Just wanted to share:

[mom23]

Our family moved this summer. About 700 miles North, different state, different circumstances. Where we lived previously, our kids attended public school for one year until it became apparent to me that that situation was not good for anybody. We brought them home (I'll admit it, with Mom mentally kicking and screaming a bit) feeling we really had no choice. The public school system in the state where we lived was...horrible, to be honest. Homeschooling in that state is growing rampantly. I soon discovered that with HOD in my corner I love homeschooling. My reasons transitioned from being "I have to" to "I want to!" So, in this new set of circumstances where God has led us, my husband now has a full time pastorate position at a small church, and there are lots of things that I'm eager to help him with, to be involved in; and well-meaning relatives have suggested that I'd be a better pastor's wife if I weren't "being so stubborn" on insisting we're homeschooling. That has driven me to a summer of prayer and soul-searching. I want to do this, but does God want me to? We've heard great things about the public school system here, and there are strong Christian families in that environment; I don't think it would be the same situation that drove us to do this originally. My husband feels comfortable either way; he's left it largely up to me, as the main one who is carrying the "workload" of teaching our children.

So, this afternoon as I was completing today's lesson for my Bible Study, the passage was 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, particularly the verses 18, 20, and 21. As I took a close look at these verses, the following parts jumped out at me: "So where does this leave the phiolophers, the scholars, and the world's brilliant debators? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom..." There it was! My answer! The education of our children is eternally meaningless if it is sought simply to develop them into great scholars, or well-articulated communicators. The power of such things only has true meaning when it's gained through the framework of the Truth-the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Educated with the mindset of belief, our children will have a chance to be useful for God. And, that's exactly what Heart of Dakota does: weaves the Truth in with every single thing we study. We're not shoving religion down the throats of our children and we're not giving them Bible as a seperate and equally important class to History or Science or Math. We're equipping them with knowledge of the Truth; giving them a chance at this wonderful relationship made possible through the shed blood of Christ; giving them a chance to be eternally useful servants of God. Thanks HOD!

[Molly]

Becky, this is just beautiful, and will be such a joy to Carrie, Julie and families to hear. I completely agree with you about HOD. I have battled within about doing online courses to increase my human knowledge, and come across those particular verses often and realise now how much more it is for me and my family to seek God's knowledge and wisdom. May your home educating journey continue to bless you all and help you to grow closer to Him.

[MelInKansas]

Thanks for sharing your wisdom and what God has shown you. My journey is similar, I started exploring HSing 1) because DH thought we should do it and 2) because of various circumstances in our local PS. Now, even if the PS seemed like a great environment for my kids, I don't think I could or would send them there. I am involved in ministry at my church, pretty heavily involved during some months of the year, but HOD really enables me to keep HSing without the burden of a lot of the planning other HSers do. I am so blessed by HOD and by the Lord's continued grace on this journey! And I was blessed by your post. Again, thanks.

[8arrows]

Yes! Yes! Yes! Amen! The wisdom of this world is foolishness and you have eternal souls in your hands. Even in "good" schools, God's name is not welcome. Our children cannot be wrapped in His Word and singing praises or even being corrected with gentleness and love from His Word. Raising our children as servants for Christ is the most important job a mom can be doing. I just read in a "devotion" about doing big things for God at church and little things at home. That is BACKWARDS! The things we do at home are the BIG things for Christ. Your post strikes a chord in my heart as we are making changes in our life to follow Him more closely. Some people in our lives are not particularly pleased with us as we make these changes, and many in yours may not be also. That is OK. Ultimately, it is God we serve, not man, and it is Him who we need to obey and serve. HOD is a great tool for that! As a mother of many, I spent many more hours in academics with my older children, sacrificing the precious time I had to teach them more truths from His World and to cultivate a heart of service and gratitude. I did homeschool them, and I am thankful for that, but now we are learning more balance with school and service. It sounds like you are already there! Thank you for encouraging me today.

[TrueGRIT]

Aside from the wonderful spiritual benefits of continuing to homeschool, my Pastor's family actually found it easier to be involved in the ministry aspects by homeschooling.
The children are also able to be involved that way, and be trained at an early age!
When my husband takes a full-time church, I plan to do the same. Right now I get to focus on training my children while they are really young, so we will be ready when it is time. (of course, since I am a homeschool graduate, I have always planned to homeschool. )
I am glad you found your answer and have such a peace about this.

[Motherjoy]

Awesome! I'm so excited for you, please know that you are doing exactly what a pastor's wife needs to do, and that is raising your children. If more,people in the ministry took that seriously we wouldn't have to horrid term PK and all that it involves your first job is to serve your family. The church comes after that. Praying for you as you embark on a new journey.

[my3sons]

This is such a blessing to read! It is the first post I am answering this morning, and I think it is a gift from God to be able to start this way today, so thank you! These verses you shared struck a chord with Carrie and me as well. We were talking about how to try to maintain a balance between academics and Christ-centered focus in HOD, and it can become too easy to 'cut' the Lord out citing superior academics as a good cause for doing so. We decided to put the Lord in everything we could at that point, as well as to add a personal Bible Quiet Time beginning with PHFHG on up. There is no wisdom without the Lord. That is what we have come to, and with Him, all academics are stronger. I still run into dc I taught so many years ago in ps, and my heart hurts that they probably didn't even know I was a Christian. All that great knowledge I thought I was giving them, and I missed the opportunity to pass on the best wisdom of knowing the Lord personally. I regret that, especially as I see where some of them now in their mid-20's have ended up. One thing I have loved - HOD opens the doors of communication about the Lord - FLINGS the door open actually! I can talk to my dc about Him. It is comfortable because we always have. He has been a part of our school for forever, since the very first day, with HOD. It's not so easy to do this with others I taught years back. We can hug, we can catch up, we can know each other well in that regard - but we cannot talk about Him on the fly in the middle of a restaurant my little Natalie is now a waitress and single mom at, or at a Hobby Lobby my little Melissa is now a cashier at and living with her boyfriend, or at a graduation where my little David is thinking he might be a homosexual. Regret. I don't want it with my own dc. Thank you so much for sharing this - it is a blessing you have come to this decision! It is a good one, and I know full well the Lord will bless it. God bless, Becky!

In Christ,
Julie