was not stablized I am so very, very thankful her boys were not home all day to witness everything that went on. It does add a completely different dimension to the home/homeschool. I don't know if your husband's health is as declined as my sister's once was, so I am in no way advising you on what to do. Just praying with you.

[Heather4Him]

Praying for your family, Jen! ((((hugs))))

[funkmomma71]

Jenn, I'll be praying for you and your situation. A couple of years ago some dear friends of ours felt the call from God to move out of state. Why do I mention this? Well, the husband had a very good-paying job with benefits and security here and they had a home they were upside-down on and would have to short sell. Not to mention he had no job prospects when they first started to plan their move. Their entire family lives in the state where they were planning to move to, yet they were getting no support from them or from many of their friends here. My flesh cried out! I wanted them to stay, yet I also felt that if they had a conviction from God to move, they should and if I considered myself a friend I should support their decision. They got very little support, but they continued to make their plans and as they did God honored their obedience and the husband had three solid job offers before the moved, a wonderful home was found for them to rent, and they were able to short sell their home in under a year. Follow God's plan for your life, do as He calls you.

As for the ladies of another generation, I would say "Thank-you for your concern, but this decision is God's not mine or yours." I'm not saying ignore everything they say, there may be some changes you could make to your day that would help make everything flow better. I can say for sure that ferrying children back and forth to school, making sure they are getting all their work down and possibly re-teaching some stuff will be very time consuming. I know, I've done it with my step-daughters. Sending your children off to public or private school won't necessarily mean free and easy days. The after school time can be highly stressful, especially since you can't control your children's assignments.

Having said all that, I will pray that God would give you peace and if it is is His will for you to continue homeschooling that He would send people to you to give you encouragement and support.