Why Home School - Part Two
All of us have met people who have something in their life that we admire. Hopefully, that thing which we admire is worth our attention, such as good moral conduct, ethical behaviors towards others, sincerity of friendship, deep loving family bonds, etc. For a large portion of society, these things are desired without knowing how to genuinely have them. Yet, deep inside they know these things are good and want so much to have them in their lives. So they learn to do one of several things.
Some people try to buy or mimic the lifestyle and values of those they admire. For instance, if they can buy or build a house like a nice neighbor, they think surely it will result in their having the same happy life as those people. If they mimic the parental patterns of an admirable family, they hope to become like them. If they learn how to cook like the nice, warm, loving lady next door; they believe their family will be happier, love them more, or be more cohesive. If they go to church regularly, bring a Bible, volunteer to do things, sit on church board (etc) - like Christian family they admire; they think God will bless their lives similarly. These people spend their life mimicking, following, and buying every physical thing they see and like in hopes it will bring about the happy life results they see in others and desire for themselves.
Other people try to steal the lifestyle and values of those they admire. They chase after rich men (or women) to gain ease of life and prestige they have not earned, they marry and divorce each other in search of the mate that will make their life perfect, they make up lies about a coworker to get his or her job they covet, they copy the work of others, they falsely sue others for personal gain, they disingenuously collect disability to vacation the rest of their lives on someone else’s dime, and they abuse other countless social programs for easy gain.
Still other people wander from one lifestyle philosophy to another hoping to find inner happiness and peace. One year they are a vegetarian, another year they are deep into yoga, another year they are off on an alternate spiritual quest, still another year they are in a fitness frenzy, a stock investing scheme, or a whirlwind life of travel – the list of wanderings goes on and on. These people chase after every form of belief that seems to, on the surface at least, bring happiness into another person’s life.
Those of us who are old and grey haired have encountered countless people during life that fall into the three types just mentioned. What we can tell you for sure is that these people never really do gain what they admire in others by their efforts, nor are they deeply content with what they do acquire. But there is one thing they all do eventually gain - the knowledge that their methods have been fruitless, ended in error, or worse.
There are admirable qualities in many people and home school is often more secretly admired than you may imagine. This is because the Christian home school succeeds on many fronts – educationally, socially, and in unity. However, it is not the choosing to home school that makes it a success. It is something else. What makes home school succeed is something every true born-again Christian will admit. It is the same thing that makes marriages life-lasting, parenting succeed, and deep love blossom in a person or a community’s life. It is what Christian’s talk about, even repeatedly, but others decide to ignore. The true secret, the true path, the true answer is not in mimicking, coveting, stealing, or chasing – the true answer is in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Home school only succeeds when parents are born-again Christians who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This only occurs when there is a sincere giving of one’s life over to the guidance and wisdom of the One who created all of mankind. Home school parents recognize that they are not the Creator and cannot know best how to develop a human being to his/her fullest potential, though they do have a better understanding of their children than a stranger. Home school parents also recognize that they do not know or cannot predict the overall future outcome of their efforts (neither can a stranger), but acknowledge that God in Heaven has all of these abilities. Home school families are also wise enough to know that loving help from an extremely intelligent Father and Friend is a special blessing they do not disdain. Home school families do not rebel against the right help, and they are thankful to He who gives that help.
So, why do families home school? The closer you come to God, the more your desires become the same as His desires. Home school families are the deepest, sincerest, most devoted Christians we have ever met. They are that way not because they chose to home school, but because they decided to more deeply give their lives over to God and walk with Him. Because it is God’s desire that families home school, those who walk closer to Him desire the same thing. God desires families to home school to develop wise social skills, Godly personal values and ethics, respectful community skills, and a truthful understanding of where all knowledge, talent, and skill originate as well as under what conditions those things may be learned and used to bless mankind.
Home school families turn all of their lives over to trusting God’s wisdom and guidance. They acknowledge One who is older than them knows something more than them. They walk deeply with Him every day. They pray, study, learn, hang out with other home school families, and keep persevering all while trusting God for the future that only He can see clearly. It’s an awesome adventure - more wonderful than all of the things, vacations, philosophies, and useless desires one can ever imagine.
Why Home School? Why not? Why pass up having the most awesome adventure, the most wonderful family experiences, and the most wonderful Father as a close and personal friend? Why pass up the opportunity to give each of your children a great, God-tailored education?
What is the cost? The first cost is a free gift from God – that of becoming a true born-again believer, which is a gift to you for all of eternity. The next cost is a lifetime free relationship with the most loving, wise, and honorable family in the universe – God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit the Helper. The final cost is to love your family as God loves you. If you are willing to open up your heart to God, He will teach you how to love His way - which is the best way to a happy life.
So God bless, and we hope you break forth from wanting a good quality you admire in another to learning how to have that good quality by taking hold of the true secret to happiness in life – a deep and personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ His Son!