My Absolute Favorite Thing About Homeschooling

Earlier this week, I wrote about the importance of our homeschool WHYs and how they served as the framework for creating our family’s homeschool VISION.

The constant reflection of our family’s reason to homeschool, as well as having a direction to move toward, sustained me in days of doubt and desperation. Oh, and how often those days would prop up! Especially in those little years when the finish line seemed so far away.

Welps, far away is now HERE and we are literally a skip, hop, and a jump from that finish line (at least for Big Bro; though Big Sis is right behind him).

And as I look back on over a decade of being able to teach and train my children at home, I want to share my absolute favorite thing about our journey so far.

My Absolute Favorite Thing About Homeschooling

It’s not: that my kids have been able to learn freely, unconfined by the four walls of a typical classroom.

It’s not: that my kids have been able to pursue their passions unhindered, learning at a pace that serves them well.

It’s not: that my kids don’t have to deal with the limiting social constructs of institutional education.

I mean, those are all great aspects home education. But my absolute favorite one?

I’m not talking about rainbows and butterflies here … where my kids are holding hands daily, singing Kumbaya or snuggling together picture-perfectly on the sofa enjoying classic literature together.

That just doesn’t exist. At least in our home.

The reality is that these peeps of mine – as much as I love them – are, frankly, just as messed up as any other; sinners whose natural tendency is selfish pursuits.

Not a day goes by without some bickering or hurt, and by virtue of the sheer amount of time they spend with each other, believe me – there is quite an abundance of that!

Because I get to be with them all the time, I am often privy to their hearts as they interact with each other throughout the day. This translates to plenty of opportunities to redirect their hearts towards Jesus and towards how the gospel should inform their living.

For us Christian homeschool moms – it’s relentless, drop-to-your-knees kind of work, helping our kids grow that vertical relationship with God so that they can flourish in their horizontal relationships with each other.

But something precious and special results from living messy days with each other like this, where all of them (us!) are 24/7 exercising muscles in repenting, forgiving, serving sacrificially, and learning to love without expectation.

Day in, day out – intangible bonds are being forged between these siblings of different ages and personalities, just from having to work side by side in living out the gospel with each other.

They say precious gems are formed over a long period of time, under intense pressure and tremendous heat. Similarly, polished stones are really jagged rock refined from constant rubbing.

I can’t help but find encouragement from that concept, because God knows the kind of pressure and heat and rubbing we encounter on a daily basis!

But the result is getting to enjoy the sweet fruit of my kids’ relationship with each other and with God, from having intentionally invested years (and tears!) in the mission of not merely educating my kids, but in discipling them.

A Different Kind of Legacy

My hubs and I could have stayed in L.A. and I could have continued forward with my budding career in corporate America, but something was planted our hearts even before having kids that our life was going to be different than what we had grown up with.

We didn’t plan on having our first child before our one year anniversary, but when Big Bro came into our world, we quickly went on a different trajectory.

We for sure didn’t know what we were doing … first with me becoming a stay-at-home mom, then a spontaneous move to a small town in the PNW to get away from the rat-race, then deciding that home education would be the best fit for our family so that we could have the time and space to cultivate the values we wanted to pass on to our growing family.

It all seemed ill-conceived and there were well-intentioned concerns from others.

But you know what? There was one voice we were learning to heed to (we were baby Christians at that time) and that voice was calling us to pursue creating a different legacy for our tribe. God didn’t give us well laid out plans, only the seed of a vision (somewhat vague at that).

By faith and with tons of grace and mercy, we continued to put one foot in front of the other as God continued to reveal and shape his purpose for our family over those years, and we are now beginning to experience the harvest from all that work.

Sure, there are not-so-fun things that naturally come with this current season of teen/tween life (and, ahem, ALL the hormones that go with!). Opinions and emotions can run high, but are the natural part of the process of them becoming future adults. As well, those challenges only continue to provide opportunity to further stretch and grow in gospel identity, gospel purpose, and gospel fluency.

It’s incredibly humbling and joyful now to witness my young adolescents dialogue deeply and be vulnerable with each other, repent and reconcile with each other, and challenge and encourage each other on their individual journeys.

Clearly, I have not crossed finish line of mothering. But I do have enough years under my belt to say that this vocation of intentionaly focusing on hearts while there are children underfoot is absolutely worth it.

Homeschooling is no joke, and it’s frickin’ hard, and there have been days I have wanted to give up and crawl into a hole. But it is simultaneously sanctifying and sweet – a GIFT that will produce incredible fruit over time … so long as we are surrendered and marching forward on our knees.

So to you younger Christian homeschool mamas, keep on keeping on. Put your head down, work as if you are working for God, leaning into your identity as a daughter of The King.

And don’t forget that as you endeavor to steward well the days you have been given, remember that stewarding those days well also mean resting in The Greater Parent.

As crazy of a ride it is, you will not regret getting on.

Need practical help with how to communicate God’s Big Story and His grace with your kids? Check out this post for resources we have used in our own home in raising kids with gospel-fluency.