Unschooling as Christians is About Surrender and Trust

Galatians 5:1 tells is that Christ has set us free and that we should no longer be burdened by a yoke of slavery. This verse refers to the burden of performing under Mosaic law, but I can’t help but think of other burdens we subject ourselves to as parents and home educators to feed our desire for control.

There’s a reason surrender isn’t easy. We primarily trust ourselves and our own efforts, forgetting to trust solely in the one who created our children, knows every hair on their heads, and has their days written down even before they came to be.

And then we become stressed, frustrated, and can sin in anger because things don’t go our way, which, frankly, is a reflection of what really is in our hearts: we have put ourselves in the position of God and have put too much stock in our own abilities.

Unschooling as Christians is more than a style or method of home education, but a whole journey of learning to really believe what God says about our kids: 

That they have been pre-ordained for a purpose in His story that they have been uniquely created to do.

And it’s also a journey of learning to really believe what God days about Himself (among other things):

I will instruct you and reach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. – Psalm 32:8

That he who began a good work in you will carry it on to cpletion until the day of Christ Jesus. – Philippians 1:6

So, instead of being burdened to meet the expectations of society and other adults’ definition of what raising and educating children should look like, we have to learn to drown out the noise, listen only to God’s (even after 18 years of being a mom, I’m still learning!), and constantly exercise the muscle of faith.

And even within each family, there will be differences between each child! It’s a constant endeavor to keep remembering that God has wired each one differently and that they will not “produce” or “perform” in the same ways. Therefore, they will each have different paths towards the same end of glorifying God according to His will.

Our job isn’t even to keep them on a specific track, but to guide them along their unique, meandering journeys of learning and growing into the people God has intended for them to become, fiercely trusting He will carry the weight along the way.

It’s hard, messy and sanctifying … but it’s also what keeps us on our knees, having to grasp for God’s truths and promises as we take each humble step forward.

Honestly? I’d much rather have that than feeling a prideful sense of accomplishment that disregards God’s hand in all the layers, just because my kids and homeschool can check off all the “right” boxes and present a certain way to the rest of the world.