I am not sure whether I am alone in finding the academic side of home educating life the easy part. I cannot compare how much my children know with those who are in the school system. However, I am positive they are making progress and I am sure they enjoy learning (the frequency that I discover missing curricula in their beds is testimony to this!).
For me, the hard part is working out how to deal with the sin that makes itself known when we spend so much of our time together. Lots of different personalities rubbing against each other on a daily basis can often be sources of tension. It is tempting to think that sending our children to school would deal with any difficulties, but I disagree. Pressurized situations only reveal sin that is already in our hearts. Separating our children out for long periods of time, or sending them away from us in different directions would not dispel the sin in their hearts, but perhaps only mask it for a time.
As a mother, it is tempting to feel helpless as we deal with squabbles in the home as well as our own reactions to how our children behave. Not only that, but we can feel hypocrites – having lived with myself for nearly forty years, I do not always feel that I am the best role model! I also realise that a large amount of their sinful behaviour was inherited from me!
However, I do know that the Lord is concerned with the purity of his children, and I believe we have several reasons to hope.
1. ‘For this is the will of God, your sanctification…’ (1 Thessalonians 4:3).
I find this verse so comforting. God’s desire is that those who are his are sanctified. It is true that the process of sanctification will not be complete in this life, but if we love him, if we allow his word to convict us, challenge us and change us and if the Holy Spirit is at work in us, then we will be making progress. It can be hard to see that God is faithfully at work in us. When I compare myself today with yesterday, I do not see much of a difference. However, when I compare myself now with the adult who held her first baby son in her arms ten years ago, I can see that God has been at work in me. By God’s grace, I am not the same woman I once was although I have increasing awareness of how far short I fall of God’s perfect standard.
2. ‘If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him.’ (James 1:5)
There are days when I feel as though I have worn ten different hats before we hit the books. So many situations can flare up and I have a hard enough time working out in which order to respond let alone how to respond! As our children grow older, their problems become more complicated and I am often at loss, but I am so thankful that I can quickly shoot an arrow prayer to the Lord of wisdom for wisdom. More often than not, if I am not overhasty, I have an idea of how to resolve a situation or encourage a troubled child. God has not left us without his personal care and help.
3. ‘First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.’ (Matthew 23:26)
Finally, as we become aware of the sin in our own lives, as well as that of our children, let us be encouraged that God is showing us ‘the inside of the cup’. I do not want to be the mother of an outwardly perfect show family. I want to be the mother of a family who know God’s work of sanctification inside of the cup. It is easy enough to keep everybody together in public for a few hours. It is not so easy to love one another as Christ loved us, even when nobody else is looking. I am under no illusions as to our need for Christ.
Praise God that home educating is so much richer than learning a body of knowledge (which is a great thing of itself). As we prayerfully and intentionally spend so much time with our children, let us have hope and faith that by God’s grace he will be working in our lives and the lives of our children to sanctify us and make us more like him.
