Why I Ever Homeschooled in the First Place

I never dreamed I'd be a homeschool mom.  In fact, I was adamantly against it.  

When Morgan reached preschool age and we started looking at the school options for her, I felt some outside pressure to consider homeschooling and I resisted - VEHEMENTLY.   But I felt the Lord challenge me and say, "You've never even considered it.  You don't know anything about it.  I want you to at least look into it."  

So I did.  I read lots of books and spent HOURS on the internet reading and researching and my heart began to change.  The Lord changed my heart.  

I homeschooled Morgan and later, Jackson and Charlie until the fall of 2007.  Morgan had completed fourth grade, Jackson, first grade, and Charlie, kindergarten.  

I'll tell ya.  I'm a good homeschool mom.  No, I'm a GREAT homeschool mom.

I pour my all into it.  We read, play games, read, play games, go on fun field trips and work really, really hard.  I even started a small co-op with some friends in 2005 to complement and enrich our experience.  It's still going strong.  

But by the spring of '06, I was depleted in every way.  My marriage was in trouble.  My parents were separated and my father's health was failing rapidly.  I was severely depressed and pretty much at the end of myself.

It was at that time that I felt the Lord say, "It's time for school."

I'll admit it was tough to let them go.  But off to school they went.  And they thrived.  It was shocking, really.  I mean, you get into this homeschooling groove and homeschooling community and you find yourself thinking that really the ONLY right way to educate your children is to home-educate your children.  I was quickly reminded BY the Lord THAT the Lord was, is and has always been watching out for my children - they're really His children, after all.

The year that the kids were in school was by no means a year off for me.  No, I spent the first half of the year caring for my father as his health continued to decline.  Then, after he passed away in December, I spent the second half of the school year trying to recover and heal from the trauma of his death, my parents' divorce, and the toll life had taken on my own home.

The time was well spent.

At the end of that school year, we began to pray and consider plans for the next school year.  All the kids had done well in school.  We decided to take advantage of a good situation and leave the boys there.  They were loving it.  I wasn't quite up to full running capacity just yet and so it seemed right.

But Morgan came back home.  I have homeschooled her through middle school and I am so thankful to have done so.  It's been wonderful to have her here with me as she's entered adolescence.  We have built quite a beautiful relationship and I'm grateful.  We believe she is ready to face the challenges of a big high school and I think she'll do so with grace and style.

So is it the boys' turn to come home?  They seem to think so.

I've said that it seemed right to have them home through the roller coaster ride of middle school.  Those three years are so formative - and can be so precarious.

Soooo, we'll continue to pray and trust that God is big and He knows what He's doing and will show us what's best - for everyone (READ:  "for me").